AGAINST THE SPREAD: DEGENERATE GAMBLERS UNITE!

by DCScrap, Our Book of Scrap

After a week off, we've regrouped and reorganized our Against the Spread feature. We're going a new route this week. Since we have so many degenerate gamblers people with opinions great prognosticators amongst our group of authors, we decided to open this weekly feature up and include ALL of their wisdom. Get ready to get down, people.

The Prophet
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NCAA Football
EASTERN MICHIGAN +8 over Northwestern (Friday)
The Eagles covered this matchup easily last year, losing 14-6 as a +17 dog and they catch Northwestern in a classic letdown spot after three tough conference games, the last two OT victories. With a short week to prepare and another conference tilt against Purdue on deck, we'll gladly take the points with Eastern Michigan. Northwestern has failed to cover 7 of their L9 non-conference matchups, and despite this being a "neutral" site clearly the Detroit venue favors the underdog. Northwestern doesn't have the talent to be laying a TD plus on the road to anyone, and due to this tough scheduling spot they might not have the focus either. We'll call it a Northwestern victory by the narrowest of margins, though an outright upset wouldn't surprise either. NORTHWESTERN 28-27

UTAH STATE +7 over Nevada
Another team off a short week and playing with their backup QB, Nevada lost a shootout at Boise State last Sunday falling 69-67 to the Broncos. Nevada has lost all three of their road games this year SU and while the Aggies certainly don't have the talent of their other "away" foes (Boise State, Nebraska and Northwestern) they've got a few things working in their favor. Most significantly, they're well rested having last played on 10/6 at Hawaii. They've covered three of the L4 meetings in the series and as an opponent that provides no particular inspiration for the visitor. Hard to call for an 0-6 team to pull the outright upset but as in the previous game they'll give their opponents a major scare before its all over. NEVADA 31-30

MIAMI-FL +5 over Florida State
In this matchup of two marquee programs suffering through "down" years we'll grab the points with the defensively superior visitor. The Seminoles won the previous two meetings outright, but neither came easy as the winning margin in both was 3 points and the two games saw a combined total of 40 points scored. With both teams lacking playmakers on offense this should be another low scoring affair meaning the points will be at a premium. Florida State has struggled at home ATS over the past three years (5-10 ATS) and have been woeful in this price range--they're on a 1-7 ATS run when favored by 3' to 10 points. In a forgettable season, Miami will take whatever they can get in terms of accomplishments and a win over their in-state rival should fill the bill. MIAMI-FL 17-14

AUBURN +11 over LSU
Talk about a letdown spot--LSU saw their national championship hopes take a serious setback with their OT loss to Kentucky and this is a bad matchup for them to get things headed in the right direction. Its clearly a down year at Auburn in terms of talent, but credit the team for continuing to play tough week after week. They gritted out a victory at Arkansas last week by a 9-7 score, shutting down the Razorback rushing attack in the process. This could be a repeat of last year's game, which saw Auburn gut out a 7-3 victory. LSU has been a serious money burner in their conference games (on a 6-13 ATS run) and Auburn is now on a 5-0 run as an underdog, including outright wins at Florida and Arkansas. In a matchup where points have been at a premium we'll take a good number with a "live" dog that will give their opponent a fight. We'll even call for the outright upset: AUBURN 13-10

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Dr. C
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NFL
Atlanta @ New Orleans: 28-10 Saints
Arizona @ Washington: 24-7 'Skins
Baltimore @ Buffalo: 17-13 Ravens
Tampa Bay @ Detroit: 27-20 Lions
San Francisco @ New York Giants: 20-6 Giants
Tennessee @ Houston: 21-16 Texans
New England @ Miami: 42-13 Patriots
New York Jets @ Cincinnati: 28-24 Jets
Kansas City @ Oakland: 23-14 Chiefs
Chicago @ Philadelphia: 24-17 Eagles
St. Louis @ Seattle: 35-6 Seahawks
Minnesota @ Dallas: 31-20 Cowboys
Pittsburgh @ Denver: 28-14 Steelers
Indianapolis @ Jacksonville: 31-23 Colts

STONE COLD LOCKS
Pit over Den to cover, -3.5
Ind over Jac to cover, -3
Hou over Ten, Ten is -1.5

For more analysis and detail on Dr. C's selections, click here.

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The Original JD
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NCAA Football
Louisville (-4.5) over UCONN
Wake Forest (-4) over NAVY
Texas Tech (+4) over MISSOURI
Miami (+5.5) over FLORIDA STATE

NFL
HOUSTON (+1.5) over Tennessee
Kansas City (+2.5) over OAKLAND
St. Louis (+8) over SEATTLE
Pittsburgh (-4) over DENVER

For more analysis and detail on JD's selections, click here and here.

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DMtShooter
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NFL
Tennessee covering 1.5 at HOUSTON
Tampa Bay as a 2 point underdog in DETROIT
New England covering 16.5 on the road in MIAMI
San Francisco on the road as a 9-point underdog to cover against the GIANTS
BUFFALO as a 3-point underdog to the Ravens
WASHINGTON covering 8.5 at home against the Cardinals
OAKLAND covering 2.5 against Kansas City
CINCINNATI covering 6.5 at home against the Jets
PHILADELPHIA covering 5.5 at home against Chicago
St. Louis as an 8.5 road underdog in SEATTLE
Minnesota as a 9.5 point road dog in DALLAS
Pittsburgh covering 3.5 points in DENVER
Indianapolis covering 3 in JACKSONVILLE

For more analysis and detail on Shooter's selections, click here.

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Rupert
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NCAA Football
Louisville (-3.5) over CONNECTICUT
Michigan State (+17) over OHIO STATE
MARYLAND (-4.5) over Virginia
Michigan (-2.5) over ILLINOIS
LSU (-11) over Auburn
Oregon (-11) over WASHINGTON
KENTUCKY (+6.5) over Florida

NFL
Cardinals (+8.5) over REDSKINS
Falcons (+8) over SAINTS
DOLPHINS (+17.5) over Patriots
LIONS (-2.5) over Bucs
COLTS (-3.5) over Jags

For more analysis and detail on Rupert's selections, click here.

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Simon
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NFL
Detroit Lions (-1 1/2) over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
New England Patriots (-17 1/2) over Miami Dolphins
Tennessee Titans (-1 1/2) over Houston Texans
New York Jets (+6 1/2) over Cincinnati Bengals
Minnesota Vikings (+9 1/2) over Dallas Cowboys

For more analysis and detail on Simon's selections, click here.

And, of course, as you all know, these picks are purely for entertainment purposes. Illegal wagering is a crime in the United States of America.