College football on Saturday afternoon and we will see the Cincinnati Bearcats travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Cougars. The game has a start time of 12:00 pm (Eastern) and be will televised on the ESPN U. Vegas odds have Houston listed as 3.5 point favorites, while the total sits at 58.
Analysis: The Bearcats have quietly amassed an 8-2 overall record, and at 5-1 in conference play, are tied with the Cardinals for second in the AAC standings. Cincinnati routed Rutgers, 52-17, on the road last weekend for its fifth straight victory. Cincinnati had 619 yards of total offense in the win vs Rutgers and putting up big yardage totals is nothing new for Cincinnati which ranks second in the conference in total offense (478.7 ypg), while also scoring a healthy 35.2 points per game. Brendon Kay wasn't head coach Tommy Tuberville's first choice at quarterback this season, but he has done a fine job this year, totaling 2,411 yards and 20 TDs on 72.6 percent passing, while being intercepted just 7 times. Anthony McClung is his favorite target with 52 receptions for 674 yards and 5 Tds. The Bearcats are second in the league in both total defense (304.8 ypg) and points allowed (18.6 ppg).
Houston hit a snag in the last two games as they lost back-to-back contests on the road at UCF (19-14) and Louisville (20-13), which dropped them to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in the AAC. The Cougars had just 195 yards of total offense against Louisville and have failed to reach over 400 yards in the last three contests, after having more than 480 in six of the first seven games of the year. QB John O'Korn has had a nice year for the Cougars, throwing for 2,473 yards and 23 scores on 61.3 percent passing. O'Korn has also limited his interceptions to just 6. O'Korn may be without one of his top targets this weekend, Deontay Greenberry is listed a concussion as day-to-day after suffering a concussion vs Louisville. Houston is at best an average defensive team in comparison to the rest of the AAC, ranking fifth in the league in scoring (21.8 ppg) and seventh in total defense (417.2 ypg), but they have forced a national-best 33 turnovers this season.
Pick: I will be going with the Cougars in this one. When people think Houston they usually think offense, but this team is playing some fine defense right now as they held UCF and Louisville to just 19.5 ppg in their recent two game road trip vs those teams and we also note that the Cougars lead the nation with 33 takeaways this year. Cincinnati has won 5 in a row and they did crush Rutgers on the road last week, but still Rutgers is a week team this year and their other 4 wins during this streak were vs teams with a combined 8-29 record on the year, while their 2 losses this year have been vs teams with a combined 5-14 record. Overall the Bearcats 8-2 record is a bit deceiving, because they have yet to be a team with a current winning record and earlier in the year hey did struggle on the road with losses at Illinois and South Florida, but a very lackluster 14-0 win over winless Miami-Oh. The Houston defense is playing very well right now and they have fought very hard in their losses to Louisville and UCF their last two games. Now they are at home and should get back on track with a win over a very overrated Cincinnati squad, by at least 7 points.
-$25 of picks FREE! No Obligation - No Credit Card Required - Becoming a member is Fast and Free!
RJ Bell Talks Daily Fantasy Sports — LISTEN on Soundcloud
Stay on top of the latest odds and line moves for CFB Season with our real-time odds from Las Vegas and offshore!
College Football Free Picks: Oregon at Arizona Betting
What college football bettors need to know about Oregon Ducks vs Arizona Wildcats on Saturday (11/23/13) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Bryan Leonard, with Ken Thomson and host Marco D'Angelo.