Saturday College Football Picks

May 29th College Football news ... Saturday College Football Picks at saturdaycollegefootballpicks.com

Boise State Kicker facing threats
2010-12-06

The Boise State Broncos were ranked number three in the BCS rankings on Friday. On Saturday, their untarnished record of 11-0 was crushed as well as their number three ranking as Nevada beat the Broncos 34-31 in over time. To the shock of NCAA Football betting everywhere, as the Broncos were heavily favored.
This was a tough loss, especially for Broncos’ kicker Kyle Brotzman, who missed two field goals in the game. The first being a 26 yard kick to win the game with two seconds left, and the second misfire came on an overtime kick from 24 yards.
Understandably, fans were unhappy with Brotzman’s mistakes, and decided to let him know about it. Within hours of the Broncos’ loss, the Ada County Sheriff Department received a report about a woman thought to be associated with the Brotzman family receiving obnoxious, harassing calls.
Soon the obnoxious calls transformed into Facebook pages filled with name-calling, insults, threats, and taunts. On a positive note, the supportive crowd for Brotzman appeared just as fast as the negative bunch, starting groups with names such as “Bronco Nation Loves Kyle Brotzman” and “We Still Love Kyle Brotzman.” Thousands of fans began to leave supportive messages for Brotzman on these groups, and as of Monday afternoon, 27,600 people had clicked the “Like” button for these groups.
Boise State Head Coach Chris Peterson didn’t blame the Broncos’ loss solely on Brotzman by saying that not just one single person is responsible for the loss and that there’s enough blame to go around for everyone: “Including myself. “There were a lot of other chances to win the game. That was just one of them. That's one that 99 out of 100 times he’s going to make.”
The loss drops Boise State out of any running they once had of playing in a BCS game, or possibly a national championship, and they now have to settle for a non-BCS bowl. The game was a tough break for NCAA Football betting fans, but the season it’s over yet. Are you ready to get into the action? Head over to www.sportsbook.com the home of NCAA Football betting.

Sportsbook.com Pitt vs. UConn Online Sportsbook Betting Odds: Pittsburgh -6, Total: 47.5

Pittsburgh goes for its fourth straight win when it travels to East Hartford, CT on Thursday night. The Panthers are unbeaten in Big East play and have won their five games this year by an average of 23.4 PPG. UConn forced four turnovers in a 16-13 upset win over West Virginia last Friday. The Huskies are a perfect 4-0 at home (SU and ATS) this year thanks to 15 takeaways and only six giveaways. That isn’t deterring the football betting crowd at Sportsbook.com from betting the visitors as 77 percent of the point spread bettors are on Pitt.

The Huskies still have revenge on their minds from last year’s meeting when they blew a 21-6 lead late in the third quarter and lost 24-21 on a last-second chip-shot field goal. Pittsburgh out-gained UConn 489 to 303 in that game, with RB Dion Lewis (158 rushing yards) and WR Jonathan Baldwin (8 rec., 104 yds, 1 TD) leading the way. But this season has been a different story for these two stars. Lewis was third in the nation with 138 rushing YPG last year, but that number has plummeted to 68 rushing YPG in 2010 with the emergence of Ray Graham (98 rushing YPG). Baldwin ranked 22nd in the nation in receiving yards in 2009 (86 receiving YPG), but that average has dipped to 68 receiving YPG this year. Some of the production drop has to do with sophomore Tino Sunseri starting in his first year at quarterback, but Sunseri has seven touchdowns and just one interception during the three-game win streak.

The key to this game will be whether Pitt’s eighth-ranked run defense (94 rushing YPG) can contain UConn stud RB Jordan Todman who ranks fourth in the nation with 136 rushing YPG. Last season Todman was shut down by the Panthers, gaining just 43 yards on 12 carries and catching three passes for minus-2 yards. If Todman can’t find room to run, it could be a long day for shaky senior QB Zach Frazer. Not only are Frazer’s career stats below average (54% completion rate, 14 TD, 16 INT), but he’s facing a Pittsburgh defense ranked sixth in the nation in sacks. The Panthers have also forced eight turnovers during their three-game win streak. Speaking of turnovers, UConn’s turnover-happy win over WVU marked the third time this season the Huskies have forced four turnovers in a game.

The last four times these Big East rivals squared off, the underdog covered the point spread three times and was 3-1 outright. Here are two more college football betting trends that indicate that the Huskies cover the point spread tonight:

Play On - Underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points (CONNECTICUT) - an average offensive team (21-28 PPG) against a good offensive team (28-34 PPG) after 7+ games, after scoring 3 points or less in the first half last game.

(42-13 since 1992.) (76.4%, +27.7 units. Rating = 3*).

Play Against - A road team (PITTSBURGH) - after 3 or more consecutive wins against the spread, in weeks 10 through 13. (69-31 over the last 5 seasons.) (69%, +34.9 units. Rating = 3*).

If you are interested in betting on the ‘total’, consider this:

Play Under - All teams where the total is between 42.5 and 49 (CONNECTICUT) - average offensive team (4.8 to 5.6 YPP) against a good defense (4.2 to 4.8 YPP) after 7+ games, after being outgained by opp by 125 or more total yards last game.

(34-10 over the last 10 seasons.) (77.3%, +23 units. Rating = 3*).

To see the rest of the Pitt vs. UConn betting odds, or to check out all of this week’s college football betting lines, head over to Sportsbook.com now.