College Football Handicapping Articles

TCU Probably Won’t Get Chance to Play For National Title
by T.O. Whenham - 11/19/2009

TCU - the little school that could. The undefeated program has climbed to the unprecedented heights of 10th in both the AP Poll and the BCS rankings. They haven't gone halfway in their efforts, either - they have won their 10 games by an average of more than 26 points per game while allowing just 13 points per game. This is a team which can score and which plays even better defense.

Thursday Night NCAA Preview: Colorado at No. 12 Oklahoma State
by Matt Severance - 11/18/2009

Some might say that Oklahoma State doesn’t have a lot to play for with the Big 12 South title all but out of reach – Texas would need to collapse in the final two games – but the Cowboys would be a very attractive BCS bowl at-large team if they can win out and finish 10-2, beginning Thursday night against Colorado, which is an 18-point dog on Bookmaker (+650 on the money line).

Thursday Night NCAA: South Florida at Rutgers
by Matt Severance - 11/11/2009

Frankly, if you are going to watch or bet on just one Big East game this week, Friday’s ESPN matchup between West Virginia and Cincinnati is the key conference game of the year to this point. But that’s not to say there are no storylines for Thursday night’s ESPN matchup of South Florida (-1 on JustBet) and Rutgers – it’s just that the storylines aren’t quite as nationally relevant.

College Football Handicapping: Under-The-Radar ATS Gems
by T.O. Whenham - 11/11/2009

When it comes to college football most bettors focus on the big name teams playing the high-profile games. That only makes sense given the coverage that those games get in the media. The problem, though, is that increased betting attention means that the lines just don't have the potential for value that under-bet lines can.

Oregon Ducks Looking Like One Of Nation’s Best
by T.O. Whenham - 11/5/2009

I sat through every painful minute of Oregon's opening debacle at Boise State. I'm not an Oregon fan, and I am only marginally a Boise State fan, but by the end I just couldn't change the channel - it was like an impossibly ugly car wreck. My eyes were glued to it. If you had told me then that at the Ducks may very well be the best team in the country by the beginning of November I would have, without hesitation, had you committed.

College Football Handicapping: Teams That Have Thrown in the Towel
by T.O. Whenham - 11/4/2009

We're into the final stretch of the college football regular season. For teams in contention this is when the pressure gets ratcheted up and every game matters even more than ever before. For some teams, though, the season can't end soon enough. Those teams have had a very rough season, and probably aren't having much fun anymore.

Thursday Night NCAA Preview: Virginia Tech at East Carolina
by Matt Severance - 11/3/2009

Virginia Tech’s ACC title and BCS bowl hopes all but vanished last Thursday night when North Carolina’s Casey Barth kicked a field goal with no time left to give the Heels the very surprising upset as 16.5-point dogs in Blacksburg.

Thursday Night NCAA Football Preview: North Carolina at Virginia Tech
by Matt Severance - 10/28/2009

It’s the second Thursday night game in a row for the North Carolina Tar Heels, and it’s hard to imagine this one against Virginia Tech going any worse than last week’s did against Florida State. UNC was dominating FSU last week to the tune of 24-6 early in the third quarter but was then outscored 24-3 in the final 22 minutes.

College Football Handicapping: What The Future Holds for Unbeaten Teams
by T.O. Whenham - 10/28/2009

There are seven unbeaten teams remaining in college football. We know for sure that there won't be that many by the end of the season - Alabama and Florida will play in the SEC Championship Game if they don't lose first. But how about the rest? Here's a look at each of the teams, their chances of staying undefeated, and what an undefeated season would likely do for them:

College Football Handicapping: Idaho One of Betting’s Biggest Surprises
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 10/22/2009

There are programs in the midst of downturns and programs that are turning things around and then there is Idaho, who is completely remaking itself. The Vandals are 6-1 straight up this season and 7-0 against the spread and they find themselves as a big underdog this weekend against Nevada.

College Football Handicapping: Unranked Teams That Could Finish Strong
by T.O. Whenham - 10/22/2009

We have now made it through seven weeks of the current college football season. We probably feel like we have a pretty good sense of which teams are for real and which ones are pretenders by now. History tells us that that's not the case, though. There were nine teams ranked in the AP Top 25 after seven weeks last year that were not still ranked by the time the final poll came out.

College Football Handicapping: BCS Conference Rankings
by T.O. Whenham - 10/21/2009

We are just over halfway through the college football season. That means that this is a good time for us to assess what has happened so far, and what could happen going forward. One way I like to do that - both because it is useful and it is fun - is to rank the BCS conferences based on the strength they have shown this year.

Thursday NCAA Football Preview: Florida State at North Carolina
by Matt Severance - 10/20/2009

This Thursday’s ESPN game between Florida State and North Carolina looked like a potential ACC title game preview before the season but now is just two schools looking to get out of the cellar of their respective divisions and perhaps looking forward to the start of basketball season.

Thursday NCAA Preview: No. 8 Cincinnati at No. 21 South Florida
by Matt Severance - 10/13/2009

The number of unbeaten teams in college football, currently at nine, will for sure dwindle by at least one on Thursday when Big East contenders Cincinnati and South Florida face off in Tampa. The Bearcats are currently 3.5-point favorites.

Heisman Trophy Race Update
by T.O. Whenham - 10/8/2009

The Heisman race this year was supposed to be so simple. Former winners Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford were supposed to duel with Colt McCoy in a fight for the ages. Like always seems to happen in these cases, though, it hasn't quite worked out like that. Sam Bradford has been out with a shoulder injury, Tim Tebow is questionable for his next start after getting his bell rung, and and Colt McCoy hasn't looked particularly crisp despite continuing to win.

Disappointing College Teams Against the Spread
by T.O. Whenham - 10/7/2009

With so many high profile college football teams out there it is inevitable that there will be several that wind up being big betting disappointments. Some teams win but aren't as dominant as people expect so they can't cover spreads. Others just struggle when people expect them to excel. Here's a look at five teams that have been particularly frustrating and damaging to the bankroll this year:

Thursday Night Football Preview: No. 21 Nebraska at No. 24 Missouri
by Matt Severance - 10/6/2009

Last year, Mizzou scored 52 points and crushed Nebraska, 52-17. It was the most points the Tigers had scored against the Cornhuskers since 1943 and was the Huskers' most lopsided home loss in 53 years and fifth-worst in Lincoln in the program's 119-year history. And if you go back two seasons, Mizzou has outscored Nebraska 95-23 in the past two meetings. Yet the host Tigers are three-point dogs this week on BetUS.

College Football Handicapping: West Virginia Seeks Revenge
by Matt Severance - 9/30/2009

West Virginia’s defense has been even worse than Colorado’s so far, at least points-wise, allowing an average of 27.0 per game. The last time out the Mountaineers were beaten 41-30 by Auburn. The reason for that was six turnovers, including five by QB Jarrett Brown. But when WVU wins the turnover battle it has won 50 of the past 53 games.

College Football Handicapping: Betting Large Spreads
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/30/2009

College football is the home of rivalries, rankings, upsets and the four-touchdown plus point spread. As more and more teams open their season with sacrificial lamb opponents scattered throughout the first two months of the schedule, oddsmakers have been forced to inflate lines all the way up to 72 this season. Likewise bettors looking for action in these frays have had to wager while calculating things like second team defenses and a coaches tendency to run up the score.

College Football Handicapping: Iowa Heads To White House
by Nicholas Tolomeo - 9/24/2009

It will be no different at 8 p.m. this Saturday inside college football’s largest stadium when Penn State, a 9.5-point favorite, hosts Iowa. The Penn State faithful, the players, and Joe Paterno himself might have a little something extra for Iowa after the Hawkeyes dealt Penn State its lone defeat last regular season and what possibly cost JoePa his last chance at a national title.