Gambling Games of the Weekend

Welcome to the inaugural edition to gambling games of the weekend. I have been handicapping football and basketball games for the past 3 years and while it's a roller coaster trying to beat the spreads I've always came out on the best side of the numbers. With that said, here are my 5 games of the week in college football.

1. Troy @ Arkansas (-23) - I really love Arkansas in this game. Even with Ryan Mallet gone, with Petrino's system you can plug in the next guy and still get phenomenal numbers. Arkansas is better in almost every aspect this year especially on the defensive side of the ball. Troy got beat down in their opener 45-13 against a Clemson team who was anything but impressive vs FCS opponent Wofford last weekend. Troy is 0-3 vs Arkansas and each game has been decided by 20+ points. Arkansas can put up the points and will hold Troy to single digits. Pick Arkansas 44 - 9.

2. Stanford @ Arizona (+10) - Arizona is reeling from losing to Oklahoma State 37-14 last time out. On top of that their #1 wide receiver and one of the best in the nation, Juron Criner, is out this week as well. Arizona's defense is also feeling the effects of the injury bug as Jake Fischer, cornerback Jonathan McKnight, and safety Adam Hall are all out of the game. Stanford comes off of a drumming they delivered to a Duke team in their house. Stanford's offensive line was questionable coming into this season but thus far has been impressive. It also doesn't hurt to have Andrew Luck, whom many believe would have been the #1 pick in last years NFL draft, running the show at QB. All the momentum is on the Cardinal side so bet them with confidence. Pick Stanford 38-13.

3. UCF @ FIU (+4) - FIU is coming off of a historic win over the University of Louisville as they won their first game as a program over a FBS team. In that game T.Y. Hilton torched the Louisville secondary for 201 yards on 7 receptions and 2 touchdowns. FIU controlled the momentum of the game and controlled the line of scrimmage. UCF is kind of fallen off the radar of many experts but they are a scary team to any opponent. Just ask Boston College who got hammered 35-3 in their own house. The Knights have a do it all QB who will run just as much and just as well as he can pass in Jeff Godfrey. UCF also has the best RB core in CUSA led by Latavius Murray. While I really like FIU this year, I think it is going to take more than T.Y. Hilton to get them past UCF and that spread is just too low. Pick UCF 31-21

4. Texas @ UCLA (+4) - Texas has been very underwhelming so far this season. They struggled early against Rice, pulling away late for a 35-10 victory. Then against a BYU team that has also struggled they barely escaped with a win 17-16. They are having turmoil at the QB spot with Case Mccoy and David Ash to split time. What that says to me is that neither QB is truly ready. This is going to be the toughest game that Texas has played yet, traveling to UCLA to face a hungry Bruins squad that barely lost to a very good Houston team and smashed San Jose St last week. The Bruins are 12-6 over the last 5 years against the spread (ATS) when they are the underdog at home. Last year, at Texas, the Bruins dismantled Texas 34-12 and while Texas has a better team on the field this year, so does UCLA and they are playing on their home grass. Give me UCLA +4 all day long. I would also say to bet UCLA straight up, this will be the first loss for Texas this season. Pick UCLA 20-14

5. BET OF THE WEEK Akron @ Cincinnati (-34) - Cincinnati is pissed off. Plain and simple. They got embarrassed last week in Neyland Stadium against Tennessee and are coming back home to right the ship against an awful Akron team who got pummeled by Temple 41-3. Akron has only managed 3 total points in 2 games this season and won't fair much better against Cincinnati who is going to throw and run all over the inept defense of Akron. Look for Cincinnati to cover the spread in a big way. Pick Cincinnati 59-13

BONUS: UCLA/Texas over/under 48 points. Bet the under.