College Football Handicapping Articles

2015 Baylor Bears Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

I felt that Baylor was a bit of fool's gold last year. I admit that Bryce Petty led an absolutely devastating offense that averaged nearly 50 points per game. And the defense was a little stronger than even its numbers suggest. However, Baylor only played four decent teams or tricky games last year - TCU, at West Virginia, at Oklahoma and versus Michigan State. They lost two of those games, and a third, against TCU, they won by just three points. Further, Baylor won 11 games in 2013, and that too was against a cupcake schedule.

2015 Oklahoma Sooners Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

Bob Stoops sees the writing on the wall in Norman. He knows that 8-5 seasons are unacceptable around those parts, so he made some offseason changes, most notably bringing in a new offensive coordinator to install a version of the Air Raid offense and adding a new starting quarterback to run it. The hope is that all this adds up to a big season and a vault back to the top of the Big 12.

2015 Kansas State Wildcats Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

Don't bet against Bill Snyder. You just don't do it. Snyder is one of the best coaches in college football history, and he has been one of the best against the spread coaches in the sport over the last five years. This year's team doesn't look promising. But since Snyder acquires a lot of talent via junior colleges, this is always a team ready to exceed expectations.

2015 Texas Tech Red Raiders Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

Kliff Kingsbury's second year was a big step back after a solid 2013. But now the question is whether the Red Raiders are ready to leap back into the top tier of the league or if they are still punching over their weight class in a loaded Big 12.

2015 West Virginia Mountaineers Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

I was on top of West Virginia going 'over' their season win total last year. Dana Holgorsen's squad quietly showed some progress and didn't take a bad loss on the season. They even played a bit of spoiler by knocking off Baylor. But, regardless, this season feels like a bit of a last stand for Holgorsen. He's reportedly a generally unlikeable person and hasn't been embraced by the Mountaineer faithful. And anything short of a breakout season could spell the end of his five-year run in Morgantown.

2015 Iowa State Cyclones Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

Paul Rhodes has kept Iowa State respectable for as long as he could. But the fact is that this program needs some new blood. They are coming off an ugly two-win showing last year, and with just 11 starters back I don't see a lot of upside this season. Iowa State has just one returning starter in the front seven on defense.

2015 Kansas Jayhawks Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/9/2015

I had the Jayhawks pegged last year, predicting that they would be more competitive (they almost knocked off TCU and Oklahoma State) but that they wouldn't make it to four wins. I feel even more confident this season predicting the Jayhawks to be one of the worst teams in any major conference in the country.

Ohio State Buckeyes Odds to Win the 2016 College Football National Championship
by George Monroy - 7/8/2015

The Ohio State Buckeyes ran through the first ever college football playoffs with dominating victories over Alabama and Oregon in route to their eighth championship in the program's history. The Buckeyes now enter the 2015-16 season returning all three starting quarterbacks from last year and are in the unprecedented position of having to choose between three of the best players in all of college football. After 2014's surprising late-season surge, Ohio State jumped ahead of its rebuilding curve; the question on everyone's mind is if the team can go back to back.

2015 TCU Horned Frogs Season Win Total Picks and NCAA Football Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 7/8/2015

I don't care what anyone says: TCU got screwed. The Horned Frogs were snubbed from the college football playoffs last year in favor of a team from the pathetic Big Ten. The politics of the decision to exclude TCU have been discussed ad nausea in the national press. But one thing is certain: this year's team will be using last year's snub as serious motivation this fall.

Dak Prescott Odds to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy with Expert Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 7/7/2015

When most college football fans think of the top power teams in the SEC, Mississippi State is rarely included in that list. Last season's 10-3 record that included a 6-2 mark in conference play has definitely helped to move the Bulldogs up that list heading into the 2015 season.

Nick Chubb Odds to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy with Expert Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 7/7/2015

The long history of quality running backs playing for the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs continues with sophomore Nick Chubb. He played so well as a freshman last season that his name has moved near the top of Bovada's futures list at 10/1 betting odds to take home this season's Heisman Trophy as the nation's top college football player.

Leonard Fournette Odds to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy with Expert Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 7/7/2015

Before LSU running back Leonard Fournette ever stepped on the field last season as a true freshman, he was already being touted as a future Heisman Trophy hopeful following a stellar high school career in his hometown of New Orleans. While he did not make an impact in the 2014 Heisman voting, he is definitely a solid contender to win this year's award for college football's best player at 14/1 betting odds on Bovada's latest futures board.

Trevone Boykin Odds to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy with Expert Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 7/2/2015

Last season's Heisman Trophy race was dominated by a pair of high-profile quarterbacks in Marcus Mariota from Oregon and Florida State's Jameis Winston, who already won the award for college football's best player in 2013. Mariota went on to win the 2014 Heisman, but when all the dust had settled, TCU quarterback Trevone Boykin had also made a strong impression by finishing fourth in the final voting.

Ezekiel Elliott Odds to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy with Expert Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 7/2/2015

The Ohio State Buckeyes have been listed by Bovada as 13/4 favorites to win this season's National Championship, and if they end up achieving this lofty goal you would have to think that Ezekiel Elliott had a lot to do with it much in the same way he was an integral part of last year's championship run.

College Football Regular-Season Win Totals Released by 5Dimes
by Raphael Esparza - 6/1/2015

The 2015 College Football season kicks off in less than 100 days, and we are not wasting time to make some early college football futures profit. Offshore sportsbook 5Dimes has released their regular-season win totals for all 128 college teams for the upcoming NCAA football season.

NCAA Football National Championship Futures Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 1/22/2015

We haven’t even played the Super Bowl yet — or the Pro Bowl, for that matter — so it seems a bit silly to already looking forward to next football season. The new NCAA Playoff produced such a compelling set of games, though, that I can’t help but look ahead to what could be coming and what we could have to look forward to at the end of this calendar year. Because everyone else is focused on Super Bowl betting, it’s also a good time to look now that no one is paying attention to NCAA National Championship futures to see that there is any value just sitting there ripe for the picking.

2015 College Football National Championship Futures Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 1/13/2015

I would like to tell you that I had Ohio State as your first-ever College Football Playoff champion. Yep, I would like to have jumped on the Buckeyes' title odds when they briefly skyrocketed to 40/1 at Bovada after starting quarterback and Heisman contender Braxton Miller was lost for the season in August. I follow college football closely, but I had no idea whether backup QBs J.T. Barrett and/or Cardale Jones were any good. It turns out, they were. And Urban Meyer had one of the great coaching seasons in NCAA history in winning his third national title and joining rival Nick Saban as the only coaches to win one at multiple schools.

College Football National Championship Game Picks: 5 Keys for Ohio State
by Trevor Whenham - 1/11/2015

The biggest problem I have with the new College Football Playoff — not overall, but right now — is the waiting. The gap between the semifinals and the Championship Game is endless, and there just isn’t enough college football to fill the gap. That means that all we can do is overanalyze and overspeculate. In that spirit, when I look at Ohio State from as many angles as I can, there are five factors that stand out above the rest because of the impact on the game that they could have.

College Football National Championship Game Picks: 5 Keys for the Ducks
by Trevor Whenham - 1/7/2015

There is no shortage of hype surrounding the Oregon Ducks heading into the National Championship Game. Quarterbacked by the Heisman winner, they absolutely crushed the most hated elite team in the country with an explosive offense and a pretty solid defense. Ohio State was great in their game as well, but the Ducks did enough to make them the solid favorites heading into this game. So now handicappers have to determine whether they are deserving of the attention.

NCAA Football Predictions: Bowl Week 3 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 12/29/2014

Sadly, it's the final full week of bowl action in college football, with only the National Championship Game next Monday left on the schedule after this week. Thus, this will be my final NCAA week-ahead preview story here at Doc's. College football season is simply too short! But this is also the best week of the year for NCAA football fans because there is at least one game each day and multiple matchups Monday-Friday. We get at least one matinee every day, and matinee football on a weekday is a great thing, especially for those of us who work from home.