Gambling911.com is proud to offer its College Football free picks for Week 8 of the 2008 season. Some of the games we are looking at are those that may be overlooked by the odds makers and, hence, the sports bettor enjoys a slight edge by default.
North Carolina Tar Heels vs. Virginia Cavaliers - The line on this game opened at UNC -5 ½. Heading into Saturday, betED.com had North Carolina as the -3 ½ away favorite. UNC is 2-8 in this series that dates back to 1998 and 1-9 Against The Spread. Virginia has been especially harsh to the Tar Heels at home over this time period. Couple that with the fact that North Carolina is 3-13 SU in its last 16 games on the road and Virginia is 11-3 SU in its last 14 games at home, we have a real live dog in Virginia, and they can still lose by 4 points at SBG Global. Pick: Virginia +4
Michigan Wolverines vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Michigan is a +25 point underdog at betED.com compared to +24 ½ most other places. This just goes to show how far Michigan has fallen. They've lost by 25 points already to Illinois and they have lost their last two games. If not for the huge line variance and past history, we wouldn't touch Michigan with a 25 foot pole. Here's the deal: Michigan is 9-1 Straight Up against Penn State and 7-3 ATS. Michigan is 11-4 ATS in its last 15 games on the road. Do we believe the Wolverines lose to Penn State? Yes. More importantly, do we think they can cover? Yes we do. Pick: Michigan +25
Akron Zips vs. East Michigan Eagles - Akron opened as a -3 favorite in this one and has climbed all the way to -5 at Bookmaker.com against a team they have only won 1 game out of their last 7 ATS. East Michigan was a +10 ½ underdog against Akron the last time they hosted them in 2002 and won Straight Up. East Michigan is 4-0 at home against Akron dating back to 1995. Pick: East Michigan +5.
Toledo Rockets vs. Northern Illinois Huskies - In this series, dating only back to 1998, Toledo has gone 9-1 Straight Up and 8-1 Against The Spread. They beat Northern Illinois by a score of 70-21 last year. Now considering Northern Illinois is a -9 ½ home favorite in this one, we have plenty of room to work with. They were a -13 ½ favorite at home the last time hosting Toledo and lost by 4 points. The bad news is that Toledo is 3-10 ATS in its last 13 games on the road. Northern Illinois is 5-14 SU in its last 19 games though. Pick: Toledo +9 ½
Marshall Thundering Heard vs. UAB Blazers - The Blazers is just what the doctor ordered for this Marshall team that has lost its last two games. Marshall is 3-0 against UAB head-to-head over the past three years. They are a -3 road favorite and have beaten UAB by 7 points their previous two matchups including on the road. The game before that, Marshall won at home by just one point but as a +2 ½ underdog. UAB has only won a single game this season while Marshall is at .500. This isn't one of our most convincing picks but we'll be on Marshall at -3. Pick: Marshall -3.
San Jose State Spartans vs. New Mexico State Aggies - San Jose State was listed as the -1 ½ road favorite in this one, and that's a good spot to be in here considering San Jose has gone 4-0 Straight Up and ATS since 1995. Now keep in mind that three of those wins were over the last three years and by 10 points or more. San Jose State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games. And while they may also be 1-5 SU in their last 6 games on the road, New Mexico State is 2-7 Straight Up in their last 9 games and 1-4 SU at home. Pick: San Jose -1 1/2
Good Luck Everyone!
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
