Footballpicks - December 01, 2007

We have four Saturday picks this week. Good luck to you!

Today's NCAA Football Picks:

Game: Florida Atlantic at Troy (Saturday 12/01 2:00 PM Eastern)
Pick: 3 units on Florida Atlantic +15.5

This game is for all the marbles in the Sun Belt, with the winner moving on to the New orleans Bowl vs Memphis. Florida Atlantic comes in with valuable experience gained in games vs South Florida, Oklahoma State, Minnesota and Kentucky. They actually beat Minnesota and took S. Florida deep into the 4th quarter with the game in balance. They have posted a good 5-1 mark in league play, the only blemish an OT loss to UL Monroe. Troy had a difficult out of conference schedule as well, and ran the table in the Sun Belt, without to many close games. Florida International possesses a good passing game, and one thing Troy has struggled with is keeping teams out of the endzone when they get close, as they have allowed 18 rushing TDs. Florida International has the ability to score some points, and keep this one a lot closer than it may look.

Both of these teams come in here at 5-6, so the winner becomes Bowl eligible, while the loser has played its last game. Nevada appeared to be on track at 5-4, but a heart-breaking loss to Hawaii, followed by a bad loss to San Jose State has left this team down in confidence. La Tech is heading in a different direction. At 2-5, it appeared they had no chance for becoming Bowl eligible, but they have rattled off 3 of 4 and are now poised to create an opportunity for themselves. If they need any extra motivation, they can reflect back on last year's humiliation, where they lost 42-0 to the Pack. San Jose was only able to generate 86 yards rushing, but still managed to hang onto the ball. The Wolfpack have had a disappointing season, thanks to a slew of injuries, and coming up short in many games.The Pack has recorded less than two sacks per game, and 35 ppg. Remember that La Tech hung with Hawaii, and we see no reason why they won't hang around this contest as well.

Missouri took over the #1 ranking in the country with its win vs Kansas last week. A win here will lockin a spot playing for the National Championship. If Oklahoma wins, and they get some help, could still lead to them playing in a National Championship game as well. Missouri gave Oklahoma all it could handle in Norman, and in fact led the game in the 4th quarter, when Oklahoma ran in a Missouri fumble to seal the outcome. Missouri out-gained them in that contest. Since that game Missouri has gotten even better, has built momentum, rattling off six straight. In those games, they have played superb, with no opponent coming within 8 points of them, and that was the #1 team in the country, Kansas. Oklahoma has some key injuries at RB, and most noteworthy on defense. Defensive End Austin English (9.5 sacks) sat out last week, and is a maybe this week, but not 100% if he plays. Chase Daniel has emerged as a Heisman hopeful with a brilliant season, completing over 70% of his passes for nearly 4,000 yards, and 33 TDs with only 9 INTs. Jeremy Maclin, only a freshman, could be the X-factor in this one for Missouri. Maclin has caught 69 passes for 954 yards and 9 TDs, but that's not all. He has returned two punts for TDs, as well as rushing for 309 yards, with four more TDs. Since the start of conference championship play, there have been 28 games featuring teams playing for the second time in the same season. In 23 of them the team that lost the first one has won, or played closer in the rematch. We like Missouri, who has revenge, motivation, and all the momentum to come away with the win.

Hawaii is now the last team standing, as they are the lone unbeaten team at 11-0. They have been rewarded with a #11 ranking. They are coming off the biggest game in the history of their football team and, in fact, the biggest WAC game ever. This is a great letdown spot. There isn't a team in sports that doesn't want a crack at an unbeaten team. Washington isn't going to a Bowl this year, so this is in fact their Bowl game. Washington did come up with 464 yards and held the ball longer than Washington St. last week, but just couldn't keep them out of the endzone suffering a 7 point loss. Colt Brennean has had an amazing season, and career, and Hawaii has been unblemished, but their were a lot of close calls along the way. Coming off an emotional win vs Boise State to win the WAC Title, this game means very little in comparison. It's extremely anti-climatic for the Warriors. Washington has nothing to lose, and they are motivated, coming off the upset loss last week. The Huskies are 12-3 ATS in their last 15 home upset losses and we expect them to play hard and score enough to cover the two TD spread.

Results: 2-2

NCAA Football Picks Resources:

• View our Football odds lines and spreads here.
• Don't forget to visit our 2007 NCAA football preview.
• View our free football pick by handicapper here.
• Don't forget to read our How we pick college football winners here.
• View our college football previous picks here.
• Check out our updated 2007 football pick season results.
• Here we show our college football ATS records.
• Here we show our college football Game-of-Week Analysis.
• Check out blog football here.
• View our updated football sportsbook reviews.

Check out the last five NCAA Football Picks Newsletters:

NCAA-Football-Picks-November-29-2007
This has been a very disappointing season for Louisville. What was thought to be National Champion contender has fallen far below expectations. Rutgers is probably right where they should be, although...

NCAA-Football-Picks-November-23-2007
It's been over a decade and a half since the Virginia Cavaliers mattered in College Football. They now host a very important game against their hated cross-state rival for a trip to the ACC title ...

NCAA-Football-Picks-November-15-2007
Throw out the records when these teams square off, because they ultimately don't decide the issue. Prior to the season starting, this game was supposed to be a game featuring two potentially undef...

NCAA-Football-Picks-November-13-2007
These teams are even in many ways. Both come in at 5-5 and the series is about even, with Toledo up 16-15. The Rockets have been the hotter team of late, but it certainly has nothing to do with their ...

NCAA-Football-Picks-November-08-2007
Arizona State, as have many college football teams this year, saw the magic come to an end last week as they were handed their first defeat at Oregon. This is yet another team that has not shown ...