Brandon Lang FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Oklahoma -16.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Anthony RedddFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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75 Dime Michigan StFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
20 Dime Michigan St 1st Half
20 Dime Mississippi StFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
20 Dime TCUFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Jeff Benton
20 Dime Wisconsin
10 Dime Michigan-Mississippi State Over
Wisconsin
Hate to do this – as someone who believes that college football desperately needs a playoff and that the sport does its members a disservice by inviting only certain members to the party while excluaing others (or if not excluding, at least making them operate under different rules), I hate going against the “little guy” in this Rose Bowl.
But you can’t ignore what your eyes tell you, and my eyes tell me that TCU – while a tremendously gifted football team – doesn’t have the horses to run with an opponent as big and as physical and as just-plain nasty as Wisconsin. The Badgers went 11-1 in the regular season and with three exceptions – a one-point home win over Arizona State; a one-point road upset of Iowa; and a 10-point, mistake-filled loss at Michigan State – they pounded every team they faced, posting nine double-digit wins. That includes a 31-18 upset of Ohio State (as a 3½-point home underdog) and four season-ending Big Ten wins by scores of 34-13, 83-20, 48-28 and 70-23!
Wisconsin scored at least 31 points in its last seven games in a row (and nine of 12 contests), including back-to-back 31-point efforts against two outstaending defenses (Ohio State and Iowa). But it wasn’t just all about offense for the Badgers, who held nine of 12 opponents to 23 points or fewer. Only Michigan State (34), Iowa (30) and Michigan (28) did any damage Wisconsin (and Michigan’s points all came in garbage time).
While Wisconsin faced three rock-solid Big Ten squads (Iowa, Ohio State, Michigan State), the Horned Frogs got to 12-0 by beating – sorry to say it – a very weak slate of opponents. TCU’s “marquee” wins this year were against Oregon State (which didn’t qualify for a bowl, and the Frogs struggled to a 30-21 victory as a 13-point favorite); Baylor (a 45-10 home win, but the Bears proved to be a fraud); Utah (47-7 road win, but like Baylor, the Utes were a fraud); BYU (31-3 home win, and while the Cougars came on at the end of the season, they were a mess at the time they faced TCU); and San Diego State (a shaky 40-35 home victory).
That latter contest against San Diego State is the one I want to focus on, because the Aztecs were the only opponent to score more than 24 points against TCU’s top-ranked defense (which held eight opponents to 10 points or less). Like Wisconsin, San Diego State has multiple offensive weapons, including a quality quarterback. But unlike Wisconsin, the Aztecs don’t have tremendous girth and strength on the offensive and defensive lines.
And that is what I believe is going to be TCU’s downfall today: The Horned Frogs just won’t be able to handle the Badgers’ massive size advantage in the trenches, particularly when Wisconsin has the football and QB Scott Tolzien is handing off to bruising RBs James White, John Clay and Montee Ball (who combined for nearly 2,900 rushing yards and averaged – respectively – 7.0, 5.3 and 6.1 yards per carry while running behind an offensive line that averages 6 feet 4 and 321 pounds).
While TCU came up short in its first-ever BCS bowl game last year (17-10 loss to Boise State in last year’s Fiesta Bowl), Wisconsin has come away vidtorious in each of its last three Rose Bowl appearances. And the Badgers – whose fans travel as well as any team in the nation – will have a big crowd edge in Pasadena today. Also, Wisconsin covered in each of its last six games (five double-digit wins), including two upset victories as an underdog (Ohio State and Iowa). In fact, the Badgers have cashed in four of five as a pup going back to last season.
Bottom line: TCU belongs in this football game, make no mistake about that. But they drew the wrong opponent in Wisconsin, whose power running game will prove to be the difference in a 31-24 victory.
Michigan-Mississippi State Over
Two words: Michigan’s defense. It was downright putrid pretty much all season long, giving up the following point totals: 37, 35, 34, 38, 41, 65, 48 and 37. And even though Mississippi State doesn’t possess what I would call an “explosive” offense, the Bulldogs did put up 31 points in each of their last two games. And if you remove a 30-10 loss at Alabama, Mississippi State averaged 28.8 points in its final four games.
Including the Alabama contest, Mississippi State’s offense was held in check but four teams this year, the others being Auburn (14), Florida (10) and LSU (7). Alabama, Florida and LSU are all sensational defensive teams, and Auburn has its share of athletes on D (it just didn’t translate very often this year because Cam Newton and the Auburn offense was so unstoppable).
Seven of Michigan’s last 10 games had combined point totals of 66 points or more, while Mississippi State played six games that were at least in the 50s (including games of 31-23, 38-31, 47-24, 49-7 and 49-16). Finally, of the Wolverines’ last nine bowl games, eight have flown over the total (including the last four in a row), and the over is 6-1 in their last seven
KELSOFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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200 Units TCU -3FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
25 Units Miss St -3.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
10 Units Oklahoma -16FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
3 Units Northwestern +9FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
3 Units Penn St +7FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
3 Units Michigan St +9.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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25 Units Evansville -2FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
15 Units Providence -1.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
10 Units Notre Dame +6.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
3 Units Wichita State -6FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Bob ValentinoFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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50 Dime Oklahoma 1st HalfFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Sean MichaelsFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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100 Dime WisconsinFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Joel TysonFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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75 Dime WisconsinFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
DAVID BANKSFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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PENN STFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
ALABAMAFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
MISS. STFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
TCUFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
UCONNFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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MEMPHISFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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W. VIRGINIAFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
BOSTON COLLFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Cowtown Sports
3* Northwestern +9.5
Ben BurnsFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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TCUFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Texas Tech UnderFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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FloridaFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Alabama UnderFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Rob Veno FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Bluechip - OklahomaFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Wayne RootFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Millionaire - Florida -7FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Millionaire - Mich St +9.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Millionaire - Mich +3.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Billionaire - UConn +16.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
No Limit GOY - TCU -3FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Craig DavisFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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100 Dime WisconsinFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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25 Dime UConnFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Maddux SportsFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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20 Units Michigan StFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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10 Units MichiganFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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10 Units UCONNFOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Evan Altemus FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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1* Marquette -1.5FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Typically I would love to take West Virginia in a bounce back situation after coming off of a bad loss. However, their loss against St. John's in their last game revealed some serious problems with this team. West Virginia really struggled against St. John's because the Red Storm pushed the tempo and forced West Virginia into being a jump shooting team. The Mountaineers really struggled to defend the Red Storm, evident by St. John's shooting over 60% from the field. Marquette does what St. John's does, but even better, and they have a very strong home court advantage. This game is also played at 11am EST Saturday morning, so I don't expect West Virginia to be able to contain Marquette's offense. Marquette's losses have come against some of the best teams in the country, so they are much better than their record would indicate. Marquette also has been great on the boards, which is another problem for West Virginia. I expect the Golden Eagles to really push the tempo in this game and dominate the Mountaineers.
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1* Dayton -1FOR THE LARGEST SELECTION OF FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Dayton has beaten some quality opponents recently but are still being disrespected by the oddsmakers. They played Old Dominion very tough in a point spread cover but loss on the road, which is impressive considering that ODU has such a strong home court advantage. Dayton also got a great home win against George Mason in their last game and a win at Seton Hall prior to that. The Flyers also rebound the ball very well. This game is a tough spot for New Mexico, as they have to fly across the country after playing at Texas Tech just a few days ago, giving them little time to prepare for this game. The Lobos have had some questionable performances against not very good teams this year, barely beating Texas Tech, losing on a neutral court to an inexperienced Northern Iowa team, and losing against California. Dayton is playing their best basketball of the season and New Mexico is in a tough spot and hasn't played that well overall. The Lobos aren't especially experienced either, making it more difficult in this spot. Look for Dayton to get the home win.