Well, I will be heading to Vegas this weekend so here are my picks a little early.

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I am starting my best bets, with South Florida at Syracuse laying 6 ½ points. Last week, I watched South Florida played Florida State and was very impressed considering they lost their star QB, Matt Grothe. I just can’t see Syracuse scoring much on this very strong defense and I think So. Florida will win this game by at least 2 TDs. A strong stat to support this pick is So. Florida has won and covered the past 4 meetings and I just see anything changing. Lay the 6 ½ points, this should be an easy win for the Bulls.

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My next pick is Clemson at Maryland laying 13 ½ points. Clemson comes into this game angry after losing at home last week to TCU and being shutout in the 2nd half of that game. Maryland lost their game last week in the 4th quarter when they gave up 17 points to Rutgers and they also lost their kicker. Clemson is 4-0 ATS their last 4 conference games and with Maryland floundering right now they should keep that streak alive at 5. Lay the 13 ½ points as Clemson takes out its frustrations on Maryland and add in a little revenge after losing last year to Maryland in Death Valley.

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Third on best bet list is Tulsa on the road at Rice laying 16 points. Tulsa had a relatively easy game last week as they buzzsawed thru Sam Houston State. Rice had a tough game at home against Vanderbilt and both of Rice’s backup QBs are questionable for Saturday leaving Shepherd to carry the load. Tulsa is 4-0 ATS their last 4 games as a favorite and are just playing with confidence. Rice on the other hand is 0-4 and are falling fast. Lay the 16 points and back Tulsa.

Also, a good play in this game is the over which is currently at 62, the past 2 games between these 2 have gone into the 90s.

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I’m going with Cincinnati on the road giving Miami, Ohio 28 ½ points. Cincinnati is having a great season so far and they are the far superior team here. Cincy has outscored Miami, Ohio 116 to 40 the past 3 meetings in this series and I don’t see that changing much this year. Cincy is also 5-1 ATS the past 6 times these 2 teams met. Cincy had a close game last week against Fresno State and I’m sure they don’t want another game like that. Look for Cincy to score early and often and have the game well out of reach by the 4th quarter.

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My last best bet is Ohio State at Indiana laying 17 points. Indiana lost a tough game last week in the final minutes at Michigan last week and I’m not sure they are going to recover from that. Ohio State on the other hand has shutout their last 2 opponents. I don’t think OSU is going to shutout Indiana but I do think they are going beat Indiana. OSU has Indiana’s number as they have beaten the Hoosiers the last 4 meetings by a combined 150 to 26. The other stats support this as Ohio State is 4-0 ATS the last 4 meetings, and the road team in this series 6-2 ATS the 8 meetings. Lay the 17 points and take Ohio State.

As for games I like but didn’t make my best bets, I like BYU on Friday night to cover the 24 ½ points at home against Utah State. I’m leaning towards Central Michigan on the road giving Buffalo 8 ½ points. I also like California getting 5 points from USC at home, if ever Cal had a chance to beat USC it’s this year.

I have what I believe are 3 live underdogs this week. I like Kansas State at Iowa State getting 3 points. I also like Marshall at home getting 2 ½ points from East Carolina and I also like Boston College at home getting 5 points from Florida State.

I will be back shortly with my pro picks.

As always bet with your head not over it :)

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