College Football Picks Against The Spread Early 9/12

By Mike Marteny | Sep 11, 2015

I would like to start this off by thanking all of you current and former military personnel on this day. Some of us were affected more than others 14 years ago, but it is still never easy. Thank you current and active military for taking time away from your friends and family to help the cause of our freedom.

There are a dozen FBS vs. FBS games for the early slate on Saturday. Here are the picks for all of those, against the spread, of course!

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I went a solid 20-18 last week, and netted three points with my new points system. That means I would have won some money in Vegas! Here is the complete rundown.

I’m going to try and build on that this week. It looks like a little tougher slate. There are 48 FBS vs. FBS games on the day, which leaves me plenty of picking to do!

This year I will assign a point value on each game so you all know which games I am most confident in. This will not affect my score, it is just a guide to what I feel most confident in.

The point scale will go like this:

5. A lock. I am comfortable making a sizable wager on this game.

4. Very confident. Not quite a lock, but I am comfortable making a decent sized wager on it.

3. Middle of the road. Good enough that I would make a small wager on it.

2. Could go either way. So much so that I wouldn’t bet on it.

1. Stay away from these.

Take note that any games that involve 1-AA teams will NOT be picked. There simply is not enough information to get an accurate spread.

Here are my college football picks against the spread for the early games on my birthday:

South Florida at (11)Florida State(-28.5)(2): The Seminoles shook off a slow start to bury Texas State in the second half. I’m thinking they do against the Bulls too, although I really don’t like that half. Give me FSU at home.

Oregon State at Michigan(-14.5)(1): This looks about a half point too high. Michigan will be a force before the end of the season, but I am not confident enough to take them for this big of a spread just yet. Give me Oregon State.

Army at Connecticut(-7.5)(2): UConn didn’t look great in the opener, but Army lost to Fordham. Fordham! Give me UConn.

Kansas State(-16.5) at UTSA(3): The Roadrunners are getting some big name teams to go into the Alamodome this year. First Arizona, now Kansas State. They put a scare into a good Arizona team. I really find it hard to believe that a Kansas State team that lost so much from last year can cover this. The line is already down nearly a touchdown. Whenever there is a trend like this, it is usually right. I will take the Roadrunners.

Bowling Green at Maryland(-7.5)(2): This line opened at -10. Apparently the Falcons made quite an impression against Tennessee. This could be a high scoring game. Bowling Green will get theirs, but Maryland’s offense is still a very good unit. I’m taking the Terps at home.

Houston at Louisville(-13.5)(4): Louisville hung tough with a really good Auburn team. Despite the struggles of the offense, I think they get another really good showing from the defense. Good enough for the offense to cover. Give me Louisville.

Buffalo at Penn State(-19.5)(2): Penn State’s offense was a disaster against Temple. Buffalo is not a good team, but neither is Penn State’s offense. I don’t think the Nittany Lions can score two defensive touchdowns, so give me Buffalo.

Miami(OH) at Wisconsin(-32.5)(2): Is Wisconsin capable of covering this? Maybe if they don’t let Stave throw more than a dozen times. They won’t need to. Expect a big day from the Badgers’ running backs. All of them. Wisconsin covers this on the ground.

Wake Forest at Syracuse(-4.5)(3): The Orange looked unstoppable against Rhode Island. Wake should provide marginally more resistance, but not a whole lot. Syracuse shouldn’t have much of a problem with this, even without Terrel Hunt. I hedged the point bet a little because of that, but the Orange should still cover.

Appalachian State at (12)Clemson(-19.5)(4): This line is actually down nearly two points. I’m not sure why. Clemson still has a good offense that will look really good against the Mountaineer defense at home. Give me the Tigers.

Massachusetts at Colorado(-12.5)(2): This line is falling, and with good reason. UMass has a good quarterback in Blake Frohnapfel. He is no Sefo Liufau, but we saw what a good QB can do to the Ralphie defense. Is Frohnapfel as good as Max Wittek? Probably not. Colorado covers, but barely.

UTEP at Texas Tech(-20.5)(2): I’m not sure why this line is rising. Aaron Jones is a good back, and should have some success against the Texas Tech defense. I think this is about a half point too high. It has risen too much. Give me the Miners.

Stay tuned throughout the day for the rest of my picks against the spread and for the college FanDuel picks for tomorrow!

Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks For Week 2

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