The 2011 college football season rolls on as many teams begin play in their conference. This means that there are a couple of huge head-to-head conference matchups that jump off the page this week to offer tremendous value given their current line.
Last week we scored big on Vanderbilt’s 30-7 pounding of Mississippi as a two-point home underdog and Temple’s 14-10 narrow loss to Penn State as a 7.5-point home underdog. This week, Bang the Book has once again done its homework to bring you a few more ‘best bets’ for this week’s action.
No.7 Oklahoma State at No.8 Texas A&M (-4)
The Cowboys’ push for the Big 12 title begins this Saturday after three relatively easy warm-up games including a 59-33 romp over Tulsa last week as 13.5-point road favorites. Oklahoma State, behind quarterback Brandon Weeden, is ranked first in the nation in passing yards and third in scoring.
This game could be the beginning of the Aggies swan song in the Big 12 before jumping to the SEC, so they are looking to go out with a bang (and a title). Defense will be the name of the game in this one as Texas A&M has only given up 21 points in its first two games.
Oklahoma State is 6-0 against the spread in its last six road games and 4-1 ATS in its last five games in the Big 12. Most importantly, the Cowboys are 3-0-1 ATS in their last four games against Texas A&M.
Football Pick: Oklahoma State 24 Texas A&M 21
No.11 Florida State at No.21 Clemson (-2.5)
The Seminoles came very close to knocking-off the No.1 team in the nation last week, but came up short in the fourth quarter in a 23-13 loss to Oklahoma as 3.5-point home underdogs. Florida State is ranked 11th in the country in points allowed, but 32nd in scoring.
The Tigers worked their way into the top 25 with an impressive 38-24 victory over then-No.21 Auburn as 3.5-point home favorites. Clemson’s offense has been extremely balanced with an average of 306 yards passing and 217 yards rushing a game.
Florida State is 1-5 ATS in the last six games against Clemson overall and 0-7 ATS in its last seven trips to Memorial Stadium. The home team in this series is 11-2 ATS in the last 13 meetings.
College Football Pick: Clemson 17 Florida State 13
California at Washington (-1.5)
You have to believe that the Golden Bears will not figure into the PAC-12 title picture this season, but they have a very capable quarterback in Zach Maynard, who has already thrown for 724 yards and nine touchdowns, and a solid running game led by Isi Sofele, who has 277 yards rushing and four TD’s.
The Huskies are another team that will be on the outside looking in, but they have already shown the ability to put points on the board in their first three games with an average of 36 points a game, including racking-up 38 points in a 13-point loss to Nebraska as a 17-point road underdog.
California is 1-4 ATS in the last five meetings overall between the two, but 5-2 ATS in the last seven games played in Washington. The underdog in this series is 4-1 ATS in the last five games.
The Football Pick: California 38 Washington 34
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