Wyoming Cowboys Week 4 NCAA Picks: Expert Weekly Predictions for Mid-Major Betting

It's not uncommon for some people in this world to fail forwards in life. Sometimes certain negative things happen, yet the person finds themselves coming out of it unscathed and in a better position than they were in before. The Wyoming Cowboys are definitely failing forwards. The Cowboys are 3-0 on the season but got lucky in their first game against Missouri - a team that had a meltdown after the first quarter and gave up 27 points in the second to Wyoming. They barely got by Texas State and Idaho despite the quarterback throwing for a grand total of 12 completions on 30 pass attempts. Sooner or later, that extremely fortunate run is going to catch up to a team, and we believe it's this week against Tulsa.

The goal of this weekly article is to help you understand the importance of specializing in one particular conference and/or on one particular team. I understand the fact that every bettor wants to be able to win their bets on the nationally televised games featuring ranked teams, but the truth of the matter is that those lines very rarely have any value left by the time you're able to bet them. Smaller conferences like the MWC may not have as many eyeballs on them as the Big Ten or SEC, but that helps us as bettors because the lines tend to be a little softer than the games featuring publicly backed teams.

Related: College Football Betting Tips

Each week this article, will take give you a small recap on how the team fared in their last game. You'd be surprised at how many times a team's win/loss outcome was either justified or lucky to happen. The box score may say one thing, but actually watching the game and seeing what's happening is a vital tool in handicapping. At the end of the article, I'll give you a selection on the upcoming game. I'll be using the Doc's Sports Unit Betting System for every pick, which will allow readers to follow along and track the results.

Last Game

It wasn't pretty, but Wyoming managed to sneak past Idaho by a score of 21-16. If this team is going to contend in the Mountain West Conference, they are going to need to find a passing game and find it quick. The Cowboys managed just 50 passing yards in this game as their starting quarterback, Sean Chambers, completed just four (yes, four) of 12 passes. Thankfully, Idaho's run defense is made of Swiss cheese as Trey Smith was able to find success on the ground to the tune of 152 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Defensively, the Cowboys played well, giving up just 303 total yards, including 93 yards on the ground. This game could have gotten away from them as the Cowboys found themselves in another early 10-0 hole with 10 minutes left in the second quarter. From there, the offense got moving and the defense allowed just two field goals the rest of the way.

Week 4 at Tulsa

As of writing this, 5Dimes is the only site with a posted lined on this game. The current line is Tulsa -3.5 (-110) and the posted total is set at 45.5 (-110).

Once again, the Cowboys find themselves in a favorable position facing off with a team that has been poor to start the season. Tulsa is 1-2 on the season with a 28-7 loss at Michigan State and a 40-21 loss vs Oklahoma State. Their lone win came against perennial losers in San Jose State by a score of 34-16 - a game in which they racked up 539 yards of total offense, including 256 yards rushing. The Cowboys defense is going to have to step up to the challenge once again this week as the offense seemingly gets off to a slow start every single game.

One of the biggest matchups of the game comes in the shape of the rushing attack for Wyoming and the run defense for Tulsa. We know that the Cowboys are having issues throwing the football, which leads me to believe Tulsa will stack the box with eight bodies and dare Chambers to throw on them. If Wyoming cannot get a proper ground game established, I don't see a way for them to move the football given the play of Chambers over the course of the first three games. This is a step up in class for the Cowboys in terms of talent compared to Texas State and Idaho, so the Cowboys need to make sure they don't suffer a slow start once again as they will likely be unable to perform yet another come back.

Series History: Wyoming and Tulsa have met five times in the past, with the Cowboys holding a 3-2 edge in the series. However, the last meeting was in 1998, and Tulsa ran away to a 35-0 win.

Wyoming at Tulsa College Football Picks

When it comes to handicapping football, you can look over every single angle until you're blue in the face. However, when it comes down to it, sometimes the obvious advantages are the ones we miss. Wyoming can't throw the ball right now, and it's going to be hard for them to do so on the road at Tulsa. The Golden Hurricanes can put up points, as seen by their 21 against a good Oklahoma State team and 40 on SJ State. We are going to take the better quarterback in this one and call it a day.

Selection: 1-Unit Play on #370. Take Tulsa -3.5 (-110) over Wyoming (Saturday, September 21 at 3:30 pm).

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