Tradeline Sports
Mississippi State at Georgia
Play: Mississippi State 7
After an 8-2 finish last season, the Bulldogs haven't looked anything like an SEC West power, at least not over the first four weeks of the college campaign. QB Chris Relf (1,789 pass yds, 13 TD, 6 INT; 713 rush yds, 5 TD in 2010-11) has always been a great rusher, but his accuracy through the air is an issue. Relf has a strong supporting cast with TB Vick Ballard and WR Chad Bumphis, and a quality offensive line returning three starters.
In a game where the offense should have been able to put points on the board - the contest ended in a close call - MSU needing overtime to get past Louisiana Tech in a 26-20 home win as -17 point favorites. Relf finished the game 14-of-29 for 164 yards for MSU, connecting with eight different receivers. Ballard rushed for a team-high 68 yards and a TD on 17 carries.
Mississippi State began the 2011 campaign ranked 20th in the nation and looked like a ranked team in the season opener when they crushed Memphis on the road (59-14), but after that the squad allowed Auburn off the hook in a 34-31 setback and then had a dismal offensive performance in a 19-6 home loss to LSU before last week's win.
While we have painted a bleak Mississippi State picture all is not lost. In fact the underlying stats offer evidence that Saturday's contest in Athens is actually a pick'em event. The fact that MSU is getting 7-points could be all we need to pull the trigger.
Georgia comes off a 27-13 win at Ole Miss as -10 point road favorites. There is absolutely no pointspread value in this win. Ole Miss is a dismal squad and should be penalized by the conference for claiming to be a SEC football school.
Mississippi State won 24-12 last year as -1 point home favorites and it appears that Georgia's 6-7 season a year ago could be about what you will get from the Bulldogs this year, too.
The Georgia defense is a bend and don't break unit. They don't get to the quarterback or in the opponents backfield and they have shown little to no big play threat this year.
Fact: it would not only take a win this weekend on the road in Athens, but a major upset or two by the Bulldogs considering they have Alabama and Arkansas still on their schedule; also it would take some bizarre turn of events for MSU to climb back into contention for the SEC West. In fact a loss on Saturday might make for a lost season - with no bowl in late December or early January.
Despite Mississippi State’s slow start, this is still a very good football team loaded with talent on both sides of the ball. Mississippi State could easily be coming into this game 3-1 if not for a loss to Auburn in which the Bulldogs dominated every stat except the score. If MSU had beaten Auburn, they would surely still be ranked in the top 25 as their only other loss was to new No. 1, LSU.
Take the points in this Saturday SEC sacrifice
Bryan Power
Alabama at Florida
PICK: Alabama -4
The Gators are getting too much respect from both the public and the oddsmakers in this matchup with #3 Alabama as the Crimson Tide are clearly the superior team. The Gators are 4-0 SU/ATS, but when you look at the level of competition, that should not be a surprise. 'Bama already has wins over Arkansas, 38-14 as 12.5-point chalk, and at Penn State. They have the #2 defense in the country, allowing only 8 PPG and 184 YPG! The last two matchups between these teams were complete mismatches with Alabama winning 32-13 and 31-6. And those were better Florida teams than what will take the field in Gainesville Saturday night. I recommend a 'small' wager on the Crimson Tide Saturday night.
Tom Stryker
Nevada vs. Boise State
Play: Boise State -27
Rest assured, Boise State wants this game badly. Last year, with a BCS ticket on the line, the Broncos strolled into Reno a two-touchdown favorite and lost the game 34-31. That was BSU's only blemish in its 2010 campaign and to say the Broncos want payback would be an understatement!
On the blue FieldTurf inside Bronco Stadium, Boise has been tough to beat posting a remarkable 45-22-2 ATS record. In this role matched up against a conference opponent, State tightens up to a rewarding 31-12-2 ATS including a phenomenal 29-6-1 ATS in this set priced as an underdog or a favorite of -35 or less! Also, in Boise checking in off a blowout victory of 10 points or more, Coach Chris Petersen’s troops have manufactured a money-making 32-14-1 ATS mark.
Boise is catching Nevada at the right time too. This will be the Wolf Pack’s fourth consecutive road game to start the season. In its first three games, Nevada visited Oregon, San Jose State and Texas Tech. Boise, Idaho is not the place to be if you are road weary and out of gas! The Broncos know how to suffocate teams on the “Smurf Turf” and they’ll be champing at the bit to do exactly that especially since they’ll be fueled by revenge motivation.
On foreign soil priced in between -8 and +29, Nevada has struggled something fierce notching a weak 23-40-2 ATS mark. That doesn’t bode well for the Wolf Pack. Since picking up a win in Boise back in 1999, Nevada has dropped its last six trips to Bronco Stadium by margins of 35, 42, 53, 35, 2 and 11 points respectively. That’s an average beating of 29.7 points per game. Here comes one more. Take Boise State!
TONY GEORGE
Nebraska vs. Wisconsin
Play: Wisconsin -10
The mighty Huskers open up Big 10 conference action for the first time ever in Camp Randall in front of an anticipated wildly rabid and juiced up crowd on a national TV game. The biggest game without question to date in the Big 10 conference this year, the Huskers look to make their mark in this marqee matchup Saturday Night. Both teams enter in the Top 9 in country and both teams are physical and have great playmaking QBs.
At days end from the line perspective Wisconsin opened up at -3 on the futures board back in August for this game which I took them, however this week the line opened at -10 and jumped up to -10.5 before settling in after much action at -9.5 on Thursday. What warrants a line perspective jump alomost a full TD in this game from the opening lines on the futures from oddsmakers to this one?
In short the vaunted Husker defense has failed to perform up to its usual game dominating standards. In 2 key games in Lincoln against schools that count, both Freesno State and Washington shredded the defense and rolled up huge yards in the process. NU took care of Washington by scoring 51, but Fresno's Derek Carr tore up NU's secondary with little pass rush and that contest was in dount till late in the game. Rarely does someone come into Lincoln and go up and down the field making big plays against the blackshirts, but it has happened this year, at home, which is alarming to Husker Nation backers. Turnovers also have reared their ugly head for NU, and if that happens on the road in this game, it will be amplified on the scoreboard and hard to recover from.
Wisconsin has played no one of real stature yet which might be the saving grace in terms of public perception, but the better QB in this game lies with the Badgers and QB Wilson in terms of being an "all around" threat. The thing that Wisconsin has done is totally dominate those weak sisters like they were suppose to. QB Russell Wilson, A NC State transfer, he is a dual threat QB with a solid arm and great ability on the ground as well. With Wisconsins balanced attack, and over 40 ppg of production, in a very hostile enviroment, is going to be a huge challenge for Nebraska on both sides of the ball, in perhaps their toughest game of the season. That is a stark reality from an unbiased perspective.
The key here is Husker QB Martinez and his questionable ability to play from behind and having to throw to win, not his strong suit. I simply do not see NU running it between the tacjkles here against a good defense with active linebackers and moving the chains at will, so passing yards and big plays will be needed, and I just do not see it. I smell a Wisconsin win here and perhaps a convincing one as Jared Crick is not 100%, and NU's defense could be overmatched, already giving up 27 ppg their last 3 games, 2 of them at home. Nebraska will rise to the occasion no doubt, but at days end Wisconsin is 10-1 ATS (against the spread) at home and the home field is worth 5 points in this game, especially at night.
Lay the wood.
Wisconson 35 Nebraska 21
Marc Lawrence
Air Force at Navy
Play: Air Force
With Army AWOL for the umpteenth season, it looks like the Commander-In-Chief trophy will be decided on the first Saturday in October once again. This year the scene shifts back to Annapolis where the Midshipmen will look to reclaim the coveted hardware. In fact, the Middies have covered the last eight between these two academies. However, our History Book notes the Force is 7-0 ATS versus non-conference foes off a SU loss and 10-2 ATS as road dogs off a non-conference game while Navy is a distressing 2-11 ATS as home favorites versus an opponent off a SU win. With that we say ‘eight is enough’ from an ATS standpoint as the Falcons soar to 17-3 ATS in road openers. We recommend a 1-unit play on Air Force.
Arizona at USC
PICK: Arizona +12.5
The underachieving ‘Cats are 17-3 ATS as conference dogs with revenge which sounds terrific until you consider they were 17-1 ATS entering this season. And while their 1-6 ATS log in conference road openers is a potential fly in the ointment, the bottom line here is we simply cannot lay double digits with Lane Kiffin’s erratic, bowl-and-conference-title ineligible Trojans. Kiffin, himself, has proved to be a money burner at this price (4-8 ATS as a college favorite of 8 or more points) and now the question becomes can he right the horse after last week’s jarring loss in Tempe with really not much left to play for. A clean 4-0 mark 'In The Stats' says he can but recent series history (1-5 ATS last six, including 0-3 ATS home) suggests otherwise. With that we’ll give the desert dwellers another chance with conference revenge and hope they take a trip down memory ‘Lane.’ We recommend a 1-unit play on Arizona.
JOHN CHANG
Utah State +8
Look for this one to stay close. The Aggies of Utah State are more competitive than their record suggests. They could easily be 3-0 at this point. The main reason is their relentless rushing attack. This team piled up 227, 440, 281. Granted, the 440 performance was against division II Weber State, but this team will come out running the ball with a fury tonight. They've lost two heartbreakers in the last minutes against Auburn and Colorado State, and tonight they face a BYU squad that's having serious difficulties putting points on the board. Utah State went into Provo last season and stole a SU win. I expect them to quiet the home crowd once again.
RANDY BRUCE
American League Divisional Series - Texas Rangers -170
I like the Rangers to defeat the Rays in this first round match up.Texas has more pop in their lineup and a more reliable bullpen and I think they will get this done in 3 or 4 games. While the Rays made a nice run over the last month, the Rangers have been playing steady baseball all year long and show no signs of slowing down now. Look for Hamilton and the rest of the Texas bats to lead the Rangers into the next round of the playoffs.
Erin Rynning
Rice at Southern Miss
Play: Over 59.5
Southern Miss is a very surprising 0-4 O/U this season. Larry Fedora's team of course is known for its hurry-up offense and putting points on the board. USM’s eight conference games in 2010 averaged a whopping 80 points per game. That was with only three returning starters on the offensive side of the ball while this year, they welcomed back seven including experienced quarterback Austin Davis. Part of the reason for trending towards the under is that the Golden Eagles played against two true freshman quarterbacks in their first two games (Marshall and Louisiana Tech). And the Tech game was played in hurricane-type weather which helped limit the scoring. Look for the scoring pace of USM’s games to quickly progress like last season. Meanwhile, the Rice Owls are also known for their quick tempo style. Their eight conference games last season averaged 76 ppg and they too have faced two teams finding themselves at the quarterback position in Texas and Purdue – both squads also care about playing defense unlike most of C-USA. The flood gates opened last week against Baylor as the game featured 87 points and 162 total plays. Look for a high scoring affair between these two teams on Saturday.
Fairway Jay
Western Michigan at Connecticut
Play: Western Michigan +3
We have a huge college football card Saturday featuring many marquee matchups. But the bills are paid just the same with these smaller schools and less-hyped games, and we’ll count on the Broncos to deliver us the green as our free Fairway Forecast. UConn (2-2) is struggling under first-year head coach Paul Pasqualoni, especially the offense is poor with rotating quarterbacks that have combined to complete just 46% of their passes this season. While progress was made last week with junior Johnny McEntee getting the bulk of the work and leading the Huskies over lowly Buffalo 17-3, don’t count on much production from UConn’s offense. The Huskies have faced a poor schedule of opponents in Fordham, Vanderbilt, Iowa State and Buffalo, and they have just two touchdowns inside the opponents red zone (not counting Fordham). While the Huskies defensive stats look respectable, consider the strength of schedule (SOS) and note that UConn will now face their toughest challenge against the best quarterback and wide receiver this season. Western Michigan (2-2) quarterback Alex Carder passed for 30 TDs and over 3,300 yards last year and he’s completing 68% of his passes for nearly 1,000 yards this season with senior wideout Jordan White averaging 125 ypg (No. 3 nationally). Western Michigan took Illinois to the wire on the road last week before losing 23-20 as Carder passed for over 300 yards. The Broncos defense also held Michigan’s explosive offense to less than 300 yards offense in their opening week loss in Ann Arbor, as their defense and game plan was solid. Now facing a Huskies offense that has trouble sustaining drives with little balance and sub-par QB play, look for the Broncos to bounce back off the Illinois loss and handle the Huskies.
Scott Spreitzer
Nebraska at Wisconsin
Prediction: Over
Nebraska has truly struggled with the offenses they have faced thus far. While Alfonzo Dennard and Jared Crick will occupy the field at the same time for the first time this season, I still don't believe this is your typical Bo & Carl Pelini defense. The Husker linebacking corps has been out of position quite a bit this season and teams are taking advantage. Wiscy QB Russell Wilson has big receivers to make Nebraska's secondary pay on a consistent basis. And he owns the "wheels" to buy his receivers time if Nebraska breaks through with pressure. I also believe Nebraska's offense will help with pushing this one Over the total. First of all, Wiscy's defense has looked slow getting to the edges when teams run to the perimeter. Nebraska is running some option as part of their base offense and could take advantage of a speed advantage. QB Taylor Martinez is the epitome of hit or miss in the passing game. One play he'll throw a 50-yard TD - and next time out he very well may find a different colored jersey with an errant pass leading to a defensive TD or setting up opposing offenses with short field situations. I expect both teams to do their share of scoring in this one. I'm recommending the Over between the Huskers & Badgers on Saturday.
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit on Louisiana Tech -4.5
Hawaii isn't the same team on the road, where it is 0-2 this season with losses of 8 and 20 points. The Warriors have typically struggled at Louisiana Tech, even when they have had the more talented squad. As a result, the home team has covered the spread in each of the last 7 meetings. The Bulldogs have won 2 of their last 3 at home in this series, including a 27-6 victory as a 4.5-point favorite on Sept. 30, 2009. Their lone loss during this stretch came by a single point in a game in which they were valued as a 28-point underdog. The Bulldogs are a rock solid 14-6 ATS in their last 20 home games. The Warriors, meanwhile, are just 2-10 ATS in their last 12 road games as an underdog of 3.5 to 7 points. Hawaii is losing these contests by an average score of 40.7 to 21.1. It's also worth noting that the favorite is 7-1 ATS in the last 8 meetings. Lay the points with the Bulldogs.
Jim Feist
North Carolina vs. East Carolina
Play: North Carolina -6½
North Carolina (3-1 SU, 1-2 ATS) returns 10 starters on offense, 5 on defense for Everett Withers, the new head coach (former defensive coordinator). Sophomore QB Bryn Renner runs the offense that has good balance, 30 points, 166 yards rushing and 233 passing. A former blue-chipper, he spent a year in the system and threw just 2 passes. He has talented skidekicks in freshman RB Giovani Bernard and senior WR Dwight Jones. East Carolina (1-2 SU, 2-1 ATS) has a bad defense and a struggling offense. The Pirates are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 non-conference games, while the Tar Heels are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 meetings. Play North Carolina!
Jeff Scott Sports
5 UNIT PLAY
KANSAS STATE+3.5 over Baylor: Wow what a year that RG 3 is having for the Bears, as he has hit 85% of his passes and has more TD's (13) than incompletions (12), but he has yet to face a defense this tough. Sure the Bears rolled up 564 yards and 50 points vs TCU, but that was game 1 and the Horned Frogs had to replace a lot of talent on the defensive side. KSU comes in ranked 6th in total defense (246.3 ypg) and 7th in points allowed (10.3 ppg) and they are fresh off a big win on the road vs a tough Miami squad. The KSU defense has been stout, but their offense hasn't taken off yet as they rank 90th overall (345 ypg) and 84th in scoring (25 ppg), but they did put up 398 yards and 28 points last week vs a very good Miami defense and they will be taking on a Baylor defense that isn't very good. The Baylor defense is ranked 60th (363 ypg) overall and 72nd in points allowed (26.3), but vs FBS foes this defense ranks 99th overall (411 ypg) and 113th in points allowed (39.5 ppg). Last week this Baylor defense faced a Rice offense that was 105th in the nation, but allowed them to put up 31 points and 416 yards, plus the Owls were a solid 9-19 on third downs. As I said this is not a good defense. KSU is off a huge upset win, but don't expect a letdown here as they are playing their Big 12 opener vs a 16th ranked team. Baylor has the Edge on offense, but KSU has huge edges on defense and special team, plus they are at home and getting points. Smells like an outright upset to me. KEY TREND--- The Cats are 14-0 ATS with revenge in the first of BB home games.
4 UNIT PLAYS
POWER ANGLE PLAY
Northwestern +10 over ILLINOIS: Illinois is off to a fine 4-0 start, but 2 of those wins were vs FCS foes and 1 was vs MAC foe Western Michigan (they needed a 4th quarter rally) and all 4 of their wins so far have been at home. An interesting trend is that teams in the 5th game of a home stand are 0-5-1 ATS if they are playing off an ATS loss of 6 or more, plus we also note that the Cats are 10-1 ATS as dogs off a SU loss of 6 or more. The only real team that Illinois has played spo far and they needed a late comeback to beat ASU. Last year Illinois gave Northwestern their biggest defeat of the year, winning 48-27, but their was one important ingredient missing for the Cats in that one and that was QB Dan Persa. Dan Persa is considered by many as the best QB in the Big 10 and having the bye week to prepare and get himself ready for this one will really help. Actually he knew before the season began that this would be his return game so he has been studying plenty of film on the Illini just to get ready for this one. Last year before his injury he completed 73% of his passes for 2581 yards, with 15 TD's to just 4 INT's. This year Northwestern QB's have thrown for just 498 yards with 3 TD's and 1 INT. As you can see they are glad to have him back. The Illinois defense is very tough to run on, but they can be thrown upon as they are 74th vs the pass, allowing 231 ypg so far. The Cat's do play a bend but don't break style of defense as they are 86th in yards allowed (402 ypg) but just 33 in points allowed (19.7 ppg). This game is big for the Cats after getting crushed last year and with Persa back they should be able to keep it close, especially vs an Illinois team that may be a bit complacent playing their 5th in a row at home. POWER ANGLE FOR THIS PLAY--- Play on any game 4 road team if they are off a SU & ATS loss before their bye, if that loss was their initial loss of the year and as long as they were not dogs of more than 3 points in that loss. This has gone 13-2 the last 15 times it came up.
LOUISIANA TECH -4.5 over Hawaii: The Schedule has been tough for the rainbows in the early going as this will be their third mainland trip in the first 5 weeks. They are already 0-2 in these trips including a 20 point loss at UNLV, which is one of the worst teams in CFB. This high powered Hawaii offense comes in ranked 12th in passing (326.8 ypg), but just 56th overall (414 ypg), while a closer look shows us that vs FBS foes they are just 88th in total offense (340.3 ypg) and 41st in passing (265 ypg). Bryan Moniz is one of the better QB's around and he does have 11 TD's on the year, but 7 of those were in the first half of last week's game vs FCS foe Cal-Davis. This offense is good but hasn't really clicked yet vs the FBS and they should have more problems today vs a good Bulldog defense. Louisiana Tech comes in ranked 61st in total defense and 58th in points allowed vs FBS foes. This is a defense that will just get better as the season goes on and they should have a good showing vs a Hawaii offense that was able to put up just 20 points vs a BAD UNLV defense in their last road game. The LA Tech offense hasn't been that great, ranking just 84th in total offense, but this Hawaii defense has really struggled on the road allowing 40 points in each of their 2 mainland trips this year. La Tech has played in bad luck this year and they are 1-3, but those 3 losses have been by a combined 9 points. I see them putting forth their best effort of the year thus far vs a tired Hawaii squad and walk away with win of at least a TD. KEY TRENDS--- The Host is 7-0 ATS the last 7 in the series and LA Tech is 9-1 ATS in conference openers.
3 UNIT PLAYS
VIRGINIA TECH -7 over Clemson: No rest for this Clemson team as they must now travel to Blacksburg after facing FSU last week. The Clemson Tigers are 4-0 on the year, but it has not been easy for them. They were down at the half vs Troy, only won by 8 over FCS Wooford had a tough game vs Auburn before pulling away late and had a back and forth game vs FSU last week. The Clemson offense has been very good this year, ranking 7th overall (515 ypg) and 16th in scoring (38.7) vs FBS foes. The going won't be so easy vs this defense. The Hokie defense is ranked 4th overall (231 ypg) and 6th in points allowed 10 ppg and they are a much more dominant unit than Clemson has faced so far this year. Yes Clemson can score, but their defense has been bad this year, checking in at 89th overall (405 ypg) and 65th in points allowed (25 ppg), plus they are 85th vs the run, allowing 176 ypg. That isn't very good here vs a Hokie offense that is 30th in rushing at 211 ypg. The Tigers has a small offensive edge, but the Hokies have huge edges on defense and special teams, plus we also note that while Clemson is off 2 straight emotional home games vs Auburn and FSU, VA Tech has been getting ready for this one with 4 straight non-BSC schools. Look for a solid DD win by the Hokies in this one. KEY TRENDS--- The Hokies are 36-14 ATS as faves of 3.5 to 10 and 13-2 ATS after 3 or more consecutive Unders.
Air Force +3.5 over NAVY: A lot of teams are at a disadvantage when facing the Naval Academy, but not this Air Force group as they both run the same Option offense. The Navy offense does come in ranked 4th in rushing at 358 ypg, but they don't have the better rushing offense on the field today as Air Force checks in with the top ground game as they have averaged 412 ypg on the ground so far. Not only can Air Force run, but they can throw a little as they have put up 153 ypg through the air so far, compared to Navy throwing for just 69 ypg. Ok we see that Air Force gets the offensive edge, but they also have a slight defense edge, especially vs the run as they are 9th vs the run, but Navy is 100th vs the run. Look for the Air Force offense to have the better showing here vs a Navy defense that is weak and really hasn't even played a great offense so far. Air Force wins outright. KEY TRENDS--- Navy is 2-11 ATS as a home favorite vs an opponent off a win, while Air Force is 17-3 ATS in road openers, plus 10-2 ATS as road dogs off a non-conference game.
POWER ANGLE PLAY
Penn State/ Indiana Under 48: The Penn State defense is back and playing some very good football right now as they come in ranked 8th overall (249 ypg) and 10th in points allowed (12.5 ppg). The offense for the lions hasn't gotten on track this year as they are 90th overall (346.5 ypg) and 84th in points allowed (25 ppg). The Indiana offense has been decent, putting up 27.5 ppg, but any one can do that vs the teams they've played thus far (Ball state, SC State, Virginia and North Texas). They won't come close to 25 points vs this defense. The Indiana defense has been OK, and they should be able to hold down this struggling Penn state offense that has averaged just 19.7 ppg vs FBS foes this year. Neither offense is playing well enough right now to expect this game to hit 49+ points. I expect Penn State to get NO MORE than 35 in this one and I really don't feel that Indiana can get 14 points vs this tough defense. I expect a game in the low 40's here. POWER ANGLE FOR THIS PLAY--- The OU is 18-46 when a road team allowed 75 or less rushing yards last game and are playing a team that gained 75 yards rushing or less last game, if the OU line is 42.5 to 49.
2 UNIT PLAYS
UCLA +21.5 over STANFORD: The Bruins are in revenge mode here after suffering their first home shutout loss since 1999 to these Cardinals last year. Stanford has a powerful offense with the best QB in the land in Andrew Luck, but a couple of his weapons are banged up as RB Chris Owusu and top WR Coby Fleener are both listed as questionable. The Bruin defense has struggled so far, but I do look for their best effort of the year. I mean how can ya not get up to play against Andrew Luck. Last week the Cardinal lost a very important part of their defense when LB Shayne Skov was lost for the year and he was one of the best in the nation at that position. He will be missed vs a UCLA offense that isn't that bad, putting up 411 ypg and 27 ppg thus far. I just don't see the Cardinal being able to win by more than 3 TD's in this one.
IOWA STATE +9 over Texas: I expected the Longhorns to be more dominant than they have been this year, but it hasn't panned out that way. Sure they blew out UCLA in their last game, but the Bruins also helped them with sloppy turnovers and poor special teams play. Sure the revenge factor is in play, but the Cyclones 3 games thus far have been decided by 34 points or less and I do feel that they can keep it close here. We also note that Game 4 Conference home dogs off a bye are 15-2 ATS, if they won their last game before their bye. State keeps it close here.
Charlie Scott
New Mexico State vs. New Mexico
Play: New Mexico State +1
I'm not going to try and hype this game and try and get You to watch it instead of other games being played in this same time slot like Notre Dame/Purdue or Bama/Florida. In fact I have action on both games and plan on watching them, but money and Wins all count the same and doesn't know how bad these teams are. Since we've already established both teams are bad, lets pick the less of 2 evils. NM ST plays hard and is somewhat organized under Head Coach Dewayne Walker. While NM just fired their incompetent Head Coach Locksley and Def Coo Barlow takes over as interm. These 2 Coaches have met before, because Locksley was suspended 2 yrs ago for beating up an assistant Coach and Barlow replaced him then vs NMST. I did watch that game and can tell You while both teams were equally bad, The NM side line was under chaos with NO leadership. I understand from my NM Booster buddies that most New Mexico players have been busy this week, contacting old Coaches and looking for a school to tranfer to next semester. Last week NM lost to a Div 1 AA school Sam Houston @ Home on Homecoming, while just a couple of weeks ago NMST went into Minnessotta & won s/u. I don't believe the "Win 1 for the Gipper" Theory will apply Tonight, Play NMST Go AGGIES ! Ps- I can't believe I wrote so much on this game
Rocketman
Memphis @ Middle Tennessee State
Play: Middle Tennessee State -23
Memphis is 1-5 ATS last 3 years as a road underdog of 21 1/2 to 31 points. Memphis is 8-19 ATS last 3 years in all games. Memphis is 7-18 ATS last 3 years as an underdog. Memphis is 1-7 ATS last 3 years in October. Memphis is 2-8 ATS last 3 years in non-conference games. In their only road game so far this year Memphis got beat 47-3 by Arkansas State. Memphis is 1-9 ATS last 10 after a SU double digit loss at home. Middle Tennessee State is 7-1 ATS last 8 home games against a team with a losing road record. Middle Tennessee State is 6-2 ATS last 8 as a favorite of 10 1/2 or more points. We'll recommend a small play on Middle Tennessee State tonight!