Big card again this week. I hope that you all have a great week as well. Let me know what you think about todays selections and feel free to share any information that I may have let out. Let all kick some a$$ today!!!
5 Units Nebraska +2.5 -103
This is one of the more intriguing games of the weekend as the Cats (6-3 SU, 4-5 ATS) come off a 45-0 romp over Iowa State for their fourth straight victory. Darren Sproles ran for a career-high 201 yards on 19 carries, and also scored three touchdowns before leaving midway through the third quarter in the Iowa State game. The Cornhuskers (8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS), also off an impressive 24-3 win over Kansas, were watching film of last years 49-13 loss to the Wildcats shortly after their showers on Saturday. One can only imagine that loss as a motivational factor. The Kansas State defense continues to improve and the Huskers opportunistic defense needs to flex its muscles one more time at home, where Nebraska is undefeated this season. The winner will move on to play top-ranked Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. A barnburner to be sure on Saturday. The home field could be huge in a low scoring, defensive clash featuring a lot of running and little passing!!!
5 Units Houston U -10 -106
Army is still looking for its first win (and running out of time) while Houston has lost three in a row after a terrific start. The Cougars (5-4 SU, 4-3 ATS) defense has been terrible, but that won't matter much here as Army can't do anything right on offense. Army has rotated QBs all season and has absolutely no running game. And Houston does have a strong offense (27 points, 235 yds passing pg) led by talented freshman QB Kevin Kolb and junior WR Brandon Middleton. Army (0-10) surrenders 34 points per contest and it's easy to see Houston's strong air game scoring a bundle here, especially after three frustrating losses. The last two games the Army offense has scored 9 and 3 points. Look for Army to be 0-11 Saturday afternoon in their last home game.
5 Units Michigan -17.5 -105
The last time these teams met was in 2000, and Northwestern registered an upset in a wild 54-51 shootout. Don't look for a rerun in 2003. Michigan is playing fabulous football and despite absorbing a pair of narrow road losses earlier at Oregon and Iowa, the Wolverines are very much in the mix for one of the BCS bowl games. Michigan's big game is next week when they host Ohio State, but coming off a bye week the chances of them losing focus to the extent they get in trouble here are somewhat limited. Northwestern could be pesky as far as the spread is concerned, as the gritty Wildcats have found a way to go 5-5 SU (7-3 ATS) and they're also an impressive 5-1 ATS in this series. But the talent disparity here is substantial, and for Northwestern to have a chance they need to run the ball well, something that's not likely to happen against a pretty decent Michigan rush defense. The Wolverines have not shown much mercy against outmanned opposition and that points to a fairly lopsided result here.
5 Units Oklahoma State -20 -107
Moral victory aside, in losing (only) 24-3 to Nebraska last week the Kansas Jayhawks will be thoroughly tested once again when they visit Oklahoma State Saturday. Adam Barmann a true freshman went 24 of 34, but engineered no touchdowns. Two failed drives ending with interceptions at the goal line shed some hope for the future. For Oklahoma State (6-3 SU, 5-4 ATS), QB Josh Fields needs to get back on track following a couple of defeats, although the Cowboys depend on TB Tatum Bell and WR Rashaun Woods, they need their quarterback to rebound soon. This season isn't ruined and victories are expected in the remaining conference games, against Kansas and at Baylor. As good as the offense has been (averaging 35 ppg) the Cowboys defense leaves a little to be desired giving up 28 ppg and that includes 107 points in the past two games!!! A much needed little Sisters of the Poor game on Saturday brings a ray of hope and last year Oklahoma State had a 55-20 win as a 23-point favorite.
5 Units Arkansas State +20.5 -108
It is time for another Sun Belt sacrifice as Arkansas State tries to steal the conference title from perennial Sun Belt King, North Texas State. Last week NTSU got a little lazy against UL Monroe, only winning 28-26 SU. However, NTSU (7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS) is 4-0 in the conference and looking to head to the New Orleans Bowl again. Arkansas State (5-5 SU, 3-5 ATS) is trying to become bowl eligible and win the conference at the same time. Quietly, Arkansas State has become 3-0 in the conference after beating Idaho 24-23 SU at home. NTSU is always known for their defense and this year is no exception, only allowing 107 yards per game. However, NTSU has been beaten by the pass, allowing a suprising 225 yards per game. Arkansas State's defense has also been pretty good against the run, only allowing 138 yards per game. Their weakness has been the pass defense, giving up 251 yards through the air each week. However, North Texas probably won't be able to take advantage since their pass offense is only producing 152 yards per game. Arkansas State has played North Texas tough the past 4 years, winning 2 SU. Closer than everyone think!!!
3 Units Ball State -10.5 -102
Ball State (3-6 SU, 4-5 ATS) passed for 326 yards against Western Michigan in a 28-20 loss on Saturday. The combined yards by quarterbacks Talmadge Hill and Andy Roesch at 326 yards was the highest total for the Cardinals since 1993. The Cardinals' run defense continues to be their weak link. Ball State allowed Western Michigan to run for a season-best 167 yards. Under new interim head coach Al Lavan, Eastern Michigan dumped Central Florida 19-13 on Saturday ending an 8-game losing streak. The Eagles continued to struggle on offense, but their defense slammed the door on UCF. Freshman Ken Bohnet got the start and completed 8 of 17 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Sherrell rushed for 155 yards (his seventh 100-yard game) on a school-record 43 carries. The Ball State passing attack will go against a pretty good E. Michigan running game here. A year ago, Ball State beat Eastern Michigan 42-17 and 35-10 two years ago (2-0 SU/ATS the last two meetings). Look for the Ball State Cardinals run defense to be tested but they do have a pretty good passing game and that should be the difference.
3 Units Oregon State -14.5 -105
What's with former soft touch Stanford??? After losing their first four Pac 10 contests this year by an average score of 30-12, the suddenly potent Cardinal has won 2 straight contests. Especially impressive was they way the usually sluggish Stanford attack moved the ball last week, rushing for 217 yards and passing for 279 more vs. visiting Arizona St. Senior Chris Lewis had his best game of the year, throwing for two scores and running for another. But pushing around an Arizona St. defense that's just playing out the string is one thing, facing the Beavers excellent stop unit is quite another thing. And don't discount the strong OSU home field advantage: 17-5 ATS as a home chalk and making the number look even more imposing....Stanford has been outscored 107-38 in three conference road losses this year.
More up later, so be on the lookout
ALLSTAR
5 Units Nebraska +2.5 -103
This is one of the more intriguing games of the weekend as the Cats (6-3 SU, 4-5 ATS) come off a 45-0 romp over Iowa State for their fourth straight victory. Darren Sproles ran for a career-high 201 yards on 19 carries, and also scored three touchdowns before leaving midway through the third quarter in the Iowa State game. The Cornhuskers (8-2 SU, 6-4 ATS), also off an impressive 24-3 win over Kansas, were watching film of last years 49-13 loss to the Wildcats shortly after their showers on Saturday. One can only imagine that loss as a motivational factor. The Kansas State defense continues to improve and the Huskers opportunistic defense needs to flex its muscles one more time at home, where Nebraska is undefeated this season. The winner will move on to play top-ranked Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game. A barnburner to be sure on Saturday. The home field could be huge in a low scoring, defensive clash featuring a lot of running and little passing!!!
5 Units Houston U -10 -106
Army is still looking for its first win (and running out of time) while Houston has lost three in a row after a terrific start. The Cougars (5-4 SU, 4-3 ATS) defense has been terrible, but that won't matter much here as Army can't do anything right on offense. Army has rotated QBs all season and has absolutely no running game. And Houston does have a strong offense (27 points, 235 yds passing pg) led by talented freshman QB Kevin Kolb and junior WR Brandon Middleton. Army (0-10) surrenders 34 points per contest and it's easy to see Houston's strong air game scoring a bundle here, especially after three frustrating losses. The last two games the Army offense has scored 9 and 3 points. Look for Army to be 0-11 Saturday afternoon in their last home game.
5 Units Michigan -17.5 -105
The last time these teams met was in 2000, and Northwestern registered an upset in a wild 54-51 shootout. Don't look for a rerun in 2003. Michigan is playing fabulous football and despite absorbing a pair of narrow road losses earlier at Oregon and Iowa, the Wolverines are very much in the mix for one of the BCS bowl games. Michigan's big game is next week when they host Ohio State, but coming off a bye week the chances of them losing focus to the extent they get in trouble here are somewhat limited. Northwestern could be pesky as far as the spread is concerned, as the gritty Wildcats have found a way to go 5-5 SU (7-3 ATS) and they're also an impressive 5-1 ATS in this series. But the talent disparity here is substantial, and for Northwestern to have a chance they need to run the ball well, something that's not likely to happen against a pretty decent Michigan rush defense. The Wolverines have not shown much mercy against outmanned opposition and that points to a fairly lopsided result here.
5 Units Oklahoma State -20 -107
Moral victory aside, in losing (only) 24-3 to Nebraska last week the Kansas Jayhawks will be thoroughly tested once again when they visit Oklahoma State Saturday. Adam Barmann a true freshman went 24 of 34, but engineered no touchdowns. Two failed drives ending with interceptions at the goal line shed some hope for the future. For Oklahoma State (6-3 SU, 5-4 ATS), QB Josh Fields needs to get back on track following a couple of defeats, although the Cowboys depend on TB Tatum Bell and WR Rashaun Woods, they need their quarterback to rebound soon. This season isn't ruined and victories are expected in the remaining conference games, against Kansas and at Baylor. As good as the offense has been (averaging 35 ppg) the Cowboys defense leaves a little to be desired giving up 28 ppg and that includes 107 points in the past two games!!! A much needed little Sisters of the Poor game on Saturday brings a ray of hope and last year Oklahoma State had a 55-20 win as a 23-point favorite.
5 Units Arkansas State +20.5 -108
It is time for another Sun Belt sacrifice as Arkansas State tries to steal the conference title from perennial Sun Belt King, North Texas State. Last week NTSU got a little lazy against UL Monroe, only winning 28-26 SU. However, NTSU (7-3 SU, 6-4 ATS) is 4-0 in the conference and looking to head to the New Orleans Bowl again. Arkansas State (5-5 SU, 3-5 ATS) is trying to become bowl eligible and win the conference at the same time. Quietly, Arkansas State has become 3-0 in the conference after beating Idaho 24-23 SU at home. NTSU is always known for their defense and this year is no exception, only allowing 107 yards per game. However, NTSU has been beaten by the pass, allowing a suprising 225 yards per game. Arkansas State's defense has also been pretty good against the run, only allowing 138 yards per game. Their weakness has been the pass defense, giving up 251 yards through the air each week. However, North Texas probably won't be able to take advantage since their pass offense is only producing 152 yards per game. Arkansas State has played North Texas tough the past 4 years, winning 2 SU. Closer than everyone think!!!
3 Units Ball State -10.5 -102
Ball State (3-6 SU, 4-5 ATS) passed for 326 yards against Western Michigan in a 28-20 loss on Saturday. The combined yards by quarterbacks Talmadge Hill and Andy Roesch at 326 yards was the highest total for the Cardinals since 1993. The Cardinals' run defense continues to be their weak link. Ball State allowed Western Michigan to run for a season-best 167 yards. Under new interim head coach Al Lavan, Eastern Michigan dumped Central Florida 19-13 on Saturday ending an 8-game losing streak. The Eagles continued to struggle on offense, but their defense slammed the door on UCF. Freshman Ken Bohnet got the start and completed 8 of 17 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown. Anthony Sherrell rushed for 155 yards (his seventh 100-yard game) on a school-record 43 carries. The Ball State passing attack will go against a pretty good E. Michigan running game here. A year ago, Ball State beat Eastern Michigan 42-17 and 35-10 two years ago (2-0 SU/ATS the last two meetings). Look for the Ball State Cardinals run defense to be tested but they do have a pretty good passing game and that should be the difference.
3 Units Oregon State -14.5 -105
What's with former soft touch Stanford??? After losing their first four Pac 10 contests this year by an average score of 30-12, the suddenly potent Cardinal has won 2 straight contests. Especially impressive was they way the usually sluggish Stanford attack moved the ball last week, rushing for 217 yards and passing for 279 more vs. visiting Arizona St. Senior Chris Lewis had his best game of the year, throwing for two scores and running for another. But pushing around an Arizona St. defense that's just playing out the string is one thing, facing the Beavers excellent stop unit is quite another thing. And don't discount the strong OSU home field advantage: 17-5 ATS as a home chalk and making the number look even more imposing....Stanford has been outscored 107-38 in three conference road losses this year.
More up later, so be on the lookout
ALLSTAR
