College Football Week 6 Betting Preview with Picks

There’s a saying in horse racing, “No stock, no wins.” What it means is that if a trainer doesn’t have good horses to run, he isn’t gong to win any races. That’s not necessarily true in college football where coaching goes a long way in deciding which team leaves the field with a victory.

There’s no better example of that than last night when Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini managed a Nebraska team to a victory over the Missouri Tigers in a torrential down pour. Missouri took advantage of first half Nebraska mistakes and rode a 12 to 0 lead into the fourth quarter against the Cornhuskers.

What did Pelini do? He simply coached his team out of the deficit by not letting them get down and keeping hope alive. “We just kept fighting,” Pelini said.

Fighting indeed! Pelini never let his fellas stop believing that they could win the game and suddenly, the rain turned to Cornhusker Red all over the heads of Missouri as the ‘Huskers scored three touchdowns in the span of 3:22.

Nebraska did it on defense and offense which is the way Pelini likes it. How does Nebraska’s amazing fourth quarter comeback translate to an LSU victory on Saturday night?

Because it proves that unlike the NFL where talent really does reign supreme, heart, determination and flat out believing in yourself can translate to victories in college football.

LSU is a 7 ½ point underdog in the NCAA sportsbook at home against the Florida Gators. Indications are that Florida QB Tim Tebow will play on Saturday giving the Gators an even bigger advantage, but LSU will be in front of their home crowd and they have Les Miles who is like Urban Meyer except can play the underdog role while Urban cannot.

“They want to come into our house and beat us!” I can imagine Miles saying in the locker room. “We’re LSU, people! LSU!” Miles’s closed door rants no doubt have worked as the Tigers are 45 and 4 under the lights in Baton Rouge.

I’ll be betting that they are 46 and 4 after Saturday night’s game because I’m betting on the Tigers at +250 to upset the Gators.

Ole Miss and Washington Provide Money Line Profit Opportunities for NCAA Bettors

Mississippi is a 4 ½ point underdog at home against the Alabama Crimson Tide. More importantly, they are +165 on the money line. Usually, betting the money line is tough to do but the Rebels are at home and have actually played a tougher SEC team, South Carolina, than any SEC team that ‘Bama has faced so far in 2009.

‘Bama continues to live off of their Virginia Tech spank down in Week 1, but that will change this Saturday.

The Rebels should win because of their overall offensive talent and the fact that their defense is actually better than Alabama’s. The stats don’t prove it, of course, but it will be apparent on the football field as Ole Miss puts massive pressure on QB Greg McElroy. Mississippi is ranked 13 th in the NCAA against the pass and even though ‘Bama’s defense is ranked 10 th against the pass, the Rebels figure to be better defensively than the Crimson Tide because they are at home.

+165 on Mississippi shapes up as a nice wager in the sportsbook.

Another great wager is on the Washington Huskies at +155 on the money line in the sportsbook to beat Arizona straight-up. The Wildcats’ defense is supposed to be tough, but it gave up 32 points to Oregon State last week. Washington is averaging 378.4 yards per game and has averaged 25 points per game this season. They also put up 23 against LSU.

Arizona’s defense isn’t close to being as good as LSU’s. Finally, the Huskies have Jake Locker at QB and Coach Steve Sarkisian. ‘Zona? Sorry, Wildcat fans but Matt Scott at QB and Coach Mike Stoops just doesn’t compare.

Washington at +155 in the BetOnline online sportsbook could be the best college football wager on Saturday.

Quick Picks

I like Purdue to upset Minnesota at +135 on the road. Houston will bounce back as +2 ½ point underdogs versus Mississippi State.

I also like Tennessee at -1 ½ over Georgia at home, Georgia Tech to make life even worse for Bobby Bowden and Florida State at +130 on the money line, and San Jose State to cover the 4 points spread against Idaho.

Enjoy your weekend!