LAST NIGHT GEORGETOWN +7 LOSER
HOYAS TOOK WAY TOO LONG TO ADJUST AND GET COMFORTABLE WITHOUT FREEMAN IN THE LINEUP. HAD THEY STARTED EARLY THERE IS NO WAY THEY LOSE BY THE AMOUNT THEY GOT BEAT BY. ANYHOW ON TO TONIGHT..
TONIGHT:
CINCINNATI BEARCATS +4
VILLANOVA GUYS ARE OVERRATED THEY CLEARLY ARENT AS GOOD AS EVERYONE HAD THOUGHT THEY ARE AND TONIGHT AT CINCY THEY WILL STRUGGLE ONCE AGAIN. CINCINATTI IS JUST TOO PHYSICAL FOR NOVA (BEARCATS RANK 11TH NATIONALLY IN REBOUNDING MARGIN) AND AT HOME FOR SENIOR NIGHT THE BEARCATS WILL BRING AN INSPIRED EFFORT. I LIKED WHAT I SAW FROM CINCINNATI IN MORGANTOWN ON SATURDAY EARLY AND TONIGHT I SEE THAT CARRYING OVER TO A BIG VICTORY WITH A MORE COMPLETE EFFORT. OVER THE LAST 5 GAMES BOTH TEAMS HAVE PLAYED ALMOST ABOUT THE SAME WITH NOVA SHOOTING FREE THROWS BETTER AND CINCINATTI REBOUNDING BETTER. AT HOME HOWEVER WHERE CINCINNATI IS 12-3 INCLUDING WINS OVER NOTRE DAME, UCONN, SOUTH FLORIDA AND CLOSE GAMES AGAINST MARQUETTE AND PITT, THE BEARCATS HOLD AN ADVANTAGE OVER VILLANOVA. NOVA WHOSE CONFIDENCE RIGHT NOW IS SHOT WILL STRUGGLE WITH A TEAM WHOSE BACK IS AGAINST THE WALL ON SENIOR NIGHT. A WIN FOR THE BEARCATS WILL BE HUGE AS RIGHT NOW THEY ARE ON THE BUBBLE FOR THE BIG DANCE, RANKING 58TH IN THE RPI THANKS TO THE NATIONS 17TH TOUGHEST SCHEDULE. PEOPLE SEEM TO FORGET THIS TEAM HAS WINS OVER MARYLAND AND VANDERBILT. GUYS I JUST DONT SEE NOVA COMING AWAY WITH MORE THAN A 1 POSSESION WIN, HENCE WHY I AM ON A TEAM THAT COULD VERY EASILY WIN THIS GAME OUTRIGHT!!!
The Tennessee Titans are back to what has made them great in the past. Running the football effectively and playing tough defense creating turnovers. These are the key ingredients in beating a team with a potent passing attack like Houston's. Now that everyone seems healthy and has reagained their swagger the Titans will be hard to beat from here on out. The Titans defense is a defense that returned 10 starters from a year ago that was so dominant. They had 20 ints and 44 sacks in 2008. So it was only a matter of time until they got back to what they do best. In the last 3 games Tennessee has allowed only 195 passing yds net and have picked the ball off numerous times. Matt Schaub also in recent weeks has been picked off 4 times in his last 3 games. So in this matchup its pretty safe to say Tennessee will intercept at least 1. Houston on defense I dont care what most people say they are not gonna be able to stop the combination of Vince Young and Chris Johnson. Johnson last time out against Houston as most people know combined for 300 yds of offense and 3 TD's. That kind of performance by a RB doesnt just happen. Since that early-season game, Johnson has ripped up a lot of defensive fronts, with 170/1091/8 rushing and 30/262/1 receiving to date and 75/495/6 rushing with 14/136/0 receiving over the past four weeks (with 2 TDs in each of his last three games) - he put up 26/132/2 rushing vs. Buffalo last week. Also alot of Houston backers seem to forget how the Titans lost a hard fought battle against the defending champs in the opening game that really took the stuff out of them. I'm sure after that loss Tennessee didnt give Houston the effort it needed to in week 2 to win that game. Expect the Titans to give everything they got tonight and the better football team with the better scheme will win this game. I like Tennessee to win this game outright but I will take the 4.5 and be extremely happy with it. If your looking for a bailout winner this is your game as Tennessee is the right play to bring home the cash!!!
TENNESSEE +4.5..................20 UNITS
14-8 YTD
2 SATURDAYS AGO 5-1
LAST SATURDAY 9-4
SO FAR THIS WEEK 0-3
SATURDAY
MISSOURI PK
MEMPHIS +1
NC ST +8
PUKE +12.5
ALABAMA -12
USC -11
ARKY ST -4
NORTHWESTERN +5
UVA +4.5
NOTRE DAME +7
*** NOTE **
ALL THESE TEAMS HAVE MATCHUPS THAT ARE VERY FAVORABLE TO THEM AND THEY SHOULD ALL BE ABLE TO COVER THE SPREAD BASED ON THAT. NOW THE QUESTION IS WILL THEY ALL SHOW UP TO PLAY ON SATURDAY?? I THINK THEY WILL.
South Florida comes into this game off a big win against West Vagina. That win was so big for this program!! It proved to the nation and to themselves that they are for real and they can win big football games. What allowed them to win that game was the outstanding play of QB BJ Daniels. In the first couple games Daniels played in, USF coaches didnt allow the Fresman play the way he wanted to. Well against the Neers the USF coaches took the training wheels off of Mr Daniels and it payed off big time!! Both with his arm and legs Daniels sliced and diced an above average WVU defense. He had 117 yards on the ground, 232 yds passing and 3TD's! I honestly havent seen a dual threat QB this dominant since Michael Vick AKA "Ron Mexico". Please dont underrate this guy he is the real deal and maybe the best freshman QB in the country. On defense we all know what USF is capable of. When the offense is playing well these guys are dominant behind Man Children DE's Selvie, Pierre Paul and LB Kion Wilson. Alot of people I'm sure question this defense after getting killed by Pitt and Cincinatti but against those teams the USF offense couldnt muster any production. Now with Daniels allowed to play the way he wants to, they are able to keep their defense off the field and rested enough to make big plays. When USF's offense hums so does their defense. The Bulls are gonna play tonight without WR Carlton Mitchell however USF is very deep at the position with Love, Bogan and Hester.
Now Rutgers comes into the game on a high they are 6-2 and have won their last 2 one of em away against a very tough Uconn team. They have been doing just enough to get the job done behind a stingy and opportunistic defense. The Knights rank #1 in the nation in turnover margin and basically that stat alone has won them football games. Freshman QB Tom Savage has been playing mistake free football lately and has made big throws when called upon. The big play ability of WR Tim Brown is really the main reason Rutgers has had any production on offense. Other than him there really isnt anyone that can make a big play. On defense the Knights are led by an outstanding LB crew led by Ryan Dimperio. Rutgers comes into the game ranking 27th on defense and like I said these guys create turnovers which has led them to a 6-2 record.
Tonight the way I see this game is like this. Defensively South Florida should be able to shut down this stagnant Rutgers offense. These guys just dont have enough star talent right now to beat a very good defense like South Florida. USF lost games against Pitt and Cincy but both those teams have Big Star talent. Rutgers quite simply does not. On the other side of the ball I really think the Knights are gonna have a hard time stopping Daniels. This kid looks super confident now that the coaches have given him full control to make plays and I think there is no way the Knights can stop him. He is too quick and too accurate making throws on the run. Also this supposedly solid Rutgers defense against good football teams have been exposed greatly. Last week against UCONN they gave up almost 500 yards of offense, against Cincy they gave up almost 600 and against Pitt almost 400. Also everyone knows the Knights were very lucky to sneak away with a win against UCONN last week. Another factor is the fact that this is a revenge game for the Bulls. Their team feels that the Knights ran up the score on them last year and tonight they want to kill this team. Also for most of the Bulls players they have never beat Rutgers and have never won on Thursday night and I'm sure they want to break that trend. All this should be enough for the Bulls and I fully expect this team to keep on chugging and to get a big win tonight in Jersey!!
SOUTH FLORIDA +3 (HOOK)
THURSDAY
MIAMI (OH) +17.5
Since when did Temple become so good to lay 17 points to a team?? Miami OH has been playing good football lately behind the superb play of Fr QB Zac Dysert. The kid has alot of talent and he is now putting it all together. The team has responded with a big W against Toledo last week and playing UNI tough the week before. What I like about ths matchup the most is that Temple's defense is vulnerable to the pass. This team has only faced 1 passing team all year and that was Toledo with their backup QB. The Owls will have a hard time adjusting to this and I see the Redhawks keeping it close.
FRIDAY
LA TECH +21.5
Boise keeps laying big lines and they keep covering however this week they got dawg who can bite especially at home. La Tech behind their solid running game should be able to move the chains and keep this one close. Boise St has shown they are vulnerable against the run as Fresno St sliced and diced them for 320 yards. La Tech behind stud RB Daniel Porter and WR Philip Livas should be able to keep the chains moving. I expect a high scoring affair with La Tech keeping it within the number.
SATURDAY
NORTH CAROLINA -9
Carolina really impressed me last week with the way they moved the ball against Tech. This didnt look like an offense that had struggled to move the ball before. Now that they got their offense in gear Duke will be an easy opponent for them. I expect Carolina to keep the Duke potent passing attack under wraps and for Lewis to be sacked several times in this game. As Carolina should role to a two touchdown victory.
WAKE FOREST +17
Ga Tech has been on a roll lately but they have faced inept offenses in recent weeks. Riley Skinner and company is far from that and they should be able to expose once again this swiss cheese secondary of the Yellow Jackets. Against Miami and FSU Ga Tech's secondary struggled big time and now against Wake they will do the same. I got this game at 17pts and I believe this is an absolute gift!!
ARKANSAS ST -13.5
Poor Arkansas St these guys are not a bad football team. They have faced super tough competition and their record has taken a pounding for it. However this week they will be licking their chops as they have one of the worst teams in the Sun Belt, La Lafayette. Although 4-4 these guys are not that good. Arky St behind their solid running game and defense will be able to blow these guys out with ease as Lafayette is 92nd against the run.
KANSAS -2.5
Ok so Kansas loses 3 games in a row 1 of which was to a terrible CU team and now people think that this game is a trap. I'm here telling you now it is far from that!! KU is gonna blowout K st with ease!! Dont misinterpret the CU game as Kansas being vulnerable on the road. That game was a completly different animal playing in the high altitudes of Boulder, Colorado. The Jayhawks dont have that problem this game and Reesing and company should have a field day as Kst pass defense ranks 81st in the country. Kst on offense will have a hard time finding success as their only threat is their running attach and KU ranks 14th in the nation in defending it.
OHIO ST +4
The Buckeys have the advantage here and I'll tell you why. This game is gonna be a hard fought defensive battle and when you have that ,field position plays a major roll. When looking at that matchup the Buckeys have a major advantage. Penn St ranks 114th in Net Punting, 101 in punt returns and 110 in Kick Off returns. On the other hand Ohio St ranks 35th in the nation in punting, 19th in kickoff returns and 93 on Punt Returns. That said I really like Ohio St in this one with the cards stacked against them also wanting to revenge last years game against the Lions. Remember the Buckeyes lost to Purdue a couple of weeks ago and I believe that loss was a blessing in disguise as these guys seem to be refocused and reenergized. I'll take the points in this defensive game with the team that has a better chance of winning the field position battle.