Each week of the football season, professional guest picker Brian Edwards will join us to give his analysis and picks on a few games he likes each week…enjoy and good luck!!!
Overall – 15-16-3 * not counting bonus plays *
Texas A&M at South Carolina ‘OVER’ 44.5: This is Texas A&M’s lowest total of the season. The previous low was 45 points in the Aggies’ 42-24 loss at Mississippi St. that saw the 66 combined points fly ‘over’ the number.
This is South Carolina’s second-lowest total of the year. The only one lower was when the Gamecocks won 24-14 at Kentucky two weeks ago when Will Levis was ‘out,’ and the Wildcats were starting a quarterback making his collegiate debut.
South Carolina’s five other games have had combined scores of 49, 74, 55, 76, 60 and 38 points. With perfect weather conditions in the forecast for Saturday night in Columbia, let’s play the ‘over’ on this low total.
LSU -2.5 vs. Ole Miss: I was able to lock in LSU at -120 on the money line Monday, but I’m still on board with it up to -3. The Tigers have won six in a row over Ole Miss in Baton Rouge. The Rebels ended a five-game losing streak to LSU with last year’s 31-17 win in Oxford, but that gives Brian Kelly’s team the revenge angle here.
It takes time for transfer QBs to build chemistry with their wide receivers, but it certainly appeared as if Jayden Daniels is now there after last week’s performance. Daniels led LSU to a 45-35 win at Florida by throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also had 44 rushing yards and three TDs.
Ole Miss put up outstanding defensive stats in September, but that unit has not been impressive recently. Vanderbilt scored 28 points on the Rebels two weeks ago before Auburn scored 34 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium last week. Bryan Harsin’s had been held to 12, 17, 17 and 10 points in its four previous games.
Missouri -14 vs. Vanderbilt: Missouri is in a favorable spot at home here after its open date. It couldn’t have come at a better time after the Tigers played well and covered the spread in three consecutive games, only to lose outright in gut-wrenching fashion all three times.
Vandy has dropped three games in a row both straight up and against the spread by a combined score of 162-31. I think Eli Drinkwitz’s squad is poised to unleash a month’s worth of frustration on the Commodores.
Oklahoma St. +7 (-120) vs. Texas: Let’s buy the half-point from 6.5 to the key number of seven here. This spread has been pushed up due to a shoulder injury to Oklahoma St. star QB Spencer Sanders, who took a shot to numb the pain before last week’s 43-40 double-overtime loss at TCU.
Sanders played great in the first half and helped the Cowboys race out to a 24-7 lead. However, as the game went on and the shot wore off, Sanders didn’t play as well. Mike Gundy has refused to discuss his status all week.
I think he’s going to play, though, and we should note that he didn’t miss a snap last week. Oklahoma St. hasn’t been a home underdog since 2019. The Cowboys are 3-1 ATS with a pair of outright wins in its last four games as home ‘dogs.
Gundy’s team has won 12 home games in a row and 15 of the last 16. The lone defeat came against these Longhorns two years ago in overtime.
Texas lost outright in its only other road games this year at Texas Tech. The Longhorns were limited to 24 points last week after scoring 34 or more in four consecutive contests.
Rice at La. Tech ‘OVER’ 57: The ‘over’ is 5-1 for La. Tech with its combined scores producing 74, 72, 52, 68, 69 and 76 points. Nevertheless, this is the third-lowest total the Bulldogs have seen this season.
The ‘over’ is also 5-1 overall for Rice.
La. Tech is ranked No. 128 out of 131 FBS teams in both total defense and scoring ‘D’ (38.8 points per game). The Bulldogs are dead last at No. 131 in run defense.
- By Brian Edwards
- @vegasbedwards on Twitter (linkage: https://twitter.com/vegasbedwards)
- MajorWager.com Managing Editor (linkage: https://www.majorwager.com/)
- VegasInsider.com Senior Handicapper (linkage: https://www.vegasinsider.com/handicappers/brian-edwards/)
- Owner of BrianEdwardsSports.com (linkage: http://brianedwardssports.com/) Host of the BetCFB Podcast (linkage: https://www.vegasinsider.com/shows/bet-cfb/)
Overall – 15-16-3 * not counting bonus plays *
Week 8
Week 8
Texas A&M at South Carolina ‘OVER’ 44.5: This is Texas A&M’s lowest total of the season. The previous low was 45 points in the Aggies’ 42-24 loss at Mississippi St. that saw the 66 combined points fly ‘over’ the number.
This is South Carolina’s second-lowest total of the year. The only one lower was when the Gamecocks won 24-14 at Kentucky two weeks ago when Will Levis was ‘out,’ and the Wildcats were starting a quarterback making his collegiate debut.
South Carolina’s five other games have had combined scores of 49, 74, 55, 76, 60 and 38 points. With perfect weather conditions in the forecast for Saturday night in Columbia, let’s play the ‘over’ on this low total.
LSU -2.5 vs. Ole Miss: I was able to lock in LSU at -120 on the money line Monday, but I’m still on board with it up to -3. The Tigers have won six in a row over Ole Miss in Baton Rouge. The Rebels ended a five-game losing streak to LSU with last year’s 31-17 win in Oxford, but that gives Brian Kelly’s team the revenge angle here.
It takes time for transfer QBs to build chemistry with their wide receivers, but it certainly appeared as if Jayden Daniels is now there after last week’s performance. Daniels led LSU to a 45-35 win at Florida by throwing for 349 yards and three touchdowns without an interception. He also had 44 rushing yards and three TDs.
Ole Miss put up outstanding defensive stats in September, but that unit has not been impressive recently. Vanderbilt scored 28 points on the Rebels two weeks ago before Auburn scored 34 at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium last week. Bryan Harsin’s had been held to 12, 17, 17 and 10 points in its four previous games.
Missouri -14 vs. Vanderbilt: Missouri is in a favorable spot at home here after its open date. It couldn’t have come at a better time after the Tigers played well and covered the spread in three consecutive games, only to lose outright in gut-wrenching fashion all three times.
Vandy has dropped three games in a row both straight up and against the spread by a combined score of 162-31. I think Eli Drinkwitz’s squad is poised to unleash a month’s worth of frustration on the Commodores.
Oklahoma St. +7 (-120) vs. Texas: Let’s buy the half-point from 6.5 to the key number of seven here. This spread has been pushed up due to a shoulder injury to Oklahoma St. star QB Spencer Sanders, who took a shot to numb the pain before last week’s 43-40 double-overtime loss at TCU.
Sanders played great in the first half and helped the Cowboys race out to a 24-7 lead. However, as the game went on and the shot wore off, Sanders didn’t play as well. Mike Gundy has refused to discuss his status all week.
I think he’s going to play, though, and we should note that he didn’t miss a snap last week. Oklahoma St. hasn’t been a home underdog since 2019. The Cowboys are 3-1 ATS with a pair of outright wins in its last four games as home ‘dogs.
Gundy’s team has won 12 home games in a row and 15 of the last 16. The lone defeat came against these Longhorns two years ago in overtime.
Texas lost outright in its only other road games this year at Texas Tech. The Longhorns were limited to 24 points last week after scoring 34 or more in four consecutive contests.
Rice at La. Tech ‘OVER’ 57: The ‘over’ is 5-1 for La. Tech with its combined scores producing 74, 72, 52, 68, 69 and 76 points. Nevertheless, this is the third-lowest total the Bulldogs have seen this season.
The ‘over’ is also 5-1 overall for Rice.
La. Tech is ranked No. 128 out of 131 FBS teams in both total defense and scoring ‘D’ (38.8 points per game). The Bulldogs are dead last at No. 131 in run defense.
