Wisconsin was shocked by BYU in Madison last week, marking the first non-conference loss at home for the Badgers in 15 years. The Cougars went head-to-head with Wisconsin’s strengths – something I suggested would doom BYU – and won. The -3 spread suggests sportsbooks and the public think Wisconsin lost their swag but is Iowa only a field goal worse? Ted Walker takes a look.
The Washington State Cougars are off to a 3-0 start after running over the Eastern Washington Eagles last Saturday 59-24. The Cougs are currently winning games by an average of 29 points per contest. Neither team expects a margin like that on Friday. USC is favored by 4.5 points.
Central Florida has allowed just 17 points on the season. It’s hard to say what that means with the opponents being really weak. Maybe it means the opponents have been really weak? But, they started last season the same way and the offenses figured them out a bit as the year went on. Is it too early for Florida Atlantic to break this year’s D? Loot Levinson takes a look and gives his football pick.
The Illini have a one advantage they may use to keep this contest close, their rushing offense. Penn State’s defense gives up 148.3 yards per game on the ground (68th nationally). This helps a team whose running game has produced 244.3 yards per (23rd nationally). Is this enough for Illinois to keep the game within 28? Mike Mann gives his opinion and his college football pick.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish head south to take on Wake Forest in an early Saturday afternoon game at BB&T Field in Winston-Salem. The teams have met four times since 2011 with Notre Dame winning all of the match ups, including a 48-37 victory in South Bend last season. Will Notre Dame make it 5 in a row and 4-0 on their season? Mike Mann breaks down the game and gives his prediction.
The Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Temple Owls meet on Thursday September 15th, 2018. These two teams are playing for the prize of a .500 record. Temple has home field and with that a -7 spread. Jay Horne breaks down these very similar teams and makes his football pick.
The Washington State Cougars host their east-side instate rival Eastern Washington Eagles this Saturday evening in Pullman. The two schools are a little more than an hour apart from each other and have met a few times over the years—Eastern Washington may be from the lower BIG Sky Conference, but they are as good or better than any team the Cougars have faced this season. WSU is 15.5 points better according to the market at the sportsbooks.
The Washington Huskies make the trip to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes on Saturday, as both teams open their Pac-12 Conference schedules. Last season’s matchup between these two teams turned out to be a doozy (what am I, 90 years old?), as a Washington FG with time running out gave them the 33-30 win in Seattle. This season’s pairing figures to be another competitive game as evident by sportsbooks separating these teams by less than a touchdown.
The Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders and the Georgia Bulldogs square off in a Conference USA versus SEC clash scheduled for Saturday, September 15th, 2018. The game will take place “Between The Hedges”, live from the Classic City known as Athens, Georgia. Keith Franks is not expecting the typical big spread blowout. Read his pick.
In 2017, USC needed some good ball bounces and almost 400 yards from Sam Darnold to narrowly avert defeat at home to the Longhorns. Now in Texas, maybe the Longhorns can do one better against a depreciated USC offense. Is it ripe for Texas as a 3 point favorite to get the W? Loot Levinson makes his college football pick on USC Trojans vs. Texas Longhorns who play Saturday 9/15/2018.