Best under teams in college football
Covers.com
Spread betting has been hard on college football bettors this year. Heavy favorites are losing each week and cleaning out their backers’ accounts in the process. A look at the totals might help ease the pain. We’ve compiled a list of the five best under teams in college ball.
1. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: 1-7 over/under (1-7 straight-up)
A disastrous season for Notre Dame is presenting bettors with opportunities. Largely due their lack of offense, the Fighting Irish have been under the oddsmakers’ total in all but one of their games this season.
The Irish are just not scoring enough to help their games go over the total. Take last weekend’s game with USC: the Trojans beat the Irish by a record 38 points. Notre Dame failed to put up a single score, putting the game under the 44 ½-point total.
With quarterbacks Evan Sharpley and Jimmy Clausen both unable to spark the attack, it’s hard to see anything but unders in this team’s upcoming games against Navy and Air Force.
2. Iowa Hawkeyes: 1-7 O/U (3-5 SU)
The Hawkeyes make the list thanks to their combination of staunch defense and (at times) inept offense. Six of their seven games have been under the oddsmakers’ total, with opponents managing just 17.1 points against them this season.
Unfortunately for the Hawkeyes, their offense has not been able to take advantage of what the defense has achieved. The team ranks 110th in the nation in yards per game (325.2) and has scored 10 points or less in three consecutive games. As long as those trends continue, Iowa remains a great under bet.
3. Southern California Trojans: 1-6 O/U (6-1 SU)
Southern California’s virtually impenetrable defense is just one of the reasons it is an under machine. The others are an inconsistent offense and the tendency of oddsmakers to set extremely high totals for its games.
There’s little doubt the Trojans remain one of the best teams in the country, but recent games have been much closer than expected (with the obvious exception of Notre Dame last week). USC scored just 20 points against Arizona, 23 against Stanford and 27 against Washington – all games with totals of 55 or more.
When you factor in a defense that ranks third in the country in yards (252.0) and 10th in points allowed per game (16.6), then you have a recipe for unders.
4. Northern Illinois Huskies: 1-6 O/U (1-7 SU)
Maybe oddsmakers consider the Huskies much worse than they actually are. Sportsbooks have been way off with the totals in several Northern Illinois games this season. NIU has been under in all but one of their contests (one game did not have odds), and on three occasions they have been more than 20 points under the number.
The main reason is the Huskies’ knack for keeping games close. They have lost seven times on the season, but four of those were by seven points or less.
Against the bigger teams, the inability of the Huskies’ offense to put points on the board has resulted in unders. NIU scored just three points in blowout losses to Iowa and Wisconsin, both games that ended up coming in well under the total.
5. UNLV Runnin’ Rebels: 2-6 O/U (2-6 SU)
Inconsistent form has cost the Runnin’ Rebels several wins this season. They started the campaign with great performances against Utah State and Wisconsin, but have since dropped games they were expected to win.
The Rebels have failed to dominate some of the lesser teams. That has led to four of their six games going under the total. For example, they held Utah State to just 16 points in a 23-16 win that went under the total, yet only managed to score just 14 points in a loss to Brigham Young – a game that also went under.
With quarterback Travis Dixon – who is without a TD pass in three games – continuing to struggle, the under is certainly worth a look in this team’s upcoming games against Wyoming and San Diego State.