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Spread Options: Dr. Saturday's Week 11 picks against the spread

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Another .500 week took us to 49-45-6. We'd like to get to 10 games over by the end of the season.

Kansas at TCU (-45.5), Noon ET: TCU needs to start piling up the points. It's not the BCS, but the Horned Frogs need to make up for what happened on Saturday. The good news is that TCU is in a spot to do that. Losing first of all the Big 12 teams (assuming everyone ends the season with a loss) isn't necessarily the worst thing in the world. This line may be inflated because Kansas is 2-7 against the spread this year but we'll go ahead and try for TCU anyway.

Ohio State at Illinois (OVER 55), Noon ET: The Buckeyes are favored by anywhere between 15 and 16.5 points. That line seems about right for a conference road game against a team needing one more win for bowl eligibility. Illinois has enough of an offense to score a few touchdowns on Ohio State, but with J.T. Barrett back at quarterback, Ohio State should pile up the points.

Florida (-7.5) at South Carolina, Noon ET: The Gators have the East locked up. Is this a letdown game? It's probably a reason for the line being in the single digits. Yeah, Florida struggled against Vanderbilt on Saturday, but the Vanderbilt defense is very good. Better than South Carolina's. The Gamecocks should keep this one competitive, but Florida makes this a two-score game late.

Texas at West Virginia (-8.5), Noon ET: West Virginia isn't as bad as it's shown in road losses to Oklahoma, Baylor and TCU. Man, that's a brutal road stretch. This is a bounceback game for the Mountaineers after squeaking by Texas Tech on Saturday. Look for West Virginia to put up 40 or more. We're not sure Texas will keep up.

North Carolina State at Florida State (-9), 12:30 p.m. ET: Everett Golson is back for Florida State and the Seminoles have won all but one home game by 20 or more points. We're thinking N.C. State is more like Louisville than it is Miami. With Dalvin Cook and Golson, Florida State should have no problem in its ACC finale.

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Clemson at Syracuse (+28), 3:30 p.m. ET: The Orange have had success at home against the spread. Syracuse is 5-4 overall and 4-1 at home. It includes a big number covered earlier in the year when LSU visited. The Tigers won by 10. While Clemson needs style points given the weak remaining schedule it has, Syracuse should keep this one (relatively) close. It may not be anything resembling an upset, but we don't see a four-touchdown loss here as Syracuse falls for the seventh-straight time.

Kansas State at Texas Tech (UNDER 71.5), 3:30 p.m. ET: Tech is favored by 5.5 and the total may be a few points higher than it would be otherwise because the Red Raiders have hit the over seven times already in 2015. Kansas State may be heading to a bowl-less season but the Wildcats should be able to depress the score by going as slow as possible. Remember, KSU's game against Baylor only had 55 total points.

Oklahoma State (-14) at Iowa State, 3:30 p.m. ET: After a series of not-too-impressive performances to open the season 6-0, Oklahoma State has been piling up the points. The Cowboys have hit 49 or more in the past three games and have won by 48, 17 and 20. Why should it change on Saturday? Oklahoma State is improving as the season goes on and the only danger here is if the team coasts a little bit before games vs. Baylor and Oklahoma to end the season.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt (UNDER 40), 4 p.m. ET: Here's a crazy stat. Missouri and Vanderbilt are a combined 1-16-1 on the over/under this season. Missouri has the only over and that came last week against Mississippi State. Every other team in FBS has hit the over twice or more. With Vanderbilt's defense and a Kentucky offense that has only broken 20 once in the last three games, we're confident in Vanderbilt continuing the streak.

Washington State at UCLA (OVER 65.5), 10:45 p.m. ET: Washington State's Luke Falk is quickly becoming a candidate for first-team All-Pac-12. One of his main competitors for the spot at QB is on the other side in Josh Rosen. This game could be a battle of the first team to 50, so we're taking the over here and hoping for some Pac-12 After Dark magic.

LOCKS OF THE WEEK:

Nick Bromberg (4-6) Minnesota at Iowa (-11.5), 7 p.m. ET: This line is tempting in the favor of the Gophers, but I'm taking Iowa because this is the final game in a brutal three-game stretch for Minnesota. The Gophers had an almost-win against Michigan and hung tough against Ohio State. This won't be a blowout, but I can see Minnesota tiring in the second half.

Sam Cooper (3-6-1 Temple (-2.5) at South Florida, 7 p.m. ET: Navy is getting all the talk in the AAC this week, but Temple can clinch the AAC East with a win over South Florida and still have a pretty clear path to a potential New Year’s Six bowl. The Bulls have been tough this year, but I can’t see the Owls slipping up in this one. Temple wins a close one.):

Graham Watson (2-7-1) Clemson at Syracuse (+28): Clemson is good — really good ­— but it’s coming off a big win against Florida State, it just won its division for the first time since 2011 and now it has to go to a mildly tough place to play. Syracuse won’t win this game, but after keeping home games against ranked LSU and Pitt games close this season, I’m willing to bet Syracuse won’t lose by 28.

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Nick Bromberg is the assistant editor of Dr. Saturday on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!


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