College Football Week 15

Too bad I did not pick more games last week. I went 4-0 bringing my overall record to 34-33-2.

Only one game this week which features Navy vs. Army. This is a game I have always enjoyed watching and I feel this game gets the respect it deserves by getting the whole spotlight after championship week and before bowl season begins.

Army enters the game 2-9 while Navy is 7-4. At the time of this writing Navy is -6.5 which shocks me. I think Navy runs away (pun intended) with this game. The final score is probably 31-14 with  Navy coming out on top.

The lines for all the bowl games are available, after taking a quick peek some are interesting. I notice Iowa St. opened +3 even after beating this same team by 15 the opening week of the season.

I will be doing a bowl pick 'em with some of my friends going through EVERY game with higher emphasis on the Big 10 and Big 12.

Thanks for reading so far throughout the season, i have enjoyed putting my picks out there and  taking some ribbing from some folks. Everyone always thinks they do a great job picking, I am here to say it is not as easy as it sounds/looks. Most people only remember their good weeks. I have had too many bad weeks to forget this season. I will post an early look at Iowa State's 2013 season and maybe a look at Iowa's 2013 as well. (Do I smell guest writer?!?!?!)

College football week 14

Sorry I did not post earlier in the week, I have been in hiding and mourning from my dismal performance last week. I was 0-4-1 dropping my record to 30-33-2.

Time to pick it up! Bowl season should be easy though since Big 10 teams will be involved.

Pitt is -7 at South Florida, South Florida is not good. Take Pitt to win and finish the season much better than they started.

Oklahoma -6 visits TCU. In a strange stat TCU is 0-3 at home in Big 12 play and 4-1 on the road. I think the losing continues at home and OU puts a statement out to the BCS folks, pick us! OU wins something like 41-27.

Georgia is +8 coming into this game. The SEC is tough to judge with 14 teams in the league, they are dodging each other left and right. On top of that they throw a cupcake 1-AA school the week before their 'rival' games to make sure they do not suffer an extra late season loss. SEC is weak sauce for scheduling only 8 conference games. Alabama could win this game and if there was an extra week of prep I'd say they would cover, however I think Georgia keeps it snug with Alabama winning 24-20 or something.

K-State -11 hosts Texas in the Big 12 finale. Texas is coming off a loss to TCU and I think they are going to suffer another loss this week. Ash/McCoy probably get picked off 2-3 times and the K-State running game puts up over 250 yards on Texas. This one is ugly in the 4th, K-State wins 38-14.

Recap: Pitt -7, OU -6, Georgia +8 and K-State -11.

College Football week 13 part 2

Well I am 0-2 so far this, what a bunch of crap! Iowa State disappointed me this season. I thought the D was good enough for 8-9 wins, the offense really let this team down. Once Jake Knott got hurt, the defense fell apart. Hopefully the DB's will heal up before the bowl game and ISU can lay the wood to someone crappy. More than likely it will be a team from the Big 10 so that is synonymous with crappy.

By the way, only the Big 10 could make their conference even more mediocre with realignment, amazing.

Game #4 Stanford visits UCLA, the Bruins have a dynamic offense and are able to score points but Stanford boasts a pretty good defense. Stanford cannot score though. I am going with the under, the total is listed at 52 right now.

Game #5 UCONN has turned into garbage as the year has gone on. Louisville needs this win and I think they get it. I am taking L'ville to cover -10.5 in this game. L'Ville is at home and needs this win to have a shot at winning the Big East when Rutgers comes to town next week. Take L'Ville going away.

Recap Tulsa -5, Ohio +10, LSU -12.5, Stanford vs. UCLA under and Louisville -10.5.

College Football Week 13

I was 2-3 last week dropping my record to 30-29-1 on the season. There are still a precious few weeks to improve on my record and to try to get to at least 55% on the season.

 

Thanksgiving weekend usually sets us up with some big games. The state of Iowa will be showcased starting at 11:00 when Nebraska visits Kinnick stadium and the Iowa Hawkeyes. Mercifully Iowa will be done after this game. Things do not look up for Iowa next year either. Nebraska will lock up their spot in the Big 10 championship after winning this game.

 

Iowa State hosts West Virginia.Wow, what has happened to the Mountaineers? They started out 5-0 and reached #5 in the country. Since then they are 0-5 and the least amount of points they have given up in a conference game is 39!

 

Game #1 Tulsa -5 is on the road at SMU, SMU has had their struggles this year and Tulsa has been humming along for the most part and I think that continues. Tulsa wins by double digits on the road.

 

Game #2 Ohio +10 visits Kent St. This lines seems pretty high. Kent is ranked and playing at home but Ohio has played some good games this season including a win at Penn St. early in the season. I think Ohio has a chance to win this outright. The Bobcat offense is good enough to slug this out and grind some clock. Ohio keeps it snug and like I said may win outright. 

 

Game #3 LSU -12.5 visits Arkansas with Arkansas playing out the string. They really have nothing to play for. LSU is not great offensively which allows Arkansas to hang around in the first half. The LSU defense comes on strong in the second half with many stops and probably a special teams TD. LSU wins this one easily 34-13.

 

Recap Tulsa -5, Ohio +10 and LSU -12.5

College Football Week 12 part 2

Here we go with the final two picks for week 12 in college football.



Game #4 Oklahoma (-11.5) visits a team in West Virginia that is in absolute free fall. From being #5 in the country to now being stuck at 5 wins and hoping they can make a bowl game. OU probably has the best secondary in the Big 12 and I expect them to make some big plays including forcing some turnovers. There will probably be a lot of points but I do not think West Virginia can hang and they realize how much tougher the Big 12 is compared to the Big East. Take OU, they probably win 48-31.



Game #5 Mizzou -5 hosts Syracuse in a November non-conference game. Syracuse stinks, Mizzou is not much better but they are at home and maybe James Franklin is getting it together. Give me the Tigers to cover the spread.



Quick recap: Arkansas St -3, Iowa State -5 and Stanford vs. Oregon over 65, Oklahoma -11.5 and Mizzou -5. Chalky chalky chalky.

College Football Week 12

I cannot believe we are this deep into the football season. We wait almost 9 months for it to get here and then it slips out of our grasp so fast....

I went 2-3 last week dropping my record to 28-26-1. Iowa State has a sneaky tough game at Kansas this weekend. ISU ranks in the 90's in both total offense and defense, not good at all. Somehow ISU has won 5 games this season. Let's hope Iowa State has a breakout game.

My lines come from vegasinsiders.com LVH lines.

Game 1: Arkansas St (-3) is on the road against Troy. I m going to continue to roll with Arkansas St. Gus Malzahn gets Arkansas St going and scores a ton of points.

Game 2: Iowa St (-5) heads to Lawrence to take on Kansas. KU is one dimensional on offense, they have a pretty good running game. Sims is a stud and is probably the top running back in the Big 12. I think ISU wins this game because of the defense and a To margin of 4-2. Take ISU to win 27-14 or 24-10.

Game 3: Stanford and Oregon square off in a Pac 12 showdown. The over/under is 65. Oregon will put up close to 50 in this game, I think Stanford will be good for a few scores. The actual total of this game will probably be closer to 75. Take the over and be happy about it.

I will post the rest of my games later this week.

Quick recap: Arkansas St -3, Iowa State -5 and Stanford vs. Oregon over 65.

College football week 11

I am back to make my final 2 picks for week 11 in college football. I am at 1-0 already for the week. Arkansas St rolled on Thursday night. I do have to say the game was closer than I thought it would be for a longer period of time.

Game #4 Oregon (-28.5) goes on the road to Cal after their beat down of USC last week. I think they put Tedford down for the count in Cal. I would not be shocked to see a final score of 56-14 or something like that. Oregon is sure playing at a high level right now and they are going to run around, through and in between the Cal 'defenders'.

Game #5 In a game for the offensively challenged, Purdue visits Iowa. The total is at 49, I think these two teams could play twice and not hit that total. Yes I am taking the under. Purdue will be searching for a new coach after the season and some Hawkeye fans will want Ferentz gone but that will NOT happen. $20 million reasons why he stays at least a couple more years. Yeah, that is his current buyout # because of the 2020 contract extension he got a year or two back.

Recap: Take Arkansas St -6.5, Pitt -3 and Louisville -2.5, Oregon -28.5 and Purdue vs. Iowa under.

Yes, I am going chalky this week.

College football week 11

I was 4-1 last week bringing my total record to 26-23-1. Not great, not bad either. I need to keep up the momentum from last week. As I type this Toledo and Ball St are tied at 27, much more exciting then the presidental election.


Game 1: Arkansas St -6.5 has had a decent season under first year head coach Guy Malzahn. Does anyone else think he realized how bad of a coach Chizik is at Auburn? Malzahn took a pay cut to be the head coach here rather than waiting for a BCS job. Maybe he is setting himself up to take over at Auburn after the Chiz is fired! Anyway, Arkansas St hosts Louisiana Monroe. ASU has a very good offense and they are at home, I expect them to win by double digits.

Game 2: Pitt -3 visits UCONN. UCONN has really gone down hill this season. Their defense has been fairly good but their offense has struggled again. Pitt will be disappointed from their game last week against Notre Dame but I think Pitt gets this done and covers the -3.

Game 3: Louisville -2.5 visits Syracuse. I can't believe the spread is this close. I have a feeling Louisville will mercily end the coaching tenure of Marrone at Syracuse. He has not done a great job. Take Louisville in this one.

Recap: Take Arkansas St -6.5, Pitt -3 and Louisville -2.5.

College Football Week 10 ATS

Here are my final two picks against the spread for week 10 in college football.

Game #4 Texas +7.5 visits Texas Tech. Texas does not have a defense but they can score. Tech can score and has a defense. I think Tech wins this game going away and it has the potential to get ugly in both this game and in Austin afterwards. The wheels may be coming off the bus and next week the Iowa State Cyclones could end the Mack Brown era if they were able to pull out the victory. Take Texas Tech -7.5.

Game #5 Oregon is -8 at USC. To tell you the truth I think this game gets ugly too. Oregon has probably the most speed of any team in the Pac-12. Their defense seems to be improved to go along with the high powered offense they always have. They will get a test from the passing combination of Matt Barkley and Marqise Lee. Oregon wins this game something like 45-24, they will cover the 8 points.

Quick recap, take Indiana -1.5, LSU +9 and Penn St -3.5, Texas Tech -7.5 and Oregon -8.

College football week 10 ATS

Man oh man, another rotten week for my picks. I was 2-3 dropping my record to 22-22-1. I guess there is some work to do.

Something good from this past Saturday, Iowa State got their 5th win of the season at home in Ames, IA against Baylor. Baylor had been averaging almost 50 points, Iowa State only gave up 21 points. Sadly, stud linebacker Jake Knott had his ISU career come to an end due to a shoulder injury. Hopefully he heals up soon both for the NFL and for a normal life in the future! Thanks for the memories Jake Knott!

Let's get on to the picks shall we...I remind you my picks from vegasinsider.com LVH lines.

Game 1: The slumping Iowa Hawkeyes visit the Indiana Hoosiers who are coming off of their first conference win since 2010! Iowa opened as a 3 point favorite but now Indiana is -1.5. The Hoosiers can score a lot of points and Iowa cannot stop anyone of late or score. I think Iowa put up a good fight but in the ends loses this game on the road by about 10. Take Indiana -1.5.

Game 2: LSU +9 hosts Alabama. These two teams met twice last year, the second meeting should not have happened. LSU won the game at Alabama last year. I am sure Nick Saban will be looking for a little revenge on the mad hatter for the home loss in 2011. I think the defense of LSU keeps this game close although I think the LSU offensive struggles continue. Alabama wins this game but I think it is a one score separation with the final being something like 20-13 or 17-10 Alabama. Take LSU to cover the +9 at home.

Game 3: Penn St -3.5 visits Purdue. Purdue is really slumping as of late and the Penn St offense seems to be rolling. I like what coach O'Brien has done his first year at PSU. There is a long road ahead for them with the sanctions but they are going to end up with a pretty good record this year. I think PSU handles Purdue easy in this game with a score of about 30-13.

Quick recap, take Indiana -1.5, LSU +9 and Penn St -3.5. I will be back later this week with a couple more picks.

College football week 9 part 2

These are my final picks for the week.

Game #3 Notre Dame visits Oklahoma -11.5. Notre Dame has really only played Big 10 teams this year so I do not think they are very good. ND does not have a hang your hat type of win, they do have a couple of wins they could have lost the last couple of weeks. OU has really stepped up their game the last few weeks, the defense has clamped down and Landry Jones seems to be synced up with his wide receivers. OU wins this game 30-10.

Game #4 Bowling Green hosts a bad Eastern Michigan team. The Over/Under total is 52. I think there will be some points scored in this game, probably at least 60. I feel comfortable in this total going over 52.

Game #5 Florida St -27.5 hosts Duke which has gotten bowl eligible since the Civil War I think. While I think Florida St. wins this game, I think Duke keeps it closer than the spread. The final score will be around 45-21 or 27.


Week 9 recap: Oklahoma -11.5, over in the Eastern Michigan vs. Bowling Green, Duke +27.5, Boise St -16.5 and Indiana +2

College Football week 9 ATS

Ugh, I am coming to take my lumps, I was 0-5 last week. My record drops to 20-19-1. Only one way to go from here, UP!

Game 1: I am going to the Big 10 which is barely a BCS conference this season. I am really digging here. Indiana +2 is visiting Illinois. Indiana can score and score a lot. They are due to come up with a win and I think they do it this week. Illinois goes down.

Game 2: Boise St -16.5 visits Wyoming. Boise seems to be getting things in order. Their defense has been pretty strong all year long, I think the Bronco offense is coming together and will be a dangerous team come bowl season. Boise takes care of business on Saturday.

Take Boise St -16.5 and Indiana +2.

Week 8 College Football games ATS

Here are my final picks for this week.

Game #3 Maryland +3 hosts NC State this week in ACC action. NC State comes off of a bye week which is probably good. They are not patting themselves on the back yet after their upset win overr Florida St. Somehow Maryland sits atop the ACC Atlantic Division, Maryland has not played good ACC competition yet, that changes this week. I look for NC State to take care of business. Maryland has great defensive #'s while NC State has a pretty good offense. I think the offense wins out on the road. Take NC State -3.

Game #4 Virginia -3.5 hosts Wake Forest. Virginia needs to get right and Wake Forest is the team to do it against. Virginia does not have a lot of margin for error left if they want to get to a bowl game this season and I think they get their third win at home against Wake Forest. Take Virginia to cover the -3.5, they probably sneak out with a 10 point victory.

Game #5 I am going to stick with the Louisville train this week. They -6 hosting South Florida. USF has played some decent competition and it is not getting easier this week. The wheels may be coming off for South Florida. If something goes wrong for them early in this game look for a Louisville route. I think it happens and Louisville wins this game easily.

Here is a recap for week 8 take Iowa State +14.5, Cincinnati -7, NC State -3, Virginia -3.5 and Louisville -6.

College Football week 8 picks ATS

Happy Tuesday everyone, I am sitting here half watching the debates, ugh. College football has already started for the week. Former head coach at Iowa State, Dan McCarney is leading North Texas against UL-Lafeyette in Tuesday night Sun Belt action. (Not Tuesday Night Music Club for you Sheryl Crow fans) Enough, lets get to my picks this week.

Again, I get my lines from vegasinsider.com LVH lines. If you have any questions or comments feel free to leave them here or contact me via Twitter. My handle is @twojman.

Game #1 Iowa State +14.5 heads to Stillwater, OK to face Okie St. Okie St lost out on a chance of the National Championship due to a defeat by Iowa St last year. I think revenge is on the minds of the Cowboys. To win on the road you need a defense, which ISU has. I think 14.5 points is way too many for Okie State to give to Iowa State. I think ISU can rattle the young QB for the Cowboys, which ever one is starting. I have a sneaky feeling ISU wins this one outright but that is not what I am betting, I would bet ISU keeps this one snug at minimum and probably wins. Take ISU and the points.

Game #2 Cincinnati -7, visits in state rival Toledo. Toledo looks at Cincy as big brother and will go all out to try and win this game. Toledo has a very good team in the MAC this season, they may win the MAC. I do think Cincy has too much speed and too much firepower. This game will be close in the first half, I think Cincy pulls away in the second half by forcing a couple of turnovers and wins something like 34-17.

I will get a couple more games out this week.

College football week 7 recap and betting overview

I was 3-2 on the weekend which makes you a winner in Vegas. This brings my overall record to 20-14-1. I am disappointed in my Iowa State Cyclones though. The lack of a QB is really hurting this team. As former Cyclone great Jack Whitver said on the post game show referring to they Cyclones in the Big 12, "This is a championship defense and a 9th or 10th place offense."

Hopefully things get better this week. The defense at Oklahoma State is not that great. This is a good chance to work out some quirks. Right now ISU is +13, I will be using that as one of my games this week.

Now, I mentioned last week I would give a quick synopsis on how to bet on football games and what some of the terminology means. Here is a website with some quick explanations. I will start with the spread.

Vegas sets a line, we will use the Iowa State and Oklahoma State game this week as an example. The spread is Iowa State +13. In the eyes of Las Vegas Iowa State essentially starts the game ahead 13-0.

Next on the agenda is a cover. Using the above spread. If you place a wager or bet on Iowa State to cover, you assume Iowa State will win the game outright or lose by less than 13. If you take Oklahoma State to cover you assume Oklahoma State will win the game by more than 13 points. If Oklahoma State were to win 33-20 the game would be considered a push, no winner.

A push that was listed above is part of the reason you will see a 'hook' or a half point involved. The spread for this game could be moved down to +12.5. The spread or line moves based on the betting involved. If the bets are coming in heavy on the side of Iowa State, the line will adjust downwards meaning the spread will get lower thus indicating people believe Iowa State will keep the game closer than 13 points.

Another way to bet on games is by the total or Over/Under. Again we will use the Oklahoma State and Iowa State game. There is not a total on this game yet but I will use 60 as an example. A bettor can wager whether or not that score will go over 60. The totals can move in the same manner as the spread.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. If you have any questions let me know, comments are always welcome.

Week 7 College football picks

I am 1-0 so far this week keeping my streak alive. Western Kentucky won Thursday night against Troy by 5, covering the 2.5 points they gave to Troy.

Here is my final pick for the week.

I am going with the game in Lubbock, TX. West Virginia is coming off a HUGE win at Texas. There may be a bit of a hangover coming into this game but I do not care about the spread or who wins. I am going after the over/under total which is set at 77 points. I am going with the over in this game. Both teams can score in bunches. Geno Smith has not even thrown an interception yet this season!



Here are a recap of my picks: Western Ky -2.5 (W), Over 77 total points in the West Vigrina @ Texas Tech game, Toledo -13, Rutgers -7 and Louisville -3.

I cannot believe I had not thought of this before. Saturday or Sunday I will not only put a recap out of the weeks games but I will throwout a quick tutorial on how sports betting works. I will keep it very basic explaining spreads and over/under totals as well as a few other things. Your comments are most welcome. If you have a question or comment please let me know. My Twitter handle is @twojman if you would like to contact me there.

Week 7 college football part 2

Some excitement for the week. Casey Pachall is withdrawing from TCU to get himself cleaned up. This is good news for him. Hopefully this young man can get his life on track.

Here are my second round of picks for the week.

The Toledo -13 visits Eastern Michigan. EM is bad, real bad and Toledo has been putting up a ton of points this year. Toledo is leading the Western division of the MAC at this point and has a great shot at winning the Western division. I assume this will come down to their matchup in mid November against Northern Illinois. I think Toledo takes this game big time, something like 41-14. Toledo easily covers this spread.

So far this week I have Toledo -13, WKU -2.5, Rutgers -7 and Louisville -3.

I will put out one more game either tomorrow or Thursday.

2012 Week 7 College Football

Happy Monday everyone! I am still giddy after my 5-0 performance last week and hope to keep the momentum rolling. Of course that is more then I can say for a few top 10 teams from last week! There were some pretty good games and not so good games last week. Field goal kicking or in the case of Iowa State extra points still seem to be an issue

My 5-0 mark last week ups me to 17-12-1 overall. There are a handful of games I really like this week. My picks are taken from vegasinsider.com LVH lines. Let's get going.

Game #1 Western Kentucky (-2.5) visits Troy in this Sun Belt showdown. Western Kentucky is much better than I thought they would be this year. I think they come out of this game with a W. Considering some of the competition W Kentucky has played their overall defensive stats are fairly solid.

Game #2 Rutgers is -7 hosing Syracuse. Syracuse is a bad team but kept the game surprisingly close with Pitt last week. Rutgers is much better than I thought after losing Sanu to the NFL (Bengals) and their former coach Greg Schiano to the NFL. I look for Rutgers to win this game by 2-3 scores and they easily cover this spread.

Game #3 has Louisville -3 at Pitt. I think Louisville has a good shot at winning the Big East. Pitt looked good at times at Syracuse, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I think Louisville is too much for Pitt at this time and comes away with a 7-10 point victory.


My first 3 games are WKU -2.5, Rutgers -7 and Louisville -3

Week 6 recap College Football

Well good evening friends! I wanted to post my 5-0 weekend!

I've got some live action in Vegas right now, I am hoping Green Bay and Minnesota do not let me down. Papa needs a new pair of shoes!

K-State was down early against in state rival Kansas. Kansas threw the kitchen sink at KSU with fake punts fake field goals. Crazy stuff but KSU pounded them in the end.

Of course my favorite team the Iowa State Cyclones had a huge win today. This sets up a huge game in Ames as K-State comes to visit. Will K-State be a top 5 team? Probably. Remember the last time a top 5 team came to Ames? I do, Okie St left with their national championship hopes dashed.

Enjoy the NFL tomorrow and I will talk to you next week. Hopefully there will be some more great picks and another 5-0 week!

College Football Week 6 part 3

I have one more pick for this week BUT ISU got a big break with what has transpired in the TCU program. Casey Pachall was charged with an OWI (DUI whatever) and was in jail overnight. He will be dressed and on the sidelines for the game but only be watching. I like the punishment from Gary Patterson on this one. I think ISU wins the game outright...

My final pick for the week is Tulsa -4 at Marshall. Tulsa has a lot of weapons on offense. Their running game plays out pretty well vs. the C-USA. I like Tulsa to take down the Thundering Herd in a big way. Tulsa has two RB's averaging over 70 yards per game, impressive. Marshall has put up some big yards so there could be some fireworks in this game. I expect Tulsa to come out on top.


My picks for the week are KSU -24, ISU +11.5, Tulsa -4, Duke -1.5 and Pitt +1.5. Let's hope for a 5-0, I should get a decent payout from Vegas if that happens!

College Football week 6 part 2

Here is part 2 of my week 6 college football picks ATS. Since we are talking about gambling, intrade had Obama's chances re-election at 75%, after tonights debate those odds have shrunk to 68%.

Game #3 Duke -1.5 hosts Virginia. Duke is a team I have been watching and have picked a couple of times earlier this season. Duke seems to be toughining up a bit. Virginia is coming off 3 straight losses and would have lost to Penn St. if Penn St could kick. I think Duke wins this game and gets to 5-1, maybe Dick Vitale will come and call one of their football games if they keep winning! Duke will not be favored in any game after this one so they need this win if they want to get to a bowl game this season.

Game #4: Pitt +1.5 visits Syracuse. I cannot believe Syracuse is a favorite in this game, they stink and have one of the worst BCS coaches in Doug Marrone. Pitt got off to a very slow start this season but have been turning things around. Pitt needs this game to help their bowl chances. I think Pitt goes into the dome and runs for a lot of yards via Ray Graham. I look for Pitt to get the outright win, perhaps even double digits.



Week 6 recap, I have Pitt +1.5, Duke -1.5, ISU +11.5 and KSU -24.

College Football Week 6 picks ATS

As I said in my week 5 recap I was 3-2, this brings my season record to 12-12-1. Nothing to shout about...

I will have some live action in Vegas this week so I will have my money where my mouth is! I will probably do a couple of parlays along with single game bets. I will probably incorporate some NFL into my Vegas picks, but not on this site since I am going to concentrate on the college side of things. I will give a couple of picks tonight, a couple tomorrow and one on Thursday.

Game 1: I hesitate to put this one on here. I am going to take Iowa State to cover +11.5. The line opened as ISU +14 so the line has moved quite a bit. Both teams have outstanding defenses and both teams have offenses that have struggled to hold onto the football. This will be TCU's first home Big 12 game so I think the crowd will be juiced up. There are 15 freshman that play on this TCU squad, they may not be able to channel their emotions properly costing them field position and points. I think the score will be low in this game which is why I like ISU to cover the +11.5.

Game 2: Another Big 12 game, the Sunflower showdown. K-State -24 hosts Kansas. If Bill Snyder is like his mentor, Hayden Fry, he will not want the other in state school to pose a threat. Snyder will run up the score if he gets a chance in this game and put a lot of emphasis on this game the same way Hayden Fry did with Iowa State. K-State is pretty methodical and disciplined. They will not beat themselves and will force Kansas into some bad situations. I look for Collin Klein to have a huge game, maybe 400 total yards rushing and passing.

Quick recap, take Iowa State + 11.5 and K-State -24.

Week 5 College Football recap

I went 3-2 for today. My two losses were Minnesota +6.5 and Iowa State +3. Minnesota had 4 TO's for -4 TO margin while ISU had 4 TO's for -2 TO margin. These were major factors in my losses.

Texas won and covered on a controversial call with 29 seconds to go in the game. Clemson did about what I thought they would and Ohio St took care of a one dimensional Michigan St team. I do have to admit that Maxwell played better at QB today for the Spartans then I thought he would.

My rant, Iowa State got whipped all over on the offensive side of the ball. An average offense could contend for the Big 12 with this defense that is outstanding. The OL was horrible as QB Jantz was sacked 5 times, the running game could not get going and once again the WR's could not get separation for db's. Lots of things need to change, starting with the OL for ISU or wins will be hard to come by. Hopefully they get it straigtened out for the TCU game at TCU next week.

College Football Week 5 part 3

This is my third and final installment for the week. My week is about redemption and the same goes for Clemson.

Clemson -7 had an early lead against Florida State last week and ended up losing by double digits. Clemson goes on the road to Boston College without one of the most dynamic players in the ACC in Sammy Watkins. As of right now he will not play in this game. I think this rallies the troops. I think Clemson goes in with a good team effort and puts one together and don't let Florida St beat them two weeks in a row. Clemson is just full of athletes and speed, Boston College is not.

My picks for the week, Minnesota +6.5, Iowa State +3, Ohio St +2.5, Texas -2 and Clemson -7. Once the games are over on Saturday night I will do a quick recap with a bit of analysis and see how things turn out. They could not be worse then last week!

College Football Week 5 part 2

Yesterday I picked Minnesota and Iowa State to cover, both teams are underdogs.

I am going to drop a couple more picks today.

Texas is -2 on the road in Stillwater, OK vs Okie St. Okie St has looked very good against some rather pedestrian teams but got handled by Arizona. Wes Lundt will probably not play against Texas this week, I do not know if that matters. Texas has a really good defense, at least they should, it hasn't showed yet. I think it starts this weekend and Texas wins this game by double digits. Take the Longhorns -2 in this one.

Ohio St is +2 at Michigan St. Michigan St is one dimensional, Maxwell cannot throw! Neither of these teams are very good but I think Ohio St has a defense that is on par with Sparty and Ohio St. will have the best playmaker on the field as their QB in Braxton. I think Ohio St wins this game outright.

My two picks for tonight are Texas -2 and Ohio St +2. 3 of my 4 picks this week are underdogs.

College Football Week 5

Well good evening everyone. I apologize for my atrocious picks last week. Maybe Michigan should not be -4 in the TO margin. Oh well, all I can do is go on. I was 1-4 last week dropping my record to 9-10-1 so far.

I am going to change up how I do this, I will try and get 5 picks per week but spread them out over a couple of days. Let me know what you think.

Depending on how the speads move, I may pick more than 5 games this week. There are several I kind of like so let's get going! My lines come from vegasinsiders.com LVH lines.

Minnesota is +6.5 going to Iowa city trying to win their third straight against the Hawkeyes. Iowa stinks this season and is pretty slow across the board. We do not know a lot about Minnesota except they have won a couple of games with a backup QB. I do know they have this game circled and I think they come out of Iowa City with a win. Take Minnesota +6.5.

Texas Tech is -3 going to Ames to visit the Iowa State Cyclones. Coach Rhoads is 2-0 against his former boss including a 41-7 woodshed beating last year in Lubbock that sent the Red Raiders on a downward spiral. Tech has some gawdy offensive AND defensive #'s so far BUT their schedule ranks 164 out of 124 FBS teams. Tech is #1 in team defense while Iowa State is #14. Tech is #1 in pass efficiency defense while ISU is #2. Yes, these are Big 12 teams. Tech is #2 in total offense while ISu is #47. Between Tech's offense and Iowa State's defense, something has to give (I love cliches!) Take Iowa State at home to win this outright. ISU is more tested so far in this season and I think it will show. Take ISU +3

Quick recap, I have two dogs so far: Minnesota +6.5 and Iowa State +3.

College Football Week 4

I was 3-2 again last week, this brings my overall record to 8-6-1.

I am wondering if maybe Mizzou and A & M should be uninvited to the SEC and the SEC could invite Western Kentucky or Louisiane Monroe since they are a combined 2-2. against the SEC or maybe the Sun Belt is just better than the SEC. :)

I have a few games on tap for this week. There are some conference games and a couple of interesting non-conference games yet. BTW, how is Wisconsin still ranked?
I will say it again, how bad is the Big 10?

My lines come from vegasinsider.com LVH lines.

Game #1 Michigan +6 at Notre Dame. I was on the Michigan bandwagon at the beginning of the season as far as winning the Big 10 and I feel better about that right now. I think they go into South Bend and PUNK the Irish. I am getting 6 and I will take them.

#2 K-State +14 goes to Norman to take on the Sooners. Believe it or not, Collin Klein has better passing numbers than Landry Jones. I think KSU getting 14 is a lot, I expect ol' Skeletor to pull some wizardry out of his bag of tricks and keep this game close. Take the Wildcats as a road dog.

#3 Baylor -7.5 goes on the road to Louisiana Monroe who very nearly knocked off their second straight SEC foe. I La Monroe is spent, take the Baylor Bears in this one and expect them to roll by close to 20 points.

#4 UCONN is on the road at Western Michigan in a pick 'em. UCONN has a pretty good defense, I expect UCONN to come out of this game a winner.

#5 Louisville -13 goes on the road to Florida International. Louisville had a scare last week as they almost choked away their game against North Carolina. I expect them to come out and take care of business in this game.

Quick recap, take the following: Michigan +6, K-State +14, Baylor -7.5, UCONN pick 'em and Louisville -13.

College Football Week 3

I did alright last week, I ended up 3-2. My YTD record is 5-4-1 against the spread (ATS)

ISU beat Iowa for the second straight year. This game should have been a blowout in favor of ISU but there were too many turnovers. ISU essentially gets 2 bye weeks now. Saturday is against Western Illinois and then a true bye week to follow.

What did we learn from week 2? The Big 10 is worse than we thought, the Pac 12 is better than we thought and the SEC is not really dominate. Alabama is probably pretty good but I'd like to see them go up against West Virginia if they are clicking on all cylinders.

My lines come from vegasinsider.com LVH lines. Let's take a look at some games shall we?

My first game is Northwestern hosting Boston College. Northwestern is -4 and currently owns the Big 10's only two wins against BCS schools by beating lowly Syracuse by 1 and lowly Vanderbilt in a rain soaked game. I think NW makes it a third straight win at home this week and most importantly covers the spread. Take the 'Cats!

#2 has Va Tech on the road at Pitt. Pitt has been awful so far this year losing to 1-AA Youngstown St and getting a woodshed beating at Cincy. Va Tech is -10.5. Va Tech does not have a great offense but they will shut down the running game of Pitt and probably score at least once on d and once with the special teams. I think you are safe giving those points. Va Tech -10.5.

#3 Ball St is +3 and is visiting Indiana. Ball St should have a decent team this season and Indiana has lost their starting QB for the season. Too bad because Roberson was a pretty good athlete. With this instate matchup I am going to take the road dog. There are guys on the Ball St team that were not offered to the big in state rival and now they want to show they are the better team. I think Ball St gets the outright win. Take Ball St +3 in this game.

#4 Western Kentucky visits Kentucky. I am sure Western Kentucky is going to go all out for this game but I think Kentucky is too much for WKU to handle. Kentucky is -7 and I think they cover.

#5 UCONN is -2.5 on the road at Maryland. UCONN has a defense as they have given up a total of 10 points this season but are only 1-1 to show for it. I think the offense makes enough plays this weekend and the D shuts down Maryland. Take UCONN to cover the -2.5

Quick recap, take the following: Northwestern -4, Va Tech -10.5, Ball St +3, Kentucky -7 and UCONN -2.5.

College Football Week 2

I am pretty disappointed with my week 1 picks, I went 2-2-1. We learned a few things in week 1. The Big 12 played a weak schedule, the Big 10 is not very good, the Big East is awful and the SEC may not be as dominant as some think.

Let's get into the games for week 2 shall we? I am pulling my #'s from vegasinsider.com LVH lines.

My first pick will take us to Iowa City. The Hawkeyes opened up as a 4 point favorite over the visiting Cyclones of Iowa State. As of this writing the line is down to -3.5 for Iowa. The wrong team is favored. Iowa State wins this game outright and moves to 2-0 on the young season.

Game #2 is Kentucky hosing Kent St. Kent St is moving up in competition quite a bit even though this could be against the worst SEC team. Kentucky is -7 at home and I expect them to win by double digits.

Game #3 USC is on the road at Syracuse and is -27. I think USC rolls against Syracuse that suffered a loss at home last week against Nortwestern. Take USC.

Game #4 UCONN hosts North Carolina St and is +5.5. UCONN shutout UMASS and Tennessee beat up NCST. I expect UCONN to keep this close and perhaps win this game. I'll take the Huskies +5.5.

Game #5 Vanderbilt is -3 on the road at Northwestern. NW got a road win to start the season at lowly Syracuse. Vanderbilt's defense did a decent job on Marcus Lattimore last week, I think that trend continues. Take Vandy to cover this spread and possibly win by double digits.

A couple of other games to watch have 2 Big 10 teams going west which usually does not turn out well. Nebraska @ UCLA and Illinois @ Arizona St.

Quick recap: Take Iowa State + 3.5, Kentucky -7, USC -27, UCONN +5.5 and Vanderbilt -3.

College football week 1 continued

This is a follow up post to my entry from a couple of nights ago. For one of my picks I had A&M covering against La Tech, thanks to the hurricane the game is postponed.

I do have a game to take its place. Toledo visits Arizona. Arizona is -10.5 right now. Both teams sport new coaches so that will offset. Toledo has to make their way west, this is a big deal. Not as big of a deal if it was not week one but a big deal none the less. I think Arizona scores a lot of points in this game and probably give up a few too. Arizona wins this game by at least 20 and easily covers the 10.5 spread.

Come on Thursday!

College Football Week 1!

Welcome back everyone, the best time of the year has arrived. Apologies to all wives and girlfriends out there but the men in your life will essentially be existent the next 4-5 months!


The early part of the college football season is usually when I am at my best. The odds makers go off of last year and the various home team spreads to set up these initial lines. There is one game in particular I like for the week, let's see if there any others I can pick out. All my spreads are coming from vegasinsider.com (LVH)

My first game is a game I really like. Iowa State, a member of the Big 12, is hosting a Conference USA opponent in Tulsa and is an underdog! 2 things are against Tulsa in this game, they do not have a defense (you need that if you are going to win on the road) and the quarterback is not very good. Cody Green played for Nebraska against ISU in November 2010 and was not impressive in the Nebraska OT win. Tulsa is -1.5 right now. The wrong team is favored, ISU wins this game by double digits.

Northwestern is on the road at Syracuse. Last season I picked against Syracuse because well, their coach is terrible. Northwestern is -1 on the road. I think Northwestern wins this high scoring game by more than a point.

Will Texas A&M start out 2012 different then how they ended 2011? I think they are going to get a big win on the road at Louisiana Tech. A&M is -7, they probably win by 10-12 points, possible backdoor cover.

South Carolina opens up -6.5 at Vanderbilt. I think the Gamecocks come out swinging this game. The offense should be more smooth this year, hopefully the injury and crazy bug stays away from this team so we can see what Spurrier can do with his team. I do not know if Vandy can score more than twice in this game. I think the score will be similar to last year, 21-3. South Carolina in this one and the game is not as close as the score indicates

Duke is hosting Florida International. Duke needs to start this season strong if they want to make a bowl game. Duke is -3.5 in this game. Take the Blue Devils to win this game by double digits. Their improvement will be measure by small steps as opposed to giant leaps, this is a small step.

Here is a quick recap. Take ISU +1.5, Northwestern -1, Texas A&M -7, South Carolina -6.5 and Duke -3.5.

Iowa State 2012 Preview

Football season is almost here and I for one cannot wait! Last year I picked Iowa State to go 7-5 in the regular season and win a bowl game. ISU ended up going 6-6 regular season and lost their bowl game. Patting myself on the back here, I nailed the Oklahoma St. game, I missed the correct score by 3 points! You can see my previous prediction on cyclonefanatic.com.


For 2012 there are some question marks at QB for Iowa State. Will Steele Jantz or Jared Barnett get the start? Does Sam Richardson get into the mix? Offensive line, running game and defense will determine if ISU goes bowling in 2012.


Are the winds of changing blowing in the Big 12? The Big 12 has had an amazing run with QB’s the last half decade and that cannot be expected to continue. The Big 12 has taken some shots from the media about not playing defense which may be justified but the QB play has been outstanding. I look for better defensive statistics the next couple of years in the Big 12 and some better rushing numbers too.


Tulsa @ Iowa State: Tulsa is a 1 point favorite at the time of this writing according to vegasinsider.com MGM Mirage. Cody Green is starting at QB for Tulsa, he had more talent around him in Lincoln and he was not good there. I expect ISU to win this game by double digits, something like 27-17.


Iowa State @ Iowa: ISU has not won at Kinnick since 2002 with the magical Seneca Wallace comeback. I think the 2012 version should be great. ISU puts up over 200 yards rushing and 225 in the air. This is not normally a high scoring affair but I think ISU comes out on top in a relatively high scoring game. The final score is ISU 38 Iowa 31.

Western Illinois @ Iowa State: This game is a chance for ISU to heal up and get ready for their Big 12 opening game against Texas Tech in two weeks. ISU wins big 34 – 10.


Texas Tech @ Iowa State: Both teams are coming off of a bye week. Tech looks back at their loss against Iowa State last year and realizes that is where their season went downhill. Paul Rhoads is undefeated against Tommy Tuberville his former boss at Auburn. I think the streak goes to three. ISU 31 – Tech 21.


Iowa State @ TCU: ISU is riding high with a 4-0 record going into their first conference game at TCU. This also has a chance to be a game of two ranked Big 12 teams. TCU has been hit with some off field problems but have things sorted out and have not been tested up until this point. The game is close and both defenses seem to have come to play. TCU gets the win at home and open up 5-0, ISU’s first loss drops them to 4-1. TCU 24 - ISU 13.


Kansas St @ Iowa State: The Wildcats make their first visit to Ames since 2007 when Ron Prince was on the sidelines and Josh Freeman was the QB. Both teams are 1-1 on the Big 12 season. K-State is 3-0 vs. Paul Rhoads at Iowa State, those three wins by a combined 15 points. I think that changes in 2012. ISU has a +3 TO margin in this games and sends the SnyderCats packing 31-17.


Iowa State @ Oklahoma St.: OSU has ISU as their homecoming game for 2012 with nothing but revenge on their minds. I think the OSU defense was an underrated unit in 2011 and I think they have a chance to be pretty decent in 2012. ISU’s offense struggles in this one and manage only two scores. The Cowboys win this one going away 38-10.


Baylor @ Iowa State: No RG3, no Ganaway and no Wright mean the Bears may be searching for some offense in 2012. Florence saw some meaningful game time against Texas Tech in 2011 and had some pretty good stats. I expect the Baylor D to be about the same or a bit better in 2012 vs. 2011. Baylor has back to back road games, one at Texas and this one in Ames and I think this wears on the Bears. Shaky QB play is overcome by ISU which allows Iowa State to sneak out with a victory. Final score probably around 20 – 16 Iowa State with the victory. ISU is now bowl eligible with a record of 6-2.


Oklahoma @ Iowa State: Oklahoma is overrated going into this season, there have been some injuries and other issues with the Sooners in the offseason. Iowa State still looks to struggle this season against OU. I believe the OU defense exploits ISU’s weakness at the QB position with Barnett and Jantz essentially have the same # of snaps through this point in the season. OU wins in a similar fashion as the 2011 game. OU 31 - ISU 10.


Iowa State @ Texas: Texas will have a legit national championship defense in 2012. The D was young in 2011 and came on strong at the end of the season. This does not spell good news for Iowa State in this game. QB problems are really starting to show for Iowa State. Turnovers, poor reads and bad passes spell doom for the Cyclones. Texas is a big winner in this game, Texas 42 – Iowa St 13.


Iowa State @ Kansas: Kansas is coming off back to back road games to host Iowa State. ISU is 6-4 coming into this game and the arrow is point downwards. New QB Sam Richardson looks to change this up in his first start of his college career. The first two drives are good for Sam but there is some inconsistencies the rest of the way. ISU manages to hold off KU in this one 27-24. ISU posts their 7th regular season win for the first time since the 2005 season.


West Virginia @ Iowa State: West Virginia comes to Ames on a short week to face the Cyclones on Black Friday with a 2:30 nationally televised game. Head coach Dana Holgorson returns to his native Iowa for a matchup with Iowa State. The last four games for West Virginia were against K-State, TCU, Oklahoma St and Oklahoma. Welcome to the Big 12…no easy task in Ames the last game of the season, ask OSU! ISU is 5-2 in their last 7 home finales. This turns out to be an entertaining game. Geno Smith gets his yards and of course some points. ISU’s D finishes this game though. I think there is a defensive score for ISU this game to help young Sam Richardson out and he is now 2-0 early in his college career. ISU wins this instant classic 31-27.


With an 8-4 record, ISU makes it to the Meineke Car Care Bowl in Houston Friday December 28th against Illinois of the Big 10. ISU gets the victory and ends up 9-4 on the season, an outstanding record by any measure.

Bowl Games and NFL Playoffs

Happy New Year! I went 3-1 with my picks from last week. This brings my record to 45-40-3. I need to finish strong for the season.

I will finish out the bowl season and dig into the NFL playoffs for my picks this week. If you have a chance to make some bets on the final bowl games, use these to start 2012 off right!

South Carolina is only favored by 2.5 over Nebraska. Nebraska is not good, they do not have a QB and their coach is a ticking time bomb. Take South Carolina to cover this spread, could be a blow out.

Michigan squares off against Va Tech giving 3 points to the Hokies. I have no idea why the either of these teams are in the BCS at least based on play this year but I think Michigan will blow this team out of the water. Take the Wolverines and relax while enjoying your winnings rolling in.

Yawn...national championship. Memo to voters, we saw this game already at Alabama and they lost! Somehow Alabama is favored in this game. Sounds like easy money to me, take LSU to win. I am going out on a ledge and saying there will be TD's scored in this game. Oh yeah, I do not plan on watching it either.

Take South Carolina -2.5, Michigan -3 and LSU +1.

As of right now there are no spreads for NFL playoff games. I will try and get a post later this week with some NFL picks.