5*

The Ravens are a very solid club. On short rest, the Falcons

The Steelers come off a Sunday night non-conference road game loss and now cruise into a divisional game against the Bengals, who had the good fortune to beat them twice last season. This is also Pittsbugh's 3rd straight road game!
Last year, the Bengals beat the Steelers by successfully game-planning for Ben Roethlisberger, plain and simple. Last year the Bengals had Big Bens number and he had his worst games against them. While Cincinnati

Opening a key two-game road stretch, the AFC West-leading Chiefs try to win their 8th straight road contest against the archrival Oakland Raiders. Not since their Super Bowl season of 2002, have the Raiders been .500 in November. The Chiefs are the bigger story, though. They are perhaps the most improved team in the NFL at 5-2. We

The San Diego Chargers are 0-3 on the road and I dont see them winning on Sunday afternoon. Rivers also may not have his favorite target available. Tight end Antonio Gates, who leads the NFL with nine TD catches, is doubtful with a foot injury. That takes away alot of the middle for SD
The Texans had scored 30 or more points in four of their first six games and I expect a big performance on Sunday from Houston here at home for the Houston Texans.

TCU won by 27 last year and i expect more of that this time around. Two years ago, TCU gift-wrapped the game in Salt Lake which ended their perfect season and propelled the Utes to their own 13-0 mark. TCU won

Army is off FCS entry VMI, and a bye before that. Army really prepared for this game during their BYE week. Air Force just played in the Mountain West at TCU and home vs. Utah, two of the nation

Like Central Fla tonight. They have a pretty good defense and Houston can't stop the run. Central Fla loves to run it so they win by at least 10. Pretty simple here in my eyes.
5*

Houston beat INDY in the season opener 34-24 as a 1pt underdog. RB Foster abused the Colts defense for 231 yds (7.0) & Manning was playing behind an unsettled offensive line.
You can bet the COLTS will be ready tonight at home. Give Manning 2 weeks to prepare and playing with revenge.
A loss here puts IND at 0-3 in Div play & they still have both games vs TEN on the schedule. Peyton Manning continues to light up teams and move the ball. They usually settle for TD's and not FG's in the redzone.

The Colts will be facing a Texans defense that ranks last in the NFL, allowing 410.5 yards per game. Indianapolis amassed 463 yards in the opener and most came in the 2nd half.I like the Colts. I think it's easy to take Houst plus the points because they beat the Colts earlier and Peyton is without 3 main guys. But I don't think it matters with Peyton. He can take an average player and make him look great especially with the extra week. He has revenge on his mind and I think the defense steps up at home to hold the Texans offense in check.

Look for Peyton Manning to have a huge game and the Colts to roll in our 10* MNF GAME OF THE YEAR!

The Pittburgh defense is coming off one of their worst games of the season.
Now they face the Saints who have had trouble taking care of the ball and trouble getting it into the end zone and now they have to face the best defense in the NFL.
Pittsburgh

SD had turnover problems last week and the underachieving Chargers did not look good. Statistically,
the Chargers rank among the leaders on offense and defense. I think they'll break out with a big win on Sunday.

The Titans are making the long journey to the West
Coast. Vince Young probably is back at quarterback, but he

Word is that CU coach Hawkins could get canned as early as Tuesday of this week. With that floating over the program that has dropped three straight and seen a bunch of starters lost to injury, and players fighting among each other. Hawkins has lost control of his team.
QB Landry Jones will have a field day against a Colorado defense that will be without three starters in the secondary and their starting middle linebacker due to injuries. OKLAHOMA is a very very good team and off a loss will want to run up the score and they will in a big win!
10* Saturday night CRUSHER

I think UTAH absolutely crushes the Air Force Falcons on Saturday night. The curtent price on this game stands right around a touchdown, but the Utes will take this one by double-digits.

I have a feeling that past history in this series is playing a large part in why this line is priced around a TD. You see, Air Force is just 1-6 straight up the last 7 series meetings, BUT the Falcons have covered the last 3, and 5 of the last 6 meetings.

Air Force just got trampeled by TCU, 34-7 and now they must face a Utah squad that is averaging close to 50 points per game. The Utes have also been able to stop the Force cold in their tracks, holding them to under 3 yards per carry the last 2 times the schools have faced one another.

Utah is on an 8 game winning streak, and they have covered 6 in a row and are now 9-0-1 against the spread their last 10 games.


Double-digit win and cover for Kyle Whittingham's team tonight

5*

At 8-0 SU and sitting in first place in the Big Ten after way too many little things have fallen their way, Michigan State plays a second straight road game, this time against an opponent that matches up well with them physically, and is better-coached.
Iowa

5*

The Mountaineers have won six straight against the Huskies dating back to 2004 and they have cashed in five of the six games, including four with lines that were seven or more. West Virginia has won three straight at UConn and none of the three have even been close, with the narrowest margin of victory being 12 points, and that was way back in 2004. West Virginia last played on October 23 when they were stunned at home by Syracuse, so you know the Mountaineers have been anxious to get back on the field and pulverize someone. Lay the chalk with West Virginia as they are the much better team here. 4*

Bobby Bowden is gone and this offense and defense is much different. Florida State leads the nation in sacks and will be chasing Wilson with sophomore defensive end Brandon Jenkins. The North Carolina State offensive line has surrendered 17 sacks this season.
The Seminoles have won five consecutive games including two big ACC road games in convincing fashion. Florida State has won in all three meetings since Coach O

The Steelers have been getting lucky with getting many turnovers this year in all of their games, but the Dolphins aren't a team that commits many, with only 8 turnovers in 5 games this season. The Steelers are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following a SU win of more than 14 points.

We actually have the Dolphins with even more motivation today. Miami
is playing with revenge from the season ending HOME loss last year
delivered by the Steelers that kept Miami from ending over .500 last year.

Pittsburgh's defense will be without run-stuffing end Brett Keisel (hamstring), which could open a few more holes for Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown. Williams needs 89 yards from scrimmage to pass Larry Csonka (7,425) for the most by a Dolphins running back.
10* NFL GAME OF THE WEEK

Texas showed the blueprint last week to contain Nebraska QB Martinez and the Cornhuskers offense. This Oklahoma St Cowboys team has won six straight in Stillwater, and is 16-3 there over the past three seasons. The Cowboys are averaging 49.5 points and 535.3 yards to trail only top-ranked Oregon in both categories. Brandon Weeden is also second in FBS with 327.7 passing yards per contest, and most of his throws have gone to Justin Blackmon, who leads the nation with 159.2 receiving yards per contest. Oklahoma State also boasts the fifth-leading rusher in FBS in Kendall Hunter (138.3 ypg). OKL ST is a very good team facing a Nebraska team who is turnover prone. I like the home underdog with OKL ST plus the points on Saturday. 10*

The Wildcats (5-1, 1-1) are coming off a bye week after losing 20-17 to visiting Purdue on Oct. 9 despite holding the Boilermakers to 47 yards passing. Michigan St's rush defense is not good giving up an average of 140 yards/game. We'll take the points with Northwestern at home against unbeaten Michigan State.
After ripping off five straight wins to start the season the Wildcats were stunned by Purdue two Saturdays ago, losing 20-17. Now the Wildcats are a home underdog against an opponent that

Nobody has heard much about Navy quarterback Ricky Dobbs this season, so with CBS
on the scene being played in the new Giants stadium, I like the Navy boys in this early kickoff. Look for Ricky Dobbs to have a breakout
game here on Saturday. Navy will control the clock and the game and keep ND offense off the field and wear down their defense.
I like NAVY big with the points early on Saturday.

Tennessee hasn't put back-to-back good games together all year.
I beleive Jax has the defense to win at home.
The Division home dogs have been solid plays so far this season.
Nice value with the home team as the Titans are overvalued in my opinion. Tennessee has won both their road games at tough sites
vs the Giants & Cowboys. In BOTH games, the Titans were badly
beaten in the stats. Tennessee allowed 471 yds at NY
& were outgained by 200 yds in the decieving 29-10 win. At Dallas,
the Titans allowed 511 yds but penalties and turnovers gave the Titans the game.

Tennessee
is in a rough scheduling spot playing their 3rd road game in 4 weeks,
The Jags are in very good spots.

Here are some stats and trends in our favor too:NFL Division home dogs that are
off TWO wins a row, with the last win a NON-Division road dog win,
are 18-5-1 the lst 24 when playing a team off a SU win.

Tenn's HC Fischer is 0-12 as a 3(+) fav vs a team off back-to-back SU/ATS wins.
5* play on JACKSONVILLE.

The Green Bay Packers entered the season with high hopes of making a Super Bowl run, but they've had to work through major inconsistency throughout their first five games.
Aaron Rodgers is likely to play and i expect him to chew up the Miami secondary just like Tom Brady did.

Rodgers and NFL sacks leader Clay Matthews are the two most important players on both sides on the ball.

Green Bay struggled in their last 3 games, but they also had 8 turnovers which made a huge impact along with a ton of penalties.
Miami's special teams are also in disarray and I like the Pack on Sunday.

The Packers have won six straight at home dating to last season, and they are our 10* NFL BLOWOUT OF THE MONTH as we go for our 9th straight 10* win.

The Falcons

BYU may have done SDSU a favor last week by running the ball 62 times. Though not the option, it gave Aztec defensive coordinator Rocky Long a pre-test before this test of all tests

The Buckeyes have played exactly one game away from their home stadium. Also, they haven't tackled anyone currently ranked in the AP Top 25. (Miami was 12th at the time they lost in Columbus to the Buckeyes, but has since plummeted out of sight.)

Madison is never an easy place to survive and the Wisconsin running game fuels the Badgers with 2 great running backs. Last year the final score was 31-13 in which Wisky gave up a kickoff return for a TD and a pair of INT's returned for TD's so final score was very misleading. Wisconsin had twice as much of total offense and more first downs. Wisconsin is tough at home and I like them Saturday night to win the game outright. 10* UNDERDOG GAME OF THE YEAR.

It would be a little too easy to be down-down-down on Michigan after just one loss. Coach Rodrigues seems to bounce back after a poor performance. Avoiding turnovers was coach Rodriguez

This is the Kansas St Wildcats first true road game of the season and playing their in-state rivals in Lawrence will not be fun. Kansas is coming off a terrible game against Baylor in which they were smoked and Turner Gill will have the boys ready! WIth rest and revenge on their minds, I expect them to bounce back tonight in this Thursday primetime affair.
Stats on this game point to KANSAS as they are 10-1 ATS with rest and revenge in conference games including a perfect 8-0 as dogs.
I am playing Kansas plus the points at home on Thursday night. 5*

The Jets offense picked it up last week but that was against a very bad Buffalo Bills team.
The Vikings had 2 weeks to prepare for this game and a very tough team on both sides on the ball and now added Randy Moss for a huge deep threat.
Look at the teams who had a BYE last week and yesterday KC played the Colts very tough until the final minutes. Dallas looked good except for turnovers and special teams killed them. TB beat Cincy outright and I expect the same tonight from the Vikings.


But something will have to give this week because the Vikings defense is one of the best run-stuffing units in the NFL again, still ranked in the top 10 allowing just 87.3 yards a contest. That means that Sanchez might be called upon to do more than he

4*

The Cardinals now have a quarterback controversy, with Derek Anderson pulled in the last game in favor of unproven Max Hall. Playoff revenge sets the table in this payback affair and we like the look of the setting. While both teams appear a shadow of their selves this season, it

The G-Men got off the schneid with a convincing romp over the Bears Sunday night. The Giants are 22-8 ATS in their last 30 road games, including 13-3 ATS when playing off a SU and ATS win. In addition, Eli Manning has been money in the bank as a starting quarterback in the league when taking to the road off a win, going 18-8 ATS, including 14-6 SU and 16-4 ATS the last 20. The Texans defense is not good and I think Manning and Bradshaw running the ball duo threat will pick them apart Sunday afternoon. 10* NFL GAME OF THE YEAR SURE SHOT!

The last 2 years these teams played it was a 3 pt game and 5 pt game and I expect another tight one. Just because of last weeks results the oddsmakers make ND a 6 pt favorite. I figured this game to be a pickem. We are getting huge value with Pitt who has a solid defense and a good running game. The Notre Dame defense is slow and Pitt will take advantage of it. 10* Underdog barking dog.

Ohio St struggled last week on the road especially on 3rd downs converting only 25% of their chances. Look for a big game out of Pryor. In case you did not do the calculation, the Indiana defense allowed 12.8 yards per play vs. Michigan last week and they looks awful. That can be awfully damaging in OHIO STATE with their tough defense and an offense just looking to blowout someone at home. I say OHIO ST wins 50-17.

.......10* BLOWOUT OF THE MONTH

TTech got smoked last week and their defense looked AWFUL against Iowa St. It seems like their team and program is all confused on both sides on the ball. Baylor has a great QB with Griffin who threw for 380 yds last week and should have another field day against TTech on early action Saturday. Texas Tech has won the last 13 meetings, but that streak ends on Saturday. PLAY BAYLOR. 5*

Connecticut is (3-2) and Rutgers sits at(2-2) and both have been unimpressive this season as both have had problems scoring points UConn 13.9 points per and Rutgers 19.3. Uconn loves to run the ball with their 2 backs, but the advantage here goes to the Rutgers defense who only allows 51 yards per game on the ground and UConn gives up 240 per game on the ground. It will be rocking at Rutgers for this Nationally Televised ESPN Game Friday night and I like Rutgers plus the points. 5*

New York is on a two game losing streak and will look to QB Eli Manning to get them back on track. Manning threw for a whopping 386 yards with one INT through the air as the Giants had 2 turnovers inside the 10 yard line last week. He

Tennessee has really come together as a team and face Denver and Kyle Orton who is coming off a career day. He he goes on the road and faces the #1 secondary in the NFL. The Broncos have a weak rushing defense, and they must now contend with possibly the best running back in football in Chris Johnson and a dual threat quarterback in Vince Young. On the other side of the ball, the lethal Tennessee pass rush will put a lot more pressure on Kyle Orton than the Colts did, so don

Buffalo is winless at 0-3 but have been very competitive in all of their games. They fought hard at home in opening week against the Dolphins and lost by five while just missing the cover because of a self-imposed safety. In Week Two, Buffalo travelled to Green Bay and played well for a half before the Packers pulled away and last week, the Bills gave the Patriots all they could handle. All the public sees is a 0-3 record but we see a ton of value on the Bills.
The release of quarterback Trent Edward caught many by surprise but Ryan Fitzpatrick showed last week it might have been the right move. The offense was more energized and the unit actually took shots downfield. New York was pretty bad against Miami last week and the absence of Darrelle Revis for a second straight week is going to hurt the already porous secondary. Buffalo pressured the Jets tough in both games last year. The Jets October record has also been a disaster as they are 2-10 in their last 12 games during the month while Buffalo is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games after allowing 30 or more points. 5*

Last year Alabama blasted Florida when they had Tim Tebow. Now they have a younger team with a freshman QB and Alabama is at home. The Tide's eight picks is second in the SEC, and sophomore safety Robert Lester has four of them. He swiped two of Ryan Mallett's passes at Arkansas last weekend. He provides a contrast to the power running of Ingram and Richardson, who have combined for eight touchdowns, even though Ingram has only played in two games because of a knee injury. Florida has 12 INT's and had a lot of TD's handed to them early in their games. Look for Alabama to play strong and get an impressive win behind their defense on Saturday night! 10* BURIAL.

Look for Mack Brown and Texas to be prepared this week after a pathetic showing against UCLA at home last week. Both teams have new QB's but I really like Texas Longhorns QB Garrett Gilbert. Texas expects to get the speedy D.J. Monroe more involved, either in the backfield or as a receiver, and the Texas defense is very tough. I'll take the better defense and QB in this rival and play on TEXAS as a 10* play on Saturday afternoon.

Both the Aggies and Cowboys are 3-0, but the country knows virtually nothing about either team.

The Texas A&M Aggies, who have never lost three in a row in the series and are still 17-8 all-time, have an excellent shot at the upset.

The Aggies brought back 16 starters this season, second most in the Big 12. On the other hand, the Cowboys suffered some major losses from last season, including QB Zac Robinson, WR Dez Bryant and six of their top seven tacklers. Overall, they brought back only eight starters from last season's team. I like Texas A&M plus the points with a better QB who can run and pass.
5*

Both of these teams are 2-0 and tied atop the NFC North heading into their Monday night matchup. Both games last year were very close and came down to the 4th quarter.

The Chicago Bears have made great strides on offense with Jay Cutler under the new direction of Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz. Its been a totally different team this year with Martz as he has found a way to keep Cutler focused on sticking to the gameplan without forcing the ball and throwing INT's. He's playing with more confidence than he ever did and becoming very dangerous.
Look for Matt Forte to play a key role out of the backfield. Cutler should use him and blending in Hester & Johnny Knox in effectively running a controlled offense with short dropbacks and timely releases. Lets try to remain perfect on MNF with a 5* play on the Chicago Bears plus the points.

The Jacksonville defense struggled against both the pass and the run, but Jack DelRio will have his boys ready at home. Jax had 6 turnovers and handed SD the game last week. Jacksonville has a solid defense to contain VIck and I look for Jacksonville to get the win at home in the hot humid weather behind Maurice Jones-Drew who should have a big game against an overrated Eagles team. 5*

Very few people looked at the schedule before the season and expected this to be a matchup of 2-0 teams, but here we are. Pittsburgh had a goal before the year of going no worse than 2-2 during Ben Roethlisberger

While the Tigers were scratching and crawling to overcome a 17-point first half deficit and beat Clemson in OT last week, South Carolina was methodically disposing of in-state, FCS foe Furman. Auburn lost a ton of players in that game to injuries and the team is still pretty banged up as it was an intense game.
SC Coach Spurrier is coaching well led by veteran QB in Garcia, a work horse tailback in Lattimore, and two NFL WR

Both teams want to run the football and Penn St will have the huge edge at RB and also on defense. Look for Evan Royster, who was expected to be one of the better running backs in the Big Ten this season to get on track Saturday afternoon. The Temple Owls secondary is often confused and not very good so Penn St may open up their passing game too. Look for Penn St to get a 20+ point win before they open up the Big 10 Conference schedule next week versus Iowa. 10* BLOWOUT

Miami thoroughly got beaten in Columbus back on Sept. 11 when they fell to the Buckeyes 36-24. Hurricanes

Expect Mike Singletary to crack the whip hard after the 49ers were embarrassed
at Seattle, failing to score a TD. It was ugly as the 49ers had 5 turnovers and handed Seattle the game. The 49ers are on the national stage at
home and expected to be good and win their division this year.

Playing on Monday night should mean something to the 49ers. New Orleans is 1-6-1 ATS
in its last eight games versus NFC opponents. Look for a full effort from SFran and the team to be prepared against the Super Bowl champs.
5* MNF play on the SF 49ers + the points.

New York has lost to New England in 12 of its last 15 meetings and has one day less to prepare after playing on Monday. However, this matchup could determine a changing of the guard in the AFC East. Brash-talking Rex Ryan will have his Jets at a fever pitch at home after 115 penalty yards and only 6 first downs on Monday night, you can expect them to be ready today.The Patriots

The Ravens won't be able to match the intensity they showed against the New York Jets last week. They played on MNF and had 1 less day to prepare. I can see them falling flat on their faces this week as they travel to face the hungry Cincinnati Bengals Sunday. Cincy opened the season ugly, falling behind 31-3 at New England last week before making it respectable in a 24-38 defeat. They had the 4th best defense in the league last year and I expect them to bounce back here.
The Bengals won 17-14 at Baltimore last year before capping off the sweep with a 17-7 home win. In that home victory, Cincinnati controlled the ball 40 minutes to Baltimores 20 minutes and held the Ravens to just 55 yards rushing on 17 carries. THe Ravens are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games when playing on Sunday following a Monday night game. Take Cincinnati and the points at home here.
10* NFL GAME OF THE WEEK

The Cowboys are very strong, in particular off a loss, with their crowd behind them. The Bears come off a big win over the Lions at home, and they are in for a let down spot. The Bears offensive line is BAD and the Dallas defense is its strengh. They are at home and should win by double digits.
Remember, the Bears are a team that struggled on the road last year losing to Cleveland 10-13, losing to San Diego 10-25 and losing to Baltimore 7-31. The Bears are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 games overall and 1-5 ATS in their last six road games. The Cowboys are 6-2 ATS in their last eight games at home. Play Dallas as a 5*

Arizona has been downright stingy on defense as well, as it has yet to allow a touchdown this season. The Wildcats are coached by Mike Stoops, a former All- America DB at Iowa in the mid-80's. Arizona got a good look at the Iowa defense in last year

Fresno is just 3-3 in their last six trips to Logan, Utah and this is Utah St.

A week after dropping its season opener at BYU (23-17), Washington evened its record at 1-1 with last week's home win over Syracuse (41-20). The Huskies are led by second-year head coach Steve Sarkisian, who took a winless team in 2008 to a 5-7 record last year for the best turnaround at the FBS level. The Huskies get a bunch of love in large part because of QB Jake Locker, who is expected to be drafted very early in next year

The Bearcats already have as many losses on the season as they had all of last year. After an opening loss at Fresno State where the offense was quite out-of-sync, Cincinnati responded with 40 points last week to knock off Indiana State. Going on the road will be a challenge but NC State has not been overly impressive despite a 2-0 mark. THey received 5 turnovers gift-wrapped a 28- 21 win for the Wolfpack last week in a game where they managed just 239 yards.
Cincinnati should be able to run the ball with some success in this match-up and passing should be no problem either. NC St is young and has no offensive weapons. 5*

After going 9-7 and destroying the Patriots (33-14) in the wild card round before falling at the Colts a year ago, Baltimore fortified its roster with the likes of wideouts Anquan Boldin, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Donte' Stallworth, defensive backs Josh Wilson and Ken Hamlin, and d-lineman Cory Redding.
I expect John Harbaugh to have his boys ready with their new offensive weapons. The Jets got Darrelle Revis back after he ended his holdout but he isnt game ready and missed camp. Lets play Baltimore as a 5* selection as I look for them to win by 3-10 points.
5*

I cant remember the last time the Colts lost their opening game of the seaon. Manning is always prepared and has his team ready.
The Colts are 15-1 all-time against the Texans and have WR Gonzalez back to their potent offense and Bob Sanders back on defense and this Colts team is ready and healthy.


The edge goes to the Colts, who have more experience over a Texans club that will really miss Cushing. While Houston is trying to take the next step forward as a franchise, Indianapolis is all business and knows what is at stake, even in the opening week. Manning won't let his team get off to a slow start.
The Colts have dominated this series throughout and until Houston can stop Manning and prove otherwise, there

I'm taking the points with the Oakland Raiders on Sunday. They finally have a QB to go with this top defense and special teams.
As far as the Raider offense is concerned, they obviously had the "upgrade of the year" at QB with Jason Campbell taking over for JaMarcus Russell. They have a running game that will keep defenses honest. And the speedy receiving corps, maybe the fastest in the NFL, looked head and shoulders above their play of last year in camp and preseason.
The Raiders have covered four of their last five against the AFC and they're on a 5-1 ATS run against the Titans. This has not been a good spot for the Titans under the direction of Jeff Fisher.
I am not sold on Vince Young as a starting QB in the NFL. Yes, I know all about his success when he took over the starting job after the Titans got off to such a horrendous start last year. But at the time Young took over, there was absolutely no pressure on him. The season was basically over with very little chance of making it to the postseason.

Basically, the Titan offense is RB Chris Johnson and not much else. This team did very little to upgrade in the off-season and I think this is a very close tight game. 5* Raiders plus the points.

Both coaching staffs are in year #2, but SD ST is quite a number of years ahead in terms of roster talent. The Aztecs will break out more two-back sets and power run at an New Mexico St defense that struggled last year and won

New LA Tech HC Dykes brings his spread offense to Ruston. Week 1 results were not positive as they defeated lowly Grambling by only 20-6, with yardage to match. Clearly, it will take Dyke some time. That is far from true with the explosive Aggie offense that erupted for a 48-7 victory over SFA with a 539-266 edge. Rebuilding Aggies OL may struggle vs. some Big 12 schools, but not against Lou Tech defense. Texas A&M Big here. 5*

Everyone knows this is a 12-2 ATS, 5-1 ATS underdog series. Michigan looks solid this year and they had no turnovers last week and made 14 of 19 first downs in third-down situations. Meanwhile, Purdue got off 12 more offensive plays than Notre Dame last Saturday (74-62) and matched the Irish in first downs 20-20. Now in the 3rd year of the Rodriquez era with his players now in place I feel there is greater pointspread upside to Michigan here to pull the upset on Saturday. 5*

Last year the Temple offense got most of the attention in the media, but Temple's success was also because of the play of the defense, which opened this season with a solid showing against the FCS National Champions Villanova. Last weeks game was also a huge inter city rivalry.


The Owls held Villanova to just 172 yards through the air, but were a tad sloppy against the run, surrendering 139 yards on 4.3 yards per carry. The lackluster effort against the run should not be overly concerning considering Temple did well in that area a year ago.


Central Michigan lost tons of talent to graduation and the team is still learning new systems on both sides of the ball. The combination of new coaches and a 2nd game starter at QB on the first road trip in a night game in Philly, I like TEMPLE by double digits Thursday night as a 5* play.

Tough scheduling spot for Boise St as they must travel across the country to play Virginia Tech in Landover, MD. The Hokies are a top-10 team and will have a major edge playing this game so close to home and on grass.
VTech as a great backfield and huge talented offensive line.

Virginia Tech returns all of their playmakers on offense and has won 11 of their last 14 season openers. Virginia Tech is always good on defense led by Bud Foster, who has been an assistant coach with the team since 1987. The last five games Virginia Tech played in 2009, they allowed just 11.8 points per game with their swarming speed and size. Boise will pull out a few trick plays, but it wont be enough on the road as Virginia Tech gets a 10 point win here on Monday night= 31-21. (5*) selection.

This is a must win for Northwestern as they want to get off to a good start and shoot for a 3rd consecutive bowl game.
Vandy HC Johnson retired in midsummer replaced by former OL Coach Caldwell but this team is in disarray.
The NWestern Wildcats offense is far more advanced at this stage behind QB Persa operating behind an OL that returns intact. QB Dan Persa challenged Kafka for the starting job in 2009 and this kid can play. I expect the Commodores to really struggle running the football with an inexperienced offensive line. Northwestern has a chance to be 6-0 this season before they host Michigan State on Oct. 23rd. I look for a 10-18 point win for Northwestern on Saturday night as our 10* GAME OF THE WEEK TOP PLAY!

UTAH is 15-4 in home openers since I started handicapping professionally in 1991. The Panthers are ranked #15 in the country, but I think that is based on last years results.
Pittsburgh lost a ton of players and are ranked #107 in experience.

Last year was supposed to be a rebuilding year and all the Utes did was go 10-3 and win their 9th straight bowl game. This year, the Utes enter the season in much better shape and are tough at home.
Pittsburgh is starting a new QB, with a young offensive line playing at night in Utah on National TV in the high altitude.
Tough spot for the young Panthers and I like Utah to get a double digit win here as they stack the line and stop the run and force Pittsburgh to pass the ball. 10*

The Saints look to be clicking again in all phases of the game. They are tough at home and will pressure Favre on Sunday night in New Orleans. The Saints showed no signs of rust after their supposed late season decline, marching up and down the field at will against Arizona. Even more impressive was a defense that for a majority of the season was

New York comes out west having won six of its last seven, and playing excellent defense.
Everyone keeps questioning the Jets and coach Rex Ryan, but they just keep rolling. Remember he was with Baltimore who has always played great defense.
With the NFL's No. 1 rushing game (172.3 yards per game in the regular season), scoring defense (14.8 points per game) and overall defense (252.3 ypg), ya gotta believe the JETS +7 can hang here.

The Cowboys are playing better than anyone in the playoffs and they have a load of confidence especially defensively. If Romo is smart with the ball and doesn't turn it over and the Cowboys control the Vikings pass rush then Dallas should win handily. Look for a lot of pressure on Favre and Dallas to force turnovers.

In that four-game run, the 'Boys have outscored the opposition, 99-31, Romo has completed 66.7 percent of his passes and spread 12 touchdowns around to three running backs and five receivers. Having eight legit scoring options has really made life easy for Romo, and impossible for opposing defenses. Dallas WINS in a tight game. 5*

Baltimore has lost 5 games this year, 4 of them by 6 points or less. That includes that 17-15 Week 11 heartbreaker when Flacco tossed a game-ending pick in the red zone late in the 4th quarter. It should also be noted that Peyton Manning threw a pair of interceptions in that game, and with Ed Reed back in the lineup, I give Baltimore's defense a chance at rattling Manning the way they rattled Tom Brady last week with pressure.

The Colts were lucky this year and could have easily lost to Houston twice, Jax twice, and NE. Baltimore is a big, physical team and their defense is playing very well. Offensively, the Ravens ability to run the ball with Ray Rice as fire. The Colts have struggled stopping the run all year and I expect a tight game Saturday night!

The Cardinals defense was absolutely atrocious last week at home, what will it be like on a short week on the road this week? I figure the Saints offense will get humming again, especially at home where they were 6-0 before the Dallas game. The extra week off gives offensive whiz Sean Payton a little more time to design some wrinkles against a defense that couldn't stop anything last week on their home field.

The Saints defense is very good in the redzone and just gives up FG's NOT Touchdowns.

I think the Saints regain their mid-season form in this one, and force Warner to make a few costly mistakes.
Look for the Saints to have success at home and get a double digit win here!

This comes down to a couple of fundament questions: Who do you trust more, Kurt Warner at home or Aaron Rodgers on the road in his 1st playoff game? I

Dallas beat up on the Eagles, 24-0 in Week 17 for the second victory this season and the fourth in the last six. I don

The Jets took apart the Bengals last week 37-0 at home, but the contest was of no great concern for Cincinnati, key players out, especially on defense. The Jets have a shutdown CB and the best defense in the NFL. I really like the Jets offensive line, running game and attitude and playing with more confidence and momentum. The Jets have won five of their last six and seven of the last eight against the Bengals, going 5-3 ATS. Take the Jets in a close game. Cincinnati is 1-6 ATS the last seven games.

The GMAC bowl may not have two teams that you recognize but this does not mean that this won

In its second season under coach Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech went 11-2 and beat Clemson 39-34 in the ACC championship game to win the crown for the first time since sharing it with Florida State in 1998. It was the Yellow Jackets' first outright ACC title since 1990. Johnson's spread triple option offense has been the key to Georgia Tech's success and very disciplined The Yellow Jackets are 11th in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense and coming off a bad bowl game last year. Georgia Tech averages 442.7 yards with 307.2 of them coming on the ground, good for second in the nation. Iowa gives up 286.7 total yards per game, 122.0 rushing. The Yellow Jackets are 11th in the country with 35.3 points per game and will get the job done against Iowa who was lucky to win several games and caught a lot of lucky breaks. Iowa will likely get QB Ricky Stanzi back for this game but it will not matter, as he played late in the season throwing six interceptions in the last two games that he played. Iowa was never as good as their 9-0 record indicated and they finished poorly down the stretch losing two of their last three games. Iowa will have trouble scoring points and that is something Georgia Tech does well. Expect the Yellow Jackets to run up and down the field and we will collect big in the process as well. Georgia Tech is playing in a BCS bowl for the first time and making its first major postseason appearance since 1967, when it also went to the Orange Bowl. This is a HUGE chance for GTECH Head Coach Johnson to make a statement and help them even more for recruiting for his style of play. Look for Georgia Tech to win by 17.

Divisional battles are typically hard fought games and this one shouldn't be any different. It would make KC's season to knock off the Broncos and Denver is hurting with no Brandon Marshall, Eddie Royal, and Tony Scheffler, we do not see this one being a blowout AT ALL.

The Chiefs should keep this one close because they are familiar with the Broncos and get a chance to play spoiler against their most hated rival. The last 3 times Kansas City has been double digit dogs, they're 2-1 ATS with a straight up win against the Steelers. They've thrived in this role recently and will be focused for this one in the season finale. 10*

This is a big game for the Raiders who look to improve off last season by 1 game. They won their last two games of the season last year so there should be no quit in them. If the Ravens win, they are in the playoffs- However, we have seen some East Coast teams struggle mightily in Oakland, see Philly and Cincy. This is definately not a

The Steelers have cashed just once in their last seven games (1-5-1 ATS) and their defense looks terrible.

Miami dramatically hindered its playoff prospects last week, falling behind Houston 27-0 in the second quarter and having its rally fall short in a 27-20 loss as a one-point home favorite. Look for Miami to rebound at home and take care of business with the pass and run!
Miami also has a much better Special Teams unit and you'll see the difference today!

Take Miami here and the Super Bowl Champs go down and get bounced from the playoffs.
10* NFL GAME OF THE WEEK!

OKLA. ST can beat you with the pass and the run. Oklahoma state also has the better defense here! Miss Rebels biggest weakness is on the defensive side of the football- unable to stop the power rushing game in both instances, with their best defensive lineman, Greg Hardy, out for the year. QB Jevan Snead is no game breaker, the SEC

An underdog that can score points is always a good thing to have. Interim and soon-to-be former UC coach Quinn was the coordinator of a Cincinnati offense that scored 40 points per game despite the least possession time in the nation, 25:37. Florida

Shake-up on the LSU coaching staff precedes this game, with wide receivers coach D.J.
McCarthy having been booted following an NCAA investigation into LSU

MINNESOTA - Coming into tonight

These schools are meeting for the third time in less than 17 months, and are playing in the same bowl game that saw them face each other last year!

Both previous meetings were quite close, as Air Force won outright in the regular season meeting, but came up 6 points shy in last year's Armed Forces Bowl.

That makes 2 straight bowl losses for this proud Air Force team, and while they may go down again, they will be right there against a Houston team that had trouble when laying single digits down the stretch.

The Cougars failed their last 3 on the season when laying single-digits, and they will have to face the # 1 pass defense in the nation today.

Having faced Houston twice last year, the veteran Falcons "D" should welcome this meeting against Case Keenum and mates.

Air Force is likely to play keep-away from the Houston offense by running their ground-oriented option attack, and that means time of possession will work in their favor as they look to stay inside of this impost.

Go with the Falcons to keep this one close.

10*

Idaho mans a balanced offense, but they

10*

5*

Colts Head Coach Jim Caldwell said Monday the team has not yet decided how long starters will play and he said he plans to play all players who are healthy, but he didn't elaborate on just how long those healthy starters would play against the Jets and that alone tells us that they will likely be coming out before this game is over.

New York is tied with five other teams at 7-7 and winning out for any of them could mean nothing as they all trail both Baltimore and Denver by a game for those Wild Card playoff spots. The Jets are very good at stopping the run and have an excellent secondary!
They have actually fared better on the road this season, going 4-3 and while this is the hardest test of all, it is one that can be passed. Indianapolis has been winning but it has been anything but impressive in my eyes and Manning has a lot of INT's this season. Over the last seven games, the Colts have actually been outgained in five of those and the other two saw yardage advantages by only 21 and 24 total yards. Play the NY JETS PLUS THE POINTS!

Pittsburgh's defense is in big trouble here as they have been torched for over 20 points in 4 of their last 5 games, including 27 or more against the Raiders, the Chiefs and the Packers.

You start seeing the Raiders and Chiefs putting up 27 on you, then you know you have problems especially in the secondary.

This Baltimore Ravens team is playing very well as they come off 48-3 destruction at home over the Lions, and a 31-7 win over the Bears.

Already this year on the road they have beaten the Chargers 31-26 and for all intents and purposes let wins get away at Minnesota, and New England in tight games.Baltimroe is the better team. They have a better offense and they are playing very well down the stretch. This Ravens team appears primed to make some noise heading into post-season. Baltimore won first meeting with defensive formula that can work again.

The Ohio Bobcats are getting plenty of respect in the marketplace despite playing
a much weaker schedule than their opponent. Ohio

5*

10*

BYU may be 10-2 but Oregon St is the better team. BYU got spanked at home by FSU an athetic team and TCU also destroyed them.
BYU had a soft schedule and it will show tonight. Everyone is making such a big deal out of the "Who really wants to be here"

BYU is playing in Vegas for the 5th straight season, and while the proximity of BYU to Las Vegas makes it a no-brainer for the bowl to have BYU participate, the Cougars playing this game against the Pac 10 has not been so kind to BYU.

BYU covered just 1 of their last 4 bowl games against the Pacific 10, and this Oregon State team is likely to drop that number to just 1 cover in 5 tries.

Oregon State brings some serious matchup problems to the table for the Cougars, as the Rodgers brothers will see to it that the Beavers team speed is used to its fullest potential tonight.

The Beavers bring a nice 5-0 straight up bowl record under Mike Riley into Sin City this evening, and they have also covered in 4 of those 5 bowl games.


I look for Oregon State to do exactly what they do every year under head coach Mike Riley and that is step up and play football in front of a national TV audience and in front of the NFL scouts who will be there.

With the line being this low I am comfortable with the thought the team that wins will probably cover and the team I see winning is the team with more talent and speed and at the pro or college level in any sport, speed kills.
PLAY OREGON ST on Tuesday night!

I like the roll that the Washington Redskins are on, and not the roll New York is on with a weak secondary. The Redskins are working on a fabulous 5-0 ATS spread run, while the Giants have covered only one of the last eight. Also don't like the fact that New York's defense has become low-end Swiss cheese, allowing a staggering total of 126 points (31 points per game) in the four games since the bye week.- I think the Redskins are a better team than the Giants right now.... with the hiring of Bruce Allen, it is also very clear in the locker room that the players are on a 3 game audition for the coming Shanahan/Allen era and the Redskins win at home!

Philly has taken over first place in the NFC East by winning its last four games, and after a tough division road clash at the Giants last Sunday night, I expect the Eagles to suffer a little bit of a letdown back at the Linc.

San Francisco kept its flickering playoff hopes alive with a huge Monday night outright win over Arizona, and Mike Singletary has certainly enjoyed the role of underdog during his short tenure, as his team is on an 8-0-1 spread run when catching points.

So far this season the Niners have won outright at Arizona, covered at Minnesota and Indianapolis, and rallied to push at Green Bay - some pretty tough road venues.

Philly has failed to cover in each of its last two home games, needing a last-minute field goal to nip Washington and losing outright to Dallas, and I think the Eagles will fail to get the job done in Vegas once more on Sunday as well.

Take San Francisco plus the points.