College Football Handicapping Articles

SMU Mustangs at TCU Horned Frogs Expert Picks with Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/13/2017

I try to pick the best games of the week to preview each here at Doc's Sports. At first glance this one wouldn't seem to fit the bill. There are a couple of reasons I like the game, though. First these are neighboring schools, and I'm a sucker for a little long-held, geographical-based hatred. It's what college football is all about. Second, both teams are off to strong starts, so the matchup is better than it could be. It won't be the best game we have ever seen by any means, but in a week that isn't jam-packed with mega-thrilling games this one has more intrigue than most.

NCAA Football Betting Advice: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks
by Aaron Smith - 9/13/2017

Another good weekend of college football is in the books. Oklahoma's dominating win at Ohio State was the signature win of the weekend, but several teams had key wins. Clemson's defensive performance against Auburn was tremendous. Alabama remains a big favorite to win the title, but behind them there are a lot of teams vying for second through sixth or seventh.

Clemson Tigers at Louisville Cardinals Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/12/2017

It took only two weeks for this game to go from a mildly interesting game you might stop on for a few minutes as you clicked by looking for a better game to absolute must-watch TV. Both teams have significantly exceeded early expectations - and it wasn't like people expected nothing from them coming into the season. Clemson has been just ridiculously good on defense, while Lamar Jackson seems to want to break the consecutive Heisman drought.

Free Big Ten Football Picks: Weekly Conference Analysis with Odds and Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 9/12/2017

Week 2 of the College Football season was relatively tame and straightforward, with only three ranked teams suffering defeat at the hands of three other ranked opponents. The No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners were able to extract some revenge by dismantling the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes on their home turf - much like OSU did last year in Norman. The 15th-ranked Georgia Bulldogs went into Notre Dame Stadium and escaped with a 20-19 victory courtesy a Rodrigo Blankenship 30-yard field goal with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 2 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/8/2017

The NCAA football world hasn't been untouched by the monster Hurricane Irma bearing down on Florida this weekend. No. 16 Miami will not play at Arkansas State on Saturday. There are no storm worries in Arkansas, but the University of Miami is closed and school officials weren't going to ask their players to go play some silly game with destruction closing in on their city. Plus, who knows when the UM delegation could fly back into town.

NCAA Football Mid-Major Free Betting Picks: Marshall Thundering Herd Week 2
by Aaron Smith - 9/8/2017

This is the seventh straight season I'm doing the mid-major report for Doc's Sports. How have the selections on the mid-major betting report done? Overall, the record is 40 wins and 29 losses with a gain of $1,500. We are coming off an 8-5 year with a small gain of $40 last season when following the MTSU Blue Raiders. We had some bad luck on the larger plays last year, but finished strong to get into the green for the season.

Free NCAA Football Picks Week 2: Under-the-Radar Matchups Provide Great Betting Profits
by Chris Vasile - 9/8/2017

Week 2 of the college football season officially kicked off yesterday with a game between Idaho State and Utah State, but since this is a weekly piece, let me quickly touch on how crazy Week 1 was. There were upsets (Liberty +33 beat Baylor outright by three points and Howard +45 beat UNLV by three points). There were amazing comebacks - see UCLA's 27-point fourth quarter comeback against Texas A&M. And there was dominating performances like the one we saw from Alabama's defense and special teams. If Week 2 is half as good, we are going to be in for another crazy weekend of football.

Stanford Cardinal at USC Trojans Expert Picks with Odds and Betting Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/6/2017

The Pac-12 gets off to a very early start to conference play, and they aren't easing into it. This game is one of the three or four biggest games that the conference will feature all year. The teams are in different divisions, so the game won't have a direct impact in the standings - one team won't wind up with a game in hand on the other - but both teams are in tight fights in which every conference win will be absolutely crucial, so one of these teams with conference championship aspirations will be behind the eight ball before we even get to the middle of September.

NCAA Football Betting Advice: Fading the Top 25 Weekly Free Picks
by Aaron Smith - 9/6/2017

The first full weekend of college football is in the books. There was plenty of excitement to go around. It was a great reminder to those who had forgotten (most hadn't) how great college football action can be. Several top teams struggled in the first half, but most kicked it into gear later in the game and won comfortably.

Oklahoma Sooners at Ohio State Buckeyes Predictions and Expert Picks
by Trevor Whenham - 9/5/2017

For the second straight week we have a showdown of Top 10 teams that will seriously define the seasons of both squads and could likely have major playoff implications. The loser won't necessarily be out of playoff contention, but their campaign will have taken a big hit. Hopefully this game is more exciting than the last one - Florida State played Alabama tight for a half, but that second half was so bad and one-sided that it was only barely watchable.

Auburn at Clemson College Football Picks with Odds and Expert Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 9/5/2017

This is the first of Auburn's Absence-Of-Team-Name-Imagination bowl series - the Auburn Tigers also play the Missouri Tigers and LSU Tigers this year. Silly. The only thing that saves this from the depths of absolute stupidity is that this game and the LSU one should both be very good. Both teams absolutely dominated outmatched opponents, but the response of AP voters to the efforts was decidedly different.

Free Big Ten Football Picks: Weekly Conference Analysis with Odds and Predictions
by Chris Vasile - 9/5/2017

After a seven-month absence, the return of college football did not disappoint. There were a few massive upsets: Liberty defeated Baylor 48-45 as 33-point underdogs and then Howard went on to beat UNLV 43-30 as 45-point underdogs. There were some amazing comebacks -- UCLA came back from a 27-point fourth quarter deficit to stun Texas A&M 45-44.

NCAA Football Predictions: Week 2 Opening Line Report and Picks
by Alan Matthews - 9/4/2017

Not a great opening weekend for the football-rich states of Texas and Florida. The No. 23 Texas Longhorns were spanked at home by unranked Maryland, 51-41, in Tom Herman's UT coaching debut. Perhaps Charlie Strong wasn't the problem after all. The Terps are probably only the fourth-best team in the Big Ten East Division but put up 482 yards on what was supposed to be a good Texas defense.

NCAA Football Betting Odds: Week 1 Line Movements & Last-Minute News
by Alan Matthews - 9/1/2017

Bovada has a prop up on the first coach to be fired this season, with the favorite being UCLA's Jim Mora Jr. at +300. He should be favored after his Bruins slid to 4-8 last year, although that was in large part because star QB Josh Rosen didn't play much due to injury. That program is trending the wrong way. Mora's teams were 10-3 his first two seasons, 8-5 in 2015 and then last year's huge disappointment.

Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Florida State Seminoles Expert Betting Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 8/31/2017

The stakes just don't get any higher than this in September. The first- and third-ranked teams in the country are supposed to cruise through September, remaining unblemished into conference play. Instead, by meeting up here, we can be certain that one of them will have a losing record barely after the season has begun.

Virginia Tech Hokies at West Virginia Mountaineers Expert NCAA Football Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 8/31/2017

We are witnessing the rebirth of a rivalry on Sunday night. These teams will be contesting the Black Diamond Trophy for the 52nd time but for the first time since 2005. Virginia Tech brings a two-game winning streak in the series - which is, of course, completely irrelevant given the pace of change in college football.

Free NCAA Football Picks Week 1: Under-the-Radar Matchups Provide Great Betting Profits
by Chris Vasile - 8/31/2017

With all due respect to last Saturday's college football action, Week 1 of the college football season officially starts tonight. There are 15 games on the docket tonight and eight more tomorrow, which should serve as an appetizer before the main course on Saturday. There are plenty of solid matchups on Saturday, some of which will end with playoff hopefuls taking a loss and putting themselves behind the eight-ball right out of the gate.

College Football Betting Advice: Overrated and Underrated in AP Poll
by Trevor Whenham - 8/31/2017

We are on the verge of the college football season. Technically it already started, but nothing that first weekend - especially that Stanford-Rice debacle in Sydney - really counted as anything more than a tease. Before we launch into a season-long debate about which teams are good, which four teams are best, and who should make the playoff, it's a good time to look at the preseason AP Poll to see which teams seems to be overrated and underrated.

2017 Big 12 Football Predictions with Betting Odds and Expert Analysis
by Robert Ferringo - 8/30/2017

The Big 12 has five teams currently in the Top 25, and a sixth (TCU) is the next team off the list. The league has only 10 teams. So if six of them are among the best 26 squads in the country then that makes the league the densest group of talent in the nation. And because the Big 12 plays a true round robin format, with every team playing one another, there aren't the same gaps and unbalanced schedule-laden mirages in this league that you get with some others.

Florida Gators vs. Michigan Wolverines Free College Football Picks and Predictions
by Trevor Whenham - 8/30/2017

The first major ranked team showdown of the season has incredibly high stakes. Both teams are late in a rebuild process that saw them sink from the top of the sport to some pretty ugly lows. The winner will have a nice signature win to start the season and will have momentum heading into what will be a crucial conference season for both.