College Football Free Picks – Ole Miss Rebels vs. Memphis Tigers

NCAA College Football Sports Betting

Ole Miss Rebels(9-4 SU, 9-3 ATS in ’08) at Memphis Tigers (6-7 SU, 5-6-1 ATS in ’08)

BetOnline NCAA Football Betting Odds: OLE MISS -17, Total 55

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• MISS has won its last six games SU
• MISS has covered its last five games
• MISS has played five of its last seven games UNDER the total
• MISS has covered seven of its last eight road games
• MISS has won four of its last five road games SU
• MISS has lost 15 of its last 20 road games SU
• MISS has played eight of its last 12 road games UNDER the total
• MEM has played four of its last six games UNDER the total
• MEM has won four of its last six home games SU

Also….

• MISS has won four of the last five meetings SU
• MEM has covered four of the last six meetings

There are very high hops for Ole Miss this season, with a team that beat Florida, LSU and Texas Tech last season and has Jevan Snead (56% completions, 22 TD’s) returning at quarterback. Snead is regarded by many NFL scouts as the quarterback most ready to step into a pro offense, and will likely be a high draft choice in the spring. The Rebels are on a six-game winning streak, and Houston Nutt has engineered quite a turnaround for a club that was considered to be a longer-range project; indeed, an afterthought in the SEC at the start of last season. Now you can consider them at least co-favorites in the SEC West.

Memphis has Arkelon Hall returning at quarterback, and he is not without talent, throwing for 2275 yards on 57% completions last season. Hall is going to benefit from the input of transfer DajLeon Farr (a Miami transfer who was one of the best tight end recruits in high school) and redshirt freshman Marcus Rucker, who the coaching staff is very high on. Curtis Steele gained 1223 yards last season and ought to be able to do more, and Lance Smith, a transfer from Wisconsin, is extremely talented and should help provide some depth in the backfield.

By the way, if you’re hearing a lot about transfers, you’re very perceptive. That’s the way Memphis has been upgrading its personnel. It must have something to do with the academics.

Those transfers will also pump up the volume on the defensive unit, which gave up 4.7 yards a carry last year. Safety DeRon Furr, who came over from Auburn, was the MVP of the spring game, and LSU transfer Derrick Odom assumes an outside linebacker position. This spot unit should be able to keep a relative degree of control over the three-headed Rebel running attack, where Dexter McCuster, Cordera Eason and Brandon Bolden combined for 1844 yards last season. Ole Miss brings back eight starters on defense, but the secondary has been a concern for Nutt. Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton, veteran wideouts who Hall has come to count on, will test that secondary.

Memphis coach Tommy West thinks this is perhaps his deepest team yet at the university, and Memphis should ultimately be able to get back to its third straight bowl game. Certainly we’ll be expecting them to improve on last year’s meeting, when they lost 41-24. Don’t forget that they outgained the Rebels in that contest. With better talent and more speed, we would not be surprised at all to see the Tigers make a game of it.

JAY’S PLAY: MEMPHIS +17 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)