5 College Football Win Total Under Bets For 2016
By Ty Duffy
College Football season is approaching. Earlier this week, we looked at win total over bets. Today, we look at five win total under bets.
Baylor Bears [Under 9.5] Experienced QB. Talent on both side of the ball. Seasoned interim head coach. That sounds like Arkansas in 2012. Baylor may not implode. They may replicate their system. But, they will lose the resiliency and adaptability they had under Briles. The Big 12 doesn’t have great teams. But, it has a number of good, well-coached ones that can offer a dog fight week to week. Baylor has a rough close to the season. A double-digit win regular season, eclipsing last year, seems like a stretch.
USC Trojans [Under 7.5] USC has some great players. They also have an unproven coach, an unproven quarterback, and a brutal schedule. In September, they play Alabama, Stanford, and Utah away from home. They close in November with Oregon, at Washington, at UCLA, Notre Dame. Well, USC should cruise through that middle stretch, right? Arizona, Colorado, and Cal were all one-score games last year. 8-4 would be a very good season.
Penn State Nittany Lions [Under 6.5] Penn State is changing coordinators on both sides of the ball, changing quarterbacks, and has last year’s formidable defensive line gutted. Trouble could escalate quickly for James Franklin. They play at Pitt and Temple (who beat them down last year) before opening the B1G slate at Michigan in September. Three of their home games are Ohio State, Iowa, and Michigan State. Minnesota and Maryland aren’t bolted down wins. Neither are trips to Indiana and to Rutgers in November.
LSU Tigers [Under 10] This is the calendar point where everyone forgets the season, peruses the recruits and returning starters, and gets hyped about LSU. This team is 5-7 in the SEC West the last two years. Same offensive system. Same quarterback play. They face Alabama and Ole Miss. Florida and Auburn have been rough away trips for LSU historically. They’ve lost twice (nearly three times) in a row to Arkansas. This team is talented, as it was last year, the year before, and every other year they mildly disappointed. 9-3.
North Carolina Tar Heels [Under 8.5] Psst… North Carolina did not beat anybody good last year. They lose their senior quarterback and offensive coordinator. Their defense was abysmal stopping the run. Georgia non-conference. They have road trips to Florida State and to Miami. The ACC Coastal isn’t that good, but isn’t that bad either. Pitt, Virginia Tech, at Virginia, Georgia Tech, at Duke, and N.C. State could all be tough games. We’re not quite writing off Illinois in that sneaky let down road trip the week after UGA.