College Football Betting News And Notes Saturday, September 26

NCAAF: Streaks, Tips, Notes
Sportspic.com

Central Michigan at Michigan State

Michigan State looks to remain perfect when they host Central Michigan on Saturday. Michigan State ridding a 15-1 SU stretch on home field should have little trouble against their MAC opponent. But, at 26.5 point chalk you bet Spartans at some risk. Pesky Chippewas haven't lost the cash this season and hit the field 7-3 ATS in their last 10 vs. the Big Ten. On the other side, Spartans haven't cashed a ticket yet, are a vig-losing 8-8 ATS the last 16 home games and enter 5-6 ATS laying 20 or more points, 3-8-1 ATS their last 12 games in September.

Georgia Tech at Duke

Georgia Tech (2-1, 2-1 ATS) and Duke (2-1, 2-1 ATS) do battle in ACC action Saturday at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. The Yellow Jackets will be in one foul mood after suffering their first blemish of the campaign last week at Notre Dame. What may have Georgia Tech even grouchier is the fact Duke went into Atlanta last season and upset Yellow Jackets 31-25 snapping its ten game head-head win streak. The highly motivated and revenge minded Yellow Jackets with the nation's second best ground game (377.0 RYG) should run roughshod over a Blue Devil run defense that gave up 201 rushing yards in their home loss to Northwestern last week.

Yellow Jackets 7-1 ATS rushing 200 or more yards, 9-1 ATS in their last 10 overall, 5-0 ATS vs the conference, 4-1 ATS last 5 trips into to Durham behind 308.6 rushing yards/game have been pegged 7.5 point road favorites

UCLA at Arizona

Pac-12 rivals try to stay unbeaten when Bruins (3-0, 1-1-1 ATS) visit Wildcats (3-0, 2-1 ATS) Saturday evening at Arizona Stadium. Bruins have won/covered the past three meetings but going back to '07 it's the Wildcats holding the series edge at 5-3 (4-4 ATS) including 3-1 SU/ATS when meeting in Tucson. Arizona pegged 3.5 point home underdogs works in favor of the Wildcats as they're on a 3-0 ATS streak taking points at home, have covered 5-of-6 hosting Bruins dating back to '03. One final nugget, home team in this series is 9-3 ATS the past twelve meetings.

Big Ten Report - Week 4
By ASAWins.com

Western Michigan at Ohio State

Current Line: Buckeyes (-31)
Opening Line: Buckeyes (-27)

OSU’s offense is in a rut right now. After racking up 45 PPG on 512 YPG a year ago, they are averaging 33 PPG on “just” 411 YPG. Both of those marks for this year rank them out of the top 30 nationally and the scoring numbers include 2 defensive TD’s. After struggling with Northern Illinois last week head coach Urban Meyer said he doesn’t know who he’ll start at QB but neither Jones nor Barrett are playing well right now. With 4 skill players that are all Heisman type candidates, what could possibly be the problem? Possibly the departure of OC Tom Herman who is now the head coach at Houston. He was a fantastic play caller and had a knack for putting his talented players in a position to do well. Look what he’s doing at Houston. The Cougs are averaging 43 PPG on 541 YPG including an upset win at Louisville. New OC Ed Warriner has helped Herman the last few years but his experience as “the man” calling the plays is limited to two years with Army in the 1998 & 1999 and two years with Kansas in 2007 & 2008.

Western Michigan is one of the MAC favorites along with last week’s opponent Northern Illinois. The Broncos have an experienced & talented offense that hung with Michigan State a few weeks ago (lost by 13) so they might give the Bucks some problems if they don’t figure out their offensive struggles this week.

Hawaii at Wisconsin

Current Line: Badgers (-25)
Opening Line: Badgers (-27)

We saw Wisconsin open -27 here and drop quickly. Wisconsin struggled a bit offensively last week against Troy. The Badgers started the game simply trying to enforce their will on Troy and pound them at the line of scrimmage running the ball. With a fairly inexperienced OLine and top RB Corey Clement out, they will struggle to operate their offense in that manner this year. At least until Clement returns and their offensive front starts coming together. Clement’s back-ups are nowhere near his level right now. In fact, their starter at tailback right now is Dare Ogunbowale and he is a walk on. After having to punt on 3 of their first 4 drives, head coach Paul Chryst opened up the passing attack and QB Stave looked very good again (13 of 17 for 202 yards and a TD). Once he did that, Wisconsin scored TD’s on 3 of their next 5 drives. Unless Clement is absolutely set at 100%, we doubt he’ll see action again this week vs Hawaii as the Badgers open Big Ten play the following week vs Iowa. They will need Clement for that one.

The Rainbows are 1-2 on the year but their defense has really impressed us. In their first two games vs Colorado & Ohio State they limited those opponents to just 4.2 and 4.6 yards per play respectively. Last week they seemed to let down a bit defensively allowing Cal Davis to score 27 points on 5.6 YPP, but their first two outings were ones to make note of. Offensively Hawaii has struggled. They did score 47 last week vs UC Davis but averaged just 14 PPG in their first 2 games. That might be a problem on Saturday against a Wisconsin defense that has allowed just 3 total points over their last 2 games. The Bows are 1-18 SU on the road in head coach Norm Chow’s tenure.

BYU at Michigan

Current Line: Wolverines (-5.5)
Opening Line: Wolverines (-4.5)

Our question with this matchup is what will BYU have left in the tank? They’ve already played the 3rd most difficult schedule to date according to Jeff Sagarin and that’s BEFORE they travel to Michigan on Saturday. They opened the season with the infamous hail-mary win at Nebraska then came home and basically beat Boise in a similar way. Then last week they traveled to UCLA and had the Bruins on the ropes. The Bruins first lead of the game came with just over 3:00 remaining when they scored a TD to take a 24-23 lead. BYU was driving in UCLA territory for a potential game winning FG attempt when their young QB Tanner Mangum threw an interception ending the game. The Cougs outgained UCLA by a few yards in the game, however they also ran a whopping 89 plays to just 61 for UCLA. Now they have to travel again this Saturday which will be their 3rd time in 4 weeks.

Michigan’s offense has been somewhat pedestrian but their defense has been outstanding. The Wolves currently rank 87th in total offense putting up 379 YPG but they are 7th in total defense allowing just 236 YPG. The Michigan defense has allowed only 4 offensive TD’s in 3 games. After struggling to run the ball against Utah in their season opener, Michigan has made a concerted effort to pound their last two opponents on the ground with 87 rushing attempts in those two games combined. We’ll see if that continues on Saturday against a BYU defense that was really good stopping the run in their first two games before UCLA lit them up for 296 yards rushing on 7.8 YPC last week.

Central Michigan at Michigan State

Current Line: Spartans (-27)
Opening Line: Spartans (-29)

Sparty struggled a bit with Air Force last week as we expected. We were on AF at +26 early in the week and the game played out almost as we envisioned. MSU was obviously flat off their epic home win over Oregon a week earlier and it showed. If it wasn’t for a Spartan pick 6 in the first half with BYU driving along with 3 total turnovers by the Falcons, this game could have been tight down the stretch. The Falcons actually outgained MSU by 104 total yards and dominated on the ground rolling up 279 yards rushing to only 77 for the Green & White. For the game AF averaged 7.1 per offensive play while MSU averaged only 4.9. Air Force lost by just 2 TD’s in a game that should have been much closer and a strong case could be made that AF could have and should have come out on top if not for the turnover disparity. Despite the poor offensive showing, Michigan State still managed to put up 30+ points and that was the 12th time in the last 13 games they’ve done that. Defensively they look a bit down from prior editions as 2 of their first 3 opponents have put up 400+ yards on them. The only one that didn’t was Western Michigan and they had 383.

Central Michigan has already played two Power 5 opponents and showed themselves well losing to Oklahoma State 24-13 and Syracuse 30-27 (in OT). The Chippewas dominated the stats last week vs Syracuse with a big edge in first downs (30 to 11), total yardage (520 to 326), total offensive plays (91 to 47), and a 2 to 1 time of possession advantage. The Orange did lose their QB to an injury in the 2nd quarter and he did not return. He was their back up as they had already lost their starter for the year so Cuse was down to their 3rd stringer. Even despite all of that, CMU came up short in OT.

Southern Miss at Nebraska

Current Line: Cornhuskers (-22)
Opening Line: Cornhuskers (-23.5)

We had USM pegged as one of the more improved teams coming into this year and we were dead on. Despite their 3-9 record in 2014, they were competitive in a number of games and they brought back one of the more experienced offenses in Conference USA. After playing Mississippi State very tough in week 1, the Golden Eagles have won each of their last 2 games. They were at Texas State last week and won in a shootout 56-50. Since playing a competitive game vs Miss St, the Eagles have rolled up 108 points and 1,127 yards in their last 2.

It will interesting to see Nebraska’s mental state coming into this one. They’ve been through a full season worth of emotion in just a few weeks. They opened the year with their hail-mary loss to BYU and then came from way behind last week at Miami, FL to tie it late only to lose in OT. They could go two ways this weekend. They could be spent and come out flat or rally behind new coach Mike Riley and come out with an “us against the world” mentality on Saturday. The latter would be tough with what they’ve been through so far and with the Big Ten slate starting next week. While the offense has been solid, the defense which was torched at the end of last year continues to struggle. They rank 94th in total defense giving up 451 YPG on 6.1 YPP. The only team in the Big Ten that is worse than the Huskers in those 2 categories is Indiana. Now they face an offense that is experienced (9 upperclassmen starters) and seems to be clicking. If Nebraska doesn’t come to play they could be in for a fight here.

San Diego State at Penn State

Current Line: Nittany Lions (-15)
Opening Line: Nittany Lions (-10)

The key question here for us is has the Penn State offense (& offensive line) started to figure it out or was it the competition? After looking atrocious in their first game vs Temple (3.4 YPP) they have looked better the last 2 weeks. They put up 4.9 YPP on a retooled Buffalo defense working under a new coach. That same Buffalo defense was ripped for 490 yards at FAU last weekend. The Nits game last week was impressive as they rolled the Rutgers defense for 7.8 YPP including 330 yards rushing. Albeit a Rutgers program in a bit of disarray with their coach and a number of key players suspended. After allowing QB Hackenberg to get sacked 10 times in their opener vs Temple, they have kept him upright the last two games with zero sacks allowed.

They host a struggling San Diego State team this Saturday. After beating FCS San Diego in week 1, the Aztecs were trounced at Cal and then followed that up with an OT loss at home last week to South Alabama. That’s the same South Alabama team that was crushed at Nebraska 48-9 just one week earlier. Last week’s loss for San Diego State was no fluke as they were outgained 511 to 305 by a South Alabama team that was in their 2nd of back to back long road trips. PSU’s offense may look better again this week but with games vs Army and Indiana the two weeks following, we may not know if they’ve really improved until mid-October.

Bowling Green at Purdue

Current Line: Falcons (-1.5)
Opening Line: Boilermakers (-2.5)

This one opened with Purdue as a 2.5 point favorite and quickly swung to Bowling Green as the road chalk. The Falcons are wading in unchartered waters here as they have NEVER been favored one the road vs a Big Ten team. In fact, the only Power 5 team they have visited and been favored was Kansas back in 2002. The Boilers, on the flip side, have only been a home dog to a MAC team twice since 1980. They were a 4-point dog to Northern Illinois in 2013 & a 16-point dog to Ball State in 2010. How did they fare in those two games? They were blown out by NIU but upset Ball State. The Boilers sit at 1-2 and they really need this win or they might be staring 1-6 in the face. After this game Purdue plays at Michigan State, home vs Minnesota, and at Wisconsin. Purdue looked solid (minus the turnovers) in their week 1 game at Marshall, a game they should have won. They followed that up with an easy win vs Indiana State and then last week they hit a wall called Virginia Tech. The Hokies rolled to a 51-24 win but 14 of their points came on a blocked punt & a fumble return. Miscues have been a huge problem for PU as they’ve turned the ball over 9 times in 3 games. Because of that, starting QB Appleby will take a seat this Saturday in favor of freshman David Blough. It’s the third straight year that head coach Darrell Hazel has changed starting QB’s in either September or October.

Bowling Green has played a very tough slate losing at Tennessee, winning big at Maryland, and then losing a tight one to Memphis in their home opener last weekend. This team can score. Despite playing a fairly tough schedule, they are averaging 40 PPG on 609 YPG. The only team that is averaging more yards per game than BG is Baylor. Purdue’s new QB better be able to put points on the board on Saturday.

Kansas at Rutgers

Current Line: Scarlet Knights (-12.5)
Opening Line: Scarlet Knights (-13)

Wow what a stinker this game is. Rutgers has half their team and their coach suspended (not quite that bad but bad enough) and Kansas looks like they have no chance to exceed their year win total of 1.5. The Knights mental state has to be shot. At least that’s what it looked like last week when a very average (probably below average) Penn State offense rolled them for 330 yards on the ground and 7.8 YPP. That’s a PSU offense that hadn’t topped 5 YPP in either of their first two games. Are the Jayhawks a team that can take advantage of the chaos that is going on in Piscataway? Probably not. Kansas is already 0-2 with home losses to South Dakota State & Memphis. They’ve given up 96 points in those two games along with 1,114 yards. Yes that is in just two games!

Coming into the season, Kansas returned just 91 total career starts on their entire team and 12 players started their first game ever when they faced South Dakota State. Now those inexperienced players are making their first road start. The positive is that KU has had two weeks to get ready for this game with a bye last week. Kansas has lost 30 STRAIGHT road games and they are just 7-23 ATS in those games. These teams have combined to play 5 games this season and the only win came against Norfolk State. That tells you enough about this match up.

Indiana at Wake Forest

Current Line: Hoosiers (-3.5)
Opening Line: Hoosiers (-3.5)

WF QB Wolford left early in the game last week at Army with an injured ankle and is doubtful here. His replacement, freshman Kendall Hinton, was impressive with 101 yards rushing and 159 yards passing in the 17-14 road win. Wake overcame a 3 to 0 turnover deficit to win the game. Both of Army’s TD’s came after Wake turnovers including a 1-play 9-yard drive for one of them. Wake is definitely a vastly improved team under 2nd year coach Dave Clawson (came over from Bowling Green). They were 3-9 last year and they already have 2 wins this season. Their only loss was at Syracuse, a game in which they outgained the Orange 419 to 370. You might not look at Wake’s rushing attack and think much as they are averaging 108 YPG on the ground. However, that’s a drastic improvement from last year when they finished dead last in the NCAA averaging only 34 YPG on the ground!

IU’s concern continues to be their porous defense. The Hoosiers are dead last in the Big Ten allowing 544 YPG on 7.1 YPP. Not only are the 14th in total defense in the conference, the 13th team (Nebraska) is nearly a full 100 yards better than the Hoosier defense. Despite that, IU is now 3-0 and with a win at Wake they would be 4-0 for the first time in 25 years. Indiana came from behind last week to knock off Western Kentucky 38-35. They were down 28-17 at half but picked off WKU QB Doughty and consecutive snaps and both led to Indiana TD’s. The Hoosiers, however, are “this close” to being 0-3 as they beat Southern Illinois by a single point, came from behind in the 4th quarter to beat FIU, and then overcame a double digit halftime deficit last week.

Maryland at West Virginia

Current Line: Mountaineers (-17)
Opening Line: Mountaineers (-17)

WVU has dominated this rivalry as of late winning 8 of the last 9 outright. Despite this being a big rivalry, the outcomes have been lopsided with the winner topping the loser by double digits in 17 of the last 20 meetings. The Mountaineers have outscored their two opponents 85-17 but have yet to be tested (Georgia Southern & Liberty). The Neers have had two weeks to get ready for this game after having a bye last week. Maryland will be making their first road trip after beating Richmond & South Florida at home while losing to Bowling Green. In their lone loss to BG, the game was tied at 27 with under 10:00 remaining in the game but the Falcons exploded 3 TD’s from that point on walking to a 48-27 win. The Terps most dangerous weapon might just be punt returner William Likely. He already has 2 punt returns for TD’s and is averaging almost 29 yards per return.

Maryland head coach Randy Edsall switched QB’s in their most recent game giving then back up Caleb Rowe the first start of his career replacing a benched Perry Hills. Rowe put up solid stats in their 35-17 win over USF, however he has shown to be turnover prone already throwing 5 interceptions this year in just 37 pass attempts. The West Virginia defense, who has already picked off 4 passes in two games, will try and take advantage of that on Saturday.

North Texas at Iowa

Current Line: Hawkeyes (-24.5)
Opening Line: Hawkeyes (-26.5)

This line opened initially at Iowa -26.5 but has come crashing down two full points to -24.5. This is a tough spot for the Hawkeyes as they are off a huge last second win over Pitt after beating rival Iowa State the week before and they travel to Wisconsin next week. Last week they topped the Panthers 27-24 on a 57-yard field goal as time ran out. The Hawks came out of the physical match up a little banged up. QB CJ Beathard took 13 direct hits from the blitz happy Panthers but came out of it just a little sore. RB LeShun Daniels has a bad ankle and is not 100%. Daniels and top defensive end Drew Ott (elbow injury) only practiced twice this week and they could be held out this Saturday. North Texas coach Dan McCarney was an assistant at Iowa back in the 80’s. He’s very familiar with the program and he and Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz are good friends.

The Mean Green are 0-2 on the year with losses to fellow Texans SMU & Rice. McCarney was pleased with the big improvement offensively from game 1 to game 2. The offense put up just 240 yards in their opening loss to SMU but then more than doubled that total to 478 yards last week vs Rice. UNT was outgained by 200 yards vs SMU and cut that to just 80 yards vs Rice. The problem has been turnovers. The Green have a whopping 7 turnovers in their two games. The defense is a work in progress after losing 6 starters including 2 all conference players from last year. They are allowing 34.5 PPG after two contests. They rank dead last in the NCAA in 3rd down defense allowing opponents to covert on almost 62% of their 3rd downs. The only Big Ten team that UNT has played since 2000 is Indiana. They lost 49-28 at IU last year and actually beat the Hoosiers 24-21 back in 2011.

Middle Tennessee State at Illinois

Current Line: Fighting Illini (-6.5)
Opening Line: Fighting Illini (-7)

One of the top scoring offenses in the nation comes to Champaign this weekend. MTSU is 2-1 on the season and they’ve scored at least 70 points in two of those games (averaging 51 PPG)! However, those games were against Jackson State (FCS) & Charlotte (first year in FBS). Their game sandwiched between those two blowout wins was a trip to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama. The Raiders only scored 10 points in that game and lost 37-10. Their lone TD in that game came with just 6:00 minutes remaining. Their offensive success is not surprising as they return most of their key players from a team that put up 31 PPG and 431 YPG last year.

After ripping their first two opponents, the Illini came back to earth a bit last week as they were whipped 48-14 at North Carolina. The Illini defense had allowed only 3 points total in their first two games (Kent & Western Illinois) before getting shredded for 471 yards on 7.5 YPPG last week. Illinois actually should have had a better showing on offense (just 14 points) as they missed a few FG and blew some opportunities in UNC territory. They did put up 399 yards. Illini head coach Bill Cubit and MTSU coach Rick Stockstill have been friends for 30 years as they were on the same staff at UCF back in 80’s. The Blue Raiders traveled to Big Ten country last year facing Minnesota in Minneapolis. MTSU definitely held their own losing 35-24 but outgained the Gophs by nearly 100 yards.

Ohio at Minnesota

Current Line: Golden Gophers (-10.5)
Opening Line: Golden Gophers (-13)

The Gopher offense has really been struggling early in the year. They have scored a total of only 50 points in three games (16.7 PPG) ranking them dead last in the Big Ten and 123rd nationally in that category. Starting QB Mitch Leidner has been shaky completing only 46% of his passes this season. It got to a point in last week’s 10-7 squeaker over Kent, the Gophs had true freshman QB Demry Croft warming up and ready to replace Leidner. Head coach Jerry Kill stuck with Leidner but has been non-committal on the QB topic this week. On top of that, they are only averaging 142 YPG on the ground (13th in the Big Ten) after averaging 215 YPG a year ago. RB David Cobb moving onto the NFL has really been magnified so far with this team. To put their 10-7 win vs Kent into perspective – that same Kent team lost 52-3 to Illinois in their season opener and the Flashes have been outscored 268-6 in their previous 6 games vs Big Ten teams!

Ohio brings an impressive 3-0 record into Minnesota on Saturday. The problem is, it’s still hard to tell how good they might be. They beat a terrible Idaho team to open the season. Their second game they played host to rival Marshall in a huge revenge game and they scored a TD very late to extend the margin in a tight game and get by with a 21-10 win. Last week they pounded SE Louisiana. The Bobcats do have a talented and experienced offense including a solid QB Vick so Minnesota better be on their game here and not peaking ahead to next week’s game at Northwestern.

Ball State at Northwestern

Current Line: Wildcats (-19.5)
Opening Line: Wildcats (-19)

The Wildcats have probably been the surprise of the Big Ten thus far. Not that we didn’t expect them to be solid, but there aren’t a lot of people that saw them at 3-0 having to play Stanford and at Duke early in the year. Defense is obviously leading the way for the Cats. They currently rank 6th nationally in total defense allowing only 235 YPG. They allowed only 6 points to Stanford and just 10 to Duke. To give you an idea of how good that is, Stanford went onto score 31 points the following week vs UCF and then 41 points last Saturday vs USC. Duke scored 55 & 37 points in their other two games. NW has allowed only 1 TD in three games this year. Now their offense is far from explosive ranking 97th (365 YPG) but they won’t need to be with the defense they have in place.

Ball State comes in at 2-1 beating two cupcakes (VMI & Eastern Michigan) while getting whipped at Texas A&M 56-23. In that game the Aggies had 3 offensive possessions in the first quarter and scored TD’s on all 3 to go along with a pick 6 to lead 28-3 at the end of the first quarter. It was 49-3 at half. One positive for Ball State, they did rush for 230 yards vs A&M and they are averaging 246 YPG rushing on the season. Last week the Cards got down 17-0 to a marginal EMU team but stormed back for a 28-17 win. They are led by a freshman QB Riley Neal who completed 24 of his 28 attempts last week. Northwestern has been a favorite of this magnitude (-17 or higher) just 9 times (vs FBS teams) since 1980. Ball State has actually beaten 2 of their last 3 Big Ten opponents outright but this one will be very tough with a young QB vs a great defense.

Total Notes - Week 4
By James Manos
VegasInsider.com

This week we've seen a lot less movement across the board. Sharps and syndicates have moved less numbers this week and done an excellent job of pushing numbers in the right directions. After last weeks plethora of fairly obvious manipulations, this weeks board has been moved much more delicately and with better skill.

1) Correct sharp movement: Georgia Tech/Duke UNDER

Georgia Tech's solid start to the season came to abrupt halt in South Bend, Indiana last week as the Yellow Jackets were crushed by the Irish. Don't' be fooled by the final score (22-30), G-Tech was never in the game despite being listed as a road favorite. Now, they must pick up the pieces and immediately open their ACC schedule with another turn as a road favorite. Tech's option presents a unique challenge but less so to conference foes, who see it every year, and even less so to an opponent like Duke, who during head coach David Cutcliffe's tenure has frequently played Navy.

The Blue Devils return seven defensive starters and have looked good on that side of the ball so far in 2015, surrendering just 1.1 YPC at Tulane and 3.7 YPC to Northwestern. On offense, they've been stymied by the inconsistent play of new quarterback Thomas Sirk and HC Cutcliffe has toned down the offensive game-plan some to accommodate him. The opener for this game was a tad high (58.5) and it's been bet down to the proper number (56) but I still think this game plays UNDER the total and I agree with the movement.

2) Incorrect sharp movement: San Diego State/Penn State UNDER

I'll be honest and tell you that the sharps have done a really nice job of betting the early board this week. There are very few mistakes, if any, to point out. This movement being incorrect is more about the total crossing key numbers and this being a positive situational setup for the Penn State offense. Sharps have bet this game from 41.5 down to 39.5, which is nearly unheard of in this era of college football. While the 41 and the 40 don't have the value that they did seven or eight years ago, they are still important numbers to cross, especially the 41. Penn State has been putrid on offense and supposed NFL caliber QB Christian Hackenberg has been embarrassingly bad. The Lions have resorted to playing early-80's style football because Hackenberg is completing less than 50% of his passes and has thrown just a single TD pass.

This game, however, represents a chance for the Nittany Lions to "get right" prior to entering the meat of their conference schedule. Penn State is in the midst of an unusual 5-game home stand and catch the Aztecs traveling for the first time this season, after playing their first three games in California. San Diego State head coach Chuck Long's preferred 4-2-5 defense is a poor matchup for the power running game that Penn State will employ and that should help open up the passing game for Hackenberg. I think the Aztecs will be a bit weary and I see a break out game for the Penn State offense, if the Aztecs can just get a little bit from star running back DonnelPumphrey it should be enough to push this game OVER the low total.

3) Public movement: Arkansas State/Toledo OVER

We'll resist the urge to simply place the Bowling Green OVER in the public movement slot every week but it won't be because the public isn't betting their games OVER. The public had an easy decision to make this week as it sees two teams who are perceived as OVER teams meet up on a field known for higher scoring games. This will be the Toledo Rockets 4th-year under head coach Matt Campbell and over the first three years they've scored 40-plus points in eight of their 18 home games, averaging 37.6 PPG at home.

Visitor, Arkansas State returns nine offensive starters to a team that averaged 36.7 PPG last year and they enter this matchup off a 70-point performance. Throw in the fact that this is a rematch of last season's GoDaddy.com Bowl, a game that saw 107 combined points scored, and you have an easy recipe for a publicly backed OVER play.

4) Market manipulation: Rice/Baylor UNDER

Last week we called out one of the easier market manipulation moves we've seen since we started doing these articles. The East Carolina-Navy game was bet down and held down despite some severe money coming in on the OVER. This week the sharps have been more subtle and the moves are harder to see.

The Rice-Baylor game figures to have all the elements of a shootout and the total opened high (76). The general betting public NEVER plays Baylor games UNDER the total so the early week movement here is completely sharp and syndicate driven. I think you'll see this number rebound on game day and close back at the original number.

Saturday's Top Action
By Sportsbook.ag

BYU COUGARS (2-1) at MICHIGAN WOLVERINES (2-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Michigan -6.5, Total: 44.5

No. 22 BYU will look to get back in the win column when it visits a surging Michigan team on Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars couldn't come up with a third straight win in the final minute last week, losing a heart-breaking 24-23 decision at 16.5-point favorite UCLA. But they still improved to 3-0 ATS for the season.

The Wolverines dropped their season opener at Utah, but have come back strong with a pair of lopsided wins at home over Oregon State (35-7) and UNLV (28-7). This matchup has occurred only once before, which was way back in the 1984 Holiday Bowl when BYU beat a Michigan team that included current head coach Jim Harbaugh by a 24-17 score.

The Cougars have played in three nail-biters this season and are 11-1 ATS coming off a road loss by three points or less since 1992. On the flip side, Michigan is 0-6 ATS when following an SU win in the past two years.

But BYU is only 3-13 ATS versus excellent rushing defenses (2.75 or less YPC) since 1992, and the Wolverines also benefit from the fact that home favorites of 3.5 to 10 points are 32-9 ATS (78%) in the first month of the season, after closing out the previous campaign with 2+ straight losses against an opponent that finished the previous season with 4+ wins in its final five contests.

Both of these schools have plenty of significant injuries as the Cougars will be without starting QB Taysom Hill (foot) all season and DB Garrett Juergens (collarbone) indefinitely, while RBs Algernon Brown (knee) and Francis Bernard (finger) are both questionable for Saturday. Michigan RB Wyatt Shallman is doubtful with an undisclosed injury, while FB Joe Kerridge (ankle) and WR Brian Cole, TE Tyrone Wheatley, LB Mike McCrary and DB Dymonte Thomas are all questionable with injuries of some sort.

Pocket-passing BYU QB Tanner Mangum has done an admirable job filling in for the injured dual-threat QB Tayson Hill, as Mangum has completed 63% of his throws for 664 yards (7.7 YPA), 4 TD and 3 INT.

Three players already have more than a dozen catches with junior WR Mitchell Juergens (13 rec, 244 yds, 2 TD) and senior WRs Mitch Mathews (17 rec, 185 yds, 3 TD) and Devon Blackmon (14 rec, 171 yds) all sharing the wealth in the air attack. The ground game revolves almost entirely around senior RB Adam Hine, who has 279 of his team's 365 rushing yards this season with 6.1 YPC and a pair of scores. Hine had his best game of 2015 last week when he steamrolled UCLA for 149 yards on 23 carries (6.5 YPC) and 1 TD.

The Cougars defense has done a pretty nice job against some powerful offenses, holding teams to 25.3 PPG due largely to the unit's eight takeaways. But the team has been giving up too many big plays, leading to 403 total YPG allowed, 4.6 YPC allowed and 7.1 YPA. These numbers need to come down when opponents are not gifting turnovers to BYU.

Michigan's offense has done a better job running the football in the past two weeks with 479 yards, but the passing game really struggled versus UNLV with only 4.9 YPA. Senior QB Jake Rudock has completed 65% of his passes this year, but he has thrown for only 582 yards (6.4 YPA), 3 TD and 5 INT.

Fortunately for Rudock, he has two reliable pass catchers in WR Amara Darboh (16 rec, 185 yds, 1 TD) and TE Jake Butt (14 rec, 132 yds, 1 TD). A big boost to the offense has been USC transfer RB Ty Isaac who exploded for 114 yards on just eight carries (14.3 YPC) last week, including a 76-yard touchdown run. Top RB De'Veon Smith ran exceptionally well against Oregon State with 126 yards on 5.5 YPC, but has only 80 yards on 30 carries in his other two contests.

Defensively, the Wolverines have been downright nasty in their two home games, holding opponents to a mere 187 total YPG on 3.2 yards per play. They have been stingy in both defensive phases, holding these two teams to 75 rushing YPG on 2.2 YPC and 111 passing YPG on 4.8 YPA. Michigan also forced two turnovers last week after generating just two takeaways in the first two contests combined.

MISSISSIPPI STATE BULLDOGS (2-1) at AUBURN TIGERS (2-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Auburn -1.5

Auburn hopes a new starting quarterback can get its team on the right track when Mississippi State pays a visit on Saturday night.

Both teams are trying to avoid falling to a .500 SU record for the young season, with the Bulldogs 2-1 ATS and the Tigers a winless 0-3 ATS. Both schools have LSU to blame for their lone defeat, but while MSU fell 21-19 to those Tigers two weeks ago, Auburn was obliterated by the yellow and purple last week by a 45-21 score. That has prompted head coach Gus Malzahn to bench highly-touted QB Jeremy Johnson and start freshman QB Sean White in his place.

These SEC West foes will clash again Saturday with the Bulldogs trying to break the series streak of the home team winning four straight matchups (3-1 ATS). The Tigers hold an 8-3 SU (7-4 ATS) advantage at home in this series since 1993, but it was Mississippi State that prevailed last year 38-23, handing then-No. 2 Auburn its first loss of the season. Both teams committed four turnovers in that sloppy matchup, and miscues will be a big part of this meeting considering the Bulldogs have already committed multiple turnovers twice in 2015 and the Tigers have 2+ TO in all three games this year.

While Mississippi State fits the trend of road teams coming off a game of 6.25+ yards per play with 4 or fewer defensive starters returning being 40-14 ATS (74%) when the line is +3 to -3 in the past 10 seasons, but Auburn is 17-6 ATS when coming off a loss of at least three touchdowns since 1992.

On the injury front, Bulldogs LB Kelan Chairs is questionable with legal problems, but the remaining roster is intact. The Tigers could be thin on defense with four players all listed as questionable for Saturday -- DB T.J. Davis (knee) and DLs Carl Lawson (hip), Prince Tega Wanogho (leg) and Jaunta'vius Johnson (knee).

Mississippi State has no quarterback controversy to worry about, as senior QB Dak Presecott is one of the finest signal callers in the nation. He has completed 65% of his passes for 799 yards (7.9 YPA), 5 TD and 0 INT this season, while adding 107 yards (4.5 YPC) and 2 TD on the ground. Prescott was unstoppable in last year's meeting with Auburn, throwing for 246 yards and 1 TD while rushing 21 times for 212 yards (5.8 YPC) and two more scores. The only negative was his two interceptions.

Prescott has four receivers that have topped 100 yards already with junior WRs De'Runnya Wilson (158) and WR Fred Ross (153) leading the way. Wilson had a team-high 72 yards and a touchdown in last year's win over Auburn. The team's leading rusher is junior RB Ashton Shumpert, who has 123 yards on 4.6 YPC.
Defensively, the Bulldogs have been solid in allowing only 50 points over three games. But the secondary was gashed for 311 passing yards in the opener at Southern Miss, and the run-stop unit was steamrolled for 266 rushing yards in the loss to LSU. Mississippi State also needs to make some big plays on defense, having gone two straight games without forcing a turnover.

Auburn QB Jeremy Johnson was erratic in the first three games of the season, throwing for more interceptions (6) than touchdowns (5), which is why the team is turning to the 6-foot-1, 200-pound QB Sean White under center. The Tigers will likely try to establish the run with top RB Peyton Barber to take the pressure off their young signal caller. Although the sophomore Barber has 274 rushing yards on 5.1 YPC this year, he was given just seven carries in last week's blowout. But White has the physical gifts to be a great dual-threat quarterback and he will have to improvise when flushed out of the pocket.

While his top target will likely be WR Ricardo Louis (14 catches), he'll need to also utilize sophomore RB Roc Thomas (27.3 yards per catch) and underachieving senior WR D'haquille Williams who has just seven receptions for an 11.6-yard average this year compared to his 45 receptions and 16.2 average from a year ago. Saturday could be his breakout game though, considering Williams caught six passes for 108 yards and 2 TD in Starkville last season.

No matter how well the offense operates, the defense needs to step up in all facets to keep Auburn in this contest. The Tigers have allowed 443 total YPG this season, including 270 rushing YPG on 5.7 YPC. To be fair, they have been on the field 33:17 and really need the offense to sustain drives and stop turning the football over.

UTAH UTES (3-0) at OREGON DUCKS (2-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: Oregon -12, Total: 65.5

No. 18 Utah will have a tough time staying unbeaten when it visits double-digit favorite No. 13 Oregon on Saturday night.

Both offenses are expected to put up a lot of points in this conference showdown, but both teams have quarterbacks playing at less than 100 percent.

Utes QB Travis Wilson is questionable with a shoulder injury while Ducks QB Vernon Adams Jr. (finger) has been upgraded to probable. Utah has won each successive game by a wider margin this year, clipping Michigan by seven points in the season opener, taking down Utah State by 10 and then crushing Fresno State on the road by 21 last week. Oregon has scored 61 points in each of its two victories (SU wins, ATS defeats) sandwiched around its 31-28 loss at 4-point favorite Michigan State.

These schools have met twice since the Utes joined the Pac-12, and both matchups were dominated by the Ducks, 44-21 in 2013, and 51-27 in Salt Lake City last year when Oregon benefitted from four Utah turnovers. Both schools have plenty to offer bettors with the Utes going 8-1 ATS under head coach Kyle Whittingham after allowing 125 or less rushing yards in three straight games and 48-22 ATS after being involved in a game with 60 total points since 1992.

Meanwhile, the Ducks going 14-1 ATS after 24+ points in the first half of the previous game and 11-1 ATS coming off 50+ points under head coach Mark Helfrich. In addition to the quarterbacks, Utah could be missing TE Evan Moeai (leg) and DE Hunter Dimick (knee), while Oregon lost backup QB Travis Jonsen for the season with an undisclosed injury.

Utah's offense has been nicely balanced so far this season with 182 rushing YPG and 166 passing YPG. Both QBs Travis Wilson (73% completions) and Kendal Thompson (77% completions) have been accurate with their throws, but the pair has combined for only one touchdown pass and two interceptions.

Wilson had many big throws in the loss to Oregon last season with 297 yards on 28 attempts (10.6 YPA) plus 2 TD and 2 INT. But if the Utes are going to pull off the upset, RB Devontae Booker needs to produce twice as much as he did versus the Ducks in 2014 when he carried the ball 18 times for 65 yards (3.6 YPC). Booker has already rushed 84 times this season for 345 yards (4.1 YPC) and four touchdowns. The quarterback duo of Wilson and Thompson have also picked up good yardage with their legs, combining for 154 yards on 33 carries (4.7 YPC) and three touchdowns.

The Utah defense has done a great job stuffing the run, as opponents have a mere 106 rushing YPG on 3.5 YPC, but the secondary hasn't been great in allowing 259 passing YPG on 6.9 YPA. A big reason why opponents are scoring just 18.3 PPG versus the Utes are a whopping eight turnovers in the first three games.

Per usual, Oregon is putting up gaudy offensive numbers with 50.0 PPG on 567 total YPG. The fast-paced attack has produced 306 rushing YPG on 6.0 YPC, while the air attack has delivered 261 passing YPG on 8.2 YPA. While QB Vernon Adams Jr. is not expected to drop 353 total yards and 4 TD on the Utes like departed QB Marcus Mariota did last year, Adams is expected to improve his middling ratio of 3 TD and 2 INT this year.

But Adams has completed 64% of his passes and 8.7 YPA while backup QB Jeff Lockie has connected on 74% of his throws and 7.4 YPA. Junior WR Bralon Addison has been hard to cover with 13 catches for 185 yards, but he gets more space with three of his teammates having at least 119 yards through the air.

The main engine of this Ducks offense is sophomore RB Royce Freeman who has 373 rushing yards (6.8 YPC) and 5 TD plus seven catches for another 55 yards. In last year's big win at Utah, Freeman rushed for 99 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries (6.6 YPC).

Oregon's pass defense has had major issues with 316 YPG allowed on 65% completions and 7.5 YPA. The rushing defense has been more effective with 140 YPG on 4.0 YPC. The unit has also been quite opportunistic with seven takeaways this season, including four last week versus Georgia State.

USC TROJANS (2-1) at ARIZONA STATE SUN DEVILS (2-1)

Sportsbook.ag Line: USC -5.5, Total: 63

No. 19 USC hopes to avoid a two-game losing skid when it visits Arizona State on Saturday night.

The Trojans started the season with a pair of lopsided wins versus Arkansas State (55-6) and Idaho (59-9) but came back down to earth in last week's Pac-12 opener when they fell at home by double-digits to 9.5-point underdog Stanford (41-31).

Arizona State has begun the 2015 campaign with an 0-3 ATS mark that included an outright loss to Texas A&M (38-17) before a pair of consecutive non-covering home wins versus heavy underdogs Cal Poly (35-21) and New Mexico (34-10).

The Sun Devils have been the better wager in this series recently, going 5-1 ATS (3-3 SU) in the past six meetings, including two straight outright wins of 62-41 at home and 38-34 in Los Angeles last year which was won on the final play of the game when Jaelen Strong caught a 46-yard Hail Mary touchdown.

Going back to 1992, the Trojans hold a commanding 15-6 SU advantage in this Pac-12 matchup, but are just 11-10 ATS in this span, including 4-6 ATS (6-4 SU) in Tempe. But USC has been a great wager coming off a loss recently, as the school is 8-0 ATS in the past three seasons after a defeat (6-0 ATS after a conference loss) with an average score of 37 to 16 in those eight bounce-back contests.

However, Arizona State head coach Todd Graham is 10-1 ATS as a home underdog of 7 points or less in his coaching career, and college football underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points after being beaten by the spread by 21+ points in their previous three games are 30-8 ATS (79%) over the past 10 seasons when facing an opponent going over the total by 21+ points in its previous contest.

The Trojans could be missing top RB Tre Madden who suffered a knee injury last week, while the Sun Devils have a hefty six players with this similar questionable tag for Saturday -- RB De'Chavon Hayes (hamstring), WR Devin Lucien (knee), WR Jalen Harvey (collarbone), TE Dan Vear (undisclosed), LB Alani Latu (leg) and DB Armand Perry (ankle).

USC's offense has been extremely efficient this season with 48.3 PPG and 558 total YPG despite just 23:32 in time of possession. The Trojans have not committed a single turnover, as superstar QB Cody Kessler has completed a whopping 70-of-89 passes (79%) for 922 yards (10.4 YPA), 10 TD and 0 INT, giving him a gaudy 202.8 passer efficiency that ranks third in the nation.

But the only receiver that has gained even 100 of those yards is WR JuJu Smith-Schuster who ranks third in FBS with 434 receiving yards. The 6-foot-2 sophomore has caught 22 passes at a 19.7 average and has found the end zone four times. Neither of these two players had great performances against ASU last year though, as Kessler threw for a mere 6.1 YPA with zero touchdowns and Smith-Schuster gained only 24 yards on four catches with no scores. The Trojans were able to run the football in that contest though with 220 yards and 3 TD, and the ground game is averaging 208 YPG on a hefty 6.4 YPC and 9 TD this season. But top RB Tre Madden (206 rush yds, 7.4 YPC, 4 TD) might not play after injuring his left knee last Saturday, leaving speedster RBs Ronald Jones II (9.4 YPC, 2 TD) and Justin Davis (9.2 YPC, 2 TD) atop the depth chart. Defensively, the Trojans have been on the field for an average of 36:28, including 39:29 last week against Stanford where they surrendered 474 total yards. Their run-stop unit has held opponents to 3.6 YPC, but the secondary must find a way to limit Arizona State's yards through the air, something it failed miserably in doing last year.

Arizona State QB Mike Bercovici threw all over the Trojans last year with 510 passing yards (11.3 YPA), 5 TD and 0 INT. While 202 of those yards were to Jaelen Strong, who is now in the NFL, plenty of playmakers return to this offense that hasn’t fully clicked yet. Bercovici has played pretty well in 2015, completing 62% of his throws for 799 yards, 7 TD and 1 INT, and has tried to replace the production of Strong with three players -- RB Demario Richard (178 rec yds, 22.3 avg, 2 TD) and WRs Devin Lucien (147 rec yds) and D.J. Foster (team-high 16 receptions).

Richard caught four passes for 151 yards and 2 TD in last Friday's win over New Mexico while Lucien also tallied four receptions before leaving the game with a leg injury. Foster lines up all over the field, getting 16 receptions and 20 carries so far this season, but the injury to Lucien will probably mean more targets for Foster who caught five passes for 73 yards and a touchdown in last year's win over USC. But Foster ran for only 13 yards on 10 carries in that miraculous victory, and the team will once again lean heavily on the sophomore Richard who has 298 of his team's 472 yards on the ground this season.

The Sun Devils defense has given up only 135 passing YPG on a mere 49% completion rate, but has been exposed by opposing rushers for 215 YPG. After producing three takeaways in the season opener, Arizona State has forced only one combined turnover in the past two contests.

UCLA BRUINS (3-0) at ARIZONA WILDCATS (3-0)

Sportsbook.ag Line: UCLA -3.5, Total: 64

Pac-12 South foes try to stay unbeaten on Saturday night when No. 16 Arizona hosts No. 9 UCLA.

The Bruins nearly suffered their first loss of the season last week when they eked out a 24-23 victory over 16.5-point underdog BYU, while the Wildcats rolled past another easy non-conference foe with a 77-13 victory versus 34.5-point underdog Northern Arizona. UCLA has won three straight meetings in this series (SU and ATS), including a defense-laden, 17-7 victory last November. Going back to 1992, the Bruins hold the slight 12-10 SU advantage (11-10-1 ATS) with the Wildcats being the better wager in Tucson (7-5 SU and ATS).

Both schools have plenty of betting trends working against them in this contest, as UCLA benefits from Arizona's 0-6 ATS mark after ATS wins in two of the previous three games in the past three seasons plus Rich Rodriguez's 2-15 ATS record versus good defenses (14 or less PPG allowed) as a collegiate head coach. But the Bruins' negative trends of 11-27 ATS (29%) on the road after 2+ straight wins since 1992 and college football road favorites of 3.5 to 10 points in a game involving two teams outgaining opponents by 100+ YPG, after 6.25+ yards per play in the previous contest going 17-46 ATS (27%) since 1992, works in favor of the Wildcats.

Injuries for this matchup are all on the defensive side of the ball, as UCLA remains without DL Eddie Vanderdoes (knee) and DB Ishmael Adams (suspension), while Arizona won't have star LB Scooby Wright (knee) for the next several weeks, and have three other defenders questionable for Saturday in DL Luca Bruno (concussion), LB DeAndre' Miller (wrist) and CB Kwesi Mashack (hamstring).

UCLA has displayed a very balanced offense this season with 240 rushing YPG and 237 passing YPG leading to a solid 31.7 PPG average. The team's typical gain is 6.2 yards per play, with 6.4 YPA and 6.1 YPC. Freshman QB Josh Rosen was outstanding in the season opener versus Virginia with 351 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT, but he has struggled mightily in his past two contests where he's completed just 33-of-65 passes (51%) for 329 yards, 2 TD and 4 INT.

Rosen does not leave the pocket like his predecessor Brett Hundley who beat the Wildcats last year with both his arm (189 yds, 1 TD) and legs (131 yds, 0 TD). For his team to move the football on Saturday, Rosen needs to improve his accuracy greatly. Rosen has only two 100-yard receivers this season in senior WR Jordan Payton (183 yds, 2 TD) and junior WR Thomas Duarte (108 yds, 1 TD). Payton gave Arizona all kinds of trouble last season with six catches for 119 yards and a 70-yard TD grab to cap the scoring for the day. RB Paul Perkins scored the other touchdown on the ground, as part of a 78-yard day, and he has been UCLA's best offensive player this season with 429 rushing yards (7.3 YPC) and 3 TD plus seven catches for 82 yards.

The Bruins defense has been on the field way too much this season (34:48), but has given up only 14.0 PPG because it has limited opponents to a mere 4.4 yards per play, broken down into 3.7 YPC and 5.1 YPA. In last year's win over Arizona, they held the Wildcats to 80 yards on 31 carries while the UCLA offense held the football for 38:09.

Like its Saturday opponent, Arizona has also displayed a very balanced offense this year with 321 rushing YPG on a robust 7.9 YPC, and 264 passing YPG on a solid 7.1 YPA. Despite a meager average time of possession of 25:32, the Wildcats have scored 54.3 PPG, including 28.0 PPG in the first half alone. Sophomore QB Anu Solomon has carved up his inferior opponents with a 68% completion rate for 778 yards (7.5 YPA), 10 TD and 0 INT.

Five different receivers already have touchdowns with Solomon's top targets being senior WR David Richards (14 rec, 203 yds, 3 TD) and junior WR Cayleb Jones (11 rec, 172 yds, 1 TD). Solomon has also done a great job of avoiding sacks this year, hitting the deck just four times in three games compared to the 38 sacks he absorbed last season. Three of those sacks came at the hands of UCLA, and the constant pressure was a big reason Solomon had a dreadful afternoon of completing only 18-of-48 passes for 175 yards (3.6 YPA), 1 TD and 1 INT. It also didn't help that his team ran for only 2.6 YPC in that defeat, and the improved ground game will certainly be used more for Saturday's matchup.

Sophomore RB Nick Wilson has rushed for 434 yards on 62 carries (7.0 YPC) with 5 TD, while backup QB Jerrard Randall has 209 yards on just six rush attempts (34.8 YPC) with three touchdowns. The Arizona defense has done a great job stuffing the run this year (145 YPG on 3.2 YPC), but has allowed 254 yards through the air. Expect the Wildcats to gamble a bit, as they already have six takeaways, and UCLA has turned the ball over three times in each of its past two contests.

College Football Week 4

Top 13 Games

Because BYU is independent, their schedule is front-loaded with hardest games; this is their third tough road game in four weeks- they outgained UCLA 405-402 in 24-23 loss last week. Cougars are 9-3 in last 12 games as road underdog. Since '11, Michigan is 15-12 as home faves; they won first two home games this year 35-7, 28-7, allowing total of 373 yards-- they're facing a rookie QB for third week in row.

East Carolina (+9) won 28-21 at Virginia Tech LY, just second win for Pirates in last nine series games (dogs covered last three). Tech won last four visits here, holding ECU to total of 23 points in last three. Hokies had solid win at Purdue last week, just their second cover in last nine as road favorite. ECU got smoked at Navy last week, giving up 415 yards on ground; since 2008, they are 8-3-1 as home underdogs.

West Virginia won eight of last nine games with Pitt; dogs covered three of last four meetings. WVa passed for 511 yards in LY's 40-37 (+3) win at Maryland- they're 6-12-1 as home favorite under Holgorson. Terps gave up 441 rushing yards in last two games; they're 9-4 as underdogs on road last three years. Maryland lost last seven visits here, but covered three of last five.

Duke (+3) won 31-25 at Georgia Tech LY, just second win in last 16 vs Georgia Tech, which won last five visits here (4-1 vs spread). Jackets are 7-3 vs spread in last ten series games- they ran for 300+ yards in five of last six vs Duke, are coming off loss at Notre Dame. Tech is 10-5-2 as a road favorite under Johnson. Duke is 9-7 as home dog since '10; they got beat at home by Northwestern LW, despite outgaining them 327-271.

Arkansas got upset in its last two games; Bielema lost his last 12 games that were decided by 7 or less points. Hogs lost last three games against Texas A&M, giving up 523+ TY in last four meetings (underdogs 3-1 vs spread). Aggies scored 46 ppg in winning first three games; over last ten years, they're 3-10 vs spread in neutral field games, 13-14 as a favorite under Sumlin, 2-1 this year, with wins by 21-33-17 points.

Florida won its last 10 games with Tennessee, covering six of last eight; underdogs covered last three. Vols lost last five visits here; they lost ugly 10-9 game to Florida LY (TY 233-232). Since '11, Tennessee is 6-12 vs spread on road; line moved in their favor because Gators suspended its backup QB Harris for this game; he started opener. Florida struggled to beat East Carolina/Kentucky last two games, but they are 3-0 this year.

Auburn switches QBs after 45-21 loss at LSU which followed OT win vs I-AA team; Tigers are 11-3 in last 14 games vs Mississippi State- the host won last four series games. MSU lost last three visits here by 4-7-25 points; they're 2-4 vs spread in last six visits here. Bulldogs are 4-1 as road dog last couple years- they lost 21-19 to LSU week before Auburn lost at LSU. Tigers are 7-6 as home favorite under Malzahn.

TCU rang up 785 yards in 82-27 (-23) win over Texas Tech LY; Horned Frogs ran for 305, passed for 480 yards. TCU is 2-3 in last five games vs Tech (favorites 3-2 vs spread); they gave up 330 PY on 17 completions in 56-37 win over SMU LW. Since '11, TCU is 3-9 as road fave. Raiders are 10-4 as home underdogs in last decade; they upset Arkansas 35-24 a week ago, completing 27-31 passes for 315 yards. Interesting game.

Oregon beat Utah 44-21/51-27 last two years; running for 269 yards LY in game where Utes were running for easy TD and 14-0 lead, before RB dropped ball before goal line while taunting and Ducks ran ball back for TD on same play. Oregon QB Adams (finger) sat out easy win last week would expect him to play here. Ducks are 8-7 as HF with Helfrich. Utes are 12-9 as road underdogs since '08.

Favorites covered last six Oklahoma State-Texas games, with home side losing all six games; Cowboys won last three visits here, all by 12+, but had only nine FDs in 28-7 home loss to Texas LY. Longhorns found a QB in Heard, but they've allowed 722 rushing yards in first three games, including 228 to Rice, so they need improvement there. Texas is 2-7 as home dog last 10+ years. OSU is 2-7 in last nine tries as road favorite.

USC gave up 474 yards in home loss to Stanford last week; they're 7-1 SU last two years in game following a loss. Trojans lost three of last four vs Arizona State, losing 62-41/43-22 in last two visits here. USC is 9-21 as road favorite since '08, 2-9 since '12. ASU is 7-5-1 as home underdog last decade, 1-2 under Graham; they're -1 in turnovers thru three games after being +29 last two seasons.

UCLA lost LB Jack for year; their defense is banged-up. Bruins won last three games vs Arizona, but lost four of last five visits here, in series that saw favorites cover five of last seven meetings. UCLA was outgained in LW's 24-23 win over BYU; they're 6-5 as road favorites under Mora Jr. Arizona is 4-0 as home underdog under RichRod; they gained 570 yards in 44-20 win at Nevada, by far toughest team they've played so far.

Washington won last six games vs Cal, with underdogs covering five of the six; Golden Bears lost last four visits here, all by 8+ points. Cal won 45-44 at Texas LW, blowing 3-TD lead in 4th quarter; they're 4-14 as a road favorite since '07, 0-1 since '12. Huskies are 1-3 as home dogs last 2+ years; they outgained a decent Utah State squad 442-254 in 31-17 win LW. Freshman QB Browning is completing 64% of his passes.

Rest of card

-- Army is 0-3 this year, with three losses by 2-5-3 points; they're 2-18 vs spread in last 20 road games. Eastern Michigan has allowed 312 ypg in its 1-2 start-- road team won all three games.
-- Long trip east for Nevada, which covered six of last seven road games. Buffalo is 6-4 vs spread in last 10 at home; coach Polian is son of former Bills' GM Bill Polian.
-- Michigan State is 7-12 as non-conference home favorite since '12; they open Big 14 play next week. Central Michigan covered six of last seven as road dog. MAC teams are 8-4 vs spread as non-league road dogs.
-- Since '12, Nebraska is 13-9 as non-league HF's; they lost two of first three games, both last-second losses. Southern Miss won 56-50 at Texas State LW; they're 6-2 in last eight games as road dog.

-- Missouri won last three games with Kentucky, all by 10+, covering all three as faves of 8+ points. Tigers are 11-3 as road underdogs since '12. Kentucky is 12-4 as home favorite since '12.
-- Houston had last week off after winning at Louisville as 13-pt dogs; they're 2-5 in last seven games as home favorite. Texas State scored 50 last week but lost; they're 4-1 in last five games as road dog.
-- Navy ran for 415 yards in win over ECU LW; they play Air Force, Notre Dame next two weeks. UConn lost 9-6 at Missouri last week, a week after 22-17 win over Army- they're 1-4 in last five as home dog.
-- San Diego State lost to I-A newbie South Alabama last week; Aztecs are 3-5 in last eight games as road underdog. Penn State is 12-7 as home favorite since 2012

-- Purdue is home dog to 1-2 Bowling Green squad that scored 119 pts in three games; Boilers are 3-9 in last 12 games as home underdog. Falcons are 12-5 as road favorites since 2007.
-- Rutgers as 14-point favorite over anyone is dicey; coach is suspended, team is a mess. Kansas allowed 96 points in losing first two games, one to I-AA team. Jayhawks are 8-19-1 as road dogs, since 2009.
-- Ohio State allowed total of 355 yards last two games; they struggled to beat No Illinois 23-20 LW, gaining 298 TY. Western Michigan is 8-3 as road underdogs under Fleck.
-- Toledo (-3) beat Arkansas State 63-44 LY in bowl game, running ball for 365 yards, but they lost 4/5 starters on OL; Rockets are 1-4-1 in last six games as HF. Since 2011, ASU is 8-5 as road underdog.

-- Since 2005, Indiana is 2-4-1 as road favorite; Hoosiers are 3-0 despite giving up 34.7 ppg (all at home) this year. Wake Forest is 19-9-1 as a home underdog, over last 10+ years.
-- Vanderbilt is 5-3 in last eight games with Ole Miss, winning last three visits here. Underdogs covered Vandy's last eight visits to Oxford. Ole Miss beat Alabama last week, has Florida next-- a sandwich game!!!
-- Since 2012, Iowa is 6-13 as home favorite, but they're 3-0 SU so far this year, scoring 29 ppg vs I-A teams. North Texas failed to cover last seven tries as road underdog.
-- Illinois is 6-13 in last 19 games as home favorite; they lost 48-14 LW at North Carolina, disappointing game. Hard to tell much about Middle Tennessee; they played Alabama, a I-AA team and I-A newbie- scored 70 points each in latter two games.

-- Wyoming won three of last four games with New Mexico; Lobos lost last three visits here, by 7-21-24 points. Dogs covered four of last five in series played here. Cowboys are 6-12 vs spread in last 18 home games.
-- Louisiana Tech lost in OT at K-State LW; they beat FIU 23-7 (-5) in last meeting in '13. Tech is 5-7 as home fave since 2012. FIU is 5-2 in last seven games as road underdog.
-- Baylor had LW off after hammering couple stiffs, opens Big X play next week; they're 17-4 as home favorite since '11. Third road game in a row for Rice, which outgained Texas 462-277 in 42-28 loss.
-- Minnesota is 9-4 in last 13 games as home favorite; they struggled to beat MAC doormat Kent 10-7 LW, after OT win at Colorado State and 23-17 loss to TCU. Ohio U is 2-10 in last dozen games as road dog.

-- Western Kentucky's three games were decided by total of 8 points; they allowed 38 points in each of last two games. Miami OH lost 39-33 to rival Cincinnati LW; they're 7-13 in last 20 games as road dog.
-- Syracuse is starting walk-on QB after #1-2 QB got hurt; since 2007, Orange is 9-17-1 as home dog. LSU just played SEC rivals Miss State, Auburn back/back; they're 3-6 in last nine games as road favorite.
-- UMass allowed 1,016 TY in losing first two games; they're 7-13 last 20 games as road underdog. Notre Dame won last two games by 8-7, has game at Clemson next week- they're starting their backup QB.
-- NC State is just 2-10 as road favorite last 10+ years; they start ACC play next week, after drilling stiffs this month. South Alabama won LW at San Diego State; Jaguars are 2-5 as home underdogs.

-- Georgia Southern (-24) beat Idaho 47-24 LY, racking up 550 yards; Eagles are 2-2 as road favorites. Since '10, Vandals are 4-10 as home dog.
-- Kent scored total of 10 points in pair of losses vs Big 14 teams; they are 3-4 as home dogs under Haynes. Marshall allowed 229 RY in loss at Ohio U of MAC. MAC non-league home underdogs are 6-1.
-- Alabama lost to Ole Miss LW, has Georgia next; they're 3-11 against spread under Saban in game that followed a loss, 21-17 as home favorite last 5+ years. UL-Monroe is 12-10 in last 22 games as a road dog.
-- Florida Atlantic allowed 41.3 ppg in losing first three games; they are 1-3 as road favorite last 6+ years. Charlotte gave up 73 points last week in loss to Middle Tennessee- they got first I-A win at Georgia State.

-- UL-Lafayette (-6) won 35-30 at Akron in 2013; Cajuns are 9-11-1 as home favorites under Hudspeth. Zips is 8-5 as road dog under Bowden.
-- UTSA allowed 47 ppg in losing first three games; Roadrunners are 3-4 as home underdogs. Colorado State lost last two games by FG each and opens conference play next week- they're 4-1 as road favorites.
-- Central Florida lost to I-AA team LW, South Carolina looked awful in drubbing at Georgia. Gamecocks won all three series games, but did not cover any of them. UCF is 4-2 in last six games as road underdog.
-- Sun Belt teams are 6-12 vs spread out of conference; C-USA dogs are 10-9 vs spread, 2-2 at home. Old Dominion is 1-2 as a home underdog.

-- Northern Illinois lost 20-13 at Ohio State LW; yardage was 290-193. Huskies are 12-4 as road dogs, since 2008. Boston College lost 14-0 at home to Florida State last week; they're 7-2 in last nine as home fave.
-- Northwestern allowed total of 16 points in 3-0 start; they're 1-8 as a home favorite last 2+ years. Big 14 home favorites are 7-12 vs spread. Ball State is 30-11-1 as road underdogs since 2006.
-- Hawai'i is 9-10 as road underdog under Chow. Wisconsin outscored last two foes 86-3 after loss to Alabama. Badgers open Big 14 play vs Iowa next; they're 18-13 in last 31 games as a home favorite.
-- Underdogs are 3-1-1 vs spread in last five Fresno-San Jose games, as average total was 68. Bulldogs won six of last eight visits here. Fresno allowed 118 points in last two games, both vs Power-5 teams.

Armadillosports.com

Injury News & Notes - Week 4
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com

UCLA suffered a crushing blow at Tuesday's practice when junior LB Myles Jack went down with a season-ending knee injury. Jack, who was the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in 2013, garnered second-team All Pac-12 honors last year when he had 88 tackles, including eight for losses, and one interception. He has also seen spot duty at RB throughout his career, rushing for three touchdowns last season and averaging 7.0 yards per carry as a freshman. Jack becomes the third UCLA defensive starter to sustain a season-ending injury, joining CB Fabian Moreau and DE Eddie Vanderdoes. On the bright side, junior CB Ishmael Adams has been reinstated to the team after charges were dropped from a recent arrest for allegedly robbing an Uber driver. Adams, a first-team All Pac-12 selection last year, will play Saturday at Arizona.

Arizona might get first-team All-American LB Scooby Wright back vs. UCLA. Wright, the Pac-12's Defensive Player of the Year as a sophomore in 2014, injured his knee in Week 1 and hasn't played since then. He is expected to be a game-time decision. WRs Cayleb Jones and Samajie Grant missed Tuesday's practice. Grant is 'questionable' but Jones has been upgraded to 'probable.'

Florida sophomore QB Treon Harris and sophomore CB Jalen Tabor have been suspended for Saturday's game vs. Tennessee for a violation of team rules. Harris split time with Will Grier at QB in UF's first two games, but he didn't see the field in Saturday's 14-9 win at Kentucky. As long as Grier doesn't get injured against the Volunteers, Harris's absence won't be a factor. However, Tabor will be missed. When Vernon Hargreaves III missed a Week 2 game vs. East Carolina, Tabor had a pick-six. As a true freshman last year, Tabor had 31 tackles, two sacks, eight passes defended and one interception. UF starting junior LB Alex Anzalone is 'out' with a shoulder injury, while TE C'yontai Lewis is 'questionable' with a hand injury. Lewis, a redshirt freshman who had a pair of TD catches in the season opener vs. New Mexico St., is hoping to practice Thursday with a soft cast.

Utah State QB Chuckie Keeton is out for the next 4-6 weeks with yet another knee injury. Keeton turned around the Aggies program with his stellar play in 2011 and 2012, but he's had the worst injury luck since midway through the 2013 campaign. After an open date, they'll turn to Kent Myers as the starting signal caller for a home game vs. Colorado State.

Stanford QB Kevin Hogan is 'questionable' for Friday's game at Oregon State due to a leg injury sustained in last week's 41-31 win at Southern Cal.

Ole Miss will be without DB Tony Conner for at least a month (4-6 weeks) due to a knee injury. Conner, a second-team All-SEC selection last season, had 68 tackles, eight tackles for losses, one sack and one interception in 2014. Also, OT Laremy Tunsil, who is expected to be an early first-round draft choice next spring, remains out indefinitely while the NCAA investigates potential dealings with an agent. Tunsil earned first-team All-SEC honors last year. The Rebels, who are 10-5-1 ATS as home favorites during Hugh Freeze's tenure, will host Vanderbilt this weekend. As of Thursday, they were favored by 25 points.

Vanderbilt will most likely be without star LB Nigel Bowden (concussion) for a second straight week. Bowden, who led the Commodores in tackles last year, is listed as 'doubtful.'

Arkansas is in panic mode going into Saturday's SEC opener vs. Texas A&M in Arlington. The Razorbacks have dropped back-to-back non-conference home games to Toledo (16-12) and Texas Tech (35-24), and now they must move forward without their three best WRs. Keon Hatcher was lost for 6-8 weeks with a foot injury after being injured against the Rockets. Then during the loss to the Red Raiders, Jared Cornelius (arm) and Cody Hollister (foot) were lost for an indefinite period of time.

UCF is already without starting QB Justin Holman for at least this Saturday's game at South Carolina. Adding to their woes, the Golden Knights dismissed RB William Stanback from the program earlier this week. Stanback was a first-team All-AAC selection when he rushed for 10 TDs in 2014.

Wake Forest QB John Wolford is 'doubtful' for Saturday's home game vs. Indiana due to a sprained ankle sustained in last week's 17-14 win at Army. Kendall Hinton, a true freshman, will get the starting nod if Wolford can't go. Hinton rushed for 101 yards and a pair of TDs against the Cadets.

Seven TCU starters are 'out' and one is 'questionable' for Saturday's game at Texas Tech. The Horned Frogs won't have five of their defensive starters in the front seven, nor will it have CB Ranthony Texada, who was lost to a season-ending knee injury last week. WR Deante' Gray is also 'out,' while WR Desmon White and safety Kenny Iloka are question marks.

Syracuse will most likely have to go with a third-string QB in Saturday's home game vs. LSU. Terrel Hunt was already lost for the season and now Eric Dungey (head) is 'doubtful.'

Nebraska's defense will be short-handed Saturday vs. Southern Miss. Starting LB Michael Rose-Ivey will miss the next 4-6 weeks with a groin injury, while starting DT Vincent Valentine is 'doubtful' with a sprained ankle.

After missing last week's 9-6 win over UConn, Missouri senior RB Russell Hansbrough is set to return to the starting lineup Saturday at Kentucky.

Last weekend was bad for Fresno State quarterbacks. Starter Chason Virgil went down with a broken collarbone that will keep him out for the rest of the season. Also, back-up Zack Greenlee was arrested early Sunday morning for public drunkenness. The Bulldogs haven't announced a starter for Saturday's game at San Jose State, but I would think the nod will go to West Virginia transfer Ford Childress.

Auburn's best pass rusher, DE Carl Lawson, is 'out' Saturday vs. Mississippi St. A hip injury could keep him sidelined for an extended period of time.

Utah QB Travis Wilson (shoulder) and DE Hunter Dimick (knee) are both listed as 'questionable' for Saturday's game at Oregon. Dimick had 10 sacks last season.

California RB Daniel Lasco is 'questionable' at Washington. Lasco didn't play in last week's 45-44 win at Texas due to a hip injury. Lasco ran for 137 yards and two TDs on 24 carries in the Bears' first two games.

UTEP star RB Aaron Jones is out for the rest of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligament in his ankle. Jones had rushed for 209 yards and one TD while averaging 6.5 yards per carry in the Miners' first two games. He was a second-team All C-USA selection last year when he tallied 1,321 rushing yards and 11 TDs. Also, starting QB Mark Leftwich is out indefinitely after sustaining a concussion in last week's 50-47 win at New Mexico St.

Saturday's SEC Notebook
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com

There are a lot of happy people in Oxford and Baton Rouge this week. On the flip side, there's a ton of negativity floating around Auburn, Tuscaloosa, Columbia (S.C.) and Fayetteville. The tone in Lexington is one of frustration, while the anxiety is high in Knoxville. As for Gainesville, I would say there's relief in surviving a scare at Kentucky, in addition to uncertainty going into Saturday's showdown vs. Tennessee. Let's take a look at what the SEC has to offer in Week 4.

Tennessee at Florida

Florida has won 10 in a row in this bitter SEC East rivalry. Truth be told, the streak should cover 11 years if not for the incompetent officiating at crunch time of the 2004 meeting in Knoxville. UF was milking the clock in the final minute and the Vols were out of timeouts. When the Gators were stopped on third down, a UT cornerback slapped Florida WR Dallas Baker in the facemask right in front of the referee. Like a dumbass, Baker responded with a slap of his own. Although replays clearly showed the official witnessing both actions, he called Baker for a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty worth 15 yards. That was irrelevant, however. What was pertinent in this instance was the incorrect decision by the lead official not to start the clock again after the 15 yards was marked off. Therefore, UT was given an extra 15 yards and most importantly, an extra 30 seconds. The Vols would win on a 50-yard field goal with six seconds remaining.

Florida QB Treon Harris and DB Jalen Tabor were both issued one-game suspensions Wednesday. If Will Grier doesn't get injured, the loss of Harris won't be a big deal. As for Tabor, he's an outstanding player who had a big sack and fumble recovery to spark UF's rally past Tennessee at Neyland Stadium last season. The sophomore also had a pick-six in the win over East Carolina in Week 2. Fortunately for Jim McElwain's team, the secondary is deep and loaded with talent.

Florida (3-0 straight up, 2-1 against the spread) captured a 14-9 win at UK as a 3.5-point road favorite. The 23 combined points fell 'under' the 52.5-point total. Will Grier and Kelvin Taylor both ran for a TD, while UF's defense kept the Wildcats out of the end zone all night. Vernon Hargreaves III had a key interception in the first half to set up a Gators' score. Leading 14-3 early in the third quarter on a first-and-goal play, Grier threw an interception that kept the 'Cats in the game.

Butch Jones has a 14-14 record since taking over for Derek Dooley at UT. If Jones and the Vols fall Saturday in Gainesville, Jones will have the same record that Dooley had through 29 games. In other words, all of Jones's outstanding work on the recruiting trail will mean little to a fan base that has embraced him since his arrival. This is the biggest game of his tenure at UT -- no doubt about it.

Tennessee blew a 17-0 lead to Oklahoma two weeks ago at Neyland Stadium, eventually losing by a 31-24 count in double overtime. The Sooners stormed back and forced the extra session thanks to a pair of Baker Mayfield TD passes, including a five-yard scoring strike to Sterling Shepard with 40 seconds left in regulation. Jalen Hurd scored on an eight-yard TD scamper to start the first OT, but OU answered with a Mayfield one-yard TD plunge. Then in the second OT, the Sooners got another TD pass from Mayfield to Shepard before the defense closed the deal.

Tennessee (2-1 SU, 2-1 ATS) utilized a pair of special-teams TDs, including an 88-yard kickoff return by Evan Berry in a 55-10 win over Western Carolina last weekend. Berry's brother, Vols' legend Eric, was watching from the sidelines since the Chiefs had played on Thursday night. Josh Dobbs had a pair of TD passes without being intercepted.

For the season, Dobbs has a 5/1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a pair of rushing scores.

Most books opened Florida as a two-point favorite, but the game was a pick 'em by Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, the Vols became the favorites and the number got as high as 2.5 at some spots. As of early Friday afternoon, most shops had UT favored by one or 1.5 with a total of 48.

The 'over' is 2-1 for UF, 2-0 in its home games. The 'over' is also 2-1 overall for UT. This is the Vols' first road assignment of the year.

Kickoff at The Swamp is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN.

Arkansas vs. Texas A&M

This game will be played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. As of Friday, most books had Texas A&M (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) listed as a seven-point favorite with a total of 58. Before the season started, the Westgate SuperBook had the Razorbacks as 1.5-point favorites in the Games of the Year. Things have changed for the Hogs, however.

Arkansas (1-2 SU, 1-2 ATS) has dropped back-to-back home games as a double-digit favorite. The Razorbacks lost a 16-12 decision to Toledo as 22-point 'chalk' despite the fact that the Rockets were playing without their star RB (Kareem Hunt) and best pass rusher (Allen Covington) due to suspensions. Then in Week 3, Texas Tech invaded the Ozarks and avenged last year's blowout loss in Lubbock by collecting a 35-24 win as a 10-point road underdog.

Arkansas will face the Aggies without its three best WRs. Keon Hatcher was lost for 6-8 weeks in the loss to Toledo. Then in Week 3, Jared Cornelius and Cody Hollister sustained injuries that will keep them out for an indefinite period of time.

Alex Collins was shut down by Toledo, but he got back on track with 170 rushing yards and one TD on 28 carries against the Red Raiders. For the season, Collins has rushed for 351 yards and three TDs, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Arkansas QB Brandon Allen has completed 67.4 percent of his passes for 916 yards with a 6/2 TD-INT ratio.

Texas A&M has posted wins over Arizona St. (38-17 in Houston), Ball St. (56-23) and Nevada (44-27). Kyle Allen has connected on 61.4 percent of his throws for 594 yards with a 9/2 TD-INT ratio. True freshman Christian Kirk has been Allen's favorite target, hauling in 16 receptions for 269 yards and two TDs. Kirk also had a long punt return for a score against the Sun Devils. Josh Reynolds has snagged a team-high three TD catches.

When these teams squared off last season, Arkansas had a double-digit lead in the third quarter. However, Texas A&M was able to rally and eventually collect a 35-28 win in overtime. The Razorbacks covered the number as 9.5-point underdogs, but the Aggies won outright for the third straight season.

ESPN will have the broadcast at 7:00 p.m. Eastern.

Vanderbilt at Ole Miss

As of early Friday afternoon, most books had Ole Miss (3-0 SU, 3-0 ATS) installed as a 26-point favorite with a total of 54.

This is a vintage letdown spot for the Rebels, who are off a monster win at Alabama by a 43-37 count as nine-point road underdogs. Chad Kelly threw for 341 yards and three TDs without an interception. For the season, Kelly has completed 64.4 percent of his passes for 898 yards with a 9/1 TD-INT ratio.

Cody Core has 12 receptions for a team-high 299 yards and three TDs. Quincy Adeboyejo has 10 catches for 224 yards and a team-best five TDs. Junior WR Laquon Treadwell has bounced back nicely from last year's season-ending leg injury, bringing down a team-high 14 receptions for 197 yards and one TD.

Vanderbilt (1-2 SU, 1-1-1 ATS) dropped its first two games at home to Western Ky. (14-12) and Georgia (31-14). The Commodores were two-point underdogs to the Hilltoppers, so their backers took a push. In the loss to UGA, Derek Mason's squad took the cash as a 20-point 'dog. The 'Dores were victims of an 88-yard pick-six and a long punt return for a TD by the Bulldogs. They also missed a short field goal before halftime, so the 17-point loss to UGA was a bit misleading.

Ole Miss won't have stud OT Laremy Tunsil for at least another week due to an NCAA investigation into whether or not he received improper benefits from an agent this past offseason. Also, Tony Conner is out for a month with an injury suffered at Alabama. Conner was a second-team All-SEC pick last season.

Ole Miss owns a 10-5-1 spread record in 16 games as a home favorite during Hugh Freeze's four-year tenure.

Vandy has posted a 6-3 spread record in nine games as a double-digit underdog on Mason's watch. The Commodores are 3-1 ATS in four games as road 'dogs under Mason.

Vandy won its first game last week by trouncing Austin Peay 47-7 as a 47-point home favorite. Johnny McCrary threw for 368 yards and two TDs without an interception. The sophomore QB also rushed five times for 41 yards and one TD. Ralph Webb had a pair of rushing scores.

For the season, McCrary has a mediocre 4/5 TD-INT ratio. Webb is only averaging 3.3 YPC, rushing for 192 yards on 58 totes.

Vandy will be without its best defensive player for a second straight week. Nigel Bowden, who had a team-best 78 tackles in 2014, won't play due to concussion symptoms.

The 'over' is a perfect 3-0 for the Rebels. They lead the nation in scoring with a 64.0 PPG average. Their combined scores have averaged 84.3 PPG.

The 'under' is 2-0-1 for Vandy.

Kickoff is slated for 7:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPNU.

Kentucky at Missouri

As of Friday afternoon, most books had Kentucky (2-1 SU, 1-2 ATS) listed as a three-point favorite with a total of 45. Gamblers can back the Tigers on the money line for a +125 return (risk $100 to win $125).

Missouri (3-0 SU, 0-3 ATS) has been killing its backers and has been unimpressive in wins vs. SE Missouri St. (34-3), at Arkansas St. (27-20) and vs. UConn (9-6). On the bright side, however, the defense ranks fourth in nation in total defense, third in pass defense and fifth in scoring defense (9.7 PPG).

There's also reason for optimism with the offense since RB Russell Hansbrough is slated to return to the starting lineup after sitting out against the Huskies. Hansbrough sprained his ankle in the first half of the season opener and has been limited to only seven carries. Hansbrough rushed for 1,084 yards and 10 TDs while averaging 5.3 YPC last year.

Junior QB Maty Mauk has been inconsistent, connecting on just 52.5 percent of his passes for 474 yards with a 5/4 TD-INT ratio. He has rushed 25 times for 96 yards and one TD.

Kentucky got a last-minute score to pull out a 40-33 win over UL-Lafayette in the season opener. Then in Week 2, the Wildcats opened SEC play by upsetting South Carolina 26-22 in Columbia. However, with a packed house at newly renovated Commonwealth Stadium last weekend, Mark Stoops's squad lost to Florida for the 29th consecutive year. The Gators won 14-9 as 3.5-point road 'chalk.'

As a home favorite under Stoops, UK has compiled a 5-2 ATS ledger.

Gary Pinkel's team had covered the number in nine straight road games until going to Jonesboro two weeks ago. The Tigers failed to take the cash as 10-point favorites at Arkansas St.

Since joining the SEC in 2012, Missouri has won all three head-to-head meetings against UK both SU and ATS. In the 2013 encounter in Lexington, the Tigers cruised to a 48-17 win as 14-point road favorites. The 'under' has gone 2-1 in the three encounters.

The 'under' is 3-0 for the Tigers, who have seen their games average a combined score of 33.0 PPG.

The 'under' is 2-1 for UK, 1-1 in its home outings.

The SEC Network will have the telecast at 7:30 p.m. Eastern.

B.E.'s Bonus Nuggets

LSU will be in a letdown spot when it travels to the Carrier Dome to face Syracuse at noon Eastern. The Bayou Bengals smashed Auburn 45-21 last week behind a sensational performance from Leonard Fournette, who produced 228 rushing yards and three TDs on just 19 carries. Brandon Harris ran for 66 yards and two score on eight carries, and the sophomore signal caller also had a TD pass without being intercepted.

LSU is 15-13-2 ATS as a road favorite since Les Miles took over in Baton Rouge. The Tigers are favored by 24 over the 'Cuse.

Auburn will be looking to avenge a 38-23 loss at Mississippi St. when its SEC West rivals come to The Plains for a Saturday night showdown. ESPN2 will have the broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Eastern. Gus Malzahn has benched QB Jeremy Johnson in favor of redshirt freshman Drew Smith, who will be taking his first collegiate snap when he steps onto the field at Jordan-Hare Stadium against the Bulldogs. As of late Friday afternoon, most spots had Auburn favored by 2.5 with a total of 58.5.

Georgia is a 54.5-point home favorite vs. Southern. The Bulldogs have Alabama on deck. The Westgate SuperBook has UGA installed as a 1.5-point home favorite against the Crimson Tide.

Alabama will host ULM as a 38-point home 'chalk.' When the Warhawks last visited Bryant-Denny Stadium, they captured an upset win over Nick Saban's first 'Bama squad in 2007.

Saturday's College Football Top 25 Betting Cheat Sheet
By Covers.com

(20) Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Duke Blue Devils (+7.5, 56)

The Yellow Jackets totaled 915 yards rushing in the first two games but were limited to 216 in the loss to the Fighting Irish and only a pair of touchdown passes in the final minute made the score respectable. “You put it behind you and move forward and get ready for the next game,” head coach Paul Johnson told reporters. “It is what you do."

Duke has limited 13 of its last 16 opponents to 25 points or fewer, including a 31-25 win at Georgia Tech last year. The Under is 10-2 in those 13 games (no line for Week 1 versus Elon in 2014).

Southern Jaguars at (6) Georgia Bulldogs (Off, Off)

The Jaguars have won back-to-back games - scoring 50 points in each victory - and feature senior playmaker Willie Quinn, who has two touchdowns on special teams through three games.

Georgia quarterback Greyson Lambert completed 24-of-25 passes as the Bulldogs crushed South Carolina 52-20 last week, Lambert setting a NCAA record for highest completion percentage while finishing with 330 yards and three touchdowns.

(9) LSU Tigers at Syracuse Orange (+24, 47)

LSU, which has yet to trail this season and also has yet to commit a turnover, has won 49 consecutive regular-season non-conference games heading into this matchup. The Tigers are 28-17 ATS in those games (four games with no line).

The Orange lost starting quarterback Terrel Hunt to an Achilles tear in the season opener and now must take the field without backup Eric Dungey (upper-body injury), who left last week's victory over Central Michigan after taking a vicious hit in the second quarter.

Central Michigan Chippewas at (3) Michigan State Spartans (-26.5, 54)

Central Michigan is 6-22 all time against Big Ten opponents, including a 38-17 victory over Purdue last season and a 32-31 triumph against Iowa in 2012.

Spartans LB Riley Bullough, who leads the team with 39 tackles and three sacks, is suspended for the first half due to his ejection for targeting in last week’s game.

Rice Owls at (4) Baylor Bears (-34.5, 74.5)

The Owls are facing their second Big 12 opponent on the road after losing at Texas 42-28 in Week 2 and feel they are better prepared this week. “We learned some lessons from the Texas game,” head coach David Bailiff told reporters. “You also learn how to work in a loud environment. Procedurally, you didn’t see a lot of problems. I think that helps us moving forward.”

Baylor’s 17-game home winning streak is the longest current mark in the FBS. The Bears are 14-2 ATS in those home games (one game with no line).

(22) Oklahoma State Cowboys at Texas Longhorns (+3, 58.5)

The Cowboys are tied for eighth nationally in scoring defense (11.7 points) and forced eight turnovers but their nonconference schedule featured three non-Power 5 squads with a combined 1-7 record. Emmanuel Ogbah and Jimmy Bean lead the defensive front with a combined 6.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.

Opponents have converted on 56.3 percent of third-down plays against Texas, ranking the Longhorns second-to-last nationally.

Western Michigan Broncos at (1) Ohio State Buckeyes (-31.5, 61)

The Broncos throw the ball a lot and junior receiver Daniel Braverman leads the nation with 40 receptions while totaling 398 yards and three touchdowns. Braverman isn't the only top target junior quarterback Zach Terrell (947 yards, eight touchdowns, five interceptions) has at his disposal as junior receiver Corey Davis ranks fifth in school history with 2,648 receiving yards.

Ohio State has never previously faced Western Michigan but improved to 31-1 all-time against Mid-American Conference foes when it defeated Northern Illinois 20-13 last Saturday.

UMass Minutemen at (8) Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-28.5, 59)

UMass is 0-10 against Power 5 teams since moving to the FBS level in 2012. The Minutemen are 4-6 ATS in those 10 games, including 0-1 ATS this season (Week 1 at Colorado).

Predictions for Notre Dame’s season were being reevaluated after Malik Zaire was injured in a tight win over Virginia in Week 2, but DeShone Kinzer proved to be a capable replacement and the defense stepped up to lead the way in a 30-22 win over Georgia Tech last weekend.

UL Monroe Warhawks at (12) Alabama Crimson Tide (-38, 55)

ULM returns 17 starters from last season, including senior wideout Rashon Ceaser, who caught 10 passes for 97 yards last week, giving him 31 catches for 388 yards in his last three outings. Garrett Smith has thrown for 576 yards and five touchdowns in the first two games and also has the team's longest run of the campaign (28 yards).

Alabama coach Nick Saban expects Jake Coker to get the start at quarterback, although he hopes the offense can revert to the form it showed in a Week 1 win against Wisconsin. "I thought we had some identity in the first game and were moving in the right direction and then in the last two games, we've been scattered," Saban said this week. "We need to have some certainty in what we're going to do. Jake came into the (Ole Miss) game and played with some passion and showed great leadership and energy when he played."

(2) TCU Horned Frogs at Texas Tech Red Raiders (+6.5, 82.5)

The Horned Frogs have won 11 consecutive games, the nation's second-longest winning streak behind defending national champion Ohio State (16). The Horned Frogs are 7-4 ATS during that streak (1-2 ATS this season).

Sophomore quarterback Patrick Mahomes II is playing well and has passed for 1,029 yards and nine touchdowns while being intercepted three times and has Texas Tech is averaging 54.3 points through three games and seeking its fourth 4-0 start in a five-season span.

Vanderbilt Commodores at (5) Ole Miss Rebels (-24, 53.5)

Vanderbilt has not forced a turnover in its first three games and is minus-7 in turnover margin – last in the SEC and 124th in the nation.

The Rebels lead the nation in scoring (64 points per game) and rank among the top 10 in total offense (567.3) and passing (352.3), and they have not trailed yet this season. After averaging 74.5 points in their first two games, they proved the explosiveness was no fluke in a 43-37 road win over the Crimson Tide a week ago to vault into the top five.

(15) Texas A&M Aggies vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (+7, 58)

The Aggies have been sharp on offense to start the season, averaging 46 points per game thanks in part to quarterback Kyle Allen’s nine touchdown passes – four coming last week.

The Razorbacks ranked 10th nationally in total defense last season, but gave up 486 yards last week and did not force Texas Tech to punt.

Mississippi State Bulldogs at (25) Auburn Tigers (-3, 59)

The Bulldogs dropped a 21-19 decision at home to LSU in Week 2 and took out their frustrations against Northwestern State with a 62-13 drubbing that allowed Prescott to take most of the afternoon off. “Our effort today was better,” head coach Dan Mullen told reporters after watching his offense set a school record with 647 total yards. “I think we're getting better as a football team.”

A list of the most disappointing college football teams of the first month has to have Auburn at or near the top, and Jeremy Johnson is paying the price. The Tigers will hand the quarterback job over to Sean White when they host Mississippi State on Saturday.

(23) Missouri Tigers at Kentucky Wildcats (-2.5, 45.5)

The Tigers are looking to extend two impressive streaks – they’ve won 11 straight road games and six consecutive SEC games – and shake off a sluggish performance a week ago. They are 10-1 ATS during their road streak and 5-1 ATS in the run versus SEC foes.

The Wildcats are 2-14 under Mark Stoops when their opponent scores first and 1-18 when trailing at halftime.

(11) UCLA Bruins at (16) Arizona Wildcats (+3, 65.5)

The Bruins are expected to get a key defender and special-teams players back in Ishmael Adams, who was reinstated to the team Tuesday after it was announced he would not face felony charges for an incident involving an Uber driver last month.

Anu Solomon has been nearly flawless at quarterback for the Wildcats, recording 10 touchdown passes with no interceptions while completing 68.3 percent of his throws this season. He'll be eager to make up for his 18-of-48 performance against UCLA last year.

Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at (21) Wisconsin Badgers (-24.5, 50.5)

Senior quarterback Max Wittek bounced back from a rough performance versus Ohio State (7-for-24, 67 yards, two interceptions) by throwing a pair of touchdown passes in last week's 47-27 victory over UC Davis.

Wisconsin senior quarterback Joel Stave has completed 67.4 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and two interceptions - a big improvement from 2014 when he hit on 53.4 percent with nine TDs and 10 picks - while leading an offense which has clicked without injured running back Corey Clement.

(17) Utah Utes at (13) Oregon Ducks (-12.5, 64.5)

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham indicated quarterback Travis Wilson's status would remain in limbo until late in the week while senior Kendal Thompson was being prepared to make his second straight start.

The same chorus line was being preached by Oregon coach Mark Helfrich per the status of Adams as junior Jeff Lockie could make his second consecutive start. "He looks very similar to last week, so how's that?" Helfrich said of Adams during a press conference. "It's going to be similar to last week in it will be right up until the end of the week before we make that call."

Ball State Cardinals at (19) Northwestern Wildcats (-19.5, 50.5)

Ball State leads the MAC in rushing (249 yards per game) and has piled up at least 199 in six straight contests dating to last season.

Northwestern is 19-2 SU in the month of September since the beginning of the 2010 campaign. The Wildcats are 13-8 ATS in those games.

(18) USC Trojans at Arizona State Sun Devils (+5.5, 62)

USC quarterback Cody Kessler, who has gone 101 passes without throwing an interception, will be tested by an Arizona State squad that leads the Pac-12 in pass defense and tackles for loss. The Trojans’ quick-strike offense is engineered by Kessler but also features a trio of top running backs in Tre Madden, Justin Davis and Ronald Jones II along with wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who is fifth in the nation with 144.7 receiving yards per game.

Arizona State is 18-4 at Sun Devil Stadium under head coach Todd Graham, but are just 12-10 ATS in those games.

Game of the Day: UCLA at Arizona
Covers.com

UCLA Bruins at Arizona Wildcats (+3, 66)

Arizona has struggled to get its offense rolling against UCLA in recent seasons, but the 16-ranked Wildcats will try to find holes in the No. 11 Bruins Saturday, when they host the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Arizona showed its offensive capabilities last weekend against Northern Arizona, setting program records for points (77), total yards (792) and rushing yards (499) in the 64-point victory, but UCLA is a major step up in competition.

The Wildcats are hoping to welcome back their best defensive player, while the Bruins lost one of theirs during practice Tuesday. Arizona's Scooby Wright III, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year last season, returned to practice early in the week and will be a game-time decision to return to his starting linebacker role after missing the last two games with a knee injury suffered in the season opener. Wright had a career-high 19 tackles in the 17-7 loss to the Bruins last season but couldn't do anything to help the offense, which was limited to 255 total yards - less than half its season average. UCLA, meanwhile, lost starting linebacker Myles Jack, the conference's Offensive and Defensive Freshman of the Year two years ago, to a season-ending knee injury Tuesday, making him the third Bruins starter to go down on the defensive side of the ball.

LINE HISTORY: Books opened UCLA as a 3-point road fave. The total has been bumped from 64 to 66.

WEATHER: Temperatures expected to be in the low-90s under clear skies. Wind will blow across the field at around eight miles per hour.

INJURY REPORT: UCLA - WR Jordan Payton (Probable, ankle), LB Myles Jack (Out for season, knee), DB Fabian Moreau (Out for season, foot), DL Eddie Vanderdoes (Out for season, knee). Arizona - WR Cayleb Jones (Probable, undisclosed), LB Scooby Wright III (Questionable, knee), WR Samajie Grant (Questionable, undisclosed), LB Haden Gregory (Mid October, undisclosed), WR Trey Griffey (Late September, foot).

WHAT CAPPERS SAY: "The Bruins narrowly escaped with a come from behind win at home over BYU on Saturday. For the second straight week freshman quarterback Josh Rosen struggled, throwing for just 106 yards with a TD and three picks on 11-of-23 passing. The Wildcats are 3-0 with a big home game against UCLA coming up this weekend, and they might get a boost with the return of their star linebacker. Scooby Wright is back at practice after recovering from knee surgery." Jesse Schule.

ABOUT UCLA (3-0 SU, 1-1-1 ATS, 0-3 O/U): The Bruins also can run the ball, and they'll look to Paul Perkins to continue doing damage out of the backfield. He's averaging 143 yards this season and is coming off a 219-yard effort in last weekend's one-point victory over then-No. 22 BYU. Brett Hundley was the key offensive weapon against Arizona last season - amassing 320 total yards - but he's graduated to the NFL and freshman Josh Rosen is running the offense. Rosen has completed 61 of his 100 attempts this season, throwing five touchdown passes and four interceptions.

ABOUT ARIZONA (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS, 3-0 O/U): Anu Solomon has been nearly flawless at quarterback for the Wildcats, recording 10 touchdown passes with no interceptions while completing 68.3 percent of his throws this season. He'll be eager to make up for his 18-of-48 performance against UCLA last year. Arizona running back Nick Wilson has nearly matched Perkins step-for-step this season, amassing 434 rushing yards while averaging seven per carry to put him well on his way to a second straight 1,000-yard season. At the receiver spot, Southern California natives David Richards and Johnny Jackson each have three touchdown receptions.

TRENDS:

* Favorite is 7-1 ATS in their last eight meetings.
* Bruins are 1-5 ATS in their last six meetings in Arizona.
* Under is 10-3 in Bruins last 13 road games.
* Under is 5-1 in Wildcats last six conference games.

CONSENSUS: Fifty-two percent are backing Arizona.

ACC Report - Week 4
By Joe Williams
VegasInsider.com

Georgia Tech at Duke

Georgia Tech hits the road for the second consecutive weekend, and they're licking their wounds after suffering their first loss of the season at Notre Dame. The Yellow Jackets were never in the game, falling behind 30-7 before making the score look more respectable at the end. Each of these teams have been hot against the number lately, as Georgia Tech is 5-0 ATS in their past five conference games, and 9-1 ATS in their past 10 overall (lost last week). Duke is 19-7-1 ATS in their past 27 overall, and 9-3-1 ATS in their past 13 home games (lost last week). The Jackets are 4-1 ATS in their past five trips to Wallace Wade Stadium, and 8-3 ATS in their past 11 meetings with the Blue Devils overall. The favorite is 8-3 ATS in the past 11 meetings overall, too. The under is 5-1-1 in the past seven meetings, too.

Louisiana State at Syracuse

LSU makes the trip to upstate New York to face the Orange, and they're expected to romp despite Syracuse's 3-0 record. The Tigers are favored by 24 1/2 points. While the Tigers are 2-5 ATS in their past seven road games, including their first game at Mississippi State Sept. 12. However, they're 4-1 ATS in their past five non-conference games. Syracuse has covered just three of their past 10 home games, and two of their past seven overall. Syracuse is 3-0 overall, but they haven't exactly run the gauntlet of college football's powers. They have wins against Rhode Island, Wake Forest and Central Michigan, with the latter coming in overtime. A matchup against LSU and their amazing team speed will be a giant step up in competition.

Indiana at Wake Forest

The high-powered Indiana offense will be on display in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest. The Hoosiers are 4-1 ATS in their past five, and 4-1 ATS in their past five non-conference games, although they're 3-9 ATS in their past 12 road games and 1-4 ATS in their past five against the ACC. Wake is 4-0 ATS in their past four home games, but 2-5 ATS in their past seven home games against a team with a winning road record. Indiana has scored at least 36 points in each of their three games this season, with the over cashing in each game. They have allowed 34.7 points per game, too. Wake is 2-1 SU and 1-2 ATS, scoring a total of just 34 points in the past two games. They lost QB John Wolford last weekend to an ankle injury, and help on for an uninspiring 17-14 win at Army. The Hoosiers are favored by three, as they look to remain unbeaten at 4-0.

Northern Illinois at Boston College

Northern Illinois put a scare into top-ranked Ohio State last weekend, and now they set their sights on Boston College. The Huskies are underdogs by five points in Chestnut Hill against a Boston College team which was shut out last Friday against Florida State, losing their starting quarterback in the process. Freshmen QBs Troy Flutie or Jeff Smith are candidates to start, although head coach Steve Addazio has yet to tab one. Whoever is the starter will need to avoid NIU's Shawun Lurry, who had a pair of interceptions and two passes defensed against the Buckeyes. NIU is 18-7-1 ATS in their past 26 road games, and 4-1 ATS in their past five against teams with a winning record. BC is 6-1 ATS in their past seven against the MAC, and 5-0 ATS in their past five home games agaisnt a team with a winning road record.

Virginia Tech at East Carolina

Virginia Tech hits the road for Greenville to battle East Carolina, a team which has been a thorn in their side in the past. The Pirates have dropped a pair to Florida and Navy, and face another solid opponent in this one. The Hokies have covered four of the past five games, although they're 4-11-1 ATS in the past 16 against a team with a losing record. East Carolina is just 2-10 ATS in their past 12 overall, and 5-18 ATS in their past 23 against teams with a winning record. However, they're 9-3 ATS in their past 12 against non-conference teams. The Hokies are 2-5 ATS in the past seven meetings, and the under has cashed in four of the past five.

North Carolina State at South Alabama

N.C. State passed its first test on the road at Old Dominion last weekend, winning 38-14. Now, they look to cool of South Alabama, a team which is flying high after a 34-27 overtime win at San Diego State. The Wolfpack have covered in six straight dating back to last season, and they're 6-0 ATS in their past six non-conference tilts. Despite their upset win and cover last week, USA is still 2-9 ATS in their past 11 games overall, and they're 1-6 ATS in their past seven at home. The Jags have also failed to cover in five straight against a team with a winning mark.

Other ACC teams in action

Delaware at North Carolina
Samford at Louisville (ESPN3, 6:00 p.m.)

ACC teams on bye
Clemson, Florida State, Miami-Florida, Pittsburgh

Big 12 Report - Week 4
By Joe Williams
VegasInsider.com

Kansas at Rutgers

Kansas has been horrid in their two games, losing to an FCS team and getting buried at home to Memphis. They have had two weeks to regroup before their road trip to Piscataway. Rutgers enters the game 4-0 ATS in their past four against Big 12 teams, and 5-2 ATS in their past seven following an ATS loss. Kansas is 7-23-1 ATS in their past 31 on the road, and 1-10-1 ATS in their past 12 non-conference tilts. Rutgers has fallen in two in a row since their opening game win, and it appears the distractions have taken their toll. Stud wideout Leonte Carroo was suspended indefinitely after an allegation of abuse from a female accuser, while head coach Kyle Flood is in the midst of a three-game suspension for contacting a professor about a player's grade, a violation of university policy.

Rice at Baylor

Rice makes the short trip to Waco looking for a monumental upset, as they're a five-touchdown underdog. Baylor has won 10 in a row against in-state foes, and they have won 17 in a row at home. Rice has covered all three of their games so far this season, including their only game against a Big 12 opponent, Texas. The Owls have covered six of their past eight games, and 13 of their past 16 non-conference games. However, it's hard to see their ground-based attack making noise against Baylor should they fall behind early. The Bears have covered 24 of their past 30 at home, and they're 12-5 ATS in their past 17 against teams with a winning record.

Maryland at West Virginia

Rivals Maryland and West Virginia do battle. The favorite has cashed in five of the past seven meetings in this series, and the Terps are 2-6 ATS in the past eight metings. West Virginia is favored by 16 points, although if they are to cover they need to break an ugly streak. They're 0-8 ATS in their past eight games after a bye. Maryland isn't much better, as they're 1-4 ATS in their past five against a team with a winning record, and 1-10 ATS in their past 11 following a cover in the previous game.

Oklahoma State at Texas

OK State and Texas lock horns in the Big 12 Conference opener, with the Cowboys installed as a slight favorite over the beleaguered Longhorns. Texas won last season in Stillwater by a 28-7 score, and if they're to win again they need to keep Jerrod Heard on track. And they will need to shut down OK State's David Glidden, who has been a man on fire for the Cowboys. OK State is 2-5 ATS in their past seven conference tilts, but 20-9 ATS in their past 29 games against a team with a losing record. Texas is 2-5 ATS in the past seven at home, and 6-14 ATS in their past 20 home games against a team with a winning road record. The road team has cashed in eight straight meetings in the series, with OK State 4-0 ATS in Austin in their past four trips. The under might also be attractive, as it is 4-0-1 in the past five meetings in Austin, and 3-1-1 in the past five meetings overall. The under is 4-1 in OK State's past five against a team with a losing record, while the under is 4-1 in their past five Big 12 games and 17-7 in their past 24 overall. The under is also 11-5 in Texas' past 16 home outings.

Texas Christian at Texas Tech

TCU gets its second tough road test of the season when they travel to Lubbock to meet the Red Raiders. TCU passed its first road test with a win at Minnesota in the opener. TTU has been passing plenty of tests, too, including a signature win at Arkansas last weekend. The Raiders are 2-0-1 ATS in their past three games, and they have averaged 54.3 points per game while allowing 29.7 points on defense. The line for this one is set at 83 1/2, and these two teams have the firepower to eclipse that rather easily. TCU is 9-1 ATS in their past 10 against a team with a winning record, and 14-4 ATS in their past 18 overall. Texas Tech is 3-0-1 ATS in the past four in Lubbock, 5-0-1 ATS in their past six overall dating back to last season but just 4-11 ATS in their past 15 home games against a team with a winning road record. The home team has covered in five of the past six meetings.

Big 12 Teams on a Bye

Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma

Pac-12 Report - Week 4
By Joe Williams
VegasInsider.com

California at Washington

Cal and Washington kick off their conference schedule against each other in Seattle. The Bears, slight favorites, have averaged 51.0 points per game. They're coming off a 45-44 win at Texas last week, hanging on for a strange victory thanks to a missed extra point in the final minute. Washington has gotten back on track after losing their opener at Boise State. The offense has gotten on track, including 31 points last weekend against a stout Utah State defense. Washington is 3-0 ATS so far this season, while Cal is 2-1 ATS. The total is 60 for this weekend's game, and if Cal were to hit their average it would be an easy over. However, the under has hit in six straight meetings in this series, and the under is 6-1 in Washington's past seven games dating back to last season.

UCLA at Arizona

UCLA looks to stay hot in the desert against Arizona. They're favored by a field goal on the road, and they look for a repeat of last season's 17-7 win in Pasadena. UCLA is 5-2-1 ATS in their past eight games dating back to last season, and they're 4-1 ATS in their past five road games against a team with a winning home record. Arizona is just 2-7 ATS in their past nine home games, but they're 5-1 ATS in their past six against UCLA at home. The home team has also covered in nine of the past 12 meetings in this series, although the favorite is 7-1 ATS in the past eight meetings. Watch the total in this series, too. The under is 5-2-1 in the past eight meetings in Arizona, and the under is 5-2 in the past seven meetings overall.

Utah at Oregon

Utah heads to Eugene trying to deal the Ducks their second loss of the season before the calendar turns to October. Both teams have quarterback injury issues, so this is a hard game to figure. Utah's Travis Wilson missed last weekend's game due to a sprained left shoulder, while Oregon was without Vernon Adams Jr. last week against a broken right index finger. The Ducks are favored by 11 points heading into this one, but if they're to cover they need to shut down Devontae Booker. Oregon is averaging 61.0 points in two games at home, but Utah is a huge step up in competition compared to Eastern Washington and Georgia State. The Utes are 8-0 ATS in their past eight road games against a team with a winning home record, and 9-3 ATS in their past 12 against teams with a winning record. They're also 11-5 ATS in their past 16 games overall. Oregon is 8-0 ATS in their past eight conference games, and 21-8 ATS in their past 29 against a team with a winning overall record. The total is set for 64 1/2 in this game. The under is 7-2-1 in Utah's past 10 Pac-12 games, 10-3-1 in their past 14 overall and 5-2-1 in their past eight road outings. Oregon has seen the over go 37-15-1 in their past 53 at Autzen.

Southern California at Arizona State

USC heads to AZ State looking to get back on track after a stunning setback to Stanford at home last weekend. The Trojans looked like one of the most complete teams in the country through the first two weeks, but now they could be 2-2 through four games. The Sun Devils have looked lackluster in their first three games, getting buried in a neutral-site game to start against Texas A&M before two sluggish performances against Cal Poly and New Mexico. Now, the Sun Devils must right the ship in a hurry and cover for the first time against an angry USC team. The Trojans are 5-14 ATS in their past 19 road games, and 2-9 ATS in their past 11 road outings against a team with a winning home record. The Sun Devils are 0-5 ATS in their past five dating back to last season, and 1-4 ATS in their past five against a team with a winning record.

Other Pac-12 teams in action

Nicholls State at Colorado

Steve's Screenshot
By Steve Merril

North Texas at Iowa (-25.5, 54)

Iowa had a tough match-up against Pittsburgh last week, and we won a Best Bet selection on the Panthers in their 27-24 spread-covering loss to the Hawkeyes. Iowa gets a much easier opponent this week in a putrid North Texas team. I lean towards Iowa in this game, but with Wisconsin on deck and the Hawkeyes’ lack of big blowout wins, I decided to stay off Iowa as an official Best Bet as they may be looking ahead to next week.

Arkansas State (+6.5/+7, 58) at Toledo

My power ratings only make Toledo a 5-point favorite over Arkansas State, so there is some line value with the underdog. These two teams just met in a bowl game which Toledo won 63-44 as a 3.5-point favorite. Not much has changed since then to warrant the line difference. I lean towards Arkansas State with the revenge motive, but my concern is that Toledo ran for 365 yards on Arkansas State in that bowl game in January.

Hawaii at Wisconsin (-24.5, 49)

Wisconsin’s offense was sluggish last week in their 28-3 win against an overmatched Troy team. The Badgers are now facing another inferior opponent in Hawaii, so Wisconsin should dominant this game from start to finish. However, Wisconsin has Iowa on deck as noted above, so I decided to back off this game as an official Best Bet for the same reason I stayed off the Hawkeyes.