Roberts College Football Plays: Huskies, Rebels, & Haweyes

Week 8 College Football Plays

Washington +10 vs. Oregon - This game opened up Oregon -6 and was quickly bet up to -10 by the sharpest player in Las Vegas. It’s usually not wise to go against that type of play, but I liked Washington from the start on the basis of their home wins alone against ranked opponents like USC and Arizona, along with a near upset opening week vs. LSU.

Oregon has their high-octane QB Jeremiah Masoli back this week and they’re coming off a bye, but the combination of Washington’s fired up crowd, Jake Locker making big plays, and Oregon looking ahead to their big game in Eugene next week against USC makes this a great spot for Washington.

This also is worth a poke at taking the money line for a portion of the allotted wager.

UNLV pk @ New Mexico: UNLV has been winless on the road forever and are 0-2 this season. The Rebels just got pounded back to back weeks at home by the ranked team of BYU and Utah. Coach Mike Sanford is 7-17 in his career against the spread as a road team.

It doesn’t sound like the Rebels could beat anyone in any instance, does it?

Almost, but the one instance they should win on the road comes this week against the New Mexico Lobos who are 0-6 this season. A hungry team is tough to play, especially when you have your own issues, but sometimes really bad is just bad.

Iowa pk @ Michigan State - Everyone is so weary of taking a chance on Iowa as they head towards the BIG-10 title. This is the last real hurdle for the Hawkeyes before their final test in Columbus against the struggling Buckeyes.

Last week everyone was betting against Iowa at Wisconsin and it was the wrong choice. This week it’s been the same type of pattern and should see similar results. The bet-against game will be in Columbus for all the marbles when Ohio State will be devalued and Iowa is then over-valued.

Roberts College Football Selections: Red River Rivalry Controlled By Texas

Texas (5-0) -3 vs. Oklahoma (3-2): The Longhorns have won three of the four in this series covering all four games. The three wins Texas has over that span have all been by double digits. The Sooners are playing strictly for pride at this point while Texas is playing for a position in the BCS Championship game. Much more at stake here for Texas.

Texas hasn’t run the ball well this year and they’ll need a better performance then they had last week against lowly Colorado. Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley should have enough offensive firepower to outscore a Sooner team still not in sync with Sam Bradford.

Notre Dame (4-1) +10 vs. USC (4-1): It’s never a good idea to bet against the Trojans but this looks like a nice spot for Notre Dame to pull off a possible upset. Notre Dame has lost seven straight to USC and six of the losses were by double digits. The last two meetings, Notre Dame got clubbed a combined 76-3.

The reason Notre Dame should do well this game rests with QB Jimmy Clausen who can move the ball effectively against anyone. He’s averaging over 300 yards per game passing with 12 TD’s. USC will be piloted by a more comfortable Matt Barkley, but he’ll be forced to throw more in this game which Pete Carroll would like to avoid. The home crowd will play a huge role in this game and rattle the freshman late.

Florida (5-0) -26 vs. Arkansas (3-2): The Razorbacks have a great offense averaging 451 yards and 37 points per game. They’ll be heavily tested this week against the great Gators defense that is allowing only 6.4 points and 202 yards per game. Florida will score in all areas of offense, defense, and special teams making the cover easy in this game. The Gators are 11-3 in their last 14 games at home against the spread.

Iowa (6-0) +3 @ Wisconsin (5-1): In a similar situation last season, Wisconsin was undefeated, lost to Ohio State and then got blown away by Iowa 38-16. This year, it’s the same thing as a deflated Badger team gets their first loss of the season and welcomes Iowa. Iowa has won 5 of the last seven meetings in this series and has their hopes set in running the Big-10 table and getting a shot at the BCS Title game. Look for an inspired Iowa performance this week and play the money line.