Back to back solid weeks have me back trending towards 500. I might actually get there by seasons end.

Big Games

LSU vs Texas A&M 3:30pm CBS

UCLA vs Arizona State 7pm Fox

Ole Miss vs Missouri 7:50pm ESPN

Oklahoma State vs Baylor 8pm ABC

Locks 18-24-1

Northern Illinois -1.5 @ Toledo *Wednesday 8pm

Toledo has been really good this year and could pull off the upset, but Jordan Lynch is just too much of a stud at this level.

Penn State -2 vs Nebraska

Nebraska is not a good football team. Not that Penn State is some sort of juggernaut or anything. But to set this line at 2 and not 3 is not fair to that club Bill O’Brien has built. The Nittany Lions have only lost once at home and that was in week three to the now 8-1 UCF Knights. Nebraska got owned by Michigan State at home last week and the week before they lucked out against Michigan on a hail mary. Penn State is the better team in this matchup and you are getting at least one free point here.

UCLA +2.5 vs Arizona State

Oklahoma +4.5 @ Kansas State

...

Moneyline Specials 3-10

UCLA +120 vs Arizona State

Can anyone guess as to why the Sun Devils are favored in UCLA this week? My only guess is that there is still a sour taste in Vegas’ mouth after UCLA’s back to back losses @ Stanford and @ Oregon. There really can’t be another explanation. The Bruins have won every other game they have played but aren’t currently as “hot” as the Sun Devils, who are riding a five game win streak. However, their two losses came @ Stanford and vs Notre Dame on a neutral site. You tell me who’s losses are worse (Go ahead silly Irish fans). Point is Arizona State can’t stop anyone and Brett Hundley and his offense should be able to score at will while their defense puts quite a lock on the Sun Devils attack. We could be in for a high scoring affair, but my gut tells me UCLA 41-24.

Oklahoma +165 @ Kansas State

We all know that the Sooners can be rather inconsistent, but could you have imagined a world in which they would be 4.5 point underdogs in this game after Kansas State lost to North Dakota State in week 1? Sure the Wildcats have been on a four game winning streak, but how impressive are wins vs WVU, vs Iowa State, @ a free falling Texas Tech, and vs a struggling TCU? Are those enough to overshadow losses to the aforementioned North Dakota State, @ Texas, @ Oklahoma State, and vs Baylor? Oklahoma also looked really bad in the Red River Rivalry game against Texas and @ Baylor, but those are their only two losses. Oklahoma just has too much strength and power in their game to let Kansas State knock them off this week.

Teaser 6-5

Baylor -3.5 @ Oklahoma State

Texas A&M +10.5 @ LSU

What a great teaser this feels like. You get a discount on a high powered Baylor offense that has torn up all competition and you get Johnny Manziel with a 10 point head start. What’s not to like?

Best Bet: 4-9

Missouri -2.5 @ Ole Miss

Don’t get me wrong, Ole Miss is a good football team, but Mizzou is getting James Franklin back and needs to continue winning to earn an appearance in the SEC Championship game and maybe a BCS berth, and that they will. Look for a big game from Franklin and a big Mizzou win.

mlz

Wednesday, November 20, 2013