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NCAA Football

Stanford vs. UCLA Preview/Pick

The Stanford Cardinal go at it against the UCLA Bruins this week in a Saturday Football matchup. We preview and pick this week 8 clash.

NCAA Week 8 Football Betting – Stanford at UCLA

The Stanford Cardinal (4-3 SU & ATS) crept over the .500 mark last week with its win over Arizona. This weekend they try to move closer to bowl eligibility when they visit southern California to play the UCLA Bruins (2-4 SU, 4-2 ATS) in NCAA college football action in the Pacific-10 Conference that is set to begin at 4 PM ET at the Rose Bowl (natural turf) in Pasadena, CA.

Saturday, October 18
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: UCLA -2

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* STAN has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* STAN has played 17 of its last 25 games UNDER the total
* STAN has covered one of its last six road games
* STAN has lost five of its last six road games SU
* STAN has played four of its last five road games OVER the total
* STAN has played nine of its last 13 road games UNDER the total
* UCLA has covered eight of its last ten games
* UCLA has lost four of its last five games SU
* UCLA has played ten of its last 14 games UNDER the total
* UCLA has covered six of its last seven home games
* UCLA has won 19 of its last 25 home games SU
* UCLA has played six of its last eight home games UNDER the total

Also….

* STAN has covered seven of the last ten meetings
* UCLA has lost five of the last six meetings SU
* Five of the last six meetings have gone UNDER the total
* STAN has covered four of the last six meetings as the road team
* UCLA has won the last five meetings SU as the home team

You really have to recognize Stanford using a strong running game (286 yards) to score a 24-23 upset over Arizona last week. Overall, the Cardinal is averaging 4.9 yards a carry, and that is a very big concern for UCLA, which has found itself having a difficult time slowing down opposition ground attacks (171 yards per game, 4.6 ypc).

Is there anything encouraging happening on the UCLA end? Well, there have been three straight covering efforts. Kevin Craft has thrown for 513 yards in the last two contests and has thrown just two picks since that semi-disastrous opening-game outing against Tennessee. And you are talking about a team that has covered eight of its last ten games, and two-thirds of the time since 2004.

But the Bruins have no rushing game. The leading runner, Derrick Coleman, has gained only 71 yards on the season. Now let’s put something in perspective. Last year’s meeting saw UCLA romping to the tune of 45-17, behind 624 total yards, 338 of them on the ground. With one of those elements missing, and someone who may have settled down a bit but is still vulnerable at the QB position, where does that leave UCLA against a Stanford club that may not be surging, but has won three of four games, and can gain bowl eligibility with a win here and two weeks from now against lowly Washington State?

Inasmuch as the other opponents on The Tree’s schedule are Oregon, USC and Cal, this is unquestionably the best opportunity for that. Sure, QB Tavita Pritchard (8 TD’s, 9 INT’s) has had his shaky moments, and is in fact questionable now due to a concussion, but with Toby Gerhart and Anthony Kimble (226 combined yards last week), enough of a running game has been built to compensate of that. They can pound it against UCLA.

We’re going to grab the available points with Stanford, the two-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.

Our PLAY: STANFORD +2 **

By Cappers Picks

Articles on CappersPicks.com are written by Q (the Head Honcho) at Cappers Picks or by our resident "in house" handicapper Razor Ray Monohan! Enjoy the free picks folks! "Pad that bankroll one day at a time!"