Everybody has reached deep in their pockets to purchase that pair of designer jeans or broke the bank because they just had to have the brand-name sneaker with the latest go-go-gadget feature.
Wagering on sports is no different. Those high-profile, butt-hugging, Italian-leather teams are a very tempting play each Saturday. And betting on brand-name teams costs brand-name prices.
Unfortunately for college football fans, some of those name-brand teams are falling apart like cheap knockoffs bought out of the trunk of a car.
Clemson Tigers (3-3 SU, 0-4 ATS)
Where do we start with the Tigers?
Clemson was so awful its last two outings that the axe finally fell on Tommy Bowden. Sure, Baby Bowden officially “stepped down” from his position as head coach but the entire country knows he was run out of South Carolina like Frankenstein’s monster.
And while every one is buzzing about Bowden’s exile, C.J. Spiller’s injury goes unnoticed. The Tigers’ star back is expected to miss Saturday’s home game against Georgia Tech (-2.5). It’s the first lined game in which Clemson wasn’t the favorite this season.
When it rains it pours in Clemson.
Auburn Tigers (4-3 SU, 1-6 ATS)
It’s a crappy time to be called the Tigers.
Auburn isn’t earning its stripes either (horrible Tiger joke, I know) and coach Tommy Tuberville could soon face the same fate as his former offensive coordinator. His unable-to-cover-the spread offense is scoring less than 20 points per game, making it tough for backers to turn a profit on a team that’s faced numbers of -19.5 and -16.5.
Auburn has a week off to get the taste of an upset loss to Arkansas out of its mouth before heading to West Virginia October 23. That game makes me thankful that I’m not an oddsmaker. Yikes.
Ohio State Buckeyes (6-1 SU, 1-5 ATS)
An Ohio State backer is just a squirrel trying to get a nut. And the Buckeyes aren’t the nut they were searching for.
The OSU offense isn’t good enough to justify spreads of -33.5, -21 or even -18.5. Apparently, -10.5 is too lofty a number for an offense that scrounges just 24 points per game and would rather run the ball on every down than attempt a forward pass.
It’s all on the defense this weekend. The Buckeyes run stoppers have Michigan State’s Javon “Dead” Ringer “for a Heisman winner” to deal with. Take that Chris Berman.
Michigan Wolverines (2-4 SU, 1-5 ATS)
The Wolverine’s straight up record and ATS record aren’t that far off. Still, Michigan is set as a favorite almost every week. The only game in which it was dogged just happened to be the team’s upset over Wisconsin – which doesn’t hold much water now.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong from the Wolverine’s in their upset loss to Toledo last Saturday. In that game they upped their turnover total to 19 on the year. That number puts them in the same class as Hawaii, Ohio and Kent State.
If you’d like an example of how far the mighty have fallen in the Big Ten, take a look at the spread for the tilt with Penn State this weekend.
West Virginia Mountaineers (4-2 SU, 1-4 ATS)
Here’s the great thing about the upcoming Auburn at WVU game: Some one is going to cover. Unless the game ends in a push. Which is a fitting term because a finish like that would likely “push” Mountaineers backers over the edge.
West Virginia fans have suffered more bad beats then Kevin Federline’s solo effort (this joke is about two years late). They’ve watched their money disappear like Harry Houdini (this jokes is more than 80 years late) in an overtime loss to Colorado and a last second letup to Rutgers.
*Here’s a creepy side note with Halloween on the way. Federline’s album, Playing with Fire, and Houdini’s death happened on the same day. The only thing freakier than that will be line for the October 23 contest.