Week 14 NCAA Football
It’s the final countdown in college football this weekend. Last week we saw some very interesting games between the top ranked teams, including a big time upset by Nevada over Boise State. Did we forget to mention that TCU has accepted an offer to move to the Big East in 2012? That’s another story though. This week is going to wrap up the season for a lot of teams and there are some great games that sports bettors will be able to go up big on.
Pittsburgh Panthers @ Cincinnati Bearcats (-2)
Saturday, December 4 – 12:00 PM
It’s a rematch of last year’s game that nearly cost Cincinnati a trip to the BCS bowl. However, unlike last year these two teams are lacking their big time players that had them coming into the game with ranks of 5 and 15 respectively. This season both teams are struggling as Pitt comes in with a 6-5 record and Cincinnati with a 4-7 record. So what’s on the line for these two teams? Quite frankly, next to nothing.
After getting burned by WVU last week, Pitt has almost no hope of winning the Big East and heading to the sought Fiesta Bowl. Many Pitt hopefuls were expressing how important it is for the team rally and get prepared to this game against Cincinnati, but seeing the players it was obvious their backs were broken. There is little motivation for Pitt to come out firing in this game. It would not be surprising to see Pitt come out flat and let this game slip away early.
That being said, Cincinnati is no great shakes themselves, and being a conference rival Pitt might still have a little left in the tank to put up a solid fight. Cincinnati has had their fair share of struggles this season after losing their super star QB Tony Pike. His replacement, Zach Collaros, has had a pretty decent season with 2700 passing yards and 25 TD, but he lacks enough talent around him to consistently win games.
This will be a very interesting game. Neither team has much incentive to win and quite honestly if they had the choice they would probably opt out of playing this game.
Betting Trends
Pittsburgh is 4-2 SU in the last 6 games and 2-2-2 ATS in the last 6 on the road. When playing Cincinnati in the last 5 games the total has gone OVER. Cincinnati is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games and 16-8 SU in its last 24.
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Nevada Wolf Pack (-10) @ Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Saturday, December 4 – 3:00 PM
Aside from Boise State’s kicker Kyle Brotzman, who missed 2 field goals in last week’s game against Nevada, receiving death threats, the Nevada win had been the talk of the town. They knocked off one of the last remaining undefeated teams in the league by a score of 34-31. Nevada truly showed their grit as they held off the high powered offense of Kellen Moore and The Broncos to squeeze out a win in OT.
The Wolf Pack comes into this game with an 11-1 record with their only loss coming in Hawaii. QB Colin Kaepernick has had a good season with 2600 pass yards and 20 TD. He is also dangerous on the ground as his quick speed allows him to avoid pass rushes and run for needed yardage. His RB Vai Taua is having an incredible season with nearly 1400 yards and 17 TD. Last week in the win over Boise State he rushed for 131 yards on 32 carries with 1 TD.
Louisiana Tech is does have the caliber of players that Nevada is sporting, but they do have some offensive weapons and they are a hungry team. The Bulldogs are coming off two wins against San Jose and New Mexico and are ready to pull this upset this week. They rank 57th overall points scored but 85th overall in points allowed. If they are going to have a chance at covering the spread they will need to control Nevada’s offense.
Betting Trends
Nevada is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games and 4-1 SU in its last 5 games on the road. In the last 5 meetings with Louisiana Tech, Nevada has won all 5. LA Tech is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games and 13-5 SU in its last 18 home games. However, when playing Nevada the team is 1-4 ATS in its last 5. In the last 9 games between these two teams the total has gone OVER in 6 of them.
Auburn Tigers (-5) @ South Carolina Gamecocks
Saturday, December 4 – 4:00 PM
The final game of the regular season for these two teams will take place at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta where the Gamecocks look to take the SEC championship from Auburn. Last week Auburn was fully tested in a game against Alabama and managed to pull out a marginal win 28-27. It doesn’t get much easier this week as South Carolina is ranked 18th in the nation with a 9-3 record.
These two teams have already met once this season when Auburn took a win at home 35-27. There is no question that Auburn has earned the right to be called one of the top two teams in the nation, but this SEC championship game is going to require all of their concentration.
The Gamecocks have played a very difficult schedule and come out with a 9-3 record. Some of their more notable games include wins over the then 1st place team Alabama, Georgia, and Florida. South Carolina has a great deep threat in Alshon Jeffery and Auburn defensive backs have had trouble with deep coverage in the past.
This is going to be a very entertaining game to watch. Auburn is playing for the national championship and South Carolina is playing for the SEC title. Of Lou Holtz will tell that The Gamecocks will win this game without a doubt – but his opinion might be slightly skewed after coaching at South Carolina for 5 years. The experts have a very solid pick to take home on this one.
Betting Trends
Auburn is undefeated this season SU and 5-0 SU in its last 5 games against South Carolina. The Gamecocks are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games. The total has gone OVER in 6 of South Carolina’s last 9 games.
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