Alex Smart : College Football Betting Power Rankings/Ratings Week 9
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1: Texas Longhorns (7-0 ATS, 7-0 SU) (LW: 1) It’s good to be king! The Longhorns pummeled Missouri 56-31 in the premier match-up of the Week 8 NCAA football betting card, making a total mockery of the fact that they were only favored by 3.5-points. The numbers keep getting more and more impressive for the top-ranked Longhorns, who have now averaged covering their L/8 games by 14.5 points. For the third straight week, they’ll take on a Top-15 opponent in the stacked Big XII, the Oklahoma State Sooners.
Next Up: Home vs. Oklahoma State (-13)

2: Oklahoma State Cowboys (6-0 ATS, 7-0 SU) (LW: 3) Oklahoma State ran roughshod on Baylor last weekend, knocking the Bears off by a 34-6 final count. They’re now a perfect 6-0 ATS, but will be tested mightily against the equally perfect Longhorns next week in Austin.
Next Up: Away @ Texas (+13)

3: Ball State Cardinals (6-0 ATS, 7-0 SU) (LW: 2) Cardinals bettors will hope that the good times keep on rolling when Eastern Michigan comes to town this Saturday. They’ve covered three straight meetings with this week’s MAC opponent, and are 7-2 ATS in their L/9 meetings.
Next Up: Home vs. Eastern Michigan (-24)

4: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (5-0 ATS, 6-1 SU) (LW: 7) HC Paul Johnson deserves all the credit in the world for making the triple option offense work for Georgia Tech. They’re now 6-1, one victory away from bowl eligibility in a year that was supposed to be for rebuilding. They went into Death Valley and beat Clemson 21-17 as 2-point road favorites, and really could be a 10-1 team that has already locked up the ACC Coastal division when they travel to Georgia at the end of November.
Next Up: Home vs. Virginia (-12)

5: Vanderbilt Commodores (6-1 ATS, 5-2 SU) (LW: 6) The Commodores might’ve lost their second straight game when they went “Between the Hedges” to take on the Bulldogs, but they continued rolling for their college football bettors by easily staying in front of the 16.5-point spread. They should lock up bowl eligibility next weekend against Duke, a team they’ve both beaten and covered against in five straight meetings.
Next Up: Home vs. Duke (-10)

6: Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-1 ATS, 6-1 SU) (LW: 5) Minnesota was off last weekend, and return to the field to take on the Boilermakers this Saturday. Their history against Purdue is poor. The Gophers are just 1-9 SU and 1-7-2 ATS against HC Joe Tiller’s club since 1996, but this Purdue team has lost four straight games by an average of 16.5 ppg.
Next Up: Away @ Purdue (Pk)

7: Penn State Nittany Lions (5-1-1 ATS, 8-0 SU) (LW: 8 ) After a frightening 1st half, Penn State stormed back against their rivals from Michigan by scoring 32 unanswered points in the 2nd half to win 46-17 and cover the lofty 24.5-point spread. They’ll head to the ‘Shoe in Columbus with their National Championship hopes on the line next week, a place where they are 0-6 both SU and ATS since 1996.
Next Up: Away @ Ohio State (-2.5)

8: Tulsa Golden Hurricane (5-1 ATS, 7-0 SU) (LW: 9) Another game, another huge performance for OC Gus Malzahn’s offense. Tulsa racked up 499 yards of offense in the 1st half and never looked back, finishing off the Miners 77-35 to propel the Golden Hurricane into the AP’s Top-25. They’ll be looking to avenge two losses last season to UCF on a rare Sunday night game this weekend.
Next Up: Home vs. UCF (-21)

9: Northern Illinois Huskies (5-1 ATS, 4-3 SU) (LW: 10) It was another week with no problems for the Huskies, beating Toledo 38-7 as 8-point favorites. In their five covers this season, they’ve averaged beating the spread by 15.3 points per game. They’ve now covered four out of their L/5 MAC conference games.
Next Up: Home vs. Bowling Green (-8)

10: Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (6-1 ATS, 4-3 SU) (LW: 13) The Ragin’ Cajuns finally got some respect from the oddsmakers when they were chosen as 3-point favorites over Arkansas State last Saturday. They staged a late comeback, scoring two TDs in the final eight minutes to pick up the 28-23 victory. The offense has been clicking of late, scoring 42.4 ppg in their L/5.
Next Up: Bye

11: Florida International Golden Panthers (6-1 ATS, 3-4 SU) (LW: 15) FIU broke a team-record for most covers in a season last week when they stuck in front of the 12.5-points of the Troy Trojans by losing 33-23. They’ll take their five-game cover streak into the bye week before getting back to Sun Belt play against ULL in two weeks.
Next Up: Bye

12: Oklahoma Sooners (4-2 ATS, 6-1 SU) (LW: 4) The Sooners looked to have finally put the Jayhawks away on Saturday before Kansas hit the backdoor by scoring with about 1:00 to go. They head to Manhattan next week to do battle with the Wildcats, a team they beat 43-21 in their last meeting back in 2005.
Next Up: Away @ Kansas State (-19)

13: Southern California Trojans (3-2 ATS, 4-1 SU) (LW: 16) There was never a doubt about the outcome of USC’s game with lowly Washington State on Saturday afternoon. The Trojans jumped out to a 41-0 lead at halftime and pounded home four more TDs to win 69-0. In one of their trickier road games left on the Pac-10 schedule, Southern Cal will head to Arizona, a team that has covered against them in three straight football betting match-ups.
Next Up: Away @ Arizona (-14.5)

14: San Jose State Spartans (5-1 ATS, 5-2 SU) (LW: 17) The Spartans picked up another impressive victory as short underdogs over the Aztecs of New Mexico State in Las Cruces over the weekend. All of a sudden, SJSU is 4-0 in WAC play and could take a commanding lead in the conference if they can find a way to do something they haven’t done in seven straight meetings: beat Boise State.
Next Up: Home vs. Boise State (+7)

15: Texas Christian Horned Frogs (5-2 ATS, 7-1 SU) (LW: 23) The fact that TCU beat BYU on Thursday night wasn’t overly shocking, as they were only 1.5-point underdogs. The fact that they beat the 9th ranked team in the land by 25 points was. The Horned Frogs defense is still only giving up 217.2 total yards and 19.6 rushing yards per game, easily the best marks in the nation.
Next Up: Home vs. Wyoming (-31.5)

16: UCLA Bruins (5-2 ATS, 3-4 SU) (LW: NR) UCLA quietly moved to 5-2 ATS on the season by beating Stanford 23-20 as home underdogs. That’s now four straight covers for HC Rick Neuheisel’s club. They’re going to need to get on their horse in a hurry if they’re going to be bowl eligible this season, and a trip to Cal might be just what the doctor ordered. Though they’re 0-2 SU in their L/2 trips to Berkeley, they are 2-0 ATS in those meetings.
Next Up: Away @ California (+18)

17: Iowa Hawkeyes (5-2 ATS, 5-3 SU) (LW: NR) Iowa enters the polls this week after dismantling Wisconsin 38-16 as slim 5.5-point Kinnick Stadium favorites. Over the last two weeks, they’ve covered the spread by an average of 23.3 ppg. They’re off this week, but will look to gain bowl eligibility next weekend in Champaign.
Next Up: Bye

18: Air Force Falcons (4-2 ATS, 5-2 SU) (LW: 12) The Falcons were on the ropes for their entire game against UNLV, but somehow managed to sneak out a narrow 29-28 victory on a late 19-yard field goal. It was a bit of a bad break for Air Force bettors, as they could’ve covered the 3.5-point spread had they punched in that final drive for six instead of settling for the field goal. They’ve got a short week to prepare for New Mexico, a team they’ve covered against in four straight meetings.
Next Up: Home vs. New Mexico (-6)

19: Florida Gators (4-2 ATS, 6-1 SU) (LW: 24) After enjoying their bye week, QB Tim Tebow and the gang will be back in action in the Swamp. Lately, it’s been great to be a Florida Gator against Kentucky. They’ve won every match-up with the Wildcats since 1995, but are just 1-4-1 ATS in their L/6 meetings.
Next Up: Home vs. Kentucky (-22)

20: Duke Blue Devils (3-2 ATS, 3-3 SU) (LW: 11) Duke had a chance to knock off Miami at home last weekend, but fell short thanks to getting outscored 35-14 in the 2nd half. They’ll have to really improve next week if they have plans of knocking off Vanderbilt, who has been covering against teams from the powerful SEC all season long.
Next Up: Away @ Vanderbilt (+10)

21: Temple Owls (5-2 ATS, 2-5 SU) (LW: 25) The bye week was probably good for the 2-5 Owls, but their football bettors missed the success Temple has had of late. They’re just 6-10 SU in their L/16 MAC games, but have covered the pointspread in 13 of those 16 games.
Next Up: Home vs. Ohio (-4)

22: Mississippi Rebels (4-2 ATS, 3-4 SU) (LW: NR) It’s been a season of narrow misses for the Rebels, who are a combined 19 points away from being a perfect 7-0. Last Saturday, they lost 24-20 to the #2 ranked team in the country, which was good enough to stay in front of the 12.5-point spread. They’re 3-0 ATS on the road this year and have covered five straight away from Oxford. Next week will be HC Houston Nutt’s homecoming against his old team, Arkansas.
Next Up: Away @ Arkansas (-5)

23: Army Black Knights (4-2 ATS, 2-5 SU) (LW: NR) The Black Knights have come a long way since losing to Temple, New Hampshire, and Akron by a combined score of 85-20 to open the season. They’ve covered four straight spreads by an average of 20.1 ppg.
Next Up: Home vs. Louisiana Tech (-1)

24: Maryland Terrapins (4-2 ATS, 5-2 SU) (LW: NR) After getting hammered 31-0 in Virginia, the Terps came back this past weekend and blanked Wake Forest 26-0 as slender 1-point home chalks. NC State is up next, and the biggest question in NCAA bettors’ minds is whether the Maryland team that has covered four of their L/5 shows up, or the one that was beaten 24-14 by Middle Tennessee State.
Next Up: Home vs. North Carolina State (-11.5)

25: Troy Trojans (4-2 ATS, 4-2 SU) (LW: 20) Early bettors on the Trojans picked up a victory, but on the closing line, they got backdoored by FIU with a late touchdown. The final score was 33-23. They did move one step closer towards the Sun Belt crown with the victory, and hope to come a bit closer next week in North Texas, a team they’re 2-1 ATS against over the L/3 seasons.
Next Up: Away @ North Texas (-24)