Week 4 Upsets
Posted by deaconcat08 on September 24, 2009
I hit 2 of my 5 upset picks last week, but I was all over my longshot prediction, as Northern Illinois rolled over Purude. For the first time in a while, I like a lot home teams this week. As always, these are ordered from smallest underdog to largest, and the value in each parentheses represents the number of points by which each team is currently an underdog according to the World Sports Exchange.
Wake Forest (+1.5) vs. Boston College- I’m actually kinda surprised to see that this game has turned from Wake as a 2.5 point favorite to the Deacons as a point and a half dog. Wake hasn’t played on the road this year, and they struggled mightily doing so last year. They also have had particular difficulties winning in Chesnut Hill. However, the Deacs offense seems to be clicking right now, and I’m still holding on to the belief that the the Eagles are destined to finish as low as 5th in the ACC Atlantic.
Minnesota (+1.5) vs. Northwestern- Not surprisingly, this line keeps coming down. After Northwestern’s past 2 performances (narrow victory over Eastern Michigan and loss to Syracuse), I’ve got to believe this team is destined for the Big 10 cellar. On the other hand, the Gophers are starting to show that last year’s surprise season was no fluke. I know it’s always difficult to win in the Big 10 on the road, but the Gophers are flat out the better team.
Troy (+2.0) vs. Arkansas State- The Trojans got off to a shaky start, but no one else in the Sun Belt (including the artists formerly known as the Arkansas State Indians) has shown me anything to make me think that Troy won’t romp through conference play as usual.
Buffalo (+2.5) vs. Temple- I know I blew my prediction that the Bulls would beat UCF on the road last week, but if Villanova can win at Temple, then why the heck can’t Buffalo.
Virginia Tech (+3.0) vs. Miami- It happened to BYU last weekend, and I think it’s destined to happen to the Hurricanes this week. The hype factor will hit the Canes hard due to the fact that pundits have started listing them as a national title contender. I just don’t see this squad embracing the added pressure and coming out of Blacksburg with a huge road win.
Marshall (+3.0) vs. Memphis- I was impressed by ther Herd’s victory over Bowling Green last week, and I still believe Memphis is without a doubt the worst team in the C-USA East.
Wyoming (+3.5) vs. UNLV- Neither team has pulled off a big win this year, but both have given superior teams a good scare (Wyoming vs. Texas in the 1st half, UNLV vs. Oregon State until the 4th quarter). I’ve got to go with the home team in this one though, as the Rebels have yet to leave the friendly confines of sin city this season.
Longshot of the Week: New Mexico State (+10.0) vs. New Mexic0- So who’s worse the Bad News Bears or the Little Giants? That is pretty much the situation we got here when these two abysmal state rivals face off on Saturday. Not sure which way it will go, but the Aggies at least have a win this season.