Mike Anthony
Sat TV GOW Notre Dame
Top Play Oregon
Reg UNLV,Wash St,USC
Lenny Del Genio
20* SEC GOM
Auburn Tigers
igz1 sports
4* Troy State vs Florida Over 60
4* North Carolina -4
3* BYU -18
3* Washington -20.5
3* Oklahoma State -15
3* Alabama -33.5
3* Southern Miss -14
NorthCoast Sportsline
Early Bird POW
Boise St.
4* Power Play
Pitt
Underdog POW
East Carolina
#2 Economy Club
SMU
Pac 10 GOW
Washington St
Big 12 GOW
Texas Tech
Doc's Sports
6 Unit Play. Take Auburn -14 over Mississippi State
Top Selection of the Week. The Tigers issued a dominating performance over a good Louisiana Tech squad last week winning, 37-13. Auburn had more than 300 yards on the ground and two backs went for more than 100 yards. QB Chris Todd looked solid as he completed 17-of-26 for 255 yards and two touchdowns.
That being said, the offense shined but the defense of the Tigers was really the story. This group held the Bulldogs to less than 100 yards on the ground. Tech went 8-5 in 2008 and returned nine starters on offense. Now home again, Auburn faces a much weaker group of Bulldogs, a team they beat, 3-2, in 2008. Despite that low score, Auburn outgained MSU by 200 yards and was in control of that game. Although they have only one game under their belt, Auburn is much better then in 2008. MSU returns just four starters and their offense is weak. Look for a beat down and we will collect big along the journey. Auburn 42, Mississippi State 10.
5 Unit Play. Take Fresno State +8 over Wisconsin
Top Big Ten Selection. I went against the Badgers last week and will come right back here with the same play in Week 2. I thought QB Scott Tolzien looked outstanding for the home team. However, the running attack was poor and that does not bode well with a questionable offensive line. The Badgers defense looked tired late against an inferior opponent and the Bulldogs should have even more success against them this week.
Revenge will be on the minds of the Bulldogs as they fell to Wisconsin last year in California, 13-10. The Dogs had an easy time last week against UC-Davis but must play Boise State next Friday. Some might think they would be looking ahead, but that will not happen under Coach Pat Hill, who has pulled some major upsets in his career against BCS conference teams. The Badgers have been having some problems this week with the flu and this may cause some concentration problems. Although Madison is always a tough place to play; I expect this one to be close and go down to the wire. Wisconsin 27, Fresno State 24.
5 Unit Play. Take Kent State +21 over Boston College
Top Underdog Play. The Golden Flashes lost last year to BC, 21-0, but the 2009 encounter appears to be much closer. Kent State returns 15 starters and that is the same as BC. However, the Eagles lost some key people on defense in BJ Raji and Ron Brace. For the second straight year, BC will have a new QB with Chris Crane departing and this team has yet to develop a number one guy this season. BC is really banged up at the linebacker position and Kent State will be able to put some points on the board behind RB Eugene Jarvis. The Eagles have Clemson on deck and expect them to just go through the motions and they will win but it will be much closer then what the experts think. Boston College 24, Kent State 10.
4 Unit Play. Take Under 45 ½ in Southern Cal at Ohio State
Top Totals Pick. I had reports last week that the Buckeyes offense was just not clicking and I went against them laying a ton of points against Navy. Now they face a major step-up in class with USC coming to town. That being said, USC starts a freshman QB in Matt Barkley and I just do not think Columbus is the place to let this kid loose. It would not surprise me if both coaches play it close to the vest and stay conservative. Both clubs have outstanding defenses and even though USC returns just three starters on that side of the football, the talent is there. USC pounded Ohio State in 2008, but QB Mark Sanchez was the reason why, and now I believe that neither team will reach 21 points. Would like to take the points, but I will not fall into that trap and just collect with the UNDER. USC 21, Ohio State 17.
4 Unit Play. Take Central Michigan +14 ½ over Michigan State
I picked Michigan State as my team to win the Big Ten. However, I will still green light this selection. This is a tough spot for the Spartans, as they are playing an in-state team that returns 16 starters and a possible pro prospect in QB Dan LaFavour. Central Michigan struggled last week at Arizona in the second half, after playing a very competitive first half. I believe they were looking ahead to this game and it’s a much shorter road trip for them.
Michigan State plays Notre Dame next week and the Spartans are 1-9 against the line prior to the Irish game in the last 10 years. Call it close in a real barn burner. MSU 24, Central Michigan 20.
4 Unit Play. Take Buffalo +10 ½ over Pittsburgh
Under Coach Turner Gill, the Bulls just continue to get better and are coming off an impressive win over UTEP in El Paso. Buffalo has revenge in this game, as they lost last year 27-16 when the fourth quarter did them in, as they were outgained by 100 yards.
Under Coach Dave Wannstedt, the Panthers have been up and down. I do believe this club is stronger than in 2008. However, I have a gut feeling that they will take this game lightly. That will not be the case with the Bulls, as they get a big win over a BCS Conference School and Coach Gill continues to improve his resume. Buffalo 27, Pittsburgh 24.
4 Unit Play. Take UNLV +7 over Oregon State
Oregon State will play their first road game of the season in Las Vegas late Saturday night. In the past six years, the Beavers have lost their first road game of the season and I expect that to happen again in 2009. Although QB Lyle Moevao is out with a rotator cuff, they should not lose much with their back-ups. The real concern is the defense for OSU, as they return just three starters from 2008. They were really hit hard in the secondary and look for Vegas QB Omar Clayton to take them apart with his arms and his legs. With All Conference WR Ryan Wolfe expect them to be able to stretch the field. Always tough to play in Las Vegas because of the heat and the homer gets the call. UNLV 28, Oregon State 24.
Strong Opinion Plays:
#49 Take Houston +15 ½ over Oklahoma St
#90 Oregon -12 over Purdue
#104 Cleveland +4 over Minnesota
IndianCowboy
3 Unit Play. Take Tennessee -10 over UCLA
The Vols certainly remember the loss to the Bruins last year. I look for Kiffin to continue his era with a big win over a quality program this weekend. Tennessee is a buzz after the Vols put up 63 points in their last game and covered the spread while they were at it. With a big win over the Bruins program I expect Tennessee to be riding high going into week three. Kiffin understands that its not just about winning for him, he has to win now, and win big to continue providing fodder as to why he is given the wiggle room and the resources that he has been given so far by the program. I like Kiffin in some ways because he does talk a big game it forces him to put up or shutup. Hence, that is great for us spread backers.
3 Unit Play. Take Under 37.5 between South Carolina @ Georgia
The total continues to go down. I think this will be a drag out, ugly game. South Carolina has limited offense and has to rely on their defense. This team went to NC State and yielded just three points on national television. Quite impressive. I suspect the only way they have a shot in Athens is through their defense and I look for Georgia's defense to be very strong as they showed some great signs of improvement in Oklahoma State. I look for this game to dip below the 38 and possibly even below 30 as both teams will have trouble finding the endzone in this game in my opinion. The Under is 10-3 for the Bulldogs when they are favored by this margin and the Under is 6-1-1in the last 8 games for the Gamecocks in September.
3 Unit Play. Take Mississippi State +14 over Auburn
Mississippi State and the offense looked great in their first contest. Granted it was not against a major school, but I state that to say that the Bulldog offense looked good with their new ball coach. Auburn looked shaky against Louisiana Tech in the early going but managed to put up fourteen points on the board and consequently cash last week's spread. I don't see them doing that this week against a quality SEC foe. I like the dog here as when you give an SEC team fourteen points it is certainly quite a lot as who is to say the Bulldogs cannot win this game outright? The Tigers are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 SEC Conerence games and the Tigers are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games as double-digit favorites or greater.
CKO
11 *IOWA STATE over Iowa
*IOWA STATE 23 - Iowa 16
Robert Ferringo
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South Carolina at Georgia Bulldogs
Play: Georgia -7
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Last Thursday night while watching USCs sloppy, odd, ugly win over N.C. State in the season opener one thought crossed my mind: please let Georgia get beat by two touchdowns against Oklahoma State. I wanted that not only because I had a play on Oklahoma State, but also because I knew that a big Georgia loss would help water down this spread. Check and mate. So now, even though there are all kinds of questions swirling around the Bulldogs, I am going with my first instinct and looking for a big UGA win. I, quite simply, dont think that South Carolina is any good. At all. They won 7-3 against a mediocre ACC team that hasnt had a winning season in over three years. And the only touchdown that USC mustered was the result of a fumble inside the 20. Georgia, on the other hand, held Oklahoma States offense featuring three All-Americans and four future first-day NFL draft picks to 24 points and just 307 yards (OSU was just +50 in yards in that game). The Georgia defense is no joke and is much better than both N.C. States and USCs. Further, South Carolina had no business winning that game against N.C. State. Dropped passes including one in the end zone killed the Wolfpack and they had wideouts open all over the field against the young Gamecocks secondary. I just dont see South Carolina being able to put the offensive pressure on this Bulldogs team. I think Georgia gets a huge boost playing in Athens and I think that Mark Richt, one of the best coaches in college football, has his team motivated and focused after their humbling loss in Oklahoma last week. This should be a two-touchdown game, at least, and I can see it settling around 23-7 for us.
Tony George
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Arkansas State at Nebraska
Play: Nebraska -21
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I am not set back for any reason by Arkansas State scoring 61 points against Div. II Miss Valley State. I watched every minute of Nebraska's game last week with Florida Atlantic and afterwards head coach Bo Pellini's press conference where he was unsatisfied that Nebraska did not score an additional 4 TDs in the game. QB Lee for Nebraska is the real deal, and the defense was stellar and showed signs of what the black shirts used to mean, and also Pellini's influence on their attitude that was so stellar in his players at LSU a few years back. Nebraska should shut down Arkansas State in Lincoln, and in my opinion, the Huskers beat a better team last week in here 49-3. I have no doubts either that NU is looking ahead to Virginia tech next week. I have practice reports from my radio buddies up there that tell me practice has been intense and focused all week on Arkansas St. only.
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Play 1 Unit on Nebraska to win by 30
Scott Spreitzer
Parlay of the month
Penn St and Cincinnati Bengals
The Duke's Sports
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Tulsa -17' for 2.5 Units
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If New Mexico were on the S&P 500, they would be nearing Chapter 11 and in a bailout mode. The Lobos were slapped with a 3 year NCAA probation tag and new HC Locksley has his work cut out for him. The Lobos' once reliant run game should continue to suffer and QB Porterie doesn't have a great supporting cast to pick apart a well disciplined Tulsa defense. On the other hand,Tulsa's QB Kinne showed composure last week at Tulane and should follow up well here vs a young Lobos' defense that won't have Rocky Long around any more calling the shots. Tulsa is 8-3 as a favorite of 10+, 9-3 in September and 4-1 in non conference action. The Lobos are 1-4 as a double digit dog and 1-4 after allowing 450+ yards. They won't have much fight here either.
ROCK BOX SPORTS
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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAY OF THE DAY
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3 STARS: WASHINGTON -20.5
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For a team with a fifteen game losing streak, the Huskies looked pretty good last week, hanging tough with big bad LSU as the rock box predicted. Not only did we cash in on Washington in the opener, but we found plenty to like moving forward. This is a team that vastly underacehived last season, packing it in after the loss of stellar QB Jake Locker and the imminent dismissal of Ty Willingham. It remains to be seen how the Steve Sarkisian era will pan out in the long run, but its apparent that for the moment the young new coach has given the program a serious injection of positive energy. The difference between last year and this one appears to be considerable. It may be true that the Huskies went 0-12 last season, but as noted they played the last ten of those games without Locker and faced a brutal schedule with BYU, Oklahoma, and Notre Dame on the non-conference schedule. One of the reasons why Washington has such a long losing streak is that they haven’t faced a true cupcake in roughly three seasons. As such, the team should be licking its chops with Idaho coming to town on Saturday. The Vandals are completely overmartched here against a Washington team that not only won’t overlook them, but in fact will relish the opportunity to lay the wood. The Huskies are one of the most improved teams in the nation and new coach Sarkisian will jump all over this opportunity to end the losing streak in impressive fashion. It’s not enough for Sarkisian and company to win this game, they need to win big in order to make a statement and build confidence moving forward. This is perfect storm-type situation when it comes to laying points- a vastly more talented team giving its full attention to a lesser one and taking the field with a strong desire to blow the opponent out of the building. Washington takes out two years worth of frustration on an Idaho team that finds itself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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1 STAR: TROY +36.5; NOTRE DAME -3; OHIO U. -2.5; GEORGIA/SOUTH CAROLINA UNDER 39
Ben Burns
Main Event
I'm taking the points with OHIO STATE.
Betting against the Trojans is always a bit "nerve-wracking." However, I believe that this will be the perfect place to do so. Its true that the Trojans rolled in their opener while the Buckeyes were tested in theirs. Those results will have the majority of the betting public backing USC. However, I believe those results will actually work in the Buckeyes' favor. Like everyone else, the Trojans are already reading about how good they are. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, have already had to fight through a close game. That should have helped to keep them extremely motivated all through practice this week - not that they should need any motivation for a visit from USC, a team which destroyed them last season. Despite last year's loss, the Buckeyes are still 8-3 SU/ATS their last 11 against teams from the Pac-10. With the o/u line currently down to 44.5 at most shops, it's also worth noting that Ohio State is 13-7 ATS (17-3 SU) the last 20 times that it played a home game with a total ranging from 42.5 to 45. While USC is always tough at practically every position, I like Tyrelle Pryor at QB better than Matt Barkley, at least at this stage of their careers. Yes, Barkley had a great debut. He's still a true freshman though and this will be a much tougher test. Pryor, a dual threat, has now had plenty of big games in his career. The Buckeyes bring back a relatively experienced defense and they're always tough on that side of the ball. I expect them to force the young USC QB into some mistakes. Including their 1/5 cover vs. Texas, the Buckeyes are 12-8 ATS the last 20 times that they were getting points. This is the first time that they've been able to play the Trojans at the Horseshoe since 1990 and I expect them to make the most of their opportunity, earning at least the cover. *10 Main Event
Annihilator
I'm laying the points with MINNESOTA.
I successfully played against the Gophers last week. They won but didn't cover at Syracuse. I feel that result has set them up perfectly here. For starters, it's helped to keep the line lower than it would have been if they had blown out the Orange. Note that the line has also come down from its opener, providing even further value. Perhaps most importantly, the Gophers had to "survive a scare" in their first game. They rallied for an overtime win though and I expect that experience to help them here. Conversely, Air Force absolutely crushed Nicholls State (an FCS or 1-AA team) by a score of 72-0 nothing last week. That type of win may be good for confidence but it doesn't exactly prepare a team for the "real thing." This will be the Gophers first game at TCF Bank Stadium, something they've been waiting a long time for. They're 2-0 SU/ATS their last two games against teams from the Mountain West and I look for them to give the fans a victory, covering the small number along the way. *Annihilator
Blowout GOW
I'm laying the points with PENN STATE.
I successfully played on Syracuse last week. Playing their home opener vs. a team (Minnesota) of similar talent, (or at least in the same ballpark) I thought the Orange would respond positively to the coaching and QB change. They did. In fact, they played a great game and left it all on the field, very nearly winning outright. However, the defense let them down when it mattered and they lost in Overtime. I feel that loss will be "psychologically damaging" to the Orange. Keep in mind that Syracuse has been a terrible team in recent years. Losing a game which they should have won will have the Orange players and fans saying/thinking to themselves: "here we go again..." Now, they have to travel to an extremely difficult venue to face the #7 team in the country. In other words, I'm saying that I think they're ripe to get blown out. The Nittany Lions are certainly capable of delivering a blowout, too. Syracuse fans will recall last year's embarrassing 55-13 loss as the Nittany Lions cruised into the Carrier Dome and administered an absolute beating. The Nittany Lions would run 82 offensive plays and compile 560 yards of offense. The Nittany Lions were also dominant in their opener, as the final score of 31-7 makes it look a lot closer than it really was. That's because the Nittany Lions put it on 'cruise control' in the second half, after scoring 31 in the first half and holding Akron without a first down. While they're not likely to show that type of "mercy" against an opponent from the Big East, the fact that they did last week has helped to keep this week's line from going nuts. Note that even with last week's ATS loss, Penn State is still 4-1 ATS (5-0 SU) the last five times that it was favored in the -21 to -31 range. The Lions have solid advantages on both sides of the ball and they're catching the Orange off an emotional loss. I'm expecting another "blowout." *9* Blowout GOW
Scott Spreitzer
25* Southern Miss
igz1 sports
3* LA Dodgers vs San Francisco Under 8