College Football Spreads Week 7: Week-7 of the 2011 season took off with two College Football Odds matchups Thursday, USC at Cal and San Diego State at Air Force. The Golden Bears were +3 home underdogs to the Trojans playing in AT&T Field in San Francisco while the Falcons were favored by -7 over the Aztecs. USC came out the stronger team cruising to a 30-9 victory after jumping out to a 20-0 halftime lead, easily covering the 3-chalk spread. The Aztecs pulled away from the Falcons in the second half of their game to win 41-27 easily covering the spread as a +7 road underdogs.
Friday night's action features a WAC matchup between the Hawaii Warriors and San Jose State Spartans at San Jose, Calif. The Warriors are lined -5 road favorites in this one with a combined point total of 56. Hawaii, at 3-2 overall, has the best record in the WAC and shares the conference lead (1-0) with Nevada and Fresno State.
Here you will find Saturday's full offshore betting board as listed at online sportsbook BetOnline.com. As usual, I'll be making a few comments about games that catch my interest. Then on Saturday I will make a few picks for the day. I'm having a good season with my college football picks, hitting the mark 75 percent of the time.
First let's look at the ACC where one game captures my interest. What jumps out the most are Florida State playing on the road for the third straight week; this week at Duke. It seems the air has come out of the Seminoles balloon since losing a Week-3 heartbreaker to Oklahoma at home. Since that game, the Seminoles lost as a 1 1/2-point underdog at Clemson, followed by with a 30-35 SU loss on the road as a double-digit(-10) point favorite to Wake Forest. Again oddsmakers are listing FSU a double-digit favorite (-12 1/2) versus the Blue Devils. No longer considered a BCS contender, not even an ACC contender for that matter; it will be interesting to see if the team has mentally quit or coming roaring back to be a factor in the league.
ACC
12:30 Miami Florida +2 1/2; ml +220; at North Carolina; -2 1/2; ml
3:00 Florida State -12 1/2; ml -425; at Duke +12 1/2; ml +350; total 57
3:30 Georgia Tech -7; ml -290; at Virginia +7; ml +245; total 55 1/2
6:30 Virginia Tech -6 1/2; ml -260; at Wake Forest +220; total 49 1/2
7:00 Clemson -8; ml -310; at Maryland +8; ml +260; total 53 1/2
BIG EAST Conference
The Big East is a league falling apart before our very eyes now that Pittsburgh and Syracuse have announced plans to run off to the ACC. However; the move shouldn't have any effect on this weeks games. The most interesting of Saturday's Big East line up has to be Utah, now of the Pac-12 traveling east to play Pitt at Heinz Field. The Panthers laid a big egg last week losing at Rutgers as -6 1/2 spread favorites. The Panthers are again 6 1/2-chalk favorites versus the Utes, this time at home. The Utes lost by 21 points at home versus Arizona State last week to go 2-3 on the year with a ATS record of 1-3.
12:00 Utah +6 1/2; ml +200; at Pittsburgh -6 1/2; ml -240; total 46
12:00 Louisville +16; ml +535; at Cincinnati -16; ml -675; total 48 1/2
2:00 Navy +3 1/2; ml +150; at Rutgers -3 1/2; ml -170; total 53 1/2
3:30 USF -7; ml -280; Connecticut +7; +235; total 46 1/2
BIG TEN Conference
Penn State must be the most overlined program in the country. While going 5-1 SU, the Nittany Lions are 1-5 ATS. Here they are again; lined double-digit favorites at home versus Purdue. As 10-point or more favorites, Penn State is 0-4 ATS. I'm not making a pick yet but the Boilermakers are looking pretty good at +12 1/2. Ohio State is 3-3 SU and ATS on the year and has lost two straight to Michigan State at home and Nebraska in Lincoln. They will try to bounce back this week but Illinois might not be the place to do it. The Illini, 6-0 SU and 3-3 ATS, have the Buckeyes in their cross-hairs, favored by -3 1/2.
12:00 Purdue +11 1/2; ml +365; at Penn State -11 1/2 -440 ml; total 41 1/2
12:00 Indiana +39 1/2; ml OFF; at Wisconsin -39 1/2; ml OFF; total 60 1/2
12:00 Michigan +3; ml +125; at Michigan State -3; ml -145; total 49
3:30 Ohio State +3 1/2; ml +145; at Illinois -3 1/2; ml -165 total 45
7:00 Northwestern +6; ml +200; at Iowa -6; ml -240; total 55
BIG 12 Conference
We have three good looking games in the Big 12 and Oklahoma isn't one of them. Those poor Texas Longhorns. After playing a parade of cup cakes the first month of the season, the Longhorns got trashed 17-55 to Oklahoma in the Red River Rivalry game at Dallas Oct. 8. This week they go on a true road game to Stillwater, Ok., to play the Oklahoma State Cowboys as +7 road underdogs. They've got to be kidding me. If Texas thinks OU had a good offense wait till the Pokes get ahold of them. Texas A&M is favorite to the visiting Baylor Bears by 8 1/2 in a game that should have lots of offense as well. If you like playing totals, maybe you should give this posted 76 a whirl. Speaking of totals; the posted number between Oklahoma and Kansas is 73. We know the Sooners can score but will they pile over 60 on the Jayhawks? We know KU will not do much against the OU defense. It looks like there could be some value in an UNDER play here.
12:00 Baylor +8 1/2; ml +265; at Texas A&M -8 1/2; ml -315 total 76
7:00 Kansas State +3 1/2; ml +150; at Texas Tech -3 1/2; ml -170; total 60
2:00 Iowa State +15 1/2; ml +490; at Missouri -15 1/2; ml -620; total 55 1/2
3:30 Oklahoma State -7; ml -280; at Texas +7; ml +235; total 64 1/2
9:15 Oklahoma -35; ml OFF; at Kansas +35; ML Off; total 73
Pac 12
Betting against the Ducks at home is a risky proposition. I tried it once this season and whiffed taking Cal +21 1/2 in Week 6. Now I understand that TB LaMichael James, a 2010 Heisman Trophy finalist is out of the game. Arizona State is pretty good and coming in as a +14 1/2 dog. Is Stanford good enough to cover as a -21 point road favorite at Washington State? I will give that one a good look before making my picks.
3:30 Colorado +15 1/2; ml +520; at Washington -15 1/2; ml -660; total 57 1/2
4:00 BYU +3; ml +140; at Oregon State -3; ml -160; total 51
7:30 Stanford -21; ml -1300; at Wash State +21; ml +920; total 63 1/2
10:15 Arizona State +14 1/2; ml +455; at Oregon -14 1/2; ml -570; total 66 1/2
SEC
What's going on with Mississippi State? In pre season I really thought these guys would be a factor in the SEC West and I wasn't alone either. The Bulldogs have been a big disappointment. While going 3-3 SU thus far, they are 1-5 ATS. South Carolina flies into Starkville Saturday favored by -2 1/2. The Gamecocks really put things together last week with a new quarterback under center. Will the Bulldogs step up and be the team they're projected to be or do they fade away?
12:20 South Carolina -2 1/2; ml -145; at Miss State +2 1/2; ml +125; total 46 1/2
3:30 LSU -17; ml -780; at Tennessee +17; ml +600; total 44 1/2
6:00 Alabama -27; ml OFF; at Mississippi +27; ml OFF; total 45
7:00 Florida -2; ml -125; at Auburn +2; ml -125; total 50
7:00 Georgia -11; ml -435; at Vanderbilt +11; ml +360; total 41
Non-BCS
There are always great betting games among the non-automatic qualifiers but handicapping down there can be challenging at times. The biggest name among this group is Boise State who travel to Fort Collins, Colorado to play the Colorado State Rams in their first ever Mountain West Conference game. The Bronco's are again huge favorites giving -31 to the Rams. I've done well picking against the Bronco's ATS this year. It's worth looking at for sure.
Conference USA
3:30 Rice +5; ml +175; at Marshall -5; ml -205; total 51 1/2
3:30 UTEP +1 1/2; ml +105; at Tulane – 1 1/2; ml -125; total 58
3:30 Central Florida +3 1/2; ml +155; at SMU -3 1/2; ml -175; total 46
7:00 East Carolina -14; ml -545; at Memphis +14; ml +440; total 56 1/2
8:00 UAB +21 1/2; ml +920; at Tulsa -21 1/2; ml -1300; total 58 1/2
MAC
12:00 Toledo -7 1/2; ml -310; at Bowling Green; +7 1/2; ml +260; total 59 1/2
1:00 Buffalo +21; ml +910; at Temple -21; ml -1250; total 47 1/2
3:30 Miami Ohio; -3 1/2; ml -170; at Kent State +3 1/2; ml +150; total 39 1/2
3:30 Western Michigan -1; ml -120; at Northern Illinois +1 1/2; ml +100; total 68 1/2
3:30 Ball State +14 1/2; ml 475; at Ohio – 14 1/2; ml -605; total 58
Mountain West Conference
2:00 UNLV +10 1/2; ml +315; at Wyoming -10 1/2; ml -375; total 56
4:00 New Mexico +29 1/2; ml OFF; at Nevada (Reno) -29 1/2; ml OFF; total 62
6:00 Boise State -31; ml OFF; at Colorado State +31 1/2; ml OFF; total 55
Sun Belt
4:00 Western Kentucky +2 1/2; ml +120; at Florida Atlantic – 2 1/2; ml -140; total 43 1/2
5:00 North Texas +9; ml +275; at Louisiana Lafayette -9; ml -330; total 53 1/2
7:00 Louisiana Monroe +9; ml +280; at Troy -9; ml -335; total 56
WAC
Fri: 9:00 Hawaii -5; ml -205; at San Jose State +5; ml +175; total 56
4:00 New Mexico +29 1/2; ml OFF; at Nevada (Reno) -29 1/2; ml OFF; total 62
8:00 Idaho pk; ml OFF; at New Mexico State pk; ml OFF; total 49 1/2
10:00 Utah State -3; ml -150; at Fresno State +3; ml +130; total 64
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