Well, this week can only get better than last weeks debacle of picks/bets, but hey you play to the win the game so we're back for more guessing and predicting what college kids are going to do in live simulated football action. Let's not lose our mortgage payment this weekend and based on last weeks results you should bet the opposite of what I recommend and you'll probably win big (reverse jinx).
Virginia Tech @ East Carolina: The spread opened up at -4 in favor of the Hokies on the road and quickly ballooned to -8.5. The Pirates are coming off back to back losses both on the road against the Florida Gators and the Navy Midshipmen, the latter laid a beat down on the Pirates by running for 415 yards and 6 touchdowns. The Hokies meanwhile are coming off an expected road win against the lowly Purdue Boilermakers and I know some might want to call it a solid win, but when Purdue finishes last in the Big Ten conference we can all nod our heads in agreement that VT put away Purdue the way they should have. The Hokies should be able to rule the line of scrimmage Saturday on both sides of the ball, but the Pirates as usual will spread the field and put the majority of the pressure on the VT secondary. The 8.5 points seems a bit high for my taste, I think ECU stays in the game for the most past, but the Hokies pull away in the 4th thanks to some timely defensive stops and protecting QB Brenden Motley with a stout running attack. Avoid the spread or do the exact opposite and win big based on my awful predictions last week.
Boise State @ Virginia: The Broncos opened as 3 point favorites and the line has stayed at exactly that for this Friday night match-up. The Cavs played the Fighting Irish tough at home in week two losing on the final possession of the game 34-27, then proceeded to play it close with William &Mary as well pulling out a squeaky win 35-29, ugh. Meanwhile the Broncos recovered from their lone loss of the season against the BYU Cougars by pounding Idaho State 52-0. Both teams come into this game with underwhelming offenses so expect the defenses to be the story of the game. The 3 point spread seems like a push to me, but being a VT fan allows me to put on my blinders and remember UVA stinks! Take the 3 points and enjoy Mike London's final season as head coach Broncos win 20-10.
TCU @ Texas Tech: The line opened with the Horned Frogs as 13 point favorites then all a sudden the Red Raider nation decided to throw their life savings on the game and the line sits at 7. Kliff Kingsbury might look a bit like Ryan Gosling, but that is the lone compliment I would hand to Texas Tech as I see the Horned Frogs covering and slowly maturing into the national title contender people saw them to be in the preseason. Defense is optional in this match-up which makes the over/under (80.5) possibly the best bet of the day, but I think Trevone Boykin and the TCU offense throw up huge numbers in this game winning by the count of 55-38.
USC (Southern Cal) @ Arizona State: Where did everyone go? The Trojan bandwagon is pretty empty these days after the Stanford Cardinals upset the annually overrated Trojans by the score of 41-31. This is the same Stanford that scored 6 measly points on the road against Northwestern in week 1, but enough with the slights on the Trojans because I like them to cover the current 5.5 point spread on the road against the Sun Devils for the simple fact that this game is a must-win already. Suffering two conference losses in the month of September alone would be crippling for USC to compete for a Pac-12 title and let's be honest Arizona State head coach, Todd Graham is so easy to hate that you can never side with him nor his team. Trojans bounce back with a W and Steve Sarkisian goes streaking across the downtown LA campus, 38-27.
Georgia Tech @ Duke: Damn you Paul Johnson. The Yellow Jackets were my lock of the week in week 3 on the road against the Irish and they got utterly dominated in every facet of the game. Note to self, there is no such thing as a lock in sports betting but this weekend the Blue Devils are 8.5 point underdogs and out of pure spite I am taking David Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils to cover. Duke's defense has allowed just 26 points through 3 games all season and currently ranks as the 18th best defense against the run this season which will obviously be key against the Yellow Jackets option attack. I see Georgia Tech ultimately coming away with the victory but this will be a close game. If you're feeling frisky, take the under (56) and the Blue Devils to cover the 8 points by a final score of 24-20, in favor of the Yellow Jackets.