Category: Free Picks (Page 3 of 5)

5 STAR-Texas +4.5 over Alabama

The Longhorns are No. 1 in country against the run, the Tide’s Heisman way of moving the ball. Alabama RB Mark Ingram became a target when he won the Heisman over Longhorns QB Colt McCoy.
Alabama’s OL is big, but Texas’ DL counts on speed.
The Longhorns’ game plan will be to disrupt what the Tide does best and make them throw. Not an easy task but the Longhorns have done it all year.
Alabama has a great defense so this game comes down to which QB can carry his team to victory as most defensive games do. Texas will win outright.
McCoy leads the nation in wins (45) the only stat that really matters, and is the second-most accurate passer at 70-plus percent. He has over 10,000 more career passing yards than Jr. Greg McElroy. McCoy has thrown eight more picks than McElroy this season, but he’s also thrown 10 more TDs. He took the starting job as a Soph. after Vince Young won the BCS Championship against USC and knows this is it for his chance to win one.
If you believe in trends or angles. The No. 2 team has beaten No. 1 in three of the last four meetings for the BCS title, beginning with Texas over USC.
Add to it Alabama having the Heisman winner, never good, and crowned SEC champs. Most people in the South consider that the real championship.
The great thing about college football is that emotion is a huge factor. Alabama put everything they had into beating Florida. What do they have left a month later to get motivated for this game. Texas lots of emotion left in the tank for this one. I’m taking the points in an upset. Hookem’ Horns.

www.vegasvicsports.com

ORANGE BOWL
GEORGIA TECH -3.5 over Iowa
Yellow Jackets play an Iowa team that was picked apart at end of the season. Iowa will likely get QB Ricky Stanzi back for this game. Stanzi played late in the season throwing six interceptions in the last two games he played. Iowa was never as good as their 9-0 record and they finished poorly down the stretch losing two of their last three games. Iowa will have trouble scoring points and Georgia Tech does well averaging 35 points per game. Iowa scored just 277 points this season and Georgia Tech scored 459 points in one more game. Expect the Yellow Jackets to run up and down the field. Rambling Wreck to much for Hawkeyes.

EAGLE BANK BOWL
UCLA vs. Temple
UCLA won its first three games before going 3-6 the rest of the way. The Bruins only three conference wins came against three of the Pac-10’s worst teams in Washington, Washington State and Arizona State. It was that late season three-game winning streak that got them into this Bowl game. Any success the Bruins are going to have in this game will likely have to come from their defense. Their fans are hoping they can benefit from a step down in class against a MAC opponent. Bruins went 4-1 ATS as favorites but 2-5 ATS as underdogs this season. Bruins were searching for a new HC two years ago, they gave Temple HC Al Golden, a long look. But they chose Rick Neuheisel. Neuheisel guided UCLA to 10-14 record over two seasons, Golden finished leading Owls to first winning season since 1990.

Take UCLA