College Football Picks: Notre Dame at Michigan

There’s no second-guessing which premier matchup takes the cake in college football’s second week. USC heads to Columbus to take on Ohio State at the Horseshoe, so there will be enough coverage of this Top-10 collision. Get a HUGE $500 FREE bonus from BetUS.

With that said, we’re going to take a peek at another key tilt, our matchup of the week is the Fighting Irish facing off against the Wolverines. Both of these teams looked dominant in their first games of the season, and now the heat is on for the two prestigious programs to see which can keep their progress heading in the right driection by picking up the win here.

Charlie Weis likely couldn’t have expected a better way to the season last week against Nevada. Granted, Nevada couldn’t muster a score of any kind throughout the contest, but it was the solid and fatal passing game that prospered under quarterback Jimmy Clausen. The junior, who is finally living up to the hype, passed for 315 yards on 15-of-18 and four touchdowns. His wideouts Michael Floyd and Golden Tate look like a fairly high impact duo, while tight end Kyle Rudolph is physically talented enough to reign at both catching passes and blocking. The rushing game, though, still appears shady, and 178 yards via the run against a rocky Wolf Pack defense still doesn’t mean a whole lot. Still, Notre Dame was able to cover as 14.5-point chalk in front of their home faithful.

The Wolverines, just the same, suprised their fans, but it was the new faces that did the most to seize the allure of the U of M admirers. True freshman quarterback Tate Forcier tossed three TDs and led the offense for the majority of the game, not making any slips. Another new star coming on strong is the speed merchant Denard Robinson, who got some hype in the preseason for not tying his shoes when playing. Seemingly he doesn’t need to, as a sizeable 43-yard dash and score displayed he acknowledges precisely what to do when the ball is in his hand. Similar to the Irish, Michigan covered the spread, as a 31-7 victory surpassed the 13 points they were favored at home to Western Michigan.

Now on to this matchup. And the determining factor with two offenses that can both light up the scoreboard should be the defenses and which outfit is more capable of showing up when called upon. Personally, and this may be me being biased towards Michigan, the Wolverines have a swifter and sounder defensive unit. I think they can get more heat on the quarterback, and the secondary looks more likely to be able to stop the other’s the passing game. And that will be the determining factor, as Weis will sure enough be aggressive in marching down the field and see how able Clausen can be in tearing up the defensive backs of the Wolverines for some action in the passing game.

The Fighting Irish come in as 3.5-point road chalk. However the point spread can be found at 3 if you compare between books. I would think keep steady between 3 and 3.5, and that could be key, as this could be a close game the whole way up in Michigan. The dog has cashed all but two of the previous 10 games in this series, but the Irish are 7-3 ATS in the past 10 versus Michigan. The Irish’s last victory in Ann Arbor was in 2005, and U of M has won four of the past five at home over Notre Dame. No total has been published yet, but if I had to make out a guess, I would guess around 44 or 45. Cash in with Doc Sports if you want winning football picks this weekend.

Bookmaker College Football Betting Codes

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Pittsburgh College Football Picks 2009

The 2009 NCAA football season has finally arrived and again value in season win totals. There are invariably teams that surmount or drop short of lofty expected values set by the linesmakers. When trying to predict the final records, you must place games into three groups…easy wins, sure losses and up in the air games. Ideally you want to find more sure outcomes when deciding which side of the total you like. Get a 50% signup bonus and a $25 FREE bet when you sign up at Sportsbook.com!

PITTSBURGH UNDER 7.5 wins

The Pittsburgh Panthers are one of the numerous teams in the ordinary Big East who could either win the conference or battle the Orange in the bottom. There’s a lot of uncertainty in the conference with Rutgers, West Virginia, USF and Pittsburgh among those who could taking home the title. Upon first look in Pittsburgh you’ll find no LeSean McCoy who stabilized the position in addition to LaRod Stephens-Howling who has also departed. The Pittsburgh Panthers return 15 starters but are disabled by Dave Wannstedt who isn’t exactly a coaching mastermind. The schedule also doesn’t do the Panthers much good.

Automatic Victories (4): 9/5 Youngstown State, 9/19 Navy, 10/10 UConn, 11/7 Syracuse

Sure Defeats (2): 9/26 @ NC State, 10/16 @ Rutgers

Up in the Air (6):

9/12 @ Buffalo — The Bulls played them tough in Pittsburgh falling 27-16 to the Panthers and were only down 1 entering the 4th frame. Pittsburgh were beaten by Bowling Green last year on their home turf and the Bulls have similar talent. James Starks and Naaman Roosevelt will need to have a great game for the Bulls to pull it off.

10/2 @ Louisville — The Panthers have gone down in seven of their last eight to Louisville ending a seven game losing skid last season. The Cardinals bring back 13 starters and a deadly offense that will need time to get in rythym with new QB Justin Burke, the NC State transfer.

10/24 vs. USF — Matt Grothe and George Selvie direct the spotty Bulls. Last year Pittsburgh delivered the goods in Florida but the Bulls won the game in Pittsburgh two seasons ago. USF lives and dies by their stiff defense and has shown they can win in hostile environments beating up NC State last season.

11/14 vs. Notre Dame — The Irish will be much better this season and are 12-3 since 1988 against Pitt. Last season the Panthers won 36-33 in 4OT against the Irish in South Bend so want back will be on Notre Dame’s minds.

11/27 @ West Virginia — Revenge will be embedded in this one as well. The Panthers have won two in a row in this rivalry but Jarrett Brown and Jock Sanders pace an offense that can score a lot of points if need be. West Virginia may also have the strongest secondary in the conference.

12/5 vs. Cincinnati — Eight starters on offense are back plus possibly the best head coach in the Big East in Brian Kelly. The Bearcats possibly need this game for bowl eligibility. The Bearcats won last year’s meeting.

Additional considerations:

TCU UNDER 9 (+110) – Tough road trips to UVA, Clemson, Air Force, Brigham Young and a sneaky trip to Laramie could help the Under.

OKLAHOMA STATE OVER 9 (+110) – The Cowboys just need to win one game out of the group of Texas, @ Oklahoma and Georgia.

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Football Betting on Tulane & Tulsa

Will all of tonight’s gambling action fall on Tulsa? Head Coach Todd Graham hashis Tulsa team endeavoring for large aspirations even with tacking up a 21-7 mark the last two years. The Golden Hurricane has played in the Conference USA title game the previous two seasons and fell to defeat on both efforts. He wishes the school to turn back to 2005, when Tulsa won the opening C-USA championship. That dream starts tonight when the team visits the Green Wave as 13.5-point favorites. At last glance, about 85% of bets at Sportsbook.com were placed with the Golden Hurricane.

It will not be an easy task, since Graham had to supplant a quarterback and five other offensive starters. Junior Jacob Bower has attained the inside track as the signal caller, after sitting on the sidelines last year. The front five has to be reconstructed in order for Bower to win. If these factors come together speedily, Tulsa can work up on its 8-3 against the spread September record. On defense, eight players return, however, according to the head coach they will be asked to play with more heart, after conceding 30 points or more six times last year. “Defensively, we have to return to doing what we’ve done in the past of being productive, and that’s a unforgiving attitude to play to the football and return to a hard edge mentality defensively,” Graham said. “What we have to get better on defense is not giving away the big play.” Sportsbook.com has Tulsa as 13.5-point visiting favorites with total of 64 and they are just 4-7 against the spread in that role under Graham.

Tulane has won six games in two seasons under coach Bob Toledo and everyone associated with the program understands this has to be the year to get showing positive signs. “We understand we’ve really got to start winning,” wide receiver Jeremy Williams told the Times-Picayune. “We’re not worried about the future. We’ve got to get it done tonight.”The Green Wave welcome back seven starters on offense and redshirt sophomore Joe Kemp who won the quarterback derby. Tulane will be aided by the return of running back Andre Anderson, who was fourth in the nation in rushing and all-purpose yards when he was lost in the seventh game of the year. Tualne will have to score points to stay with the Golden Hurricane, however, they are just 4-10-1 at the pay window when an underdog at their own stadium. Tulane begins this season with misleading defensive statistics. Tulane was 14th in the country in pass defense, giving up 173 yards per contest. That was at least in part to surrendering 218 (5.7 yards per carry) yards per game rushing. Senior DE Logan Kelley anchors a very practiced defensive line that must upgrade its game in 2009. Tulane is 7-23-1 at the pay window in its last 31 conference matchups.

Tulsa plays four of their first five games as a visitor, including the first three. It should be noticed that they haven’t covered their last four road games. The Green Wave is 0-4 SU and ATS versus the Golden Hurricane in C-USA action, with an average margin of 33 points per game. This conference clash goes at 8 ESTon ESPN, with Tulsa 7-2-1 OVER as visiting favorite. Do your football betting at Sportsbook.com and take advantage of Reduced Juice Fridays (-105).

Canadian Bodog Site

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Bodog Europe is conducted by industry veteran and Managing Director Keith McDonnell, and is governed and certified by the Antigua & Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, Directorate of Offshore Gaming. McDonnell noted, “We’re exceedingly energized to be able to bring the unique Bodog experience to Canadian gamblers. Canadians are wild sports fans and are exceedingly savvy consumers. The Bodog brand is known world-over for its unmatched customer service and here at Bodog Europe we put the player’s experience and entertainment ahead of everything else – I’m convinced that we’re going to speedily earn Canadians’ loyalty and confidence.”

Bodog.ca offers Canadian players safe, secure and simple admission to world-class sports wagering, a successful and active poker community, and a complete Vegas-style casino with more than 80 web-based and downloadable options. Bodog Europe provides its wagerers a simple, feature-rich sports betting product, offering a big selection of sports betting chances across all major leagues and featuring live betting and an 80+ track Racebook. The Bodog.ca Sportsbook also has a special focus on Canada’s most common sports: NHL Hockey and CFL Football.

Bodog Europe – the upstart Bodog brand licensee already taking the UK by storm with its European-facing site www.Bodog.co.uk – had in the beginning secured the rights to the world-famous “Bodog” brand for use in Europe only. However, when Bodog Europe Managing Director Keith McDonnell heard about BodogBrand.com’s willingness to flirt with proposals to certify the brand for use within Canada, he was ready to act, and secured the only Canadian license.

“The Bodog brand is observing its fifteenth year anniversary this year – an utterly extraordinary pedigree and testament to its existing values in an industry that rapidly kills off averageness. The brand has gone through quite an evolution during that long history, and Bodog Europe is looking forward to carrying the torch forward for at least another fifteen years of world-class customer service, unbeatable promotions, and, above all – fun.”