A Bettor World

Ohio State +3
Akron +2
Texas -2′
Louisiana Tech -3
Georgia -14
Florida State -16

Last weeks picks on sides and totals went 6-0

Sides:
San Diego +1
Arizona +4.5
Buffalo +3

Totals:
Oakland/ Kansas City Under 42
San Francisco/Seattle Under 37.5

Teasers:
None

Sides:
New Orleans Saints -7

Totals:
New Orleans/Minnesota OVER 51.5
Tennessee/Indianapolis Under 41.5
Cincinnati/St louis Under 39
Detroit/Oakland OVER 47.5
Cleveland/Arizona Undr 37.5

Teams for Teasers:
New Orleans -1
Tennessee -’
Cincinnati -’
Arizona -’
New England -3

Sides:
New Orleans -3
Atlanta -2.5
Chicago -3.5

Totals:
Houston/Cincinnati Under 38
Atlanta/Carolina Under 47.5
Kansas City/NY Jets Under 37
Minnesota/Detroit OVER 46.5
Jacksonville/Tampa Bay Under 41
San Francisco/Arizona Under 38.5
Buffalo/San Diego OVER 48
NY Giants/Dallas OVER 50

Teasers:
None

Sides:
Atlanta -1
Minnesota +1

Totals:
Green Bay/New York Giants OVER 53.5
Baltimore/Cleveland Under 38.5
Cincinnati/Pittsburgh Under 43
New York Jets/Washington Under 38.5
Atlanta/Houston Under 38
Denver/Minnesota Under 37.5
St Louis/San Francisco Under 38

Teaser:
Chicago -1
Baltimore -0.5
Green Bay -1
New Orleans 3

Top Selection:
BYU -8

Other Selections:
Oklahoma +3.5
Arkansas State -17
North Texas -5.5
Wisconsin -9.5

Top NCAA Selections:
Nevada +1.5
UAB -5
North Carolina State -11.5

Other NCAA Selections:
Western Michigan -27
Houston -3
Arkansas +12
Michigan -7
Tennessee -7
Alabama -21
UL-Lafayette +14

NFL Sides:
Houston -3.5
Chicago +4
New England  -3

NFL Totals:
Cleveland/Cincinnati Under 37.5
Houston/Jacksonville Under 37.5
Washington/Seattle Under 37.5

Sides:
Atlanta -6.5
Oakland +1

Totals:
Cincinnati/Baltimore Under 41
Seattle/St Louis Under 39

Teasers:
None

Narrative for each game follows selection summary.

Top Positive Value Selections:
Vanderbilt -1.5
Houston -20

Other Selections with Positive Value:
Wisconsin -14
Wake Forest -10
Georgia -30.5
Tulsa -13.5
Stanford -17
Kansas State +8
Arkansas -13
Troy -11

Vanderbilt -1.5:

Vanderbilt has covered in five straight games in a stretch that has included Georgia, Arkansas and Florida.  The only two teams Vanderbilt has not covered against this season are Alabama (5 points ats) and South Carolina (2.5 points ats).

Since losing two straight games ATS, Vanderbilt has corrected their offensive problems scoring nearly 32 points a game in their past five games.

Tennessee has lost five of their last six games straight up and against the spread with their only win coming against Middle Tennessee State.  In their last four SEC games they have not scored more than 7 points and in their previous games against Georgia they only managed 12 points.

While Tennessee’s offensive slump has come against some of the best teams in the SEC, and the nation for that matter, Vanderbilt’s defense is not exactly a pushover.

Vanderbilt needs this game to become bowl eligible and would love nothing more than to become eligible for the post-season by defeating their big brother.

Houston -20:

Houston is not only undefeated, they have covered five straight games and five of the last six.

While most of the attention on Houston has justifiably been on their offense which has sandwiched 73 point games with a ‘meager’ 56 point effort, their defense has also played well recently holding their last two opponents to 13 and 17 points.

SMU has been moving in the opposite direction as they have failed to cover their last four games.  Two of those losses were by 24 and 31 points to Southern Miss and Tulsa.

While SMU has played descent defense, their offense has sputtered at times.  Excluding their contest against Tulane, SMU has only scored a combined total of 27 points in their other three games in the past four weeks.

Houston has won by more than 20 points seven times this year, including their past five.  Expect the streak to continue this week.

Wisconsin -14:

Wisconsin has won their last two games by a combined score of 104 to 30 while Illinois coming off of a 17 point loss to a Michigan.

The Badgers have covered in 7 of their last nine games while Illinois has not covered in 3 of their last four games, with their only cover coming against Penn State’s pedestrian offense.

Illinois has only scored 7, 14, 7, and 14 points in their last four games.  They do have a good defense but against good offenses like Northwestern and Michigan they allowed a total of 66 points.

Wisconsin’s worst offensive outputs were 29 and 31 points against good Ohio State and Michigan State defenses.

Wisconsin should manage 31 points while Illinois does not look like they can manage more than 14 points at this point in the season.

A win will keep the Badgers on track for the Rose Bowl, so they should be highly motivated to play well and put this game away.

Wake Forest -10:

Wake Forest has lost three in a row and four out of five games against a difficult schedule, although they have won their last two ATS.  They need a win here to become bowl eligible as they have a difficult matchup against Vanderbilt on deck.

Wake Forest has not defeated an FBS school by double figures but Maryland has lost five straight games by double digits (losing all ATS), including a home loss to Boston College.  Maryland has not defeated an FBS team since their opening win against a shorthanded Miami team.

Maryland’s defense is struggling as even Boston College put up 28 points and Virginia scored 31 against the Terrapins.  Wake Forest should manage as least as many points against Maryland as BC and UV.

Maryland demonstrated they could put up some points against Clemson, but in their last four games they are only averaging 16.5 points.

With Wake Forest needing a win and Maryland in disarray, take the Demon Deacons.

Georgia -30.5:

Georgia is coming off of a 45-7 win over Auburn and has won their last two games 108-23 while Kentucky is coming off of a 38-8 loss to Vanderbilt.

Georgia has won eight in a row and has covered in seven of those.  Their only ATS loss during this stretch was against Vanderbilt and even then they were over the spread twice in the fourth quarter.

Kentucky has lost 6 of their last 7 FBS games with their only win coming against a reeling Mississippi squad.

Covering 30.5 points is usually a dangerous venture, but against top competition Kentucky has lost 48-10 to Florida, 35 to 7 to LSU; and 54-3 to South Carolina. Georgia has won their last two games by 47 and 38 points .

Every week  you will see a big score next to a small score and wish you had pulled the trigger.  Don’t let Georgia’s impending blowout pass you by.

Tulsa -13.5:

Since starting the season 1-3 with losses to Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Boise State, Tulsa has won six in a row, covering their last four.

Excluding the three top ten teams they faced, Tulsa has defeated everyone they played by at least 17 points except for UCF, whose tough defense held them to 24 points in a short week.

Tulsa has averaged 39.5 points during their six game win streak while holding their opponents  to 17 points per game, including their 59-17 demolition of Marshall last week.

UTEP has also performed well against the spread, winning six in a row at one point before not covering in two of their last three games.

UTEP has been able to score points, topping 30 points in four of their last six games.  However, their defense has yielded 30+points to the top offenses they have played.

UTEP could manage 24 points against Tulsa, but the Golden Hurricanes could easily put of 38 or more points, providing the cover.

This may be a bad situation for Tulsa as this game has little meaning and UTEP needs one more victory for bowl eligibility and they have a tough match against UCF on deck.  However, with Tulsa’s ability to rack up points on the UTEP defense, they should still cover.

Stanford -19:

Stanford’s long ATS winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Ducks last week, but they now face a Cal Bears team that has struggled to tally large scoring totals against good defenses.

Cal has covered two straight games in which they won by a combined score of 53-13, but those were against Oregon State and Washington State teams Stanford destroyed by a combined 80-27.

Stanford could be ripe for a letdown, but they have covered against every unranked opponent this season, winning each game by more than three touchdowns.

Cal, on the other hand, has played poorly against top competition, losing to Oregon 43-15 and USC 30-9.

Cal needs this game to become bowl eligible, but with Arizona State on deck they may be home for the holidays as Stanford should return to winning game by more than three touchdowns as they attempt to pump life back into Luck’s Heisman campaign.

Kansas State +9.5:

Kansas State has played a brutal schedule, yet is 8-1 ATS, with their only loss coming against Oklahoma where they gave the Sooners everything they had for the first 30 minutes of the game.  They also put a scare into Oklahoma State, losing by just seven points.

During their amazing run, Kansas State has FIVE upset wins, including an amazing four in a row.

Between their tough schedule and playing a four-overtime game last week in their upset win over Texas A&M, the Wildcats could run out of gas as they have to go on the road to Texas.  However, how many times could that have been said about them this season?

Texas is coming off a baffling offensive performance in a 17 to 5 loss to Missouri after scoring 95 points in the previous two weeks against Kansas and Texas Tech.

Kansas State has allowed over 50 points in their last three games, albeit, one was in four overtimes and all three were against powerful offenses.

Texas has a strong defense as they have only allowed a total of 37 points in their last three games.  Excluding their two games against the two top ten teams from the Sooner state, Texas has not allowed more than 20 points in any game.

The Wildcats, though, have managed 41 or more points in four of their last five games and should manage a few touchdowns.

Texas has a big game against their hated Texas AM rivals coming up on a short week.  That game has added meaning with the Aggies skipping the conference after this season.  The potential for the Longhorns to look ahead may open the door for the Wildcats to keep this game close and provide a possible upset.

Arkansas -12.5:

Arkansas is rolling as they have won their last two games by a combined score of 93 to 35.

Mississippi State has covered their last three games, although two of those ATS wins were by one point in straight-up losses.

Arkansas has scored at least 38 points seven times this season, but will struggle to do so this week against a tough Mississippi State defense. Prior to giving up 24 points to Alabama last week, the Bulldogs held their previous four opponents to 12.5 points per game.

Although Arkansas likely won’t approach their season scoring
average this week, they will not need to so to cover.  Against upper-echelon SEC squads, the
Bulldogs have only produced 6, 10, 12, and 7 points.

Even though Arkansas has a big game on deck versus LSU, the Razorbacks know they will not have a chance at sharing the SEC West title if they do not take care of businesses this week.

While Mississippi State needs a win to become bowl eligible, they have their reeling in-state rival on deck which makes them more likely to look ahead than Arkansas as a loss would be more devastating to the Razorbacks.

Troy -10.5:

Troy has only covered twice this season and has lost six of their last seven ATS as their reputation has surpassed their talent.

This is Troy’s last home game, so they should provide a good effort against a Florida Atlantic squad that has not won this season and only covered twice while losing their last five against the spread.

Although Troy has struggled, it has been even worse for FAU as they have lost all but one of their games by at least fourteen points.

Troy’s 33 points last week was the first time they scored over 20 points since October 1. Their defense has performed even worse as they have allowed more than 30 points in all but two games.

FAU does not have the ability to exploit Troy’s poor defense, though, as they have only scored 0, 1,2, and 3 touchdowns in their last four games.  They have only scored more than 20 points twice while scoring 14 or less six times.

FAU looks like they have given up on the season as they are coming off of a 41-7 loss to a Florida International squad that Troy took to overtime three weeks ago.

As poor as Troy has been, FAU has been worse. Playing their last home game provides Troy the only real incentive for either team in this game which should be enough to cover against a team that looks like they have thrown in the towel on this season.

Sides:
Houston -3.5
Chicago -2.5
New England +2

Totals
Pittsburgh/Cincinnati Under 41
Washington/Miami Under 38
St Louis/Cleveland Under 37
Baltimore/Seattle Under 41
NY Giants/San Francisco Under 42.5

Teasers:
None