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Marco D'Angelo 4% (340) NC ST. -7 No Question Georgia Tech played a great game last week but I’m not sold that one week means this team is suddenly that good. NC St played a lackluster game last week so I expect them to be totally focused this week. Georgia Tech benefitted from 5 Duke TO’s last week. Even with 5 TO’s Duke still scored 33 points against this Georgia Tech defense. Imagine how many points Duke would of scored had they not turned the ball over 5 times. It also must be noted Georgia Tech had a month to work on a lot of new things but now all of that is on Game film. Look for NC St. to roll big here. NC ST 41-23. TAKE NC ST is my 4% ACC CONFERENCE BEATDOWN.
Marco 4% WEST VIRGINIA +7 (Buy ½ point to 7 ) -125Iowa St is what I like to refer to as a Fat N Sassy team. Last week’s win put them into the Big 12 Championship Game so I letdown here would be no surprise. WVU owns the best defense in Big 12 and when I can get the better defense getting points I’m going to take that every time especially facing a team that is in a scheduling letdown spot. WVU is a very live dog. WVU 24-23. TAKE WVU is my 4% BIG CONFERENCE GAME OF THE WEEK.
Week 14 college football best bets: Tide should roll vs. struggling LSU
Every Thursday during the season, Doug Kezirian (0-2 last week, 29-22 overall), Bill Connelly (1-1, 15-17), Preston Johnson (0-3, 22-17), David M. Hale (1-1, 15-17) and Seth Walder (1-0, 5-7) will provide their top plays across the college football landscape.
Here are their best bets for Week 14 of the college football season.
Note: Lines from Caesars Sportsbook by William Hill as of Wednesday (unless otherwise indicated).
No. 5 Texas A&M Aggies (-7, 48.5) at Auburn Tigers, Noon ET (on ESPN)
No. 15 Oklahoma State Cowboys (-2.5, 51) at TCU Horned Frogs, Noon ET (on ESPN2)
Hale: The Horned Frogs are one of those teams that the more you watch, the less you like. There's very little identity on offense, and the 4-4 record masks the real story. The offense struggled badly against West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas State and Baylor, and the Cowboys' D is better than any of those. Home field hasn't been much help for TCU (1-3), and Oklahoma State is 8-1 in its past nine when the spread is a field goal or less in either direction. Bottom line: The Pokes are a far better team, and they have something to play for. That's easily worth laying the 2.5.
Pick: Oklahoma State -2.5
Johnson: This point spread is puzzling to me. For starters, TCU head coach Gary Patterson told everybody that his team was missing more than 30 guys because of COVID-19 and injuries last week against Kansas. On the surface, TCU covered the game anyway, and everything seemed fine. But when you recognize that the Horned Frogs scored three defensive or special-teams touchdowns to make the score appear more acceptable against this hapless Jayhawks team, it might be cause for concern. My projection for this game is Oklahoma State -5, and though the Cowboys' defense hasn't been as stout its past two games against Oklahoma and Texas Tech, they still grade top-25 in EPA and success rate on that side of the ball. The TCU offense isn't nearly on par with what those other squads bring to the field. I expect to see the Cowboys' defense rebound in a cover on anything lined under a field goal.
Pick: Oklahoma State -2.5
Texas Longhorns (-7, 51.5) at Kansas State Wildcats, Noon ET (on FS2)
Kezirian: Kansas State is not a good football team and would certainly classify as an "ugly dog" this weekend. The Wildcats have lost four straight games, including a 45-0 thrashing at Iowa State. However, this is all about Texas and its lack of motivation. The Longhorns were in the hunt for a spot in the Big 12 Championship game but blew a fourth-quarter lead last week at home to the Cyclones. It was a heartbreaking defeat for a Longhorns team that had high aspirations in Sam Ehlinger's final home game. Now they travel to the Little Apple and face a K-State team that figures to be much more excited for this game. The better talent of the Longhorns may eventually win out over the course of four quarters, but I like the Wildcats to have the edge in the first quarter.
Pick: Kansas State +1.5 first quarter (at DraftKings)
Eastern Michigan Eagles at Western Michigan Broncos (-13.5, 65), 2 p.m. ET (on ESPN+)
Connelly: First, SP+ has been awfully dialed in with Eastern Michigan games this season, missing the scoring margins by an average of just 3.6 points per game and going 4-0 ATS. Second, Western Michigan has overachieved against both the spread and SP+ projections by a healthy amount so far. The SP+ projection is Western Michigan by 19.0, so if the odds are good that the Broncos overachieve that, I'm feeling pretty good about this pick.
Western Michigan's offense has been absolutely dynamite, averaging 45 points per game. The Broncos lost their focus a bit midgame against Northern Illinois last week, but they rallied to score twice and win. Eastern Michigan's offense is decent in its own right, but the Eagles' defense is miserable. I'd be surprised if WMU is held under 40.
Pick: Western Michigan -13.5
No. 24 Tulsa Golden Hurricane (-12, 49.5) at Navy Midshipmen, 3:30 p.m. ET (on ESPN2)
Connelly: This pick makes me a bit queasy from a "Tulsa plays in only close games" perspective. Only one of the Golden Hurricane's six games to date has been decided by double digits. That one game was against the worst opponent on Tulsa's schedule (USF, 110th per SP+), and Tulsa won easily.
Navy is 107th. The SP+ projections have been pretty dialed in on Navy, too, missing the past five Midshipmen games by an average of seven points per game. It's at 8.2 points per game for the past three Tulsa games as well. It seems to have a good read on these two teams, and it projects a 15.1-point Tulsa advantage on average (34.8-19.7). Tulsa has some potential QB injury issues to worry about -- first-stringer Zach Smith and second-stringer Seth Boomer both exited the Tulane game because of injuries. Smith's status is unclear, but if nothing else, third-stringer Davis Brin looked awesome in the game. Between that and the fact that Navy's offense just hasn't executed well this season for the most part, give me Tulsa.
Pick: Tulsa -12
No. 23 Oregon Ducks at California Golden Bears (+10, 59), 7 p.m. ET (on ESPN)
Johnson: I can't disregard what Cal has done to this point, despite its 0-3 record. The Bears dealt with a COVID-19 pause in their first two scheduled games and then added UCLA on a whim in a Sunday matchup with a limited roster. They hadn't been practicing in full and weren't prepared. It showed. Head coach Justin Wilcox turned things around in matchups against Oregon State and Stanford. The Bears lost those two games by a combined five points, despite outgaining the opponent in each game. I think at this point, we can expect the Cal team that we all projected entering the season: one that was 7-0 under quarterback Chase Garbers last season.
Combined with the bounce-back narrative surrounding Oregon after the Ducks lost outright in their rivalry game to Oregon State, I think we are getting a fairly good buy-low opportunity on the Bears (I project this game closer to +7.). The Ducks lost to the Beavers for a reason, and it was that their defense gave up 532 yards. Their defense as a whole this season ranks outside the top 100 in both EPA and success rate. If there is one defensive mind in the Pac-12 that can slow an admittedly elite Oregon offense, it's Wilcox's. Give me the 10 points.
Pick: Cal +10
Florida Atlantic Owls +2.5 at Georgia Southern Eagles (-2.5, 42), 6 p.m. ET (on ESPN+)
Hale: After witnessing 21 games of sheer misery during his time at Florida State, it was tough to get too excited about the Willie Taggart era at FAU. But the truth is the Owls have been good. Admittedly, the competition hasn't been much, but they played Marshall tough, and though the offense has been up and down, the defense looks really good. FAU ranks seventh nationally in yards-per-play allowed and has given up the second-lowest rate of explosive plays in the country. All of that provides a good lead-up to the big news on the other sideline, as Georgia Southern just fired offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse. The total on this game is 42, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it go under, but I feel better about FAU winning this one outright.
Pick: FAU +2.5
No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide (-29.5, 67.5) at LSU Tigers, 8 p.m. ET (on CBS)
Connelly: The line basically approximates a 49-19 Alabama win. It isn't difficult to see Alabama scoring 49, though LSU's defense has improved the past couple of games. But how in the world is LSU going to score 19? The Tigers scored 18 combined against Auburn and Texas A&M, their quarterback is going to be Sketchy Freshman A or Sketchy Freshman B, and the Crimson Tide have allowed just more than eight points per game their past four games. The only way this game goes over is if Alabama's defense takes its eye off the ball or Alabama's offense scores 60-plus. The latter wouldn't be amazingly surprising, but I'm skeptical.
Pick: Under 67.5
Fresno State Bulldogs at Nevada Wolf Pack (-7, 59), 10:30 p.m. ET (on FS1)
Kezirian: I backed the Wolf Pack last week and regretted it as soon as they allowed Hawaii to covert a third-and-15 just before halftime. I was doomed. However, I have to run it back because I have been itching to fade Fresno State. The Bulldogs' 4-1 record is phony. Two of their wins came against lowly UNLV and Utah State. Another came against Hawaii, which is a much different team on the mainland, and then the Bulldogs beat Colorado State before Steve Addazio figured out that he was playing the wrong quarterback.
Following their first loss, Nevada players are saying all the right things. They seem to grasp the importance of this game and concede that they need a better mindset than they had against Hawaii. Plus, the team stayed Saturday night in Honolulu rather than flying out immediately after the game. That allowed the players' bodies to recover more effectively.
Pick: Nevada -7
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