After doing extensive research, here are P4P’s favorite college games for the second weekend of the 2009 season.
Friday night we like Toledo to cover (+3 1/2) against Colorado. Toledo had
almost 500 yards last week in a losing effort and they are home
tonight on ESPN. Also, with that much offense, take the OVER at 55.
SATURDAY:
Vanderbilt +14 1/2 over LSU down on the Bayou.
LSU is 1-16 at home against the spread (ATS) in games v. the SEC. Vandy coach Bobby Johnson says this
is their deepest team in a long time and they return 19 of 22 starters. Vandy is also featuring a new no-huddle offense
that enabled them to totally dismantle Western Carolina in the opener. LSU battled and survived against a rejuvenated
Washington squad last week in Seattle and will be excited to be in front of their toothless fans for their home opener tonight.
Excitement sometimes equals jitters and mistakes. Look for Vanderbilt to cover the number and if you want a little extra action,
take OVER the 44 1/2 total.
South Carolina (+7) over Georgia between the hedges in Athens, GA
Check the history on this one, in 7 of the last 8 meetings between these two teams, the winner has scored
less than 20 points. While the Cocks didn’t light it up offensively in their opener, they had plenty of opportunities. Spurrier and his
Cocks will score some and will cover the touchdown spread.
USC -7 over Ohio St. at the Horseshoe in Columbus
Pete Carroll is 6-0 v. the Big 10 and 11-2 when a team is facing his teams
in a revenge game. Ohio State and Terrell Prior will have to make huge plays all
night long to keep up with USC in this Rose Bowl rematch
UCLA +10 over Tennessee
The spread has jumped 3 points (from -7 to -10 this week) Norm Chow
will be ready for Tennessee, where he spent time as the NFL Titans offensive coordinator. This will be an
interesting game with many story lines from Lane Kiffin and his dad Monte taking over in Knoxville to Skippy Neuheisel
at the helm of his alma mater with renewed expectations for success for the Bruins. With such a dramatic swing in
the spread, we see no other choice than going the other way. 10 points is too much to spot UCLA.
Wake Forest -3 over Stanford
The old 9am start on the Stanford body clocks is always a serious disadvantage for the West Coast team heading East.
Plus this is second road game in a row to start the Cardinal’s season and while Harbaugh is preaching all the right things
to his players, it’s hard to imagine that this group has the mental or physical toughness to overcome these obstacles. Even good
teams that travel West to East struggle, so things don’t look good for Stanford, but it looks like a golden opportunity for you the
‘player’. Also, Wake Forest runs a triple option offense that confuses teams.
Kansas -11 over UTEP
Kansas 20-5 ATS as favorite and 17-3 ATS after a win. UTEP is on a
big downer after losing to Buffalo. Look for the rebirth of the University of Texas
at El intercepted Paso today as Coach ‘Slim’ Mangino and the Jayhawks roll over the Miners.
Houston/Oklahoma St. over 67
This is an all offense special. 2 high powered spread offenses. This should be fun to watch.
Air Force +4 over Minnesota
Minnesota is 4-21 when giving up more than 200 yards rushing and look for the Falcons to gain more
than 200 yards on the ground and cover the 4 point spread.
Oregon -11 over Purdue
Oregon will be fired up and has had a long time to prepare for this
one. They are 15-6 ATS at home and Purdue gave up 500 yards and 26
first downs last week. Oregon is moving forward after a tumultuous opening week
and look for them to explode today and release a ton of pent up frustration.
Here are a few others that you may want to consider:
Iowa St. +6 over Iowa
Iowa lost its star RB Jewel Hampton in the last week of training camp and will start Red-Shirt Freshman
Adam Robinson in his place. Iowa State is 6-0 in non-conference revenge games and this in-state rivalry
will be attended by none other than Iowa governor Chet Culver himself. This should be a tight game all the
way down to the wire.
Auburn -15 over Mississippi St.
Mississippi St. has scored 1 TD in the last 4 years against Auburn. Did we mention that Mississippi State has scored
only one touchdown against the Tigers in the last four years. Look for Auburn in a rout.
Tulane +18 over BYU
Sandwhich game for BYU. Stormin’ Mormons may be looking past the Green Wave as they play Florida State next week.
BYU’s huge win last week over #1 Oklahoma was special, but there could be and should be a little bit of a let down.
They will win, but 18 is too big a number today.
From your squad here at P4P, Good luck. Play wise, play smart, play on player.
Finally, don’t forget to follow Picks4Players on Twitter