Brian Graves
Nevada vs. Colorado St.
Pick: Over 58
Last year every game the Wolf Pack played with exception of the Texas Tech game scored at least 58 points. After losing to Notre Dame in their opener and getting shutout I expect the Pack to come out ready to move the ball this week. They have had time to prepare for the Rams who nearly lost to FBS Weber St. last week. The Rams made some big plays in their opener at Colorado and they should get several opportunities to do the same this afternoon. First team to 40 wins this game!
Jimmy Thompson
Bowling Green vs. Marshall
Pick: BG -2.5
The Falcons have been pretty impressive in their first starts under their new coach and alot of it has to do with an improved defense. The exact opposite is true of Marshall who has been giving up huge chunks of yards from their opening series this year. The falcons should find the going failry easy even in this road tilt and will take them to beat up on Marshall 37-17!
Jimmy Moore
Nebraska @ Virginia Tech
Pick: Virginia Tech -5
V Tech is awesome ATS as a non-conference home favorite and they went into Nebraska last year and beat the Cornhuskers SU as a 7 point dog. Nebraska has opened up the season against 2 very poor teams which will not help them at all going against the solid Hokies.
King Creole
Miami (Ohio) +16.0 vs W. Michigan
In prepping for the weekend in College Football, KING CREOLE was running some situations and scenarios in the Playbook database. There's an interesting pattern that has emerged lately which does not bode well for Conference home favorites on Saturday, under the right conditions. It seems like Game Three favorites have been biting the bullet big-time.
Since the 2002 season, GAME THREE Conference home favorites are 17-38-2 ATS across the board. That's 69% for the DOGGIES over an 8-year period. If these favorites are playing off a SU loss, the numbers shoot all the way up to 5-22 ATS (81%). Our 'Play AGAINST" candidates on Saturday are Clemson… Western Michigan… and Vanderbilt. We also note that higher-priced favorites of > 7 points have gone a PERFECT 0-6 ATS in the last 3 years. So we're gonna play a 2-team PARLAY on MIAMI-OHIO +16 points… and MISSISSIPPI STATE +9 points.
GoodFella
Washington St. +6 vs SMU
Quite simply SMU is a terrible team too, and no way should they be a TD favorite ON THE ROAD vs a Pac-10 team, I don't care how bad Wazzu is, and they are bad. This very well may be Wazzu's only real shot at a Victory this season & they should be extremely up for this home game. Quite simply, grab the +6 and look for a no drama winner here.
Vegas-Runner
1.) JUNIOR DOS SANTOS -135 over Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic....(2*)
True MMA fans have enjoyed watching Cro-Cop beat the best fighters in the world for years...Unfortunately for him, those great years were while he was still fighting over-seas for Pride and before that as a K1 Kick-Boxer...And since coming to the UFC, new MMA Fans can't understand what all the fuss was about...Because saying he's been a disappointment for Dana White is a huge understatement...
Cro-Cop has 34 Pro Fights...and is 25-6-2 w/ 1 No Contest...Unfortunately, 2 of his L/3 have been loses which many felt he was the Favorite to win...And although he won his last fight against Al Turk in June, that was by far the easiest of the 3...And more or less a "gimme" to get him only his 2nd UFC win...
The problem is the Mirko is 35, and just like other fighters who use their stand-up to win fights...as their speed goes, so does their advantage...Nothing proves this case more than the fact Cro-Cop has not been able to use that High-Left-Leg kick he has made famous, since arriving at the UFC...And I truely believe that Cro-Cop is at the very end of his MMA career...In fact, his actual job is being in the Croatian Parliament (like the US Senate)...so being a champ is no longer his main goal in life...And as an MMA fighter, any distraction away from the octagon or even a lack of passion, has proven to be a recipe for disaster...
On the flip side, Junior Dos Santos is only 25 yrs old and in the prime of his career...He has disposed of 2 very quality opponents in devastating fashion, both in the 1st Round...And unfortunately for Cro-Cop, Junior has incredible speed, accurate stand-up, and even a purple belt in jui-jitsu for when his fights hit the mat...This kid is for real and living here in Vegas, where many Brazilian fighters now reside...I can tell you that word is his striking skills are world class...Something that you definitely need when facing a striker like Mirko...
The key to success for Dos Santos will be getting in close to Cro-Cop, and not allowing the "south-paw" to keep him away and at a distance...Because that's when Mirko is at his best, by picking fighters apart and slowly breaking them down before landing the big kick to close out the show...But at this age, and against this opponent...that is just asking to much, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this one ended in a KO for Dos Santos...VR
OPINIONS : Unlike Boxing, I just won't lay those high prices that many MMA fights hang up there...Because unlike boxing, there is just so many ways that you can lose in the octagon, even if you truely are the better fighter...And when you only have 3 Rounds in most cases, it just don't allow for many of the advantages that a 10-12 round boxing match does...So even though I would go ahead and lay some very big chalk in Boxing, I would really have to have some strong Confirmations and Information to do so in MMA...
1.) COLE MILLER +125 over Efrain Escudero...Although I am a big fan of Efrain since his debut in TUF, Cole Miller just continues to find ways to win...He came through for us as a Best Bet in his last fight, and his experience is an advantage here again...
2.) RAFAEL DOS ANJOS -125 over Rob Emerson...Ju-Jitsu ve Kick-Boxing...and since Emerson has shown to have trouble against those kind of fighters, as we saw vs Peligrino...I have to give the nod to Dos Anjos in this fight...
3.) TYSON GRIFFIN -285 vs Hermes Franca...The Price was the turn off here, but Griffin should just be too much for the Brazilian Ju-Jitsu artist from American Top team...Not only is Franca trying to come back from a torn ACL...but we've seen Griffin have his way with Ju-Jistu fighters in the past...
4.) TOMAZS DRWAL +100 over Drew McFedries...For starters, we can all agree that regardless who wins...this one ends in a KO because Both of these guys love to bang...Drwal is the bigger man, having fought mostly at a higher weight-class...He has vast experience for being only 27...And finally, since training with Dean Lister...we've seen him improve in each of his fights...
5.) VITOR BELFORT +125 over Rick Franklin...The PHENOM is back, and the question is...will he be as explosive as he once was, and will he still have that speed he is known for...All reports say YES, and the only question and reason this isn't an official bet is because I need to see if his stamina is there...Because we all know that Franklin always comes to fight in "Dog Shape"...and his game-plan is going to be to try and get this to the later rounds...Fortunately for Vitor, it's a 3 Round fight...Also, let's not forget Franklin is soon to be 35 and this fight is at the catch-weight of "195 lbs"...As long as Vitor stays patient and don't run into something by being over anxious in his return...I truely feel that the wrong fighter may actually be favored here...
Bettorsworld
3* Oregon State +1 over Cincinnati
This week we are going to play Oregon State over Cincinnati and it will be a 3* play. The play is based on several factors. One being the natural talent gap between the PAC 10 and the Big East. Both of these teams have won 28 games over the past three years but within those 28 win for Oregon State are 2 wins over USC. Last year after knocking off USC they went to Utah the following week and came within a field goal of the Utes, a team that would go on to be undefeated and stake a claim for the National Title......Revenge will also be a factor here. In 2007 these two played in Cinci with Oregon State outgaining Cinci by 100 yards but losing 34-7 as a result of 7 turnovers. Playing at home, Revenge, PAC 10 vs. Big East and Cinci's cross country trip all come into play here. at this price we're just asking for a straight up home win. Oregon State +1
Tom Freese
Los Angeles Angels at Texas Rangers
Prediction: Under
Los Angeles is 8-0 UNDER when their opponent scored 2 runs or less in their last game and they are 10-1-1 UNDER their last 12 games as favorites. The Angels are 9-1 UNDER their last 10 road games and they are 19-6-3 UNDER when Jered Weaver pitches Game 2 of a series. Texas is 42-13-3 UNDER their last 58 games following a loss and they are 78-34-6 UNDER their last 118 games overall. The Rangers are 26-9-3 UNDER their last 38 home games vs. righty starters and they are 10-3 UNDER in the last 13 home starts made by Scott Feldman. PLAY ON 'UNDER'
Mike Rose
Notre Dame vs. Michigan State
Play: Over 55
Last week, after the MSU Spartans stuffed up Central Michigan’s two-point conversion attempt with less
than a minute to go, they had to think that a 27-26 victory was a certainty. But an onside kick and a buzzer-beating field goal at the gun handed Sparty an embarrassing 29-27 defeat. State never really had a chance of covering the 14.5-point football
gambling line, but it really should’ve moved to 2-0 SU on the season. Now, the Spartans are left to pick up the pieces in South Bend in what will surely be an incredibly stiff challenge.
For the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, their 38-34 defeat at Michigan may have signaled the beginning of the
for HC Charlie Weis. Give it up for the Irish offense though. QB Jimmy Clausen had one of the best games of his career, going 25/42 for 336 yards and three scores while RB Armando Allen toted the rock 21 times for 139 yards and a touchdown. The defense was just inexcusably bad in the Big House, allowing QB Tate Forcier and the to rack up 430 yards of offense, including the game-winning strike with just 0:11 to If last Saturday was the beginning of the end, a loss to MSU at home could be the end of the end.
Over the L/2 seasons, this has been an incredibly low scoring rivalry. Michigan State has outscored Notre Dame in the two games by an aggregate score of 54-21. However, it’s pretty clear that Clausen and the Irish are a significantly better offensive team this season. The two seasons prior to ‘07 both had games play into the high-70s, and this week may a similar result. ND has put up at least 34 points in each of its games this season, and if MSU want to get embarrassed, it’ll have to put up at least four TDs to keep pace. The ‘over’ looks very inviting
Matty B Sports
Michigan State vs. Notre Dame
Play: Notre Dame -10
There’s one very popular play today in college football, but we absolutely disagree with the majority on this game. Michigan St is getting all the play, but do they really deserve it? Not from our perspective. Many already know the recent history between these two; Michigan St has won three of the last four meetings with the lone loss coming by a slim 3 points in South Bend. And many watched Notre Dame lose at Michigan last week and feel like that loss is the beginning of a downward spiral for the Irish. But let’s go deeper than that simpleton analysis.
Notre Dame’s offense has yet to be stopped this year. QB Jimmy Clausen is completing 66.7% of his passes while throwing 7 touchdown passes to zero interceptions. Last week on their home field, Michigan St allowed Central Michigan QB Dan LeFevour to complete 34 of 47 passes for 352 yards. LeFevour is good, but Clausen is better and he has a lot more weapons to work with. If Michigan St couldn’t stop a MAC passing attack, what makes anybody believe they can stop the Irish offense today? Plus you don’t lose to a MAC team at home and then expect to bounce back and be competitive on the road against a desperate team that has more talent than you.
And going back to last week, Notre Dame had the game at Michigan in hand. But they didn’t convert on their final series and gave Michigan enough time to drive for the winning score. Remember, Michigan also had a kick-off return for a touchdown while Notre Dame had a touchdown called back after a questionable call. This is the ultimate swing game for Charlie Weis; he either wins big or he’s more than likely on his way out the door. If Notre Dame held on for the win last week, is anybody talking about Weis getting fired and picking Michigan St in this game? We don’t think so, and the talk would be more like Notre Dame is back. We’re going against the public underdog and taking the home favorite to roll to a big win. Go with Notre Dame.