I like dis wonsbama - bad favorite
Illinois pops out at me but I also think this may be a public dog / bloodletting.....
Illinois - seems wrong but teams going opposite directions
And Org St... they have been VERY profitable as a ML Dog this yearList should start with K-State me thinks.
Well....we have 3 MACtion dogs to look at.
Toledo is down, Kent is a bit better. Question is has Toledo slipped enough and Kent improved enough to matter? It's not a series the Flashes have done well in.
Western Michigan is good, but Ball St is up. Ball St is 3-1 in league with everyone else in division having 2 or more losses. Last year went to OT and BSU won (WM on backup QBs), historically WM pounds them.
Ohio D is bad, Miami Ohio showing signs of life as this season wears on. Miami upset them last year. Rivalry game. This is the official 150th CFB anniversary celebration game.
Oregon State could do it again? Washington is tough, but not historically tough and Eason isn't great. Beaver's D going to be the potential liability. But they are home and hot, won 3 of last 4 PAC 12 games...when is the last time that could be said? The loss in that stretch? Just a 7-52 thumping at the hands of Utah - ouch!
I'll try and look at the Saturday games later.
Red Zone scoring is another Tulsa weakness that happens every week.
Vs Tulane, they were in the Red Zone 8x, but only got 2 TDs out of those (and 4 FGs). Tulsa has scored TDs on 50% or less of their RZ trips 5 of their last 6 games. Something has to change there if you think they can beat UCF. When the field compresses, this offense struggles even more.
Regarding Tulsa, taking the intanglibles and motivations aside, the OL has been horrible all year. Sometimes Smith is at fault for the sacks and hurries, most times it is OL, then even when the protection holds Smith is looks flustered at times probably because he is expecting to get blasted any second. Tulsa has allowed 33 sacks, only 5 teams have allowed more. Rushing ypg, attempts and ypc are all down quite a bit with the poor OL as well.
Other than some bad luck, poor coaching and just not being able to finish, the OL is the only glaring weakness I have seen on their team.
Pretty disappointing (I did go over 4.5 on them). And surely they are disappointed as well. So they hit a new low point each week after another loss that they maybe could've won.
As to the specific point of Tulsa winning 6 of 7 vs UCF - totally irrelevant. Tulsa was favored in 5 of those 6 wins and the other win they were only a 1.5 pt dog. The one loss they were a 20.5 pt dog. So that says that Tulsa was the better team in those wins (or in 5 of the 6 wins). Tulsa is not the better team right now, clearly UCF is.
Might be able to make an ATS case on them, might (bad UCF run D?). If you see the upset, you got to follow your gut. If you can make a case I would like to hear it because I need them to win their last 3 anyway!
Just something I consider and like looking at is the power ratings at scores and odds. Tulsa is the dog that has the largest gap in strength of schedule this week. I saw it and it made me look at this game a bit closer. Put this in the FWIW column:Regarding Tulsa, taking the intanglibles and motivations aside, the OL has been horrible all year. Sometimes Smith is at fault for the sacks and hurries, most times it is OL, then even when the protection holds Smith is looks flustered at times probably because he is expecting to get blasted any second. Tulsa has allowed 33 sacks, only 5 teams have allowed more. Rushing ypg, attempts and ypc are all down quite a bit with the poor OL as well.
Other than some bad luck, poor coaching and just not being able to finish, the OL is the only glaring weakness I have seen on their team.
Pretty disappointing (I did go over 4.5 on them). And surely they are disappointed as well. So they hit a new low point each week after another loss that they maybe could've won.
As to the specific point of Tulsa winning 6 of 7 vs UCF - totally irrelevant. Tulsa was favored in 5 of those 6 wins and the other win they were only a 1.5 pt dog. The one loss they were a 20.5 pt dog. So that says that Tulsa was the better team in those wins (or in 5 of the 6 wins). Tulsa is not the better team right now, clearly UCF is.
Might be able to make an ATS case on them, might (bad UCF run D?). If you see the upset, you got to follow your gut. If you can make a case I would like to hear it because I need them to win their last 3 anyway!
Just something I consider and like looking at is the power ratings at scores and odds. Tulsa is the dog that has the largest gap in strength of schedule this week. I saw it and it made me look at this game a bit closer. Put this in the FWIW column:
Average power rating of opponents played: UCF 27.67, TULSA 38.67
True, just their 5 AAC opponents I quickly looked have a combined 36-7 record. UCF's 5 AAC opponents are 20-23 I believe. Basically Tulsa has played all the top AAC teams...and play another this week. Tulsa has been in every game except Navy, was kinda in the Tulane game.
Where else can you get in-depth perspective on a game that I, for one, don't know shit about...
Thanks for the post and good luck.
:shake:
Weather might help Tulsa. Bitter cold, maybe some wind, probably the coldest weather some of the UCF players have ever played in.
But, as pointed out above, there are coaching issues with Tulsa among many other issues. They have had the most penalties in the country since week 1 and I think they are still dead last. Also among the bottom feeders in the kicking game and red zone performance.
They seem to still be playing hard and they have a good defense at times, but I just don't trust them. They have found a lot of ways to lose games in the fourth quarter
San Jose definitely will have a shot.
They played arguably their best game offensive of the year vs Boise (497 yards). And with wins at Arkansas, at Army, a more competitive game than the score showed vs AF and cameback off a bad start to nearly beat Nevada.
Pretty good little team they are turning out to be.
Hawaii is always going to be up and down. The last two weeks McDonald is completing just 53% only with a 2-2 ratio in those last two games. He's been pulled for Cordeiro a couple times this year. I actually think Cordeiro is better.
Hawaii's D isn't stopping anyone,,,since their fluke? performance at Nevada, UH has allowed atleast 500 yards in every game...even New Mexico and 7.6 ypp average over the last 4 weeks.
Josh Love is putting together an All-MWC season, although he suffers some inconsistency as well. SJ St has no balance at all, but they are pretty good passing team with plenty of quality targets.
Even Brent Brennan's bad San Jose teams have competed well vs Hawaii. Last year was a 41-44 OT loss (+10.5). Two years ago SJ was only outgained by 53 yards in Honolulu losing 26-37 (+17)
Tell me why Washington has any motivation left at this point. After back to back close losses to Oregon and Utah all of their hopes for a good season are gone. Now they have to travel to Oregon State on a Friday night against a motivated team playing to get themselves closer to bowl eligibility.
Oregon State is playing well and they will definitely be the more motivated team. Give me the Beavers + 10.5 and the money line.
I totally agree, Brewers. Jimmymo has a great write up on this game on why Washington should win. I just have a hard time seeing the motivation factor for UW. Maybe talent wins out, but I'm jumping on the Beav tonight.
Tell me why Washington has any motivation left at this point. After back to back close losses to Oregon and Utah all of their hopes for a good season are gone. Now they have to travel to Oregon State on a Friday night against a motivated team playing to get themselves closer to bowl eligibility.
Oregon State is playing well and they will definitely be the more motivated team. Give me the Beavers + 10.5 and the money line.
Agree about Louisville. I will have them for sure ATS.
I always try to walk into the plays knowing the pros and cons. LV D is an obvious con. Is that too much to hold it back or anything that Miami has to offer to fear? Probably one of the biggest negatives would be Miami off the FSU win, which really wasn't that great box score wise. Miami only rushed for 40y on 24 att off just 54y on 27 att 2 weeks ago vs Pitt. Miami OL still bad.
Thinking about playing some combination(s) of:
Liberty
Tulsa
N.Texas
Cal
Illinois
Wyoming 1st Half