College Football Picks Against The Spread Midday 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 15 FBS vs. FBS games for the mid day games 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 mid-day games on my birthday:

Hawaii at (1)Ohio State(-40.5)(2): Ouch, what a huge line! This is the largest of the year so far. Ohio State did nothing to convince everyone that they are not the number one team on Monday. Hawaii is usually as bad on the road as they are good at home. That said, Wittek does have some experience in hostile environments. Enough so that I don’t think Hawaii gets covered. If they scored twice, they should be good. Give me Hawaii.

Minnesota(-5.5) at Colorado State(3): The Rams are a good team, but they lost a lot from the explosive offense of last year. They still have Rashad Higgins, who might be the best receiver you have never heard of, but they still need to get him the ball in space. There won’t be a whole lot of that to go around here. Minnesota’s defense is good enough to hold the Rams down. Give me the Gophers.

Washington State at Rutgers(-3.5)(3): I still like the Leaches straight up so long as Luke Falk plays. He should, so I’m going Washington State against a depleted Rutgers secondary.

Tulane at Georgia Tech(-28.5)(4): Well, Duke covered this one on the road. The Bees should have no problems doing it at home.

(9)Notre Dame(-12.5) at Virginia(3): The only thing that makes me a little apprehensive about this is the fact that it is a road game. The Irish have the talent to cover this, but Virginia gave a lot of teams fits at home last year. This likely won’t be much of a game, but the line might be a touch high. Say Irish by ten. The loss of Taurean Folson hurts more than most people realize.

(10)Georgia(-20.5) at Vanderbilt(4): This looks way low. Just because Vandy did a great job on defense against Western Kentucky doesn’t mean they can stop the well oiled machine that is the Georgia offense. Give me the Bulldogs.

Fresno State at (17)Mississippi(-29.5)(3): Fresno is not near the offensive stalwart that they were last year, and Ole Miss should still have a good defense. Still, this is a big line. It is up 10 points already, and is an even 30 at some places. It could be even higher by kickoff. Does that mean they are right? Probably. Give me Ole Miss.

Middle Tennessee State at (2)Alabama(-35.5)(2): I hate the half. I really do. Then again, the Blue Raiders will never be in this. Give me Bama, I guess.

Toledo at (18)Arkansas(-21.5)(5): This is way too low. The Rocket defense won’t know what hit them with Arkansas’ downhill running game. Oh, and the Rockets are missing their best offensive player in RB Kareem Hunt. This is going to be a blowout.

Eastern Michigan at Wyoming(-13.5)(2): Why is this line climbing? The Cowboys got pushed around by North Dakota in Laramie last week. Not North Dakota State where Craig Bohl used to coach, North Dakota. The hockey school that somehow makes room for football. They are likely better than the Eastern Michigan team that comes calling, but not that much better. I don’t see Wyoming covering this. Give me the Eagles.

Iowa(-3.5) at Iowa State(5): I don’t buy this for a minute. Cyclones keep the CyHawk Trophy at home.

San Diego State at California(-13.5)(4): This line has nearly doubled, and is still too low. Jared Goff is one of the best QB’s in a QB heavy conference. I still have some questions about Cal’s defense, but the offense is good enough to cover anything under two touchdowns.

(19)Oklahoma(-1.5) at (23)Tennessee(3): If Oklahoma doesn’t avoid the stupid penalties and third and long situations that plagued them in the first half against Akron, they will lose this game. That said, Bowling Green did a really good job against Tennessee’s defense. It is the same things that Oklahoma can do with better running backs. Maybe it is homerism or wishful thinking or both, but I think Oklahoma pulls this out. Whatever happens, it will likely be a great game.

Pittsburgh(-12.5) at Akron(4): There is no way Pitt covers this without James Conner. They nearly lost to Youngstown State after Conner went down. If he hadn’t helped stake Pitt to a sizeable lead, they might have lost. Give me Akron.

Western Michigan(-4.5) at Georgia Southern(5): Really? The Broncos played well against a pretty good Michigan State team. GSU got blown out by West Virginia. Easy money right here folks! Give me the Broncos!

Stay tuned for the rest of my Saturday picks against the spread, and for the FanDuel lineups!

Next: ESPN College Pick Em Picks Week 2

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