Free Picks for Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 from some of the nations best and worst handicappers
SSI Wins
5 Units Virginia Tech -4
5 Units UCLA -3.5
Big Al
1* UCLA
Maddux Sports
10* West Virginia/Virginia Tech Under
Sunday's Best Bet
Vegasinsider.com
Texas A&M Aggies vs UCLA Bruins
Odds: UCLA (-3.5); Total 56.5
It's not often that you get a cross-country, non-conference rivalry rematch game in college football, but with the landscape always changing in this sport and the money involved for high profile schools to go to battle against one another, thee “manufactured” rivalry games once a year are going to start popping up more and more.
The Stanford/Notre Dame rivalry definitely popularized it, and now to begin 2017, we've got a rematch of last year's season opener between Texas A&M and UCLA.
Last year's game between these two needed OT to be decided, as Texas A&M overcame blowing a 24-9 lead in the final four minutes to win 31-24 and cover the number as 5-point home favorites. This year the venue heads out west to the Rose Bowl, and with UCLA having QB Josh Rosen back in the fold after returning from an injury that derailed UCLA's 2016 season, and bypassing the NFL draft for at least one more year, the Bruins have extremely high hopes for 2017 with Rosen back at the helm. It was Rosen who led UCLA back in the 4th quarter vs. A&M a year ago, but his three INT's in the game ended up being a big factor in UCLA coming up short.
There is no question that one of the reasons behind Rosen's return to UCLA this year was so that he could impress NFL scouts and hopefully improve his draft stock. Missing the latter half of 2016 did Rosen no favors in terms of next level skill development, and one of the biggest knocks on his skill set is his inability to eliminate turnovers.
UCLA's hopes in 2017 are going to heavily rely on the right arm of Rosen, but he's also having to work with his third OC in three years at UCLA and it will be interesting to see if it takes some time for the Bruins to get in sync on that side of the ball.
Texas A&M enters another year with HC Kevin Sumlin at the helm, and for all the great things he did early on with the program – think the Johnny Manziel days – he's never been that kind to A&M backers on the betting line on the whole. Under Sumlin's leadership, the Aggies are 23-36 ATS, and three straight years of 8-5 SU finishes has the higher ups at the program looking for more.
Two consecutive years of losses in a Bowl game – along with four straight losses to SEC rivals to end 2016 - have started rumours that Sumlin may be on the hot seat should 2017 not go well, and the writing may already be on the wall should he head back home to Kyle Field with an 0-1 SU record.
Sadly, with a 2-11 ATS mark during his time at the helm of the Aggies as underdogs of 7 points or less, there are just too many things pointing towards this being a rough opener for Texas A&M.
So while it may take a bit of time for the Bruins to find their strut on offense, an opener at home is always a positive. Add in the revenge angle favoring them after last year's loss to the Aggies – one that you could argue was symbolic of what was to come for UCLA in 2016 – and Rosen and company should be the ones to send Sumlin and the Aggies in a tailspin in 2017.
UCLA has the more explosive offensive weapons, are 6-1 ATS in their last seven against SEC foes, and the Aggies have been money burners for years with a 5-16 ATS run going entering this season. There still may be a few questions surrounding Rosen and UCLA's prospects this season, but there are so many more for Texas A&M.
With the Aggies in the current position of being a publicly backed underdog according to VegasInsider.com's betting percentage numbers (about 70% on A&M ATS and more than 90% on the ML), I've got no problem being in the minority here and backing the UCLA Bruins to get their revenge. Rosen knows he's got to show up under the national spotlight, and a strong performance here could easily set a positive tone for the Bruins in 2017.
Best Bet: UCLA -3.5
Sky Blue
Virginia Tech
Paul Leiner
100* Pirates -130
100* Orioles -125
100* West Virginia +5
Jim Feist
Royals / Twins Over 9.5
JB's PA Connection
Units Giants
Best Sports Capper
Virginia Tech -4.5
Scott Spreitzer
Annihilator - Twins -149
Bob Balfe
Cardinals -115
Jimmy Boyd
3* Virginia Tech -4
H&H Sports
3* Red Sox -109
Tom Stryker
UCLA