THURSDAY 3-1 +9.80 UNITS
Here are todays games:
20 Units Notre Dame -4.5 -106
Stanford's hopes for a winning season ended last Saturday when they couldn't protect a 10-point half time lead over California. The Cardinal offense, or lack of, was again the culprit as they were limited to 284 yards of total offense. That makes it 7 times in the last 8 games that the Stanford attack was held under 300 yards of total offense!!! The Irish can't achieve a winning campaign either, but they could finish .500 with a victory here and at Syracuse next week. And they've certainly got the defensive prowess to shut down Stanford's pedestrian attack. And while the Irish don't possess much of an offense themselves, young quarterback Brady Quinn has a huge upside. A slighly better attack, a vastly superior defense and a coaching matchup, TY Willingham vs. Buddy Teevens, that might be worth as much as 7 points to the visitor!!!
7 Units Tennessee U -11.5 -109
Tennessee is peaking at just the right time, after burying Vandy 48-0 last week. That now makes it 5 in a row for the Vols and they are right in the mix for the SEC East crown. Who wins this side of the SEC is still more complicated than an eight grade math word problem. However, Tennessee must win this week to stay in the picture. This is good news since Tennessee has dominated this series by winning the last 10. Kentucky has clearly phoned it in after dropping its 3rd in a row to Georgia, 30-10. That 71-63 OT loss to Arkansas just took the life out of UK. Now it is basketball season and the fans have left for Rupp Arena. Kentucky (4-7 SU, 6-4 ATS) simply has no reason to put up a fight in this one. Interestingly, Tennessee has broken the 50 point barrier in 5 of their 10 wins in this series and last year, the Vols pitched a shutout 24-0. Look for more of the same as UT dominates!!!
5 Units So Mississippi -14.5 -109
Certainly a letdown spot for Southern Miss after last week's emotional 40-28 win at home over previously undefeated TCU. But the Conference USA title is at stake here and a win makes Southern Miss a perfect 8-0 in the conference. Southern Miss (8-3 SU & 7-4 ATS) carries a five-game win streak into this game. The defense has been terrific all season, while a young offense has begun to blossom under the guidance of sophomore QB Dustin Almond. Almond had a big game against TCU last week with 227 passing yards and 3 TDs. Southern Miss is 8-0 SU & 7-1 ATS against Memphis, UAB, Cincinnati, South Florida, Lafayette, Houston, Tulane and TCU -- that's seven C-USA teams. Standing meekly in their way is a terrible East Carolina squad (1-10) that's only win was over winless Army -- and even that game was close, 38-32. The Pirates have rotated 3 QBs on an offense that has averaged just 17.8 ppg, so they won't score much on this fired-up Southern Miss 'D'. And since East Carolina hasn’t been able to stop anyone all season
(35.5 points pg allowed), it's the visitors or nothing!!!
5 Units Rice +7.5 -109
Rice (4-7 SU & 7-3 ATS) tries to finish the season with a three game win streak as it takes on Louisiana Tech (5-6 SU & 5-6 ATS) this week in Huston, LA. This will be just the third meeting ever between the schools, with Rice holding a 2-1 edge. Tech’s win over the Owls came at home in a 41-38 overtime victory in 2001. The Owls attack is based mainly on their strong ground game, which now ranks 3rd in the nation with a 284 yard per game average. The Owls ran wild in last week’s win over UTEP, garnering 459 yards on the ground on 64 carries. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech plays its final game of the season and will attempt to even its overall record at 6-6 on senior day. The Bulldogs hit a “perfect storm” last week when they lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 48-14. The loss overshadowed the record setting day by RB Ryan Moats who set a Tech record with his sixth straight rushing performance of more than 100 yards as he ran for 220 yards and one touchdown in the loss. Once again the Achilles Heal for the Bulldogs is their lack of defense, which allowed 483 yards to Tulsa. The Bulldogs defense is now ranked 115th in the nation, allowing an average of 490 yards per game. While each of these clubs would like to finish the season on a winning note, we expect the dog to hang in there against a defense as poor as Tech’s!!!
5 Units Houston U -1.5 -107
UABs strong defense takes on Houston’s talented, speedy offense. UAB is not an explosive offensive team, preferring ball control and defense. They beat a terrible Army team just 24-9 and last week pulled the upset, but had to hang on for dear life in a 22-19 win at South Florida. First-year defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt has done a great job, and will have a tough challenge against Houston’s wide-open offense. The Houston Cougars (6-5 SU & 5-4 ATS) have not been playing well lately because of a terrible defense. They've given up 62 and 66 points in two games over the last month! Last week Louisville smoked them, 66-45. UAB doesn't have that kind of offense, and the Cougars are able to score (31 points per game) behind freshman QB Kevin Kolb and junior WR Brandon Middleton. They average 31 points and over 205 yards rushing and passing per game. Normally defense prevails in games like this, and both teams need a win to keep slim bowl hopes alive. But Houston is home and has a lot of speed!!!
Good luck today my friends,
ALLSTAR
Here are todays games:
20 Units Notre Dame -4.5 -106
Stanford's hopes for a winning season ended last Saturday when they couldn't protect a 10-point half time lead over California. The Cardinal offense, or lack of, was again the culprit as they were limited to 284 yards of total offense. That makes it 7 times in the last 8 games that the Stanford attack was held under 300 yards of total offense!!! The Irish can't achieve a winning campaign either, but they could finish .500 with a victory here and at Syracuse next week. And they've certainly got the defensive prowess to shut down Stanford's pedestrian attack. And while the Irish don't possess much of an offense themselves, young quarterback Brady Quinn has a huge upside. A slighly better attack, a vastly superior defense and a coaching matchup, TY Willingham vs. Buddy Teevens, that might be worth as much as 7 points to the visitor!!!
7 Units Tennessee U -11.5 -109
Tennessee is peaking at just the right time, after burying Vandy 48-0 last week. That now makes it 5 in a row for the Vols and they are right in the mix for the SEC East crown. Who wins this side of the SEC is still more complicated than an eight grade math word problem. However, Tennessee must win this week to stay in the picture. This is good news since Tennessee has dominated this series by winning the last 10. Kentucky has clearly phoned it in after dropping its 3rd in a row to Georgia, 30-10. That 71-63 OT loss to Arkansas just took the life out of UK. Now it is basketball season and the fans have left for Rupp Arena. Kentucky (4-7 SU, 6-4 ATS) simply has no reason to put up a fight in this one. Interestingly, Tennessee has broken the 50 point barrier in 5 of their 10 wins in this series and last year, the Vols pitched a shutout 24-0. Look for more of the same as UT dominates!!!
5 Units So Mississippi -14.5 -109
Certainly a letdown spot for Southern Miss after last week's emotional 40-28 win at home over previously undefeated TCU. But the Conference USA title is at stake here and a win makes Southern Miss a perfect 8-0 in the conference. Southern Miss (8-3 SU & 7-4 ATS) carries a five-game win streak into this game. The defense has been terrific all season, while a young offense has begun to blossom under the guidance of sophomore QB Dustin Almond. Almond had a big game against TCU last week with 227 passing yards and 3 TDs. Southern Miss is 8-0 SU & 7-1 ATS against Memphis, UAB, Cincinnati, South Florida, Lafayette, Houston, Tulane and TCU -- that's seven C-USA teams. Standing meekly in their way is a terrible East Carolina squad (1-10) that's only win was over winless Army -- and even that game was close, 38-32. The Pirates have rotated 3 QBs on an offense that has averaged just 17.8 ppg, so they won't score much on this fired-up Southern Miss 'D'. And since East Carolina hasn’t been able to stop anyone all season
(35.5 points pg allowed), it's the visitors or nothing!!!
5 Units Rice +7.5 -109
Rice (4-7 SU & 7-3 ATS) tries to finish the season with a three game win streak as it takes on Louisiana Tech (5-6 SU & 5-6 ATS) this week in Huston, LA. This will be just the third meeting ever between the schools, with Rice holding a 2-1 edge. Tech’s win over the Owls came at home in a 41-38 overtime victory in 2001. The Owls attack is based mainly on their strong ground game, which now ranks 3rd in the nation with a 284 yard per game average. The Owls ran wild in last week’s win over UTEP, garnering 459 yards on the ground on 64 carries. Meanwhile, Louisiana Tech plays its final game of the season and will attempt to even its overall record at 6-6 on senior day. The Bulldogs hit a “perfect storm” last week when they lost to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, 48-14. The loss overshadowed the record setting day by RB Ryan Moats who set a Tech record with his sixth straight rushing performance of more than 100 yards as he ran for 220 yards and one touchdown in the loss. Once again the Achilles Heal for the Bulldogs is their lack of defense, which allowed 483 yards to Tulsa. The Bulldogs defense is now ranked 115th in the nation, allowing an average of 490 yards per game. While each of these clubs would like to finish the season on a winning note, we expect the dog to hang in there against a defense as poor as Tech’s!!!
5 Units Houston U -1.5 -107
UABs strong defense takes on Houston’s talented, speedy offense. UAB is not an explosive offensive team, preferring ball control and defense. They beat a terrible Army team just 24-9 and last week pulled the upset, but had to hang on for dear life in a 22-19 win at South Florida. First-year defensive coordinator Wayne Bolt has done a great job, and will have a tough challenge against Houston’s wide-open offense. The Houston Cougars (6-5 SU & 5-4 ATS) have not been playing well lately because of a terrible defense. They've given up 62 and 66 points in two games over the last month! Last week Louisville smoked them, 66-45. UAB doesn't have that kind of offense, and the Cougars are able to score (31 points per game) behind freshman QB Kevin Kolb and junior WR Brandon Middleton. They average 31 points and over 205 yards rushing and passing per game. Normally defense prevails in games like this, and both teams need a win to keep slim bowl hopes alive. But Houston is home and has a lot of speed!!!
Good luck today my friends,
ALLSTAR
