Nov 23, 2013; Stillwater, OK, USA; Oklahoma State Cowboys fans cheer before the game against the Baylor Bears at Boone Pickens Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Rowe-USA TODAY Sports
At first glance, it might have been a subpar week. I know I missed quite a few just from the games I watched. Let’s see the damage, I guess.
The winners against the spread will be in bold.
Buffalo(-24.5) at Miami(OH): HIT! The Redhawks are cover bait once again. What a surprise…..
Kent State at Ohio(-6.5): HIT! I kind of thought Kent would win. I didn’t expect them to wipe their own field with the Bobcats.
Northern Illinois(-2.5) at Toledo: HIT! The Huskies wont get slowed down by anyone in the MAC, that’s for sure.
Rice(-17.5) at UAB: MISS! Not only did UAB hang with the Owls, they sent it into overtime, but couldn’t hold the Owls to a field goal.
Rutgers at Central Florida(-17.5): HIT! The Scarlet Knights’ free fall continues. Oh, and thanks UCF for that last unnecessary touchdown!
UNLV at Air Force(-2.5): HIT! This could be the best team UNLV has had since the Randall Cunningham era some 30 years ago. Then again, that isn’t saying much….
Navy at San Diego State(-2.5): HIT! Navy did win straight up, but it took them three overtimes. Hey, a win is a win!
Oklahoma at Kansas State(-4.5): MISS! Yes, I am the worst fan in the world. I picked against my team just to try and get a lousy point. I deserve a spot in the fan hall of shame. If it means anything, I am still damn glad they won!
Michigan State(-7.5) at Northwestern: HIT! If anyone had told me the Wildcats would miss a bowl game at the end of September, I would have called you crazy. Now, they can’t even hang with the better teams in the conference.
Memphis at Louisville(-23.5): MISS! I got inside my own head on this one. Louisville has covered no one since their loss to UCF. Why did I think that would change?
Old Dominion at North Carolina(-17.5): HIT! There were 100 points scored in this game. Unfortunately for the Monarchs, they only accounted for 20 of them…..
Duke(-5.5) at Wake Forest: HIT! This game was closer than I expected, but the Blue Devils are now on the cusp of an ACC Championship game berth, and their first ever ten win season in football.
Cincinnati at Houston(-3.5): MISS! The Bearcats continue to recover what was thought to be a lost season when Munchie went down.
Michigan at Iowa(-6.5): HIT! The Wolvies didn’t win straight up, but they kept it close enough. Like I said before, a win is a win.
Virginia at Miami(FL)(-19.5): HIT! Whew! Good thing it was 19.5 and not 18.5!
Illinois(-6.5) at Purdue: MISS! The Illini are worse than I thought….. I missed my first lock since week 4! Stupid Illini!
Mississippi State(-2.5) vs Arkansas at Little Rock: HIT! I thought about taking this as my lock. I guess I should have, even though it went into overtime….
East Carolina(-6.5) at North Carolina State: HIT! It’s not a stretch to say that the Pirates are the second best team in North Carolina right now. If only they could play Duke to see for sure!
Pittsburgh(-1.5) at Syracuse: HIT! I can honestly say that I have never won a 1.5 spread because of the .5 before. Wow!
Massachusetts at Central Michigan(-11.5): MISS! I completely missed on this one. The Chippewas even pitched a shutout!
Bowling Green(-24.5) at Eastern Michigan: HIT! BGSU more than doubled this line. I still can’t say that I’m surprised…..
Hawaii at Wyoming(-6.5): MISS! Why oh why do I keep siding with the Cowboys? I should have learned my lesson by now. On the bright side, if you had nothing riding on this game, it was a very exciting one to watch!
Georgia State at Arkansas State(-23.5): HIT! The Panthers have only failed me once! Never mind that they are 0-11. Moral victories still count this year. They are 10-1 against the spread, including a win over number one Alabama…..
New Mexico State at Florida Atlantic(-22.5): HIT! The Aggies are the worst team in divsion 1. It’s not even close…..
Oregon(-20.5) at Arizona: MISS! Wow, I did not see this one coming. If it would have been a close game, I might have been just a little surprised, but I am shocked that Arizona blew them out.
Idaho at Florida State(-57.5): HIT! The Seminoles hit possibly the largest line in history. Of course, it helped that they set a school record for points….
BYU at Notre Dame(EVEN): MISS! Yes, I probably should have known better….
Texas A&M(-4.5) at LSU: HIT! The Tigers won straight up, which I expected. I didn’t expect them to make Manziel look as bad as he did though. You have to give the LSU defense a lot of credit for this blowout.
Boston College at Maryland(EVEN): HIT! The Eagles have hung with some good teams this year, something the Terps haven’t been able to do. This was a gimme.
Wisconsin(-16.5) at Minnesota: HIT! The Gophers kept it relatively close, but I never felt like they were anywhere close to winning…..
Indiana at Ohio State(-34.5): HIT! The two garbage time Hoosier TD’s saved me, because they were shut out for the first three quarters….
Nebraska at Penn State(-2.5): HIT! This was a close game, as I expected.
UTSA at North Texas(-7.5): HIT! I am a little surprised that the Roadrunners were able to win this one straight up, given their struggles on the road at times this year.
Utah at Washington State(-2.5): HIT! Don’t look now, but Mike Leach has the Cougars back to respectability. They will be relevant again, possibly as soon as next year….
Colorado State at Utah State(-9.5): MISS! I didn’t see this coming. The Aggies completely shut down Kapri Bibbs in this defensive battle.
Middle Tennessee State(-23.5) at Southern Mississippi: MISS! This is the first time that the Eagles have avoided getting covered this season. Congratulations! The bad news? They still got doubled up…..
UTEP at Tulane(-16.5): HIT! The Miners have been the whipping boys of CUSA all season long….
California at Stanford(-32.5): HIT! The Bears are the worst team in the Pac 12. A 50 point loss to arguably the best one shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone.
New Mexico at Fresno State(-32.5): HIT! The Lobos were able to generate some offense, even without Carrier. The bad news was that their defense couldn’t stop Fresno at all.
Marshall(-32.5) at Florida International: MISS! All three of the 32.5 lines were covered. That is kind of surprising.
Louisiana-Monroe at South Alabama(-3.5): HIT! The Jags are competing quite nicely in the Sun Belt already.
Arizona State(-2.5) at UCLA: MISS! The Bruins deserve a lot of credit for making this one close. The Sun Devils looked like they were going to bury them in the first half.
SMU(-4.5) at South Florida: HIT! If you would have told me that the Ponies would only score 16 and still cover, I would have had you committed. Seriously.
Kentucky at Georgia(-23.5): HIT! This was never close. Is anyone surprised by that?
Connecticut at Temple(-8.5): MISS! I was more impressed with the Owls hanging with UCF than I should have been, I guess…..
Western Kentucky(-4.5) at Texas State: MISS! This was probably the best game the Hilltoppers have played since the opener against Kentucky.
Tulsa(-3.5) at Louisiana Tech: MISS! I should have known better.
Vanderbilt at Tennessee(-2.5): HIT! This was a good rivalry game just like everyone was expecting. No one should really be surprised that Vandy won outright though.
Missouri(-2.5) at Mississippi: HIT! Franklin looked sharp in his return. He looked like he didn’t miss a beat. Which is bad news for the rest of the SEC East…..
Kansas at Iowa State(-5.5): HIT! So much for momentum for the Jayhawks. They win their first conference game in three years, then they go and get shut out by a team that isn’t very far ahead of them in the standings.
Baylor(-9.5) at Oklahoma State: HIT! I didn’t expect the Cowboys to win outright, much less blow them out, but I will take it. The Big 12(10) is a big mess right now at the top.
USC(-22.5) at Colorado: MISS! November has been kind to the Ralphies. First they get a conference win, then they don’t get covered by a USC team that is playing well right now. It might be something for them to build on. Of course, I’m still mad at the SC defense for giving up 22 points in the fourth. They had this covered easily….
Boise State(-6.5) at San Diego State: HIT! I didn’t say Aztecs straight up, but I thought it. Honest!
Washington at Oregon State(-3.5): MISS! This was a statement by the embattled Huskies. The Beavs got caught in the crossfire.
So that puts me at 36-18 in the final full week of the season. I guess I didn’t fare as poorly as I thought. In fact, this was my best week EVER! This superb week puts me at 351-293 for the season. That puts me at 54.5 percent. My goal of 55 percent is within my sights!
I don’t plan on putting another post up before the feast, so I will put tonight’s game and Thursday’s games in here. I will have my post for the weekend up on Friday morning.
Western Michigan at (14)Northern Illinois(-34.5): The Broncos have been really really bad. Lynch will be trying to amass enough stats to stay in Heisman consideration, so expect this one to get out of hand. I’m taking the Huskies.
Texas Tech at Texas(-4.5): The Red Raiders have had a tough of it lately, but Texas just got smoked by Oklahoma State at home. Can the Texas defense hold up? I have my doubts. TT straight up.
Mississippi(-3.5) at Mississippi State: The Egg Bowl looks to be a good one this year. I think Ole Miss is playing just a bit better right now. Enough that I am confident taking them, even on the road. Give me the Rebs.