Wake Forest vs. Baylor (NCAAF) - Aug 28, 2008 8:00 PM EDT
Play: Point Spread: -12.5/-105 Wake Forest Play Title: Wake Forest -12.5
The gap between Baylor and College footballs "good" teams remains large. Jim Grobe has built Wake Forest into one of those "good teams" which has us laying the big number here. The Wake Forest unorthodox offense should give Baylor fits. Defending against it is hard enough, but asking a team like Baylor to do it the first time they take the field this year, could prove to be overwhelming. We don't like to lay double digits but can't make a case for Baylor here.
UTEP vs. Buffalo U (NCAAF) - Aug 28, 2008 7:00 PM EDT
Play: Point Spread: 3/-103 UTEP Play Title: UTEP +3
This game opened Buffalo -3 and still sits at Buffalo -3. The Bulls look to be a team on the rise. They won 5 games a year ago, their highest win total this decade and return just about everyone from last years team. So hopes are high in Buffalo. After being the laughing stock of College Football ever since they became a division 1A team, it's now or never if this tem is ever going to get any respect. UTEP, unlike Buffalo, has tasted success this decade. They had 8 win seasons on three different occasions and went to 3 bowl games this decade. With no clear cut obvious edges either way in this one, we're inclined to take the field goal in a game that could go either way.
Oregon State vs. Stanford (NCAAF) - Aug 28, 2008 9:00 PM EDT
Play: Point Spread: 3/-103 Stanford Play Title:
Jim Harbaugh begins his second season as head coach of the Stanford Cardinal with an opening game against an old friend. Mike Riley will bring his Oregon St.Beavers to Palo Alto Thursday evening as the two teams kick off their respective seasons with a conference clash.
Harbaugh was quarterback under Riley when Riley was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers from 99-00. In his first season as coach, Harbaugh and the Cardinal made national headlines upsetting then #2 ranked USC. The Cardinal return 16 starters from last season and will look to avenge a 23-6 loss to the Beavers in Corvallis last year.
In that game, the Cardinal commited four turnover's while rushing for -8 yards on 25 attempts. They were a putrid 1-13 on 3rd down, yet the Beavers only had three more first downs than the Cardinal.
The Beavers led the NCAA in rush defense last season at (70.6 ypg) but must replace their entire defensive line and linebacking corps. They do return three starters on O-line. The Cardinal on the flip side return four starters on the O-line and five players with starting experience on the D-line and should hold the edge in the trenches this go around. Whoever controls the line of scrimmage will be on their way to a victory and the way the Cardinal got pushed around at times in last year's game they should be anxious to return the favor.
I'm not too sure about the Beavers who have lost their last five road openers. Their losses on defense are heavy and they still have uncertainty on the offensive side of the ball. They must break in a new running back and who's to say if standout wide reciever Sammie Stroughter can return to his 2006 form. The Cardinal on the other hand appear to be a team on the rise this year. They return a solid starting quarterback and should have a much improved defense. Throw in the home field advantage and we like the Cardinal to pull off the slight upset. Play on the Stanford Cardinal for 2 units. Good luck to all.
Cincinnati Reds vs. Houston Astros (MLB) - Aug 28, 2008 2:05 PM EDT
Play: Total: 9/-117 Over Play Title: Big Al's FREE Thursday Afternoon MLB Winner.
At 2:05pm our complimentary selection is on the Cincinnati Reds and Houston Astros 'over' the total. When it comes to handing out the award for most inconsistent pitcher in baseball for the month of August, you can pretty much retire the trophy and hand it to Houston's 30-year-old righthander Brandon Backe. Consider these stats: sandwiched between three starts in which Backe gave up three, one, and three earned runs respectively, Backe had two starts in which he gave up 11 earned runs (one in less than six innings and the other in less than four innings). Because of this, Backe's stats over his last four starts are about as ugly as any pitcher in the league. As bad as Backe has been in some of his recent starts, Cincinnati's righthander Aaron Harang has arguably been worse. Like Backe, Harang's last start was strong (at Colorado), but his three previous starts to that were disasterous. One of those starts, which occurred on August 10 was against this same Houston team and resulted in a 13-4 demolition at the hands of the Astros. In fact, none of Harang's last four starts has gone less than a total of ten runs combined for the two teams, and even more dramatically, five of Backe's last six starts have gone a total of ten or more runs. Take the 'over'. As always, good luck...Al McMordie.
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