College Football Picks 11/17 Part 1

Time to bounce back from a rough landing last week in the night games.

5 Star Play

Cincinnati -7 vs Rutgers

Top Play

Houston/Marshall over 75
Florida St -31 vs Maryland
Northwestern +7 vs Mich St and under 45.5
USC/UCLA Over 64.5

Writeups

Cincinnati- For the recent history of the Big East, it seems like the front running team to win the conference always gets knocked off in a tough away game. Remember Pitt taking down W. Virginia among the prominent examples.

Cinci- has been pretty much flying under the radar however they have several nice wins under their belt. They are taking on a surprising Rutgers team that has maximized their talent. The Bearcats offense will be primed to score in this one and Rutgers has played their best ball already will run into a buzzsaw in this one.

Houston/Marshall- Going back to well with this one. Neither teams has much on defense and for any wins they have, have relied heavily on their offense. I don't expect much of a change in strategy in this one and for the game to fly over the total.

Florida St- It has been a trying year for Maryland and they have laid it on the line several times this year dealing with many injuries. This is a game though, even if healthy, there would be a huge talent deficit between the two teams. With the injuries, Maryland is really behind the 8 ball. Add that these teams don't like each other and I like Florida St to really put it to the terps. Consider taking FSU in the first half as well as this should be a beatdown from start to finish.

Northwestern- The Wildcats had another incredible collapse last week and hits the road against an MSU team that unbelievably has not played well at home at all this week. Both teams need a win and both teams will not be looking to give this game away with turnovers. Ultimately, Mich St does not have enough on offense to win this game going away. It will be a low scoring game and whoever comes out on top will do so by 4 points or less.

USC/UCLA- The battle of LA actually means something this year. Looking at this game, both teams have had some very impressive offensive performances and both teams will rely on their offenses to get them the victory. Conversely both team's defenses have been shredded at various times so any stops that the defenses get will be a luxury. The game may start out slow as both teams will come out fired up but it will be a real track meet in the 2nd half.