NCAAF: QUICK HITS
He was 10 seconds away from a 3-1 Saturday in college football last weekend but instead he had to settle for a mediocre 2-2 day.
With just over two minutes remaining, the UCLA Bruins drove the field for a 23-20 comeback win over the Stanford Cardinal. The comeback thwarted Cras’ chances of the winning weekend he needed to turn around his college season. At 12-17-1, there’s still time to turn the college season into a profitable one and with a few lucky bounces in past games, he’d already be in the profits.
Nonetheless, here’s how he likes this Saturday’s games.
Boston College Eagles @ North Carolina Tar Heels
The Tar Heels are putting together a surprisingly solid season but it’s wise to remember that their five wins have come against McNeese State, Rutgers, Miami, Connecticut and Notre Dame. The last time North Carolina was on the field, they lost to Virginia with their previous loss coming at the hands of a Virginia Tech team that Boston College beat last weekend.
The Eagles possess possibly the best defense that the Tar Heels have faced this season. Boston College ranks 4th in the country in total defense as they give up just 251.7 yards per game and their 13.3 points allowed per game has them tied for 10th in the nation.
Pick: Boston College +2
Duke Blue Devils @ Vanderbilt Commodores
The Commodores have found their way into Quick Hits a lot this season and that’s because they are a profitable 7-1 against the spread in their eight games this season. Like the Wake Forest team last year, the Commodores continue to get attractive lines because the public doesn’t pound this team like they should.
Vanderbilt looks like a great bet again this week, coming off a 10-point loss to a highly-ranked Georgia team to face a Duke team they’ve had a lot of success against. The Commodores have covered seven of the last 10 meetings in this matchup and have won the last four games against Duke by an average of almost 17 points.
Pick: Vanderbilt -10.5
South Florida Bulls @ Louisville Cardinals
The Big East is struggling to provide the big matchups that the other conferences are providing but that doesn’t mean you can’t look there for profits. The Bulls travel to Kentucky looking to back up last year’s impressive 55-17 dismantling of Louisville with another dominating performance.
South Florida, 6-1 straight up but just 2-4 against the spread, has failed to cover because they have taken opponents lightly throughout the season but they may finally have realized that they need big victories to impress the pollsters. Backing up a 45-13 win over Syracuse with another big win over a conference foe is a move in the right direction.
Pick: South Florida -3.5
Colorado Buffaloes @ Missouri Tigers
Everyone had questions about the Missouri Tigers defense and those were answered over the last two weeks as Oklahoma State and Texas combined to put up 94 points to hand the Tigers a pair of Big 12 losses. Now they must rebound against the Buffaloes but is the spread too big as 24 ½-point favorites?
Sportsbook.com members obviously don’t think it’s too big as 83% of the early bettors are backing Missouri, moving the line from its opening 21-point number. While winning by more than three touchdowns isn’t out of the realm of possibility for Missouri, I like Colorado to score enough to stay within the number.
Pick: Colorado +24.5
