College Football Week 11 Betting Review
College Football Week 11 Betting Review
The BCS picture cleared up a little this past weekend as Penn State fell to Iowa on Saturday, part of a 5-8 ATS day for ranked teams against unranked opponents. One of the ranked favorites to buck that trend was Oklahoma as the Sooners walloped Texas A&M in College Station 66-28. OU quarterback Sam Bradford threw four TDs and also threw his name back among the Heisman favorites.
The college football pendulum has taken another swing. After cleaning up at 12-6 ATS in Week 10, home dogs were given the Old Yeller treatment in Week 11 at a mangy 8-12 ATS. The betting odds also shifted toward the under last week at 28-25, just enough to make a profit at 52.8 percent.
In such a volatile environment, it’s good to see that big chalk is still getting knocked around. Ranked teams were 10-3 SU and 5-8 ATS to continue their misery against unranked opponents. The three losers included formerly undefeated Penn State (-7½) dropping a 24-23 decision at Iowa and falling from No. 3 to No. 8 on the BCS charts. Maryland and West Virginia were the other two unfortunates.
The Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0 SU, 7-3 ATS) held onto their No. 1 spot in the polls with a 27-21 victory at LSU (+3). The Tigers took the game into overtime despite three interceptions from QB Jarrett Lee; he threw a fourth in the extra frame to seal LSU’s fate. In one of those classic moments for handicappers, Alabama had a 29-yard field-goal attempt blocked at the last second. The figgie would have avoided overtime and created a push at 24-21.
That leaves one other undefeated club among the major conferences. The No. 2 Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-0 SU, 5-2-1 ATS) are the first team to take the money from the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-2 SU, 8-1 ATS) this year, galloping to a 56-20 victory as 3½-point home faves. Tech gets a bye week to bask in the afterglow before the ultimate test: playing the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.
The Sooners (9-1 SU, 7-2 ATS) have plastered yet another opponent, going into College Station and embarrassing Texas A&M 66-28. The Aggies (+27) allowed 653 yards of total offense to the Sooners. Sam Bradford threw four touchdown passes with no interceptions, finding four different receivers in the process. If Bradford leads Oklahoma to victory over the Red Raiders, he might take top spot in the Heisman race away from Tech QB Graham Harrell (36 TD, five INT).
Our three undefeated mid-majors from last week are still in play. The Utah Utes (10-0 SU, 5-3-1 ATS) had the toughest task, hosting then-No. 11 TCU as 2-point home dogs but prevailing 13-10. That leaves Utah at No. 7 in the BCS rankings and in very good shape to earn a spot in a major bowl. No. 9 Boise State (9-0 SU, 5-2-1 ATS) and No. 14 Ball State (9-0 SU, 7-1 ATS) are still very much alive, although they need a Utah loss to get a BCS bowl bid.
And now, a moment of silence for the only other perfect record in the FBS – Washington State’s 0-8 ATS streak came to a screeching halt last week in a 59-28 loss to Arizona (-41). That’s more points than the Cougars scored in their previous four games combined. Wazzu is now tied with the Washington Huskies at 1-8 ATS, along with Auburn and Fresno State.
Moving rapidly up the charts to 2-7 ATS: the Wyoming Cowboys. They roped in their second payday in a row with the most shocking result of Week 11, a 13-7 win at Tennessee (-27). This was the first game for the Volunteers since coach Phil Fulmer announced he was being forced to resign; many of his recruits want to transfer out of Knoxville, and they played Saturday as if they had already mentally checked out.
It’s a sad end to Fulmer’s 17-year reign over the Volunteers. They won the national championship in 1998, the first year of the BCS and the first year after the end of Peyton Manning’s college career. The Vols will have this week off to think about it and try to muster up something for their trip to Vanderbilt. It might take the season finale at home against Kentucky for the players to rally and send Fulmer out a winner.
The BCS picture cleared up a little this past weekend as Penn State fell to Iowa on Saturday, part of a 5-8 ATS day for ranked teams against unranked opponents. One of the ranked favorites to buck that trend was Oklahoma as the Sooners walloped Texas A&M in College Station 66-28. OU quarterback Sam Bradford threw four TDs and also threw his name back among the Heisman favorites.
The college football pendulum has taken another swing. After cleaning up at 12-6 ATS in Week 10, home dogs were given the Old Yeller treatment in Week 11 at a mangy 8-12 ATS. The betting odds also shifted toward the under last week at 28-25, just enough to make a profit at 52.8 percent.
In such a volatile environment, it’s good to see that big chalk is still getting knocked around. Ranked teams were 10-3 SU and 5-8 ATS to continue their misery against unranked opponents. The three losers included formerly undefeated Penn State (-7½) dropping a 24-23 decision at Iowa and falling from No. 3 to No. 8 on the BCS charts. Maryland and West Virginia were the other two unfortunates.
The Alabama Crimson Tide (10-0 SU, 7-3 ATS) held onto their No. 1 spot in the polls with a 27-21 victory at LSU (+3). The Tigers took the game into overtime despite three interceptions from QB Jarrett Lee; he threw a fourth in the extra frame to seal LSU’s fate. In one of those classic moments for handicappers, Alabama had a 29-yard field-goal attempt blocked at the last second. The figgie would have avoided overtime and created a push at 24-21.
That leaves one other undefeated club among the major conferences. The No. 2 Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-0 SU, 5-2-1 ATS) are the first team to take the money from the Oklahoma State Cowboys (8-2 SU, 8-1 ATS) this year, galloping to a 56-20 victory as 3½-point home faves. Tech gets a bye week to bask in the afterglow before the ultimate test: playing the Oklahoma Sooners in Norman.
The Sooners (9-1 SU, 7-2 ATS) have plastered yet another opponent, going into College Station and embarrassing Texas A&M 66-28. The Aggies (+27) allowed 653 yards of total offense to the Sooners. Sam Bradford threw four touchdown passes with no interceptions, finding four different receivers in the process. If Bradford leads Oklahoma to victory over the Red Raiders, he might take top spot in the Heisman race away from Tech QB Graham Harrell (36 TD, five INT).
Our three undefeated mid-majors from last week are still in play. The Utah Utes (10-0 SU, 5-3-1 ATS) had the toughest task, hosting then-No. 11 TCU as 2-point home dogs but prevailing 13-10. That leaves Utah at No. 7 in the BCS rankings and in very good shape to earn a spot in a major bowl. No. 9 Boise State (9-0 SU, 5-2-1 ATS) and No. 14 Ball State (9-0 SU, 7-1 ATS) are still very much alive, although they need a Utah loss to get a BCS bowl bid.
And now, a moment of silence for the only other perfect record in the FBS – Washington State’s 0-8 ATS streak came to a screeching halt last week in a 59-28 loss to Arizona (-41). That’s more points than the Cougars scored in their previous four games combined. Wazzu is now tied with the Washington Huskies at 1-8 ATS, along with Auburn and Fresno State.
Moving rapidly up the charts to 2-7 ATS: the Wyoming Cowboys. They roped in their second payday in a row with the most shocking result of Week 11, a 13-7 win at Tennessee (-27). This was the first game for the Volunteers since coach Phil Fulmer announced he was being forced to resign; many of his recruits want to transfer out of Knoxville, and they played Saturday as if they had already mentally checked out.
It’s a sad end to Fulmer’s 17-year reign over the Volunteers. They won the national championship in 1998, the first year of the BCS and the first year after the end of Peyton Manning’s college career. The Vols will have this week off to think about it and try to muster up something for their trip to Vanderbilt. It might take the season finale at home against Kentucky for the players to rally and send Fulmer out a winner.