College Football Locks For Week One

This Thursday marks the opening of the best time of year for a gambler:  the return of NCAA Football.  Not the NFL.  The NFL features 16 games per week tops.  The small schedule creates very sharp lines.  College is the exact opposite.  Since there are so many games each week it is inevitable that if you look hard enough you can find game with lines 7-10 points away from what they should be.  Most of these lines are going to feature team(s) nobody follows. Those are the games this feature will focus on mostly. 


 412sportstalk.net has been nice enough to give me a forum to present my plays week to week.  Some of my plays will feature action on top notch match-ups, but for the most part they will be on second rate match-ups that you will never be able to find on television.  So if you are the guy that likes to only bet games you are watching, this spot will probably not be for you.  But if you are the type that likes to make smart "sports investments" this will be right up your alley.  Keep in mind that these plays are for "entertainment purposes" only!  haha...

Now, without further adieu, here is the first installment.  Games for Thursday, September 1, 2011.  (picks are BOLD)

WISCONSIN -35 vs UNLV

UNLV is young and terrible.  They return just 11 starters from last year and in Bobby Hauck's second season he will still be running his schemes with the wrong talent.  Wisconsin only returns 12, but they are Wisconsin, not UNLV .  While UNLV retools, Wisconsin will reload.  Brett Bielema (6th season) is going to look to come out strong vs the Mountain West after having his season ruined in the Rose Bowl by "The Little Sister's of the Poor" TCU.  This game is going to get ugly fast.  If Wisky scores less than 50 it would be a miracle.  If UNLV scores twice it will be an even bigger miracle.

SYRACUSE -7 vs Wake Forest

Since winning the ACC Title in 2006, the Wake Forest Demon Deacons have been in a tail spin.  This year should start the turnaround for Jim Grobe (11th season).  Of course Syracuse is not viewed as much more than just a tune up before they get their conference play underway the following week when they host in state rival NC State which creates a very early look-ahead.  Syracuse is still working on selling themselves to the nation.  In just his second year at Syracuse, Doug Marrone overachieved a ton with Syracuse last year.  This year he is looking to build off his 8 win season and take the next step.  They have a wonderful opening to their schedule hosting Wake before welcoming Rhode Island (yes, they have a football team) in week two.  The Deacons have never traveled to the Carrier Dome, which should be looking more like the Dome of old.  Last year as a road dog the Deacons were a dismal 1-5 ATS.

Best of luck, 

The Mighty Guin