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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