You Can Bet On It (Week 8)

You Can Bet On It! (10/19/17)

Welcome back,

For the record the events that happened from Friday night to late Saturday night is exactly why I love college football so much and to a degree more than NFL. What a week it was in whole for college football and to be honest it was a perfect representation of this year as a whole. In case you were busy apple picking or something ridiculous like that you missed out on a crazy week of college football, some of the highly ranked schools were able to hold their own against much lesser opponents but others like #2 Clemson on Friday night, or #5 Washington on Saturday night, found out the hard way not to overlook anyone. Given the number of upsets and high profile ones at that I consider myself very lucky to get out of last week with 1 win, 2 loses and I’ll even gladly take a push on the lock of the week. Like a lot of teams this week I am more than happy to move on to the next week, so let’s see if I can make any more sense of things this week.

Navy vs Central Florida, Annapolis MD, 3:30pm

Spread: Central Florida by 8 points

Over/Under: 65 ½ points

To be clear Navy is a good football team and although I never thought they were a top 25 team which Memphis did a good enough job showing last week. Central Florida on the other hand is a team that week by week is showing they are a strong all around team putting up high numbers of offense and never giving up more than 23 to any team they have played. Vegas seems to have recognized this as well as they put the game at a 8 point spread for Central Florida on the road which I don’t much care for. Considering Central Florida can score almost at will and Navy is never going to set the score board on fire although with the high quality defense Central Florida can play I will take them to cover the spread and I’ll take the under with it.

Navy: 21 Central Florida: 42

Buffalo vs Miami-Ohio, Oxford OH, 2:30pm

Spread: Miami-Ohio by 3 points

Over/Under: 48 ½ points

Honestly I really can’t say much about either one of these teams as I have not gotten the chance to watch either of these teams’ games this year with the expectation of part of Buffalo’s 7 overtime thriller. With that being said I do know that Buffalo has a quality QB which can be the difference in any college game that and Miami-Ohio doesn’t really have quality anywhere. Buffalo has also covered the spread in all of their 7 games this season while at the same time Miami-Ohio covered once in the only game that the won this year.  The records against the spreads along with Miami-Ohio being the favorite by 3 most likely because they are at home is why I am taking Buffalo getting 3 point in a game I feel they should be able to win and I’ll take the over in this one given how low it is.

Buffalo: 35 Miami-Ohio: 28

Iowa vs Northwestern, Evanston IL, 12:00pm

Spread: Pick

Over/Under: 47 ½ points

So before I begin I do see the irony in this statement but to me this game is truly a gamble but the reason I am adding it to my picks this week is because Vegas agrees making this a pick with a lot of sports books have on or the other as a point favorite depending on where you look. As for the teams, both are solid middle of the road teams in a talent heavy Big 10, yes I know I’m biased in this regards but it’s the truth so whatever. Iowa this year was only 7 second away from beating a real contender in Penn State and only lost by a touchdown to Michigan State. Northwestern on the other hand played almost 3 perfect quarters before Penn State was able to take over the game and had a solid performance against a powerful Wisconsin team. This is really one of those games that could go either way so I am going to go with my gut and Iowa just because of how close they were able to play quality football teams this year and I will take the over considering how low it is set.

Iowa: 38 Northwestern: 35

LOCK OF THE WEEK

Oklahoma vs Kansas State, Manhattan KS, 4:00pm

Spread: Oklahoma by 12 ½ points

Over/Under: 58 ½ points

So for starters I have to say that nothing recently gives me confidence in Oklahoma which is hard for me to see as a Ohio State fan. The simple reason that I chose this game is simply because Kansas State has shown in recent weeks that they are not as good as some of us thought. Given that neither teams has been able to beat the spread in 4 weeks something has to give given the ½ point in the spread or I might have gone with the push, I personally think Oklahoma has a lot to prove and a lot of making up for lack luster play if they want to stay in consideration for the playoff.  I will take Oklahoma to win convincingly and the over because both teams will be out for blood.

Oklahoma: 45 Kansas State: 31

Current Record: 13-13-2

Last Week: 1-2-1