College Football Picks Week 6: Betting Odds Created Before Las Vegas

Week 5 of the 2011 college football season is in the books, and teams playing away from home are starting to cash in.

Road underdogs have provided the most profit this season with a 133-116-3 against-the-spread mark, while teams laying points on foreign soil have come away with an even 34-34-1 ATS record.

Total players will find that the "over" is 164-152 on the year.

Let's create our own betting odds before Las Vegas establishes its numbers this afternoon.

California Golden Bears at Oregon Ducks

Both teams will be coming in well rested off a bye week, but oddsmakers will be placing a higher tariff on the Oregon Ducks in this contest due to it being one of only two games Thursday night.

Oregon came away with a 15-13 win in last year's meeting as 18.5-point road favorites, out-gaining California by 127 yards. 

The Ducks handed the Golden Bears a 42-3 loss the last time the series was played in Eugene, covering the 5.5-point spread in easy fashion

Handicapper Line: Oregon Ducks (-18.5)

Boise State Broncos at Fresno State Bulldogs

The Boise State Broncos have failed to cover the spread in consecutive games, allowing 10 fourth-quarter points in a 30-10 win over the Nevada Wolf Pack as 27.5-point home favorites.

The last time that occurred, Boise State bounced back with a 26-3 win over Utah as 15.5-point favorites in last year's Las Vegas Bowl.

Oddsmakers have no choice but to send the Broncos out as high favorites, as Fresno State has dropped games versus Mississippi and Nebraska by double digits.

Handicapper Line: Boise State Broncos (-13.5)

Oklahoma Sooners vs. Texas Longhorns

The Texas Longhorns 2011 Revenge Tour heads to Dallas this weekend for the Red River Rivalry. 

Head coach Mack Brown has seen his squad make amends for two home losses a year ago, handing the Iowa State Cyclones and UCLA Bruins convincing defeats.

Last year, the Longhorns were handed a 28-20 defeat as three-point neutral-site underdogs in this long-standing series.

Both teams will come in with 3-1 ATS records thus far in 2011, as Oklahoma bounced back from a flat performance versus Missouri, blasting the Ball State Cardinals by a 62-6 score.

Handicapper Line: Oklahoma Sooners (-8)

Maryland Terrapins at Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets have been clobbering Las Vegas in posting a 4-0-1 ATS mark in 2011, as the program leads the nation in points per game.

It's been a very impressive run in winning the statistical battle in all five games as well.

Maryland has fallen like a rock in terms of public perception after handing the Miami Hurricanes a loss on Labor Day, dropping two of its last three games.

Oddsmakers will be raising the stakes against the Yellow Jackets this week—but will it be enough?

Handicapper Line: Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (-14)

Kentucky Wildcats at South Carolina Gamecocks

South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Stephen Garcia has had his problems, including the loss of his grandfather leading up to this week's 16-13 defeat to the Auburn Tigers as 10.5-point home favorites.

Kentucky has been flat-out awful in dropping three consecutive games, including a 35-7 road loss to the LSU Tigers as 29.5-point underdogs.

The Wildcats have been out-gained by an incredible 414 yards combined versus the Tigers and Florida Gators in consecutive weeks.

Oddsmakers will need to send out the Gamecocks as double-digit chalk once again.

Bettors will see a lot of running back Marcus Lattimore in this contest. 

Handicapper Line: South Carolina Gamecocks (-17)

Boston College Eagles at Clemson Tigers

The Clemson Tigers have arguably been the most impressive team in Las Vegas the last three weeks, covering games against ranked competition every step of the way.

Sharp bettors were expecting the team to fall flat on its face in its first road game of the year, but the young roster responded with a 23-3 win over the Virginia Tech Hokies as seven-point underdogs.

I'd anticipate a flat effort this week, but who knows after such a strong performance in Week 5.

Boston College was handed a 30-3 loss by Central Florida in its only trip away from home, which will inflate the line even more.

Handicapper Line: Clemson Tigers (-12.5)

Kansas Jayhawks at Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Oklahoma State Cowboys can name the score, and that's always a recipe for high-priced betting odds in Las Vegas.

Kansas has allowed 111 points in its last two games, which isn't going to improve when facing a high-flying offense that is averaging 46.8 points a contest.

Bettors will look no further than the Cowboys handing the Jayhawks a 48-14 home loss as 24-point favorites, which will cause this line to come out over 30.

Sandwich game for Oklahoma State, coming off a come-from-behind road win over Texas A&M, and a trip to Austin on deck.

Handicapper Line: Oklahoma State Cowboys (-33)

Miami Hurricanes at Virginia Tech Hokies

The Virginia Tech Hokies were stymied by the Clemson Tigers Saturday, scoring just three points in a complete failure as seven-point home favorites.

Often times, bettors will be quick to jump off such a team, but that could be a dangerous proposition due to the program's ability to bounce back.

Miami is 2-2 on the season, but its win over Ohio State has lost some weight, as the Buckeyes dropped a 10-7 home game to the Michigan State Spartans.

Virginia Tech will be sent out at a fair price due to covering the last two meetings in this series by an average of 19 points.

Handicapper Line: Virginia Tech Hokies (-5.5)

Air Force Falcons at Notre Dame Fighting Irish

The Las Vegas oddsmakers have to be very careful in creating this line, as plenty of variables are in play.

Air Force is coming off a 35-34 overtime win over Navy as three-point road underdogs, which is obviously a huge win.

Service academies are always dangerous when given points, as their effort is always respected by sharp bettors.

Notre Dame has won three consecutive games and covered two of those in convincing fashion. The Fighting Irish have also allowed just 91.2 rushing yards per game, which fits nicely against a rushing attack that comes in averaging 364.5 a contest.

The kicker in creating this line—Notre Dame is playing before its bye week.

Handicapper Line: Notre Dame Fighting Irish (-13)

Texas A&M Aggies at Texas Tech Red Raiders

The Texas A&M Aggies have suffered two second-half collapses in a row, but I'm not about to drop their value heading into Lubbock.

Texas Tech has played absolutely nobody, coming away with a 45-34 win over the Kansas Jayhawks as 6.5-point road favorites last week.

Simply put, the Aggies have covered the last two meetings by 11 and 44 points respectively.

Handicapper Line: Texas A&M Aggies (-4)

Vanderbilt Commodores at Alabama Crimson Tide

The Alabama Crimson Tide has scored 38 or more points in three consecutive games, including wins over Florida (38-10) and Arkansas (38-14) in consecutive weeks.

Let's just say that Vanderbilt will appear as a blip on the team's radar, as the media hones in on the upcoming meeting with LSU in a month's time.

That's a dangerous thing when laying a big number against a virtual unknown in the SEC landscape.

Be careful, be very careful.

Handicapper Line: Alabama Crimson Tide (-20)

Iowa State Cyclones at Baylor Bears

The Baylor Bears suffered their first loss of the season against the Kansas State Wildcats, falling 36-35 as 3.5-point road favorites.

Quarterback Robert Griffin III continues to be a Heisman Trophy candidate, which will likely keep this line in double-digit territory.

Iowa State is 3-1 on the season, but fell victim to a revenge-minded Texas Longhorns team.

A definite matchup to circle on the odds board, especially with road trips to Texas A&M and Oklahoma State on deck for the hosts.

Handicapper Line: Baylor Bears (-10)

Auburn Tigers at Arkansas Razorbacks

The Arkansas Razorbacks defense was atrocious in the first half versus the Texas A&M Aggies, but tightened up just enough to come away with a 42-38 neutral-field win as 2.5-point underdogs.

Bettors will definitely need to be concerned that the team has been out-gained by 490 yards on the ground the past two weeks.

Auburn is 4-1, to the surprise of many, coming in off a 16-13 upset win over South Carolina as 10.5-point road underdogs.

The winner in this series has covered at least the last 10 meetings.

Figures to be another barn burner in the SEC.

Handicapper Line: Arkansas Razorbacks (-4.5)

Michigan Wolverines at Northwestern Wildcats

If the Las Vegas sports books want to get greedy and try to come away with a major score—this is the game to do it.

The public is enamored with the Michigan Wolverines and their Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback, but the team steps away from Ann Arbor for the first time this year.

Northwestern's 38-35 road loss to Illinois will add even more value to the line, but quarterback Dan Persa was playing in his first game since an Achilles injury.

Can't wait to see what the oddsmakers send this game out at.

Handicapper Line: Michigan Wolverines (-7)

Colorado Buffaloes at Stanford Cardinal

The Stanford Cardinal are now 4-0 ATS this season after Saturday's 45-19 win over the UCLA Bruins as 22.5-point home favorites.

It's really a shocking record, considering the team has the Heisman Trophy front-runner under center.

Colorado travels on the road for the third time this year, which has supplied two atrocious efforts, losing two Ohio State (37-17) and Hawaii (34-7).

Time to inflate the line.

Handicapper Line: Stanford Cardinal (-27)

Ohio State Buckeyes at Nebraska Cornhuskers

Two of college football's most faithful fanbases will walk into this game a bit stunned, as both teams were handed losses in Week 5.

With that being said, a football game will be played in Lincoln regardless.

The two teams will enter this contest with a combined 3-10 ATS record.

Ohio State's 24-6 loss to Miami as two-point road underdogs is the measuring stick for oddsmakers.

Handicapper Line: Nebraska Cornhuskers (-6)

Florida Gators at LSU Tigers

I'm creating this line as if Florida Gators quarterback John Brantley will not be in action, as I don't think he'll play against such a defense with a leg injury.

LSU will enter the game as the nation's No. 1 team, coming off a 35-7 win over the Kentucky Wildcats as 29.5-point home favorites.

Jordan Jefferson is back in the fold, which makes it that much more difficult for opponents to prepare for this team.

The Gators are young and everyone saw what happens when this team can't run the football. 

True freshman Jeff Driskel will likely face the nation's top two defenses in consecutive week.

Yikes!

Handicapper Line: LSU Tigers (-11)