Wagering Lines on College Football Peg Kansas as Underdog Versus Southern Miss

After upsetting a Top 25 ranked team, in this case the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, one would think that odds makers setting the lines on college football games this weekend would give that team that upset the Top 25 ranked squad some respect.

That’s not the case when the Kansas Jayhawks travel to Hattiesburg to take on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.  Not only is Kansas receiving absolutely no respect from the odds makers, but, so far, they’re getting only minimal respect from the gambling public.  As it stands right now, only 53% of sports gamblers believe that Kansas will cover the spread on Friday night.

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Can Kansas prove that their victory over Georgia Tech wasn’t a fluke?  Or, will Southern Miss knock Kansas off of their cloud this Friday night?

Kansas Jayhawks vs. Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles

Where:  M.M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, Mississippi

When:  September 17th, 2010 at 8:00 pm EST

TV:  ESPN, ESPN3.com

NCAAF Betting Lines

Kansas Jayhawks                                            +5 ½ -110

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles               -5 ½ -110

The trends favor both teams in this game.

• The Kansas Jayhawks are 2 and 9 ATS in their last 11 games overall.

• The Kansas Jayhawks are 10 and 1 ATS in their last 11 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.

• The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are 1 and 4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games.

• The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are 4 and 1 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight-up win.

Betting lines on college football odds makers have pretty much told us that they haven’t forgotten Kansas for their 6 to 3 loss to North Dakota State as 27 ½ point favorites a couple of weeks ago.  The Jayhawks couldn’t get anything going on offense that day. 

Obviously, they got quite a bit going on offense in their game against Georgia Tech…or, did they?  Even though the score read Kansas 28 and Georgia Tech 25 at the end of the game, the Jayhawks had only 320 total yards to Georgia Tech’s 407 yards.  Although Kansas held Tech to only 116 passing yards, they gave up 291 rushing yards.

The reason that Southern Mississippi is the favorite when it comes to the NCAAF betting lines on college football is because, based on the stats and not just the fact that they’re at home for this one, Southern Miss is the better team. The Golden Eagles did lose 41 to 13 to South Carolina but they racked up 404 yards against Carolina’s stout defense.  They also had only 2 less first downs in that game then the Gamecocks did, 23 to 25, and they kept the ball for roughly 2 more minutes in the game than South Carolina.

The biggest problem Southern Miss had in that game was running the ball and keeping the Gamecocks rushers from getting into the secondary.  The 2 turnovers didn’t help either.  The Golden Eagles allowed 224 yards on the ground while running for only 67 yards themselves in that game.  A week later against Prairie View A&M, Southern Mississippi was much better.  They ran for 253 yards on the ground and passed for 211 while holding Prairie View A&M to 144 passing yards and 67 rushing yards. 

Granted, Prairie View A&M is not the same as South Carolina, but Kansas isn’t the same as South Carolina either.  Kansas didn’t even reach the 300 total yard mark in their loss to North Dakota State two weeks ago.

I don’t have faith that a Kansas team coming off of a mirage victory as big time underdogs can go into Southern Mississippi and beat the Golden Eagles.  I don’t even believe that Kansas can cover the spread.

I’m going with Southern Miss -5 ½ in this game.  

NCAAF Betting Pick:  Southern Mississippi -5 ½ -110    

Check out the latest lines on college football games by logging onto the sportsbook.

Sources:  espn.com, usatoday.com, covers.com