College Football Betting Picks, Week 9: Clemson, Florida State, Boston College And More

Last week:

Jeff: 0-5, 19-21 overall ATS
Brian: 2-3, 14-26 overall

2013 Standings below: (All-Time Standings here)

Brian:

Clemson Tigers (-14) at Maryland Terrapins - An angry Clemson squad exacts its revenge for last week with a convincing win over the Terps. Maryland will be without receivers Stefon Diggs and Deon Long, both of whom broke their legs in last weekend's loss to Wake Forest. Diggs and Long are two of nine players out for the year; six of those are on the defensive side of the ball. That's right. Your everlasting memories of Maryland in the ACC will once again be dominated by Terps fans winning hypothetical games while playing with all of their starters. Clemson big.

Boston College Eagles (+7) at North Carolina Tar Heels - BC getting a TD on the road against a 1-5 team? Sure, why not. I do think that North Carolina is a much better team than its record indicates, but BC has had a few days of added rest to prepare for this game.

Duke Blue Devils at Virginia Tech Hokies (-13) - Each week that goes by, I continue to be more and more impressed with the Virginia Tech defense. The Hokies are ranked 2nd in the nation in total defense behind only Michigan State through the first eight weeks of the season. It's the Hokies offense that is offensive, having done just enough over the last six games to eke out victories by 10 points or less. That's what makes this line intriguing. Tech has failed to notch a victory over any FBS opponent by two TDs. Think that streak ends this week with a convincing win over Duke.

UCLA Bruins at Oregon Ducks (-23) - The Ducks have covered in all but one game this season (5-1-1 ATS), failing to cover the spread last weekend at home vs. Washington State. Following the game, UO's defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti blasted Mike Leach for leaving the starters in the game late and continuing to throw the ball around down by, like, 5 TDs. While that sounds ridiculous at face, the reasons for the comments are pretty clear. Oregon is VERY concerned about managing perceptions of east coast pollsters who wake up and based their ballots on nothing more than box scores. UO is trying to gain ground on Florida State in the BCS standings and that starts this weekend with a big win over a pretty good UCLA team.

Stanford Cardinal (-3.5) at Oregon St. Beavers - After dropping the regular season opener vs. FCS Eastern Washington, Oregon State has rattled off six straight victories to re-surface in the Top 25 this week -- the last three in impressive fashion against the soft underbelly of the Beavers' PAC-12 schedule (Colorado 44-17, Washington State 52-24 and Cal 49-17). Unfortunately for OSU, the schedule gets much more difficult from here on out, with games remaining against Stanford, USC, Arizona State, Washington and Oregon. Oregon State is extremely one-dimensional on offense, leading the nation in passing YPG (442.1 ypg) and ranked 124th of 125th in rushing YPG (73.71 ypg). SU already has two impressive wins over similar offenses in Washington State and Arizona State. I expect the Cardinal D to have similar success vs. OSU.

Jeff:

Duke Blue Devils (+13) at Virginia Tech Hokies - Duke is not the worst team in the league and Virginia Tech is not the best. But Virginia Tech is playing at home and should win. However, Brian already pointed out that their offense is terrible so covering by 2 TDs is virtually impossible for the Hokies. I'll take Duke all day here.

Kentucky Wildcats (+10.5) at Mississippi St. Bulldogs - Mississippi State and Kentucky both enter this matchup without a conference win so why even bet this game? Mississippi State is not a good team and is giving 10.5 points, that's why. But Kentucky sucks too, you say? True, but Kentucky has played a very tough schedule so far this season and has given Florida, South Carolina and Louisville all decent games.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-10) at Virginia Cavaliers - Is Georgia Tech part of that second tier in the ACC behind Florida State and Clemson? Quite possibly. Is Virginia the worst team in the league? They're in the conversation so that is enough for me. I don't care where the game is being played.

N.C. State Wolfpack at Florida St. Seminoles (-32) - Florida State is killing teams this season. I will take them from here on out until they lose a game. This is one of those teams that it is really not a question of if they are going to win their next game but how much are they going to win by? Just like Alabama and Oregon right now.

South Carolina Gamecocks at Missouri Tigers (-3) - Missouri is 6-1 ATS this season and is completely in control of the SEC East having already beaten Florida and Georgia. South Carolina needs this game to stay in the hunt for the SECCG but I do not see that happening on the road. The Gamecocks have had a disappointing season and they will not be able to turn that around this weekend on the road under the lights in the SEC.