Saturday, October 14, 2017 Texas Tech vs. West Virginia (NCAAF) - 12:00 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Money Line: -165 West Virginia Pick Title: 9 Star Offensive Barrage Play (WIN) With the exception of 2 great defenses (games @ Virginia Tech & T.C.U.), HC Dana Holgorsen's Mountaineers are averaging a staggering 57 PPG against your average joe defense. Well, here comes another one into Morgantown in the form of the Big 12 entry Texas Tech Raiders who are a perfect 5-0 SU after their 65-19 trouncing of Kansas. Guess what? They'll have to step it up more than a bit to win in this hostile environment on the road. They struggled earlier in the season on the road when they barely survived Houston 27-24. Now they face the toughest opponent to date on the road. Remember, even though they lost on the road to T.C.U., they out FD'nd the Horned Frogs 28-16 as well as out-gained them 508-406. Their 2 TO's were costly resulting in a 7-point loss but a 13-point underdog cover. The situation screams the home squad's way as they'll entertain a Red Raiders' group playing their 3 road game the past 4 weeks. The Mountaineers have dominated Texas Tech consistently so we're not seeing anything to dictate otherwise. Let's make way to Mountaineer Filed @ Milan Puskar Stadium in Morgantown to play the WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAINEERS as my 9 Star Offensive Barrage Play! Virginia vs. North Carolina (NCAAF) - 3:30 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Money Line: -165 Virginia Pick Title: 9 Star Catch-Up To Speed Play (WIN) There's always that team that you struggle or under-achieve against on a consistent basis. That team is Virginia against North Carolina. Coming into this one, the Cavaliers have lost a string of 7 straight SU (covering 1) by an average of 19 PPG! This every- year ACC longest-running rivalry goes back to 1919 Well, this season these same Tar Heels (1-5 SU with alone win over patsy Old Dominion) are reeling without the Mitch "departed for the NFL Bears" Trubisky. They've lost to all comers @ home going 0-4 SU against the likes of California, Louisville, Duke & Notre Dame. They now take on a vastly improved Virginia team that's coming off a dismal 2-10 season in Bronco Mendenhall's (105-54 record for career) inaugural year. This season has been quite a different turn of events as the Wahoos are 4-1 SU with an impressive 42-23 (+14 dog) win on the road on the blue turf of Boise State. Mendenhall (coming over from B.Y.U.) is getting great execution out of his senior QB Kurt Benkert whose offense has turned the ball over just 3 times in their first 5 games. On the flip side of the coin, HC Larry Fedora is still searching for a consistent offense whose averaging under 20 PPG minus Old Dominion. Their numbers are drastically down from last season & turnovers have gone up (10 TO's thus far). Not only are they minus Trubisky, but they also have an amazing total of 15 players out with season-ending injuries. It's simply too much to ask for OC's Gunter Brewer & Chris Kapilovic to put out decent numbers against quality ACC competition. Their defense (ranked 121st against the run) has yielded 744 rushing yards (offense only rushed for 192) their past 2 games! Let's go to Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill to hop on the VIRGINIA CAVALIERS as my 9 Star catch-Up To Speed Play! Ohio vs. Bowling Green (NCAAF) - 3:30 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Point Spread: -10.0/-106 Ohio Pick Title: 8 Star MAC-Daddy Play (WIN) It's no secret that HC Frank Solich (92-69 in 13 seasons @ Ohio) has had this game circled since the start of the season. All the then-sophomores & now seniors remember very well the 62-24 beat-down the Bobcats took the last time they've played in Bowling Green, Ohio. After that 2015 (10-4) MAC Title squad , HC Dino Babers left for Syracuse & turned the Falcons' reins over to Mike Jenks. Jenks (2nd-year) has had considerable growing pains going 5-13 SU to date (1-5 this season). Even though the crowd should be fired up for Homecoming, Bowling Green has clearly struggled @ home. They lost to South Dakota by 3 before losing by 11 to Akron 2 weeks ago. I feel the upset of Miami (Ohio) last week was a fluke since the Falcons benefited from Miami's QB going down as well as scoring on a 93-yard fumble return late in the game. The Bobcats should be hungry here since they were victimized by fluke plays as well. In their 26-23 upset loss to Central Michigan, they too were on the short end of a blocked FG return for a TD. We're looking for a big spring back game from Ohio U. this Saturday afternoon. Let's make tracks to Doyt Perry Stadium in Bowling Green to play the OHIO BOBCATS (buying to - 9 1/2 @ -126) as my 8 Star MAC-Daddy Play! Georgia State vs. UL Monroe (NCAAF) - 5:00 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Point Spread: 7.0/-110 Georgia State Pick Title: 8 Star Sun Belt Missed Perception Play (WIN) So many mushes are believing in the status quo here with UL Monroe rolling to another Sun Belt win over an also-ran. I'm not too convinced. In fact, new HC Shawn Elliott returns a very experience offensive line that should give Connor Manning some time to throw. The War Hawks can also ring up some yardage on the ground as well as through the air (433 passing yards versus Texas State last week). However, there's not that much separation from these 2 like in last season's 37-23 UL Monroe win @ Georgia State Stadium. We'll go to Malone Stadium in Monroe to play the GEORGIA STATE PANTHERS (buying to + 7 1/2 @ -130) as my 8 Star Sun Belt Missed Perception Play! UCLA vs. Arizona (NCAAF) - 9:00 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Money Line: -135 UCLA Pick Title: 9 Star PAC-12 Lone Wolf Play (LOSS) We're not looking for much from a Bruins' squad than to put up their usual 436 yards passing from QB Josh Rosen against a Arizona "D" that gave up 42 last week in Colorado. U.C.L.A. stands @ 3-2 SU under HC Jim Mora & has had 2 weeks to prepare for this one. The Bruins have had no trouble the past 2 years in this series posting a total of 101 points combined. Even though Arizona backup QB Khalil Tate ran wild & set the QB record for rushing yards in the FBS with 327, look for 3rd-year DC Tom Bradley (spent 37 years @ Penn State) to neutralize Tate by putting in some new packages into his 4-3 alignment. I'm ready to play the team with the seasoned QB as we play the U.C.L.A. bruins as my 9 Star PAC-12 Lone Wolf Play! New Mexico vs. Fresno State (NCAAF) - 10:00 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Point Spread: 1.5/-106 New Mexico Pick Title: 9 Star Mountain West Road Upriser (LOSS) I love the Lobos in this situation coming in with 2-weeks prep against a 3-2 SU Fresno State squad that's coming off a dismal 1-11 campaign. Expect new hire Jeff Tedford (ex-Cal HC but also QB'd Fresno back 81 & 82 after playing JUCO ball @ Cerritos CC) to have a few growing pains making the new transition. I love to take some points versus an undefeated ATS team since the mushes usually push up the line to an over-priced number. My bottom line says HC Bob Davie has had 2 weeks to prepare (12-2 lifetime off the bye) but is a perfect 4-0 his last 4 byes @ New Mexico. Their offense is in gear right now off of a 509-yard & 56-point performance versus Air Force. Let's move out to Bulldog Stadium in Fresno to play the NEW MEXICO LOBOS as my 9 Star Mountain West Road Upriser! Friday, October 13, 2017 New York Yankees vs. Houston Astros (MLB) - 8:08 PM EDT Premium Pick Pick: Money Line: -170 Houston Astros Pick Title: Mike's 3rd Post-Season MLB'er (WIN) This looks like a doozy of a series as the Yankees come in high off their upset of last season's AL Champ Cleveland. However, I look for the smarter skipper so far (Houston's A.J Hinch) to make some better moves than his opposition (New York's Joe Girardi) over this long haul 7-game series. The Astros are throwing dependable LHP Dallas Keuchel (former Cy Young winner) in Game 1. Keuchel has been very solid versus the Yankees winning 5 of 6 starts while showing a perfect E.R.A. in 4 of them. On the flip side of the coin we find RHP Masahiro Tanaka (who pitched excellent versus Cleveland) up against a team whose had their way with him in 4 straight starts. In his last time out against Houston this year, Tanaka was tattooed for 8 ER in just 1 2/3 innings of pitching. In the numbers has us zero in on team batting as the Astros have hit RHP very well this season @ a .280 clip while New York comes in with a mediocre .251 batting average versus southpaws. Right now coming into this one, Yankees' rookie phenom & RF Aaron Judge has shown a trace of brilliance (went 1-for-20 in the ALDS versus the Tribe) as he's struggled in the playoffs striking out 16 times. On the flip side, Houston's top hitter 2B Jose Altuve went 8-for-15 with 3 HR's, 5 runs scored & 4 RBI's in the ALDS versus the Red Sox. The last road win by New York to get them here only pushed their road record this season to a vanilla 41-43. They went an anemic 14-19 versus AL West teams heading into this series. The Astros have gone 50-33 @ home & have turned an excellent 24-14 record versus the AL East this year. My bottom line says Dallas Keuchel has looked over-powering against top-notch teams & is money going 21-6 in Game 1's of a series. The dagger for us says how do you trust a Yankees' team (despite some momentum) that's dropped 4 League Championship Series' roadies in a row? You don't! Having ex-Yankees' Carlos Beltran & catcher Brian McCann can only be another plus for the home squad. Let's go to Minute Maid Park in Texas to play my 3rd Post Season MLBer on the HOUSTON ASTROS in Game 1 of the AL Championship best of-7 series as well as a series bet to win on them as well! My 2017 MLB Seasonal Overall Record: 58-28 ---- 67% ---#1 VTD Capper This Year! My 2017-18 CFB Seasonal Overall Record: 17-17 ----After an ice cold start -we're back to 50% & climbing!
 

Click here to view all of Mike Handzelek 's premium picks.