Free College Football Picks - August 30, 2008

We started off 3-1 on on early picks! We have six Saturday picks below. Good luck!

Today's NCAA Football Picks:

Game: Akron at Wisconsin (Saturday 8/30 12:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Wisconsin -26.5 (-110) (risk 3 to win 2.7)

Coach Bielema has taken this Wisconsin team to January Bowl games his first two years. But this may in fact, be his best team yet. The offensive line is one of the best in the country and they have several backs that can do damage running the ball. They return 17 starters from a 9-win team a year ago. The Zips finished 3-5 in the MAC last season and return only 13 starters which is tied for fewest in the conference. They were outgained by MAC opponents last year by 70+ yards per game, and have just five defensive players returning. The DL struggled against MAC opponents so how will they fare versus one of the top offensive lines in the country? You get the picture. This is a lot of points but we see a Wisconsin rout here, and will lay the heavy points.

The Blazers offense was very inconsistent last year, and this season enter with a new, unproven QB. The good news is the defense, very inexperienced last year, returns nine starters. Tulsa had a new head coach last season. Rather than fold, they went on to win 10 games via a high-powered offense. Todd Graham worked with the players of his predecessor. But, this guy was a defensive coordinator and you can expect the Golden Hurricane to shift under him to more of a defensive-minded coach, starting this year. The high-scoring Hurricane offense returns eight starters, but they lost the most pivotal - QB Paul Smith (CUSA offensive player of the year). He threw for over 5,000 yards and  47 touchdowns and that will be very hard to replace. This total is set based on last year's Tulsa offense (which won't be as potent early this year) and their defense (which will be better in 2008). It's too high, given things have changed, and we will ride the UNDER here.

The Golden Gophers were snake-bit last season, avoiding an 0-12 season with a thrilling triple-OT game vs Miami Ohio. They lost five games by 6 points or less, and had a -15 turnover margin. This year's version has a lot of experience, a returning QB, and 15 starters coming back in all. They should be a vastly improved team on both sides of the ball. Northern Illinois didn't fare much better in '07, finishing with a pair of 7 point wins, to show for a dismal 2-10 season. This season they go from three senior starters a year ago to 21 returning starters and 20 seniors. They return all 11 starters on defense, and with a more experienced, veteran offense this team will be much improved. The biggest improvement will be on the defensive end. Over the past couple of seasons, this team is 11-2 UNDER as an underdog and we will call for this one to go UNDER the total as well.

Last season, Memphis  depended on offense to propel them to a winning record, finishing at 7-6. They have a good corp of recievers returning. But, they don't get back QB Hankins who threw for 3,220 yards with 25 TDs. That may cause the Memphis offense to struggle at the start of the season as the new QB, likely Hall, gets a rhythm going with his recievers. Mississippi lost nine games a year ago, and topped the 25 point mark on offense just once. Now they must replace their QB, and that poor production may be down even further, at least early. These teams have met for each of the last four years, never scoring enough points to surpass this total. In those games, they averaged just 36.5 total points! Under Houston Nutt, Ole Miss is 16-5 UNDER when favored by 3.5 to 10 points. We like this one to come in UNDER.

The Huskers didn't make it to a Bowl last year for the second time in four years -  unheard of at Nebraska. The long storied history of this team harkens back memories of three yards and a cloud of dust. The pass was rarely seen. They became a passing team over the last several years and it just didn't work. Enter Bo Pelini. The running game will be back, meaning less time on the field for the defense. W. Michigan had a young inexperienced defense to start last season. It showed early as they allowed 38.6 points per game over their first six games. As the defense matured, they ended the season by allowing just 19.2 points per game in their last six. That's nearly 20 point per game improvement. The good news is that 10 of the 11 are back this season. With a more deliberate eat-up-the-clock running offense from Nebraska, and this experienced Western Michigan defense, we like this one to go UNDER this lofty total.

Auburn did not get out to a good start last season, posting a 1-2 record through their first three games. They did start to gel as a young team as the season progressed, finishing 8-2 including a Bowl win over #15 Clemson. The offensive line was young at this time last year, but as they matured, Auburn became one of the top teams in the country. This year they return 16 starters and the offensive line has much more experience. UL Monroe broke even last year at 6-6, and getting the top teams at home this year in the Sun Belt makes them a candidate to win their conference. But let's face it, this is not the SEC. They have met Auburn twice in the last five years, losing by a combined score of 104-7! UL Monroe is just 7-19 ATS in their last 26 road games as an underdog of more than three touchdowns. With a more mature, motivated Auburn team, we don't see much changing here. Auburn rolls.

Results: 2-3

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• Don't forget to visit our NCAA football Game-of-Week-Preview.
• Check out NCAA football prior picks here.
• Don't forget to read our How we pick college football winners here.
• View our updated 2008 college football preview.

Check out the last five NCAA Football Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Football-Picks-August-26-2008
After a 1-4 start last season Buffalo finished strong producing a winning record in their last seven games. Overall the Bulls went 5-3 in the MAC and outgained conference opponents by over 7...