If you prefer to take the points in college football as I do, the last few weeks have been very ugly. Teams volleying for BCS position just keep running up the scores on their foes as much as they can.
That’s not good for the books or my pocket. I will need to change my tactics and adjust here and there, but will still look for some live underdogs. This week I really think there is one, but will also look for some chalk that may want to continually score.
The remaining teams on the schedule of undefeated Florida State are Wake Forest (a win), Syracuse (a win), Idaho (blowout city) and Florida in Gainesville. The Gators can’t score, but may hang in for a little bit as they do have a top notch defense.
So it appears the Seminoles will go undefeated and will play Alabama, whose last four games come against LSU this week, which maybe their toughest. Then comes Mississippi State (a win) and believe it or not Chattanooga (a blowout and shutout) and the regular season closer at Auburn.
You never know what can happen in that game as Auburn will not be a patsy, but Alabama will be coming off a bye week playing Chattanooga. With that said, No. 3 Ohio State and Oregon will be left out in the cold. The Buckeyes have just three games left – Illinois next week (a win), Indiana (a win) and then the big one at Michigan. You never know what can happen in Ann Arbor.
Oregon will play its last four games starting this week at Stanford, next week at home against Utah, then at Arizona and finishing up, as usual, with Oregon State. No easy pickin’s with those four but if all go undefeated we will get Bama playing Florida State (great game) and Ohio State playing Oregon (another great game).
The winners should play each other and the issue would be solved except if Baylor wins out. But the Bears really have a tough row to hoe playing Oklahoma, Texas Tech, Okie State, TCU and then finishing up with Texas. If they win out, well what happens then?
Now on to some of my early plays for this upcoming week:
NCAA Football
Saturday
Tulsa +16 ½ at ECU: Run it up is what the 6-2 Pirates will be trying to do, and we think they can against 2-6 Tulsa whose season is all but over. We will lay the lumber early as this one can only go up and away as East Carolina looks for a nice bowl game. ECU.
Illinois +9½ at Indiana: Laying points with the Hoosiers is not good for your pocket as Indiana has gone 1-6 as a favorite of -3 or more points. That includes last week’s SU loss to Minnesota as a -9 point chalk. Illinois played Penn State to a standstill and this is a revenge game. ILLINOIS.
Arkansas +17 at Miss: Run it up if we can is what 5-3 Ole Miss will be trying to do. Their three losses have come against Alabama, Auburn and by 3 to Texas A&M. The Rebels come off back to back SU and ATS wins. We will be laying it early and often in what looks like a blowout. OLE MISS.
LSU +11½ at Alabama: My dog of the week game will be a good one with the exception of it being on CBS. This will be the season for LSU. A win would not only make their day but their year, and they could exact revenge from a 21-0 loss in the 2011 national title game. The Tigers will come to play. LSU.
NFL Football
Sunday
In the NFL you need to pick your spots and I think I have found a winning one and just may go all in!
Cowboys +6½ at Saints: I will be heading out to the bank this morning or calling our good friend Syl Friedman in New Orleans. I plan on sending it in on the Saints and may need to watch it at McCarron International airport in order to catch a plane out of town if I lose. Saints come off an embarrassing loss against the Jets. The last six times they came off a SU loss and played their next game at home against a winning team they are 6-0 ATS. SAINTS.
Record
Last Week
0-0
NFL
8-7-1
NCAA
38-21-1
I would like to thank everyone who attended our Breeders Cup Seminar. We all had a great time. Hope it helped out even just a little. A great Classic finish with Mucho Macho Man a nostril winner over Will Take Charge who caught the horse I needed (Declaration of War) on the line by a head. What a race!
Richard Saber, a former director of race and sports at the famed Stardust book, is GamingToday’s horse racing and sports handicapper. Follow Richard on Twitter @SabesBet. Contact Richard at [email protected].
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