College Football Handicapping Articles

College Football Handicapping Advice: Early-Season Neutral-Site Games
by Trevor Whenham - 8/19/2016

Neutral-site games are, for better or worse, becoming a bigger and bigger part of the first weeks of the college football season. The first week of this year's schedule alone has nine different neutral-site games, and several are gimmicky almost to the point of being ridiculous. The reason for the increase in neutral-site games is obvious - they make money, and college programs and leagues love money more than anything.

College Football Handicapping and Wagering Advice: Under-the-Radar Quarterbacks
by Trevor Whenham - 8/18/2016

It promises to be a special year for quarterback play in college football. Deshaun Watson of Clemson is the current Heisman favorite in futures betting at BetOnline. Baker Mayfield, J.T Barrett, Chad Kelly and Josh Rosen are all in the top eight in those futures, too, and guys like Greg Ward Jr., Brad Kaaya, Joshua Dobbs, Seth Russell and others are getting plenty of hype as well.

2016 San Diego State Aztecs Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Last year the Aztecs found themselves sitting at 1-3 after a sloppy three-game losing streak that included an upset home defeat as a 17-point favorite. But Rocky Long's team wouldn't lose another game, reeling off 10 straight wins, including victories in the Mountain West title game and a 42-7 thrashing of Cincinnati in the Hawaii Bowl.

2016 Boise State Broncos Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

The shiny veneer of Boise State's sophomore season in the Mountain West glossed over what was, in actuality, a disappointing season for the Broncos. Boise State brought back 17 starters from the 2014 squad that went 12-2. But the Broncos managed just one impressive win, an emotional season opener against Washington, while taking some ugly losses, including a shocking home loss to New Mexico as a 31-point favorite.

2016 Air Force Falcons Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Troy Calhoun has quietly been doing tremendous work with this Air Force program. Military academies have a lot of built-in disadvantages - not the least of which is the fact that Air Force's enrollment is 4,000 compared to say, Ohio State's, which is 57,000. But Calhoun has kept the Falcons competitive during his nine-year tenure, earning a 67-50 record while posting just one losing season.

2016 Colorado State Rams Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Colorado State has only 10 starters back this year, it's fewest since the 3-9 team in 2010. But at least Bobo has his quarterback set. Nick Stevens made second team all-league last year and showed a solid command of the offense. However, Stevens lost his top four receivers, including stud Rashard Higgins, and some new options will have to emerge.

2016 UNLV Rebels Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Tony Sanchez likely won't be able to turn around this perpetual Titanic of a football program. But he sure is trying to by force of sheer will. Sanchez, a renowned local high school coach, led a roster purge last year and quickly turned the Rebels into a feisty Mountain West competitor. After being outscored by 18 points per game in 2014, UNLV was outmatched by only five points per game last fall.

2016 San Jose State Spartans Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

A scan over the last 15 years of San Jose football shows a pretty clear trend of steady peaks and valleys. Over the last 14 years, SJSU football has either increased or decreased its win total in back-to-back years five times. Only once during that time - when they dropped from nine wins in 2006 to five wins in 2007 only to bounce up to six wins in 2008 - did they buck that trend.

2016 Fresno State Bulldogs Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Fresno State football could be becoming a cautionary tale for mid-major college football programs. Once a well-respected, will-play-anyone-anywhere team under Pat Hill, the Bulldogs have backslid in a major way the past two seasons. They are still trying to figure out life after Derek Carr (and Hill). And as I look at this team I don't see a lot of cause for optimism.

2016 Hawaii Warriors Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Poor old Norm Chow, who was simply lost in four years on the Hawaii sideline, was finally put out to pasture. Hawaii went the complete opposite way for its new head coach, hiring a guy (Nick Rolovich, 36) that is nearly half the age of their former coach (Chow, 70).

2016 New Mexico Lobos Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

I was one of the few football handicappers in the country that was buying into New Mexico last season. And they came through in a big way, posting their highest win total since 2007 and earning their first bowl bid of the decade. They pulled the upset of the year in college football, beating Boise State outright as a 31-point underdog, and cashed as a nine-point underdog while almost upsetting Arizona in the New Mexico Bowl.

2016 Utah State Aggies Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

For the first time in what seems like 12 years, Utah State enters the season with someone other than Chuckie Keeton projected to be under center. The six-year Aggie was one of the best players in school history, even with injuries sabotaging his final few seasons.

2016 Nevada Wolf Pack Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

After back-to-back 7-6 seasons Nevada could be ready to lurch forward and throw itself back into the discussion of the top teams in the Mountain West. They have quietly been one of the most consistent programs in the league the last 10 years, posting eight winning seasons and making a bowl game in nine of the last 10 campaigns. So it says something when some claim that Brian Polian is working with one of the best teams that he has had in Reno.

2016 Wyoming Cowboys Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/18/2016

Craig Bohl's squad took a big step back in 2015, winning just two games and posting their most losses in over 10 years. But teams typically show improvement in a coach's third season at the helm. And for the sake of Bohl's job security, he better hope the Cowboys at least find a way to be competitive this fall.

College Football Betting Advice: Teams Over-Ranked in Coaches Poll
by Trevor Whenham - 8/17/2016

The Coaches Poll has issues. There is no denying that. It seems ridiculous to ask guys who work on Saturdays to vote on Saturday night on how teams played when it is very unlikely that they saw more than two actually play. And then there is the whole fact that so few coaches actually fill out their own ballots, or the fact that some coaches aren't even subtle about using their votes to air grievances. Still, for whatever reason, the poll is one of the two most important in existence.

2016 Oklahoma Sooners Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

If we've learned anything about the Sooners the past decade it is that they have trouble handling success. The last four times that Oklahoma has entered the season in the Top 5 - and this year they opened at No. 3 in the Coaches Poll - they have finished No. 16 or worse. And twice, 2009 and 2014, they started in the Top 5 only to finish the season unranked. We will see if they can live up to the hype this time around.

2016 Baylor Bears Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

I don't know if any program in the country had a worse offseason than Baylor. Lack of institutional control and a litany of sexual assault allegations and cover-ups doomed Art Briles, who was fired this spring. Now Baylor, whose ascent from laughingstock to college power over the past 10 years has been remarkable, enters the 2016 with a major black cloud over its head.

2016 Texas Longhorns Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

It is always tough to handicap a powerhouse program that has fallen on hard times. On the one hand, you have to know that big-name programs are always going to be overvalued by the books and the public, so we should pick the bones clean while a team is down. On the other hand, it is hard not to assume that these top-tier schools with big budgets and loaded recruiting classes are just one season away from getting back on top.

2016 TCU Horned Frogs Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

Much like it took Utah awhile to acclimate itself in the Pac-12, TCU needed a few seasons to catch up with the speed and talent in the Big 12. But now that they have, the Horned Frogs are a perennial threat to win the league championship and are one of the favorites to do so in 2016.

2016 Oklahoma State Cowboys Football Predictions and Season Win Total Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2016

I was bullish on Oklahoma State last year, and they did not disappoint. I correctly predicted that Oklahoma State would win 10 games, and they did just that, surging into the Top 5 before back-to-back tough late-season losses to Baylor and Oklahoma undercut OSU's attempt at winning the Big 12 title. With 17 starters back, including 10 from one of the nation's top offenses, I see more big things in store for Mike Gundy's crew this season.