College Football Bowl Season Picks and Previews

The last couple of weeks in the regular season once again proved that it is all a myth when people say the season represents 'one long Play Off'.

The Alabama-LSU rematch (something I actually wanted to see if I am honest) has been set as the National Championship Game, but I can't help but feel sorry for Oklahoma State- the Cowboys arguably had the tougher schedule than the Crimson Tide, and their sole loss can be put down to circumstances beyond their control as it came the night after the Women's basketball Coach and Assistant had passed away in an air crash.

It seems Oklahoma State got very close to overtaking Alabama after destroying Oklahoma at home in the final game of the regular season while the Crimson Tide had the week off, but alas it was not quite good enough.

The BCS Bowls have rightly been criticised in other areas, particularly setting up the Michigan Wolverines v Virginia Tech Hokies game in the Sugar Bowl, overlooking teams like Boise State and the Kansas State Wildcats. Personally I am happy Michigan got in to that game, but Virginia Tech should not have after their thorough beating at the hands of Clemson in the ACC Championship Game.

We do have some interesting games to look forward to over the coming weeks, but be careful as motivation of teams is hard to gauge, while players can also be ineligible to play in these games depending on how their academics are going.

A couple of games I am looking forward to are Ohio State v Florida, Florida State v Notre Dame, Houston v Penn State, Stanford v Oklahoma State and, of course, the National Championship Game.


I would also like to take this time to congratulate Robert Griffin III who looks the most likely winner of the Heisman Trophy which will be presented on Saturday. By all accounts, he has a large enough lead over Andrew Luck and I think Griffin III is a deserving winner for everything he has done this season.


The Bowl season unofficially starts this week as Navy take on Army in Washington, while the first official games take place on December 17th.

I will post picks and previews throughout the next few weeks and will update this post and my twitter account (@DavAulak) whenever I do... I will not be playing EVERY Bowl game, but will look at the majority of them to round off what has been a successful year so far.

Utah State Aggies v Ohio University Bobcats Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12695-Ohio-University-at-Utah-State-Aggies.htm)

TCU Horned Frogs v Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12739-Louisiana-Tech-at-TCU-Horned-Frogs.htm)

Boise State Broncos v Arizona State Sun Devils Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12742-Arizona-State-at-Boise-State.htm)

Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles v Nevada Wolf Pack Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12755-Nevada-Wolf-Pack-at-Southern-Mississippi.htm)

Air Force Falcons v Toledo Rockets Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12804-Toledo-Rockets-at-Air-Force-Falcons.htm)

Texas Longhorns v California Golden Bears Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12805-California-at-Texas-Longhorns.htm)

Florida State Seminoles v Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12819-Notre-Dame-at-Florida-State.htm)

Baylor Bears v Washington Huskies Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12820-Washington-Huskies-at-Baylor-Bears.htm)

Kansas State Wildcats v Arkansas Razorbacks Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12890-Arkansas-Razorbacks-at-Kansas-State.htm)


MY PICKS: Ohio University Bobcats @ 2.10 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Louisiana Tech Bulldogs + 9.5 Points @ 1.92 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Boise State Broncos - 13.5 Points @ 1.92 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles - 8 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Toledo Rockets - 3 Points @ 1.92 Coral (1 Unit)
California Golden Bears + 3.5 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Notre Dame Fighting Irish + 3.5 Points @ 2.00 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Baylor Bears - 9.5 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Arkansas Razorbacks - 7.5 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)


WEEK 14: 2-3, - 1.16 Units
WEEK 13: 8-0, + 7.48 Units
WEEK 12: 3-5, - 2.21 Units
WEEK 11: 4-5, - 1.21 Units
WEEK 10: 5-3, + 1.74 Units
WEEK 9: 4-2, + 1.82 Units
WEEK 8: 2-4, - 2.16 Units
WEEK 7: 5-3, + 1.8 Units
WEEK 6: 6-1, + 4.66 Units
WEEK 5: 3-3, - 0.21 Units

WEEK 4: 4-2, + 1.80 Units

WEEK 3: 5-1, + 3.60 Units

WEEK 2: 3-0, + 2.82 Units

WEEK 1: 4-0, + 3.74 Units


SEASON UPDATE: 58-32, + 22.41 Units

College Football Week 8 Picks and Previews

College Football continues this week as the first BCS Rankings were released last week and we still have a situation where the big teams are creaming the rest, as I found to my cost when picking Tennessee + 17 points against LSU last week.

Apparently the top 10 teams this season are 48-13-2 against the spread this season, a winning percentage of just under 79% so the average Joe should be having a great season.

That kind of record also means Vegas are making sure they get as high as possible with their lines so we could see a drop off of those stats as we come towards the end of the regular season- it is definitely something to look out for as we move through the weeks.

We have already seen some kind of reaction to the trend of the season as both LSU and Alabama are big favourites, being forced to lay more than 3 TD's in games against Auburn and Tennessee respectively, and I think we need to tread carefully for the rest of the season to avoid blindly going with the trend and falling apart all the good work we have done this season so far.

Right now it looks like we have two dates to circle in the calender to determine who will be playing in the National Championship game- the first of those is November 5th when LSU go to Tuscaloosa to meet Alabame, the second is when Oklahoma and Oklahoma State meet on December 3rd.

The likes of Wisconsin, Boise State and Stanford are very much looking in and hoping 3 of the teams mentioned lose at least 1 game while they can run the table themselves, but I would be surprised if any of these 3 schools get a chance to play in the big one.

Remember to check out Twitter where I will update whenever I have locked in the lines for this weeks picks and let us hope for another successful week to add to a very productive season so far:

West Virginia Mountaineers @ Syracuse Orange Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12109-West-Virginia-at-Syracuse-Orange.htm)

North Carolina Tar Heels @ Clemson Tigers Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12110-North-Carolina-at-Clemson-Tigers.htm)

Oklahoma State Cowboys @ Missouri Tigers Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12111-Oklahoma-State-at-Missouri-Tigers.htm)

Arkansas Razorbacks @ Ole Mississippi Rebels Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12112-Arkansas-Razorbacks-at-Ole-Mississippi.htm)

Texas A&M Aggies @ Iowa State Cyclones Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12123-Texas-A&M-Aggies-at-Iowa-State-Cyclones.htm)

Wisconsin Badgers @ Michigan State Spartans Pick and Preview (http://goonersguide.com/football-pick-12124-Wisconsin-Badgers-at-Michigan-State.htm)


MY PICKS: West Virginia Mountaineers - 13.5 Points @ 1.92 William Hill (1 Unit)
Clemson Tigers - 10.5 Points @ 1.92 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Oklahoma State Cowboys - 6.5 Points @ 1.92 Paddy Power (1 Unit)
Arkansas Razorbacks - 15 Points @ 1.92 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Texas A&M Aggies - 20.5 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)
Wisconsin Badgers - 7 Points @ 1.95 Pinnacle (1 Unit)


WEEK 7: 5-3, + 1.8 Units
WEEK 6: 6-1, + 4.66 Units
WEEK 5: 3-3, - 0.21 Units

WEEK 4: 4-2, + 1.80 Units

WEEK 3: 5-1, + 3.60 Units

WEEK 2: 3-0, + 2.82 Units

WEEK 1: 4-0, + 3.74 Units


SEASON UPDATE: 30-10, + 18.21 Units