uconn (+10.5) & pitt (-1.5), 2 units each. huge look-ahead for both louisville and rutgers, as they play on thursday for the big east championship. maybe even more of a look-ahead for rutgers, as louisville beat them by 2 last year. line drop in the uconn game, and just a crazy line in the pitt game.
michigan (+4) 1 unit. another kinda crazy line here. everybody knows this is ohio state's bowl game. somebody please correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think robinson is starting at qb any more. that is a plus for michigan.
georgia/gt over (63.5) 1 unit. the number one priority for georgia's defense is going to be avoiding blocks at their knees all afternoon so they stay healthy for the sec championship game.
indiana (+5) 3 units. probably a play on the ML, too. the hoosiers have shown some signs of life this year, and purdue.... well, purdue hasn't really shown much.
penn st (-2) 1 unit. HUGE emotional edge to psu here. nothing for a mediocre wisconsin team to play for today, and it's the last game for this psu team that's been through so much over the last year or so.
minnesota (+8.5) 2 units. what a disappointing season for the spartans. how fired up will they be to try to earn their way into a mediocre bowl game one year after a 3-OT win over georgia in the outback bowl? minnesota has covered 5 straight against sparty and the dog has covered 10 of the last 11 in this matchup. i'll say it again - i really like this freshman nelson at qb for minnesota. as you'd expect from a freshman, he's been a lot better at home (55%, 7.6 yds/att, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) than on the road (48%, 4.6 yds/att, 2 TSs, 4 INTs).
florida st (-7) 1 unit. this line is just begging for florida money, isn't it? however, the better play might be....
fl/fsu under (43) 2 units. florida simply can't score. and this will be EASILY the best defense fsu has faced all year. first team to 17 wins.
troy (+3) 2 units. let me get this straight - mtsu, 5-1 in conference, is only laying 3 at home to troy (3-4 sun belt)? well, mtsu just may be looking ahead to their game against arkansas st next week for the sun belt championship. troy has the confidence from beating mtsu 6 straight years and with that offense, they are never out of a game.
south carolina (+4) 2 units. defense.
usc ML 1 to win 1.8. so many factors that make it difficult to take usc here. the biggest is lane kiffin. but usc is so much more talented than notre dame. IF usc's line can give wittek time, nd simply can't cover lee and woods. and IF usc's defense actually shows up (no real reason to believe it will), nd will have a lot of trouble moving the ball. i don't see this game being close one way or the other. if wittek is given time, usc may win this game fairly easily. if usc is unprepared (hard to believe with kiffin coaching, i know), then nd wins by a couple td's.
san jose (-4) 2 units. i'm seeing some conflicting information, but it looks like the wac only has one bowl tie-in this year, which will go to utah st (a trip to boise! yay!). so theoretically both these teams could miss out on bowl games, while far less-deserving teams go bowling. i think both will still get in, but what an asinine system. anyway, la tech had their shot to win the conference last week and had a big late comeback, only to lose in OT. i don't know how well they'll rebound this week, while i can guarantee san jose will be fired up for this game.
michigan (+4) 1 unit. another kinda crazy line here. everybody knows this is ohio state's bowl game. somebody please correct me if i'm wrong, but i don't think robinson is starting at qb any more. that is a plus for michigan.
georgia/gt over (63.5) 1 unit. the number one priority for georgia's defense is going to be avoiding blocks at their knees all afternoon so they stay healthy for the sec championship game.
indiana (+5) 3 units. probably a play on the ML, too. the hoosiers have shown some signs of life this year, and purdue.... well, purdue hasn't really shown much.
penn st (-2) 1 unit. HUGE emotional edge to psu here. nothing for a mediocre wisconsin team to play for today, and it's the last game for this psu team that's been through so much over the last year or so.
minnesota (+8.5) 2 units. what a disappointing season for the spartans. how fired up will they be to try to earn their way into a mediocre bowl game one year after a 3-OT win over georgia in the outback bowl? minnesota has covered 5 straight against sparty and the dog has covered 10 of the last 11 in this matchup. i'll say it again - i really like this freshman nelson at qb for minnesota. as you'd expect from a freshman, he's been a lot better at home (55%, 7.6 yds/att, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) than on the road (48%, 4.6 yds/att, 2 TSs, 4 INTs).
florida st (-7) 1 unit. this line is just begging for florida money, isn't it? however, the better play might be....
fl/fsu under (43) 2 units. florida simply can't score. and this will be EASILY the best defense fsu has faced all year. first team to 17 wins.
troy (+3) 2 units. let me get this straight - mtsu, 5-1 in conference, is only laying 3 at home to troy (3-4 sun belt)? well, mtsu just may be looking ahead to their game against arkansas st next week for the sun belt championship. troy has the confidence from beating mtsu 6 straight years and with that offense, they are never out of a game.
south carolina (+4) 2 units. defense.
usc ML 1 to win 1.8. so many factors that make it difficult to take usc here. the biggest is lane kiffin. but usc is so much more talented than notre dame. IF usc's line can give wittek time, nd simply can't cover lee and woods. and IF usc's defense actually shows up (no real reason to believe it will), nd will have a lot of trouble moving the ball. i don't see this game being close one way or the other. if wittek is given time, usc may win this game fairly easily. if usc is unprepared (hard to believe with kiffin coaching, i know), then nd wins by a couple td's.
san jose (-4) 2 units. i'm seeing some conflicting information, but it looks like the wac only has one bowl tie-in this year, which will go to utah st (a trip to boise! yay!). so theoretically both these teams could miss out on bowl games, while far less-deserving teams go bowling. i think both will still get in, but what an asinine system. anyway, la tech had their shot to win the conference last week and had a big late comeback, only to lose in OT. i don't know how well they'll rebound this week, while i can guarantee san jose will be fired up for this game.
