(Played Kent State +34 1/2) Kent State +34 @ Penn State- Kent St is 2-0 ATS under new coach, Sean Lewis, so far this season. Penn St should let down a little after throttling Pitt. Penn State has a short week after this game, starting its BIG 10 schedule on Friday night at Illinois.
(GAME CANCELLED) UCF -14.5 @ UNC – My only concern is the weather. There may still be affects from Florence. UCF will be fired up to take down a Power 5 team, and will look at this game as a resume builder. UNC’s home crowd is pretty sedate and won’t be a factor in the game.
(Played Indiana -14 1/2) Ball State @ Indiana -14 – Ball State had a great game at Notre Dame last week. ND was in a letdown spot after their previous game against Michigan and I think that was a bigger factor in Ball State’s performance. Indiana has lost this game before so won’t overlook it again. This is a letdown/look ahead spot for Indiana but Ball State was picked to finish near the bottom of the MAC.
(Played Army -7) Hawai’i @ Army -6 – This game kicks off at 6:00 AM Hawai’ian time. Army faced a similar offense last week in Liberty and held them to two touchdowns. I trust the Army coaching staff and agree that Army is the favorite in this game.
(Played Toledo +12) Miami @ Toledo +10 – I don’t remember who posted this but it was a Miami alum, “Never take the Hurricanes on the road in a noon kickoff to cover”. Following this rule has won for me in the past. Toledo led this game at halftime in Miami last year.
(Played Duke +5 1/2) Duke +6 @ Baylor – Duke has played much better competition than Baylor so far this year. Duke is the underdog because of the injury to its starting QB. The backup has seen playing time in 10 games last season and has a week to prepare. He’s a dual-threat QB so it will be something that Baylor will have to change its preparation for. I will update as more information comes out.
(Holding off for now) USF @ Ill +9.5 – Illinois’s defense is supposed to be much improved. I trust Lovie Smith more in this situation. Definitely not a strong play right now.
(GAME CANCELLED) WVU -4 @ NC State – Another game where the weather could play a factor. WVU looks to be legit after beating Tennessee and I still think NC State is a pretender. NC State played in a very weak Coastal Division last year where their signature win was against an 8-4 Louisville team. NC State did beat a superior Notre Dame squad a couple of years ago in the heavy rains of Hurricane Matthew.
(Holding off for now) Houston @ Texas Tech -1.5 – I still don’t believe in Houston. They beat Rice and Arizona, two teams that look like they may cellar dwellers in their respective conferences. Texas Tech should still have better players (with the exception of Ed Oliver) being a Big XII team.
(No play) Eastern Michigan +5 @ Buffalo – I’m giving more weight to EMU’s win over Purdue than Buffalo’s win over Temple. Need to look into this one more.
(Holding off for now) Texas State @ South Alabama -10.5 – More info needed on this one. USA didn’t cover last week against OK State. They need this win to get going but can they cover the spread?
(Played SDSU +5) Arizona State @ San Diego State +4.5 – Arizona State is coming off their defensive battle with Michigan State and has a trip to Washington next week. Classic letdown/look ahead spot. San Diego State played a very good FCS school last week but getting less credit for a solid win since Sac State is FCS. ASU defensive coordinator is came over from SDSU so SDSU offense is familiar with the scheme and SDSU defensive should be fired up to play against old coach.