well, i went from 2 down and breathing down bgvol's neck, to 12 down and on the fringes of staying in the race, all in one weekend. ugh. and my wallet took a similar hit last weekend. i need a halloween weekend bounceback...
Thursday Games:
North Carolina -3 @ Pittsburgh: very quietly both of these programs have put together nice 6-1 seasons. unc should be unbeaten, but they blew the opener vs usc-e. heels are more talented imho, but this is just their 2nd true road game of the season, + they have arch-rival duke on deck. they're also 0-4 as road chalk -3/more vs .666+ opponents. pitt is a strong 6-2 ats as home dogs, but they have the irish next. but the panthers have proven themselves in close games, winning 4 straight by an average of 4 pts. unc has a top 25 offense, pitt a top 10 defense who's at home getting points. lean to pittsburgh.
West Virginia +14 @ Texas Christian: in the last 3 weeks, wvu has met/lost to okla, okla st and baylor. now they get tcu. tough. they've given up 46/game in those last 3, and it doesn't get any easier vs the frogs, who are averaging 50/game this yr. tcu is 6-1 as home chalk, 11-0 ats off a bye, and 13-1 ats off a win vs teams off back/back losses. wvu is 0-7 ats w/rest vs big 12 opponents. all 3 games between these 2 since they joined the big 12 have been decided by a total of 5 points, but i don't think 14 is enough. texas christian.
Friday Game:
Louisiana Tech -12 1/2 @ Rice: la tech threw up 76 pts on rice last year in a blowout win. so i like the revenge factor for the owls. bulldogs are 9-6 ats as road favorites since '11, but 0-2 so far this year. they're also 0-5 ats as -8/more away favorites. rice is 4-3-1 ats as home dogs lately, but 12-0 as conference home dogs off a win and 8-1 ats w/revenge off back/back wins. driskell has looked good at qb for lt, but the home team has won the last 3 here and i'll take the points. rice.
Saturday Games:
Georgia +3 @ Florida: i wonder if a sec division has ever been clinched by the end of october. uf could basically do that w/a win in jacksonville. uga is just 2-4 ats as road dogs, 1-9 ats off a bye. surprising gators are off their 1st loss of the season at lsu, but have covered 5 straight games this year (dawgs have lost to the number in 3 straight). uf is 4-0 ats lately as road faves, but their very good defense has struggled the most vs run-oriented offenses (vols, lsu). even w/o chubb, uga's bread and butter is running the ball. and uf has struggled vs sec competition on the ground this year, averaging less that 100/game. the last 3 years, the dog in this series has not just covered but won the game outright. i think uga stays alive in the east. georgia.
Oklahoma State -3 @ Texas Tech: the most unheralded of the power 5 unbeatens goes on the road to lubbock. the cowboys are just 5-8-1 ats as road favorites the last 3+ years, but they are 13-0-1 ats as road chalk 19/less off back/back wins. but okla st has a big revenger w/tcu on the horizon, but tech is 3-0 ats as home dogs of late. the red raiders are just 1-11 ats w/revenge though vs foes off a win. i expect a shootout here, and i'll take a chance that klingsbury has a couple more bullets. texas tech.
Notre Dame -10 @ Temple: for maybe the 1st time ever, cfb rules philly this week. if espn gameday visits denote history. what's true history is that the weekly picks list has 2 teams on its w/the nicknames of owls.
temple's d has been stout... giving up just 11 pts/game the last 4. they're 7-1 ats off back/back wins vs ooc, and 5-3 ats as home dogs. irish have bounced back nicely from the loss at clemson w/wins over navy and usc. this also begins a 4 away games out of last 5 streak for nd, which includes at pitt and at stanford (those 2, plus clemson and temple, add up to 3 more ranked teams than alabama's 'toughest schedule ever'-lmao). kelly's krew is clicking on offense, averaging 38/game. but they are just 2-6 ats as road favorites since '13. again, a good defense getting points at home. this is shaky, because notre dame is good. but i'll take temple.
Stanford -12 @ Washington State: cardinal have won/covered 6 straight since the n'western loss by an average of 3 td's/game. su is 5-8 ats as road chalk. wsu is off 3 straight pac 12 wins for the 1st time since '03, and the cougars control their destiny in the north. #4 pass offense vs a stingy stanford d. washington state.
USC -5 1/2 @ California: trojans have won 11 straight in this series, and are off the utah win. but sc is just 10-21 giving pts on the road, and cal is off a bye/thur game, both losses. southern california.
Michigan -14 @ Minnesota: gophers won the little brown jug in ann arbor last year, 30-14. questionable as to the team's emotional state after kill's resignation. ditto for um after their game-ending collapse to sparty. both teams are off a bye and a loss. minnesota is 5-1 ats as a home dog, 7-0 ats when getting 8+ at home. wolverines 1-3 ats as road chalk. minnesota.
Florida International -3 @ Florida Atlantic: this is THE game in miami this weekend. fau's homecoming, and they have revenge (38-10 fiu last year). that's about all i know about these two. florida atlantic.
Tulsa -3 1/2 @ Southern Methodist: i thought tulsa would give memphis a better game last week. smu sucks, but they've covered 8-10 ats vs tulsa. southern methodist.
Virginia Tech -2 1/2 @ Boston College: vt now just 3-5 after a heartbreaking 4 ot loss to duke. bc beat the hokies 33-31 last year. but since 9/18, the eagles have played 6 games and scored 7 td's. take the under. i'm taking virginia tech for nothing but homer reasons. lol