College

Saturday September 7th

Southern Miss (-6) over Illinois.  3 Units.   Illinois looked horrible last week against Missouri with unsteady play at QB and no running game against an unheralded Missouri team.  Southern Miss had a nice warm up in a romp over a 1-AA team to introduce their new QB and reintroduce TB Nix who is back from injury.  Southern Miss is a strong early season team and always plays tough on defense.  Hosting Illinois is a big deal since not too many big conference teams will come visit.

Mississippi (-8) over Memphis.  2 Units.   Memphis is 2-7 ATS at Miss. and 2-10-1 ATS after allowing <10 points or less.   Their defense has been getting worse each of the last three years and nothing looks different.  Mississippi can put up a lot of offense and their run defense should be improved. 

Michigan St. (-27) over Rice.  2 Units.  Rice had a major let down to begin the season against cross town rival and hapless Houston, losing 24-10.  Rice has trouble coming back or keeping up when they fall behind since their offense generally ignores passing.  Michigan State looked good last week and will have little trouble giving Rice a monster ass whooping. 

Oregon (-16.5) over Fresno St.  2 Units.  Fresno State is somewhat helpless without their leading wide receiver and starting QB and any running game.  Their defense slowed down Wisconsin, but Oregon has too many weapons right now.  The Ducks will rout.

Boston College (-8) over Stanford. 2 Units.  We like BC for three reasons this week and neither have anything to do with last week's lackluster performance.  BC was looking ahead to avenge last year's loss to Stanford, BC has played already this season, and Stanford has suspended their QB who had significant experience.  All of these factors plus Stanford only returns 9 starters and only two of them are on defense.  BC is 11-2 ATS at home since 2000 and 13-3 as a fav under 15 points.

Miami (+2.5) over Florida.  2 Units.  This game will be a test for the Gators and new HC Zook.  The defending national champs will be ready and should be able to win a high scoring affair with about 80 passes attempted between the teams. 

Miami, FL/Florida over 54. 2 Units.  Although both teams have strong defenses, the offenses will be the center piece of this game.

Texas Tech (-18.5) over SMU. 3 Units.  There is a common thread between this two teams other then they both play in Texas.  They both stunk up their season openers.  Texas Tech will be out to show that they are much better then they played at Ohio State and SMU will not have any better success this week then they had in losing to Navy.  The Red Raiders are 20-2 ATS off an SU loss.

Utah (-14) over Indiana. 3 Units.  Indiana is a very bad team.  Although they beat William and Mary 25-3, they were out gained by a couple yards and committed 4 turnovers.  Utah crushed their instate rivals last weekend 23-3 and almost tripling Utah State's total yards.  Utah will be ready to put on a show against a big conference school in front of the home crowd.

Colorado St. (+7) at UCLA.  2 Units.  Colorado State has been impressive in winning their first two games, SU and ATS.  UCLA is coming off a huge meltdown to finish off 2001 and they still have not played a game.  Look for Colorado St. to keep their momentum going strong.

Missouri (-15) over Ball St.  3 Units.  Wow, Missouri showed us that may be turning the corner and Ball State is a great team for them to play in their home opener after last week's stunner over Illinois.  Missou will be fired up with a nice chance to run the table going into conference play.  Ball State has not played yet this season and will be entering with high hopes after a strong finish last year.  Missouri will be ready for the MAC this year after losing to Bowling Green as a home favorite last year.

Troy State (+2) at UAB.  2 Units.  UAB which has had winning record each of last two years does not have the same strong defense w/ only two returning starters on that side of the ball.  UAB is 1-4 ATS as small Home Favorite.  Troy State performed well at Nebraska out gaining them for the game and they are a program on the rise.