Florida State (-3 ½) at Maryland – The Seminoles started as 6 point road favorites in a key ACC battle. This line has had some serious reverse action. The public is decidedly in favor of FSU, but the sharps have moved the line opposite the opening number by 2 ½ points. Perhaps the wiseguys don’t expect Christian Ponder to play well with his injured elbow. Or maybe they’ve been scared by the way FSU has played in recent weeks.
Cincinnati (-13 ½) vs. Rutgers – Cincy opened as a 9 ½ point favorite against Rutgers, but the line has been steamed up to 13 ½ by sharps and squares. Rutgers has had quarterback problems all season long. The defense isn’t that bad, but the offense is predictable. The Bearcats have had a disappointing season, but they’re starting to come on.
BYU (-30) vs. New Mexico – The Cougars opened as 27 point favorites, but the line has been steamed up to 30 points. After a slow start to the season, BYU has bounced back with some inspired football. They take on the Mountain West’s worst team with New Mexico, but the Lobos have gotten better over the season. They covered against Air Force last week. 30 points seem like a lot at this stage in the season.
Southern Mississippi (-3 ½) vs. Houston – Southern Mississippi started as 5 ½ point home favorites against the Cougars, but the line has been pulled down to 3 ½. The sharps are the reason for the move. The squares are playing Southern Miss at about 2:1, but the professionals are liking the high flying Houston offense. The Golden Eagles had a huge upset win last week when they took down George O’Leary and Central Florida on the road.
Wyoming (-2 ½) vs. Colorado State – The Cowboys and Rams hook up for a bottom tier Mountain West game. The line started as a pick, but it’s been steadily steamed up to 2 ½ points. It’s hard to win on the road, especially for bad teams.
Wisconsin (-4) at Michigan – The Big 10 has two important games this weekend that will go a long ways to determining the conference champion. In this one, the Badgers opened as 5 ½ point road favorites, but the line has been bet down to 4 points by the sharps. The squares definitely like Wisconsin, and why not? The Badgers put up 83 points on Indiana last week. Although the Hoosiers’ defense isn’t very good, neither is the Wolverines’. At the same time, though, the Michigan offense is hard to stop, even with Tate Forcier playing quarterback. It’s never easy beating Michigan in the Big House.
Ohio State (-3) at Iowa – The other Big 10 game worthy of mention is Ohio State at Iowa. The road Buckeyes opened as 4 ½ point favorites, but wiseguys have brought that down to 3 points. Ohio State has owned this series, but Iowa certainly has enough talent to win the game. The problem for Iowa has been their play down the stretch in close games. The Hawkeyes were in position to beat Arizona, Wisconsin, and Northwestern, but couldn’t find ways to win. The vaunted Iowa defense gave up huge, lengthy scoring drives late in each contest.
