A Closer Look At The Highlight Top College Football Upset Picks Of The Week (Sept. 23-24)
TCU Horned Frogs (2-1) at SMU Mustangs (2-1)
When: Friday, September 23, 2016 at 8:00 PMWhere: Gerald J. Ford Stadium
NCAAF Line: TCU -23
TV: ESPN
Analysis:
The TCU Horned Frogs are the easy pick to win – and cover the ATS betting line! TCU has gone 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games against a team with a winning record, but the Horned Frogs are just 2-5 ATS in their last seven meetings against SMU.
I think the Mustangs will try t run as much clock as possible with their powerful rushing attack to keep the final score just inside the 23-point spread. I like TCU signal-caller Kenny Hill, but he’s certainly no Trevone Boykin and TCU isn’t nearly as explosive as they have been the past two or three seasons.
My Pick: TCU 42 SMU 24
Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan Wolverines
When: Saturday, September 24, 2016 at 3:30 PMWhere: Michigan Stadium
TV: ABC
NCAAF Line: Michigan Wolverines -16.5
Analysis:
While Penn State Nittany Lions is undoubtedly not in the same caliber of legitimate title contenders as Michigan, I just don’t see the Wolverines blowing out their Big Ten rivals in this contest. The Nittany Lions are just 3-13-2 ATS in their last 18 road games and 1-6 ATS in their last seven games overall while the Wolverines have gone 6-1 ATS in their last seven games following an ATS loss.
Still, I like the way Penn State’s offense has operated this season and I’m not overly impressed with Michigan’s pedestrian offensive attack. The bottom line for me is that I believe this Big Ten battle is going to be a lot closer than the high spread, making the Nittany Lions the easy pick to cover the college football betting line.
My Pick: Michigan 31 Penn State 27