Opening Week MonkeyPlays

[MonkeyPants]

Season Stats: 0-0 (0 units)

Thursday: Florida International +10-1/2 over MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE (1 unit)

Friday: FRESNO STATE -11-1/2 over Nevada (1 unit)

Saturday: Florida Atlantic +33-1/2 over CLEMSON (1 unit)
BOWLING GREEN +10-1/2 over Wisconsin (1 unit)
GEORGIA TECH +7 over Notre Dame (1 unit)

Sunday: BAYLOR +7 over Texas Christian (1 unit)

Monday: MIAMI, FLA -3-1/2 over Florida State (1 unit)

 

[MonkeyPants]

Adding a second game for Thursday:

Texas El Paso +2 over SAN DIEGO STATE (1 unit)

Miners return 17 starters from last year's 8-win bowl squad against first-year Head Coach Chuck Long and the Aztecs. With that, I note that first-year head coaches who open the season as a virtual pick (+/-) 3 points, are 0-14 ATS if his team won less than 5 games last season and the opponent won more than 6 games last season. Back UTEP here Thursday night.

GLTA MonkeyPants >)~ dance2

 

[MonkeyPants]

Got season off on the right foot. Hope for it to continue BOL.

End up day at 2-0 (100%). Good start as Miners held on for win over Aztecs!

 

[MonkeyPants]

Adding one more for Saturday bringing the total number of games to 9 for the weekend (4 for Saturday). Record so far is 2-1.

NEBRASKA -23-1/2 over Louisiana Tech (1 unit)

I also love Nebraska and here is why.

Reason: Louisiana Tech had a solid season in 2005, but was not invited to a bowl game despite a 7-5 record. Normally, a team like that would have something to prove, but the problem is that most of the players are gone and this team is extremely young. They have 21 underclassmen in their two-deep, have a new starting quarterback, and only return two starters on defense. It is going to be a long year and this game was scheduled for one reason and that is to get the $750,000 payout.

Nebraska, meanwhile, is on the move toward a bigger and better season. The offense has the ability to be one of the most improved while the defense is going to be returning to its old dominating ways. Quarterback Zac Taylor came into his own last season, passing for a school record 2,653 yards while tossing 19 touchdowns. The offense obviously relies on him and he will have no problem running it. The receiving corps is extremely deep led by Nate Swift and Terrence Nunn, but the real threat could be juco transfer Maurice Purify, who has been opening eyes this summer.

Louisiana Tech is just 7-17 ATS as an underdog over the last four seasons and that includes a 5-13 ATS mark as a road dog. Don't worry about the big number because it's not even close to big enough.