Week 6 College Football Preview

This is not a great time for us, guys. Our last eight bets (going back to last weekend) are losses. We went 0-4 last night because Matt Hasselbeck turned out to be good, the two players with the most touchdowns for each team turned out to be bad, and there was a 42-yard touchdown as the first half expired to blow our "Longest Touchdown Under 40.5 Yards" play.

We need to turn this ship around. And we aren't going to do that by betting the way we have been betting. I'm going to go #guru on this, the way I normally do for college basketball. I'm looking at strengths and weaknesses. And god damnit, we're going to win a fucking bet!

The SEC's Best Rushing Teams

• LSU (334.0 yards per game, 75.4% of offensive plays)
• Georgia (244.8, 61.2%)
• Tennessee (225.0, 63.5%)
• Arkansas (204.0, 58.3%)
• Alabama (199.8, 52.8%)
• South Carolina (190.2, 60.1%)
• Auburn (190.0, 66.0%)
• Texas A&M (188.0, 54.1%)
• Ole Miss (173.0, 49.7%)
• Vanderbilt (157.0, 50.4%)
• Mississippi State (155.0, 44.1%)
• Florida (140.6, 53.1%)
• Kentucky (135.0, 53.4%)
• Missouri (116.2, 51.8%)

The SEC's Best Passing Teams

• Ole Miss (327.4 yards per game, 50.3% of offensive plays)
• Texas A&M (292.4, 45.9%)
• Mississippi State (284.8, 55.9%)
• Arkansas (272.0, 41.7%)
• Vanderbilt (255.4, 49.6%)
• Florida (253.6, 46.9%)
• Alabama (244.0, 47.2%)
• Kentucky (230.6, 46.6%)
• Georgia (208.0, 38.8%)
• Missouri (203.0, 48.2%)
• Tennessee (192.8, 36.5%)
• South Carolina (163.2, 39.9%)
• Auburn (153.8, 34.0%)
• LSU (95.5, 24.6%)

My first takeaway is LSU might as well not even have a quarterback. The same goes for Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia, and South Carolina. Arkansas is right on the border. 

Here are the SEC matchups this weekend:

Georgia (-3.5) @ Tennessee, 3:30

Lotttttt of rushing yards to be had here. In SEC play, Georgia beat Vandy and SC both handily, then got creamed by Alabama. That doesn't really tell us a whole lot, other than those lists I just made are utterly useless. 

I can tell you that UGA held Vandy - granted, a team not totally committed to rushing - to just 105 yards and 2.7 yards per carry. South Carolina, a team that focuses more on the run, managed to get 174 yards and 4.5 yards per carry. Alabama runs more effectively (although not necessarily more) than either of those teams, and they hit the Dawgs for 189 yards while holding Georgia to 193. 

This is pretty simple then: will Tennessee be able to hold Georgia's rushing attack in check and counter it with Jalen Hurd and Josh Dobbs? The Vols did that to Florida, though the Gators are more of a balanced attack. Arkansas ran ALL OVER Tennessee, out-rushing them 275 to 133. That didn't get reflected on the scoreboard, though, as the Hogs only won 24-20. Of their 11 total drives (not counting the end of the game), Arkansas scored just two touchdowns and two field goals. 

Four different Georgia players have combined to rush for the team's 15 touchdowns, and Malcolm Mitchell and Sonny Michel have each caught 3 of the team's 8 passing touchdowns. Greyson Lambert is one of the better quarterbacks in the SEC, and the Dawgs are going to be hungry after last week's embarrassment. I'm in. 

LSU (-15) @ South Carolina, 3:30

In conference, LSU has played Mississippi State and Auburn. That should give us a good look at how they fare against pass-heavy teams and against rush-heavy teams. They squeaked by on the road at MSU (21-19), and creamed Auburn at home (45-21), and the Tigers sit at a Kind Of Overinflated 4-0

That Auburn game is key because those blue and orange tigers are similar to South Carolina. They want to pound the ball on the ground. Auburn did that against LSU, totaling 160 yards and 4.3 yards per carry. But 65 of those yards (and the only rushing touchdown) came on one touchdown run for Jeremy Johnson, who still only averaged 3.4 yards per attempt. 

I'm penciling in the Cocks for the high teens or low twenties. Can LSU score enough to cover two touchdowns? If their games against Kentucky (3 rushing touchdowns), Georgia (4), and Mizzou (1) mean anything, it is going to be a busy day for Future Heisman Winner Leonard Fournette. Give me the Tigers on the road and let's help the Ol' Ball Coach one step closer to living on a beach. 

Arkansas @ Alabama (-16.5), 7:00

If you just look at the two lists above, this looks like it should be a lot closer than a 17 point game. It seems like half of that spread is coming from Nick Saban and Lane Kiffin being a million times better than Brent Bylsma, and the other half is coming from the players on the field. 

'Bama has played 3 legitimate top-25 teams: they beat Wisconsin by 18, lost to Ole Miss by 6, and just thrashed Georgia by 28 last week. 

Arkansas has played one team that is MAYBE as good as any of those three - Texas A&M, who beat the Hogs by 7. 

To cover this big of a spread, though, Alabama is going to have to be firing on all cylinders. Derrick Henry has 9 touchdowns so far, and he's going to need at least a pair. Jake Coker has run for 2 touchdowns and thrown for 9, but he's also thrown 4 interceptions this year. Arkansas has 3 interceptions on the year, but one came against UTEP and the other two came against Texas Tech, who have attempted 44 more passes than any SEC team (and 61 more than the Tide).

This one is going to be a game time decision. Rule number one is Never Bet On The Worse Team, so it's either Alabama or nothing. Spoiler alert: on Saturday at like 6:58, it will be Alabama. 

Florida (-5) @ Missouri, 7:30

These two have three things in common. (1) They stink. (2) They run the ball slightly more than they throw the ball. (3) They aren't particularly effective at running or throwing the ball. 

Bovada doesn't post over/under numbers until game day, but my side chick (Sportsbook.ag) has the total for this game at 39.5. Both of these teams are going to be kind of inflated coming off wins last week (Mizzou 24-10 against South Carolina and Florida 38-10 against Ole Miss), and I think this number is actually inflated too. 

I'm never a person that bets the under. I think, if your goal is to enjoy watching the game, betting the under is incredibly counterproductive. But listen, man. I made those lists. It told us that these two teams don't do anything good on offense. Courtesy of Fox Sports, I can also tell you that they are the first- and third-ranked teams in the SEC in points against per game.

Neither team is breaking twenty points, baby! Under 39.5! Catch the fever!

Thursday Night College Hoops Preview

If I knew how to add a location to this post, I would tag it 'posted from Rock Bottom'. There are very few feelings in the world that are worse than seeing your Bovada balance at $0.00 (though if you have some time I'd highly recommend this Barstool post about a man who caught his wife cheating).

The gang is reuniting in person this weekend, and you can bet your ass that we will be back. To get back into the swing of things, I want to make sure we actually still have the ability to predict a game. Seriously, we have lost just about every bet we've placed in the last week. "College basketball gurus like you read about" has turned into "fuck man why can't we have nice things?"

Nothing like some conference play on a Thursday night to get back on the horse. Here are four previews for the big ones tonight:

Ohio State @ Northwestern, 7pm, ESPN
Line: OSU -7

I hate to see a road team giving that many points in such a crazy, balanced conference, but Ohio State is definitely a better team all around than Northwestern. The Buckeyes score 80.5 points a game and give up 61.2 (both top-60 in the country), but those become more balanced at 70 points scored and 66.8 points against in conference play.

I should note that two of those losses (71-65 and 76-67 were to Iowa, who out-rebounded the Bucks 74 to 60 and out-shot them from the field 47-97 (48.4%) to 47-117 (40.2%). As a means of comparison, Ohio State's season averages are 50.3% shooting (3rd in the nation) and 39.1% allowed (35th).

Northwestern, as you will see, is not as good as Iowa. They shoot 43.2% from the field (171st) and allow opponents to shoot 40.9% (which, to their credit, is 100th-best). They do not get a lot of offensive rebounds, but their defensive rebounding rate is 75.6%, which is 25th in the country. In Big Ten play, their average rebounding margin is +1.2 (33.8 to 32.6). The Buckeyes' offensive and defensive rebound percentages are 33.0 (66th) and 70.9% (176th), so it might end up being tight on the boards.

As much as the stats seem to favor OSU, I don't know if they can cover. Wisconsin aside (because they're in a class of their own in the B1G), nobody has beaten Northwestern by more than 7 points in conference play this season. Though they did lose by 8+ to Central Michigan, Butler, Georgia Tech, and Northern Iowa.

In the end, I think Ohio State will win a close game. I don't know if they can cover 7, but I have a feeling this will be the night that Northwestern's B1G dream comes crashing down. Who knows, maybe I'm just overrating them but I'm leaning Bucks. What I'd like even more would be a player prop for D'Angelo Russell - opposing guards have been shredding the Cats in the past few games. He opened on Bovada at 18.5 points, and I'm in on that.

Alabama @ Arkansas, 7pm. ESPN2
Line: Arkansas -7

Both teams are 2-2 in SEC play. Alabama beat Texas A&M at home 65-44, won 56-38 @ Tennessee, lost 68-66 @ South Carolina, and lost 70-48 at home to Kentucky. By most measures, they are an average non-Kentucky SEC team (which includes all SEC teams not based in Lexington).

Arkansas won 79-75 @ Georgia, won 82-70 at home against Vanderbilt, lost 74-69 @ Tennessee, and lost 96-82 at home to Ole Miss. So, again, we have a team that is a member of the "everybody can beat everybody" portion of the SEC.

In their three non-UK games, Alabama outshot their opponents 44.7% to 30.8% (win), 41.7% to 31.1% (win), and 48.8-41.5 (loss). That loss to South Carolina happened because the Cocks overcame 3-14 from three point range by out-rebounding the Tide 33-23 (13-4 offensive rebounds). In their two conference wins, in addition to the shooting percentage differential, 'Bama has won the battle on the boards as well.

So this game (at least as far as the moneyline) comes down to one question: can Arkansas out-rebound Alabama? The Hogs are 87th in the country in rebounds per game, including 19th in the country in offensive rebounding percentage. That's a yes, give me Arkansas to win for sure.

As far as covering, Kentucky blew it open because they shot 8-17 from three and 16-18 from the free throw line, and out-rebounded Alabama 30-21. They also won the assist battle 14-4 and held the Tide to just 7 free throw attempts.

It would be absolutely foolish to think Arkansas can dominate this game like Kentucky did last week. But, that being said, the Razorbacks are 6th in the country in points per game, 4th in assists per game, 33rd in field goal percentage, and 30th in three point percentage. Throw in the home crowd, and I like the Razorbacks to cover tonight.

#7 Arizona @ Stanford, 9pm, ESPN2
Line: Arizona -3.5

Stanford has yet to lose a home game this season. They lost to Duke on a neutral court and they lost at Depaul, BYU, and UCLA.

In road games this year, Arizona beat UTEP 60-55, lost 71-67 to UNLV, beat Oregon 80-62, and lost 58-56 to Oregon State. In terms of RPI, Stanford is rated 59 spots higher than UTEP, 94 spots higher than UNLV, 69 spots higher than Oregon, and 55 spots higher than Oregon St. In fact, the only Pac12 teams with a better RPI than Stanford are Arizona and Utah (who, by the way, just lost by 18 to Arizona).

I'm going to go ahead and call Arizona's loss to Oregon State a fluke. The Cats shots just 37.8% from the floor (season average is 48.9%) and allowed the Beavs to shoot 51.3% (they average 43.8% on the season and Arizona averages 39.6% against).

The closest Stanford has come to losing a home game was against Washington (#21 at the time, now unranked), who took them to overtime before the Christmas Trees pulled away and won by 8.

Arizona is clearly the best team to play at Stanford, and definitely at least the second-best team they have played (depends on how you feel about Duke). On a neutral floor, I'd love to take the Cats to cover the 4 point spread because they have been playing great - that home win over Utah is really incredible. My hesitation tonight is a combination of Stanford's success at home, Arizona's inconsistent play on the road, and the hangover effect from that huge win against the Utes.

Gun to my head, I like the Wildcats. Thankfully, there is not a gun to my head so I'll stay away.

Saint Mary's @ Gonzaga
Line: Gonzaga -15

These are the top two teams in the West Coast Conference (which is a great name for a conference but actually kind of sucks - I'd love a WCC with USC, UCLA, Cal, Stanford, San Diego State, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, Washington State, and Gonzaga).

Both sit at 7-0, and they've reached that mark in pretty dominant fashion. SMC has won their games by an average of 70.4 to 58.9. Their closest win was by 5 points over BYU, and only three of their games have been within 10 points. The Zags, similarly, have been dominant: they've scored 78.7 points per game and allowed just 64. However, Pepperdine came within 2 points of upsetting Gonzaga (though that was a road game for GU).

I respect Mark Titus' opinion on college basketball, and he seems to think that Gonzaga is a legit contender. In his post from today, he has them ranked 4th in the nation. When you watch them, it's easy to see why. They don't appear to have a weakness at any point on the floor.

But fifteen points? In one of the two biggest games Saint Mary's will play all year? (The other game, of course, if Gonzaga @ St. Mary's.) I am not so sure the Zags can do it.

Against top-level competition (based on RPI), we don't have a ton of info for the Gaels. They beat #50 BYU 82-77 and #83 Northeastern 72-68 (both at home), and lost @ #40 St. John's 53-47 and at home to #66 BYU 82-71. As it stands, SMC is ranked 63rd in the RPI.

Gonzaga is going to be far and away the best team to play against St, Mary's this season. Their RPI rank is 6, and their only loss was to the team that is currently 7 (Arizona). Here's how the Zags did against the highest-ranked teams they have played (courtesy of CBS Sports:

• #15 SMU (home): won 72-56
• #27 Georgia (neutral): won 88-76
• #40 St, Johns (neutral): won 73-66
• #50 BYU (away): won 87-80
• #64 UCLA (away): won 87-74

I mean, based on that, I think they could very well cover 15 points. In their home games this season, they average 86 points for and 55.9 points against. Let that sink in for a minute. They have been DESTROYING teams by literally more than 30 points, on average. 

Fuck it, I'm in on Gonzaga. St. Mary's has kept it close against bum teams, and they are in for a looooong night tonight. 

So the ticket for tonight is D'Angelo Russell over 18.5 points, Arkansas -7, and Gonzaga -15. If you feel the need, you can tease Arkansas and Gonzaga down to -3/-2,5 and -11/-10.5. 

Wednesday Night Basketball Picks

Last night, we got a poor, POOR display out of UMass. Really, really bad. Northern Illinois covered their spread though, and so the damage is essentially zero (and also that's how Vegas makes their money).

MACtion is tough, though. We already knew that. So let's change gears and exploit some early-season question marks in the college basketball world. There are two games featuring teams from major conferences (the Big East still counts, right?):

Oklahoma (-220) @ Creighton (+185), 7pm on Fox Sports 1
Line: Oklahoma -5.5

Quote: "TaShawn Thomas is a season-changing addition for Oklahoma. The Sooners are going to be able to beat teams from the outside, in the paint and in transition." SB Nation

Oklahoma is projected to finish in the top half of the Big 12 (although probably in the second tier behind the Kansas-Texas-Iowa State trio). In addition to the newly-approved Thomas, they are returning talent in the frontcourt and backcourt. Read the SB Nation post for the details there, but this should be a good season for them. Creighton will be a middle-of-the-pack Big East team, so I don't think they have a shot here, even at home.

Pick: Oklahoma -5.5

Wake Forest (+700) @ Arkansas (-1100), 9pm on SEC Network

Line: Arkansas -13.5

Arkansas is projected to finish in the top third of the SEC, somewhere on the tier below Kentucky (along with Florida, Georgia, and LSU). Wake Forest is expected to be in the bottom 4-5 teams of the 15-team ACC. WFU coach Danny Manning is in his first season with the team. Arkansas forward Bobby Portis is going to be a lottery pick. 

This game scares me. Arkansas is clearly the better team, and they could use a big win over a traditionally decent team to make a statement. But 13.5 is a lot of points, and I'm nervous that Wake is a notch better than Alabama State, who put up 79 against Arkansas (but lost by 18). In the end, I'm taking the Deeks to cover the two touchdowns because they have talented guards, decent enough depth at forward, and a promising coach in Danny Manning (who won a national title at Kansas and the Conference USA title at Tulsa). Add it all up, and 13.5 is just too much.

Pick: Wake Forest +13.5