College Football Picks (9/7-9/9) YTD: 8-6, +0.2 units

[BGFalcon]

Early picks:

Kent +6.5 over Army: Kent had a chance to be within a TD of Minnesota in their opener but pissed away two opportunities inside the five yard line. That changed the momentum of the game and Minnesota tends to bury teams in that situation. Army lost to Arkansas St. by a touchdown. Granted, Arkansas St. will be one of the best teams in the Sun Belt but that is like being one of the tallest midgets. I don't think Army should be laying at TD to anyone (except Temple...and Buffalo). This line has gone from 4 to 6.5 so you might want to wait to see if it hits 7.

Indiana -3.5 over Ball St.: Agree with Carl Spackler that home field means little in Muncie. Just like last week, Indiana knows they have to win these games because the wins in the Big 10 are hard to come by.

Oklahoma St./Arkansas St. under 46: Cowboys scored 52 last week but that was against Missouri St. Arkansas St.'s defense is solid and last year the game was 20-10. I don't see ASU scoring much (at all?) but I also don't see OSU getting 46 on their own.

ULL/Texas A&M under 52.5: A&M defense is not great so ULL should be able to move the ball. That is good news since ULL likes to run it and this could lead to some long time-consuming drives. A&M needed a blocked punt and a long KO return to get 35 againt The Shitadel so I don't think this game gets close to 52.5

North Texas +5.5 over SMU: NT missed a great scoring opportunity in the first quarter against Texas and melted down late in the fourth or they would have covered. I think we can all agree that SMU is not Texas. This game should be close the whole way with Jamario Thomas making the difference for the Mean Green.

 

[BGFalcon]

Troy/Florida St. under 45: FSU's defense looked very strong Monday night while the offense was so-so. Troy lit up a Division I-AA for 38 points while recording a shutout. Florida St. shouldn't have any problem keeping Troy out of the endzone and won't have enough interest in this game offensively to score a ton. I betting the Seminoles are a little sluggish out of the gate on Saturday since they probably got their drink on pretty good Monday night (and Tuesday night, also). Forty-five is about seven points too many.

 

[Deezeldogg]

i like the unders!! good luck

 

[BGFalcon]

Team Totals:

Team Totals:

Arkansas St. under 14.5

Texas A&M under 36.5

 

[BGFalcon]

Miami +17 over Purdue: Boilermaker's defense is too bad to cover this number. Redhawks had trouble scoring against Northwestern but should be able to get untracked this week. This should be close all the way.

 

[Deezeldogg]

I like Miami as well.

 

[BGFalcon]

Texas -2.5 over Ohio St.: I don't buy into all the revenge talk from the Buckeyes. Texas is at home, their defense is very strong and they can run the ball. Ohio St. is a very good team but they showed some vulnerability on defense against NIU and in the kicking game. Mack Brown got the "can't win the big one" monkey off his back last year and won't overcoach this one.

 

[hm23]

well, at least we're both on Kent State.

gl2u

 

[Spalding]

What are your thoughts on D1-AA this week?

I am looking at Youngstown -4.5 over Maine
Cal Poly -4 over Weber
Eastern Illinois -7 over Indiana State
Appy St -6 over Jimmy Madison


Thanks,


Spalding

 

[BGFalcon]

I'm staying away from picking any more I-AA games until I get 3 weeks worth of data. But, I do like Cal Poly and Appy St. Indiana St. scares me a little bit because of their offense which looked pretty good against Purdue. No official picks until week 4 when I have access to accurate data.

 

[Spalding]

That is probably a good idea!

You got any insight on Youngstown for me being your from the Ohio area? They sound like they are pretty good this year.

Thanks

 

[BGFalcon]

YSU should be pretty good. They have about 14 Division I-A transfers on the team. This is Maine's first game of the season so I don't know what to expect. They do have a good QB returning along with a solid running back. Not sure about the offensive line. I would lean towards laying the chalk but it is too many question marks for me this early in the season.

 

[stwoody]

Looks Good!

Looks Good!

Much luck to you!

 

[BGFalcon]

Navy -5 over UMass: Umass had a nice win last week against Colgate but will struggle to handle Navy's ground game. I have this game lined at 15.

 

[BGFalcon]

Illinois +10.5 over Rutgers: I thought this line might creep up a little bit it appears to be headed to 10. Biting Illini got the ground game going last week and will try to continue that this week. Ruptures might be a little flat after pulling the mild upset last week. I like Illinois to keep it low-scoring and close in a game that you won't want to watch.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Right there with you on the Illini. Still think maybe we could see 11.5 at some point tomorrow morning.

 

[BGFalcon]

Michigan -7 (1st Qtr) over CMU: This was a winner last week and I think it will be again against the Chips. Michigan cannot be happy with their offensive showing from last week and should come out aggressive again. CMU will struggle to score against the defense so we could see another 10-0 first quarter. Pinny has this at -109 which is a much better option than -6.5, -135 at the Greek.

 

[Rcxslam]

Michigan -7 (1st Qtr) over CMU: This was a winner last week and I think it will be again against the Chips. Michigan cannot be happy with their offensive showing from last week and should come out aggressive again. CMU will struggle to score against the defense so we could see another 10-0 first quarter. Pinny has this at -109 which is a much better option than -6.5, -135 at the Greek.

thanx for pointing out this winner last week BG...started looking at it and it made sense...not sure if I'll tail again this week but GL on all your plays...

 

[BGFalcon]

Results: 7-6, +0.4 units

YTD: 15-12, +0.6 units