Early picks for Saturday

[NY Reb]

I am putting up some early picks this week, anticipating line movements.

Alabama +13 over Oklahoma.
I think Bama was looking forward to this game when they played MTSU. Oklahoma is good, but Bama has the talent this year to play them very close. Look for the line to go lower.

Southern Miss -4.5 over Illinois.
USM simply have better athletes, and this is a huge home game for them. The line will go higher, and Illinois will be ambushed in Hattiesburg.

Troy State +3.5 over UAB.
UAB lost 9 starters from last year's good defense, while the men of Troy return all their key players. UAB was massacred by Florida while Troy played Nebraska tough. I look for Troy to win outright, and this line will definitely go lower.

South Carolina -4 over Virginia.
Virginia is too young to hang close to a Holtz-coached team. The line will go higher on this one, and USC should win big.

I'll have other games that I'll post later in the week.

Last week I went 3-2-1, winning with BYU, Central Florida, and Oregon, and losing with FSU and LSU. Auburn +7 played to a tie. I should have waited until the line went to 7.5 as I would have won that one too. In future records I'll drop that tie, since it is basically irrelevant.

Don't worry, be happy.

 

[boilermaker]

Welcome aboard NY Reb, I like them all but Bama. Good Luck.

 

[mansa_musa]

Haven't looked at any of your games except Bama +13. I think Bama's SEC pedigree keeps them close here. The Big 12 showed me that they are an overrated conference in last years bowl season, as well as early on this year. I think Oklahoma will show some first game jitters here, since their opener was no more than a glorified scrimmage -- They beat this same Tulsa team 58-0 last year. If they make half as many mistakes in this game, then that offense will have to play from behind at some point & Bama will be in the driver seat. OU did play Arkansas in a bowl game last year and won 10-3, I see a similar type game here.

I'm not high on Watts at QB, but he has played in tough games on the road & I feel the Bama team wants to make a statement since they have nothing else to play for except pride.