College bettors power poll Week 13
By ALEX SMART -
1: Florida Gators (8-2 ATS (against the spread, 10-1 SU (straight up) (LW: 4) There isn’t a hotter team in America than the Gators, who crushed South Carolina 56-6 last weekend. The Gators have now covered six straight games. In their L/5 (last five), they have outscored their opponents 261-56 and have averaged covering the five spreads by an astounding 24.2 points per game.
Next Up: Home vs. The Citadel (No Line)
2: Oklahoma Sooners (7-2 ATS, 9-1 SU) (LW: 2) The Sooners were off last weekend in preparation for their shootout with the Red Raiders. They’re just 3-2 ATS at home this season, but have covered their last three spreads by scoring an average of 62 points per game.
Next Up: Home vs. Texas Tech (-7)
3: Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-2 ATS, 9-2 SU) (LW: 1) Oklahoma State bettors opened up the year 8-0 ATS, but have now dropped two straight after coming up short of covering their spread in their 30-17 victory in Boulder. They’ve got a week to prepare for Bedlam and still could find themselves in the mix for an at-large spot in the BCS.
Next Up: Bye
4: Ball State Cardinals (7-2 ATS, 10-0 SU) (LW: 2) The quest for perfection continued for Ball State last week when it beat the Redhawks 31-16. It wasn’t enough to cover the 17.5-point spread, though. The Cards will get their toughest test of the season when they travel to Central Michigan to do battle with the Chippewas.
Next Up: at Central Michigan (-6)
5: Florida International Golden Panthers (7-2 ATS, 4-5 SU) (LW: 6) Without a doubt, this has been the best season in the history of Florida International’s football program. The Golden Panthers are 3-0 ATS at home and hope to continue that trend this week against Louisiana-Monroe.
Next Up: Home vs. Louisiana-Monroe (-6)
6: North Carolina State Wolfpack (7-2 ATS, 4-6 SU) (LW: 12) Head coach Tom O’Brien may still feel like a fool for leaving Boston College for NCSU, but his Wolfpack have been frisky for football bettors this year. For the second straight week, they were 3.5-point underdogs, and for the second straight week, they notched an outright victory. They’re dogs for the 10th time this season, but have covered five straight.
Next Up: at North Carolina (+11.5)
7: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-2-1 ATS, 7-3 SU) (LW: 10) The Ramblin’ Wreck watched the carnage unfold in the ACC in their bye week and now find themselves in a position to force a massive dog pile at three losses in the Coastal Division this week if they can find a way to cover and beat Miami for the fourth straight season.
Next Up: Home vs. Miami (FL) (-4)
8: Texas Longhorns (8-3 ATS, 10-1 SU) (LW: 14) The three-game losing streak against the football betting line is over for Texas bettors, who picked up an easy win with the Longhorns’ 35-7 victory in Lawrence. With just one game left on the schedule, there’s not much more they can do than just sit there and hope that enough teams lose in front of them so they can play in the National Championship game.
Next Up: Bye
9: Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-2-1 ATS, 10-0 SU) (LW: 11) Judgment Day is here for the No. 2 team in the country. The Red Raiders have had all sorts of success in Lubbock, but are getting no respect in Norman for their game with the Sooners. This is the highest hurdle left for head coach Mike Leach and T-Tech, which is three wins away from a chance to play for the National Championship.
Next Up: at Oklahoma (+7)
10: Alabama Crimson Tide (8-3 ATS, 11-0 SU) (LW: 15) Alabama might be the No. 1 team in the nation, but they’re not even the favorite to the win the national title from its own conference. Many expect to see the SEC title game with Florida to be a No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown for the right to play in Miami for the all the marbles. They rolled over the Bulldogs 32-7 last weekend, easily covering the spread in spite of some 1st quarter troubles.
Next Up: Bye
11: Penn State Nittany Lions (6-3-1 ATS, 10-1 SU) (LW: 5) All of the betting trends last week suggested that Penn State would get back in the win column for its sports bettors, but it wasn’t to be in spite of its 34-7 win against Indiana. Even though the National Championship is probably out of reach, they’ll be the first team to book their reservations to the BCS with a win next week against Michigan State.
Next Up: Home vs. Michigan State (-14.5)
12: Oregon State Beavers (7-3 ATS, 7-3 SU) (LW: 19) The Beavers were flying under the radar until a couple weeks ago and they’re now two victories from shocking the world and going to the Rose Bowl. They’re 8-1 SU and ATS against Arizona, which is the last road test on the schedule for OSU.
Next Up: at Arizona (+3)
13: Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (7-3 ATS, 5-5 SU) (LW: 8) The bad news for the Ragin’ Cajuns is that they lost to FAU 40-29 over the weekend for their second straight loss ATS and SU. The good news is that they can still win the Sun Belt with victories in their final two games of the season, starting with a trip to Troy next week.
Next Up: Away @ Troy (+7.5)
14: Texas Christian Horned Frogs (7-3 ATS, 9-2 SU) (LW: 16) TCU won’t crack the BCS or win the Mountain West this year, but there’s nothing to hang heads about in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs still have the top ranked defense in the country and will wrap up the regular season next week against Air Force.
Next Up: Home vs. Air Force (-19)
15: Air Force Falcons (7-3 ATS, 8-3 SU) (LW: 9) It’s hard to fault Air Force for losing 38-24 to BYU last weekend to wrap up their home schedule. The Falcons are quietly the forgotten team in the MWC and very well could sneak up on someone from a power conference given the right matchup in a bowl game. They’re 1-4 SU and ATS against TCU since 1989.
Next Up: Away @ Texas Christian (+19)
16: Tulsa Golden Hurricane (6-3 ATS, 8-2 SU) (LW: 7) In a span of three weeks, Tulsa went from a potential BCS buster to a team with little chance of winning its own conference. The Golden Hurricane got spanked 70-30 by Houston and now needs help to represent the West in the C-USA title game for the second straight year. A trip up against Tulane or Marshall would be devastating.
Next Up: Home vs. Tulane (-28.5)
17: Minnesota Golden Gophers (7-3 ATS, 7-4 SU) (LW: 20) The Gophers will be kicking themselves for failing to win either the Little Brown Jug or Paul Bunyan’s Axe, but their football bettors won’t mind the latter after they stuck within the 13-point spread by losing 35-32 to Wisconsin. Bowl positioning will be on the minds of a lot of Big Ten teams this week, including in Minnesota’s game with the Hawkeyes.
Next Up: Home vs. Iowa (+6)
18: California Golden Bears (7-3 ATS, 6-4 SU) (LW: 13) Cal took its best shot at helping out USC and a bunch of BCS at-large hopefuls, but couldn’t beat Oregon State over the weekend. The Golden Bears lost 34-21 and will look to avenge last year’s 20-13 loss to their rivals from Stanford this weekend.
Next Up: Home vs. Stanford (-9)
19: Vanderbilt Commodores (7-3 ATS, 6-4 SU) (LW: 22) They did it! For just the fourth time in school history, the Commodores are going bowling following their 31-24 victory in Lexington last weekend. They can improve their positioning next week against a pathetic Tennessee team, which narrowly kept them from bowling in Jay Cutler’s senior season.
Next Up: Home vs. Tennessee (-3.5)
20: Baylor Bears (7-3 ATS, 4-7 SU) (LW: 25) Bears bettors love it when Baylor is favored. It moved to 3-0 SU and ATS by crushing the Aggies 41-21. Barring catastrophic injuries to everyone on Texas Tech this weekend, they won’t be favorites again until 2009.
Next Up: Bye
21: Central Michigan Chippewas (6-3 ATS, 8-2 SU) (LW: NR) The Chippewas haven’t been at home since Oct. 18 and they wrapped up their three-game road trip with a huge 33-30 overtime victory over Northern Illinois as short underdogs. All of the marbles in the MAC West are on the line this week when they host undefeated Ball State.
Next Up: Home vs. Ball State (+6)
22: Temple Owls (6-3-1 ATS, 3-7 SU) (LW: 17) Temple fell short in its final road game of the season, losing to Kent State 41-38. The Owls have now only covered the spread once since Oct. 4, but will have a decent chance to bump their record against an Eastern Michigan team that is just 2-7 ATS in its L/9 overall.
Next Up: Home vs. Eastern Michigan (-10.5)
23: Utah Utes (6-3-1 ATS, 11-0 SU) (LW: NR) Are the Utes one step away from the BCS? If it can knock off BYU in its regular season finale, it sure appears that Utah will be headed to its second BCS game in school history. Last week, the Utes racked up the style points, pounding San Diego State 63-14, but the task gets much tougher this weekend against a 10-1 BYU team which beat them 17-10 last year in Provo.
Next Up: Home vs. Brigham Young (-6)
24: Buffalo Bulls (7-3 ATS, 6-4 SU) (LW: NR) No one has circled the wagons of late like the Buffalo Bulls. Buffalo covered its third straight game against Akron last weekend by winning 43-40 in overtime as short underdogs and assured that the team would be bowl eligible for the first time in school history. The Bulls have their eye on a greater prize though, as two more wins will send them to the MAC title game.
Next Up: Away @ Bowling Green (+3.5)
25: Stanford Cardinal (7-4 ATS, 5-6 SU) (LW: NR) Stanford has had a fantastic season, and could still reasonably reach a bowl game with a win in its final game. The Cardinal stuck within the 24-points against USC with a meaningless touchdown as time expired in its 45-23 loss. Nothing would be sweeter for Stanford than to knock off its rivals from Cal for the second straight season.
Next Up: Away @ California (+9)
Dropped Out: Boise State (18), Iowa (21), Florida State (23), Northern Illinois (24)