Mitch's Week 15 College Football Picks (Part One)

With the college football season winding down and a limited schedule this week, I'll be analyzing and picking every game against the spread in week 15.

There is still a lot to be decided this week, as very few of the bowl slots have been filled, and we have several conference championship games taking place.

For many of the players in the games we see as less meaningful, this may be the last time they ever get a chance to play organized football, and we thank all of the student athletes who have brought us countless hours of joy and excitement all fall.

Because of the limited schedule, we aren't having the picking contest this week but of course there will still be the free newsletter, featuring picks and analysis not given anywhere on the site. In any event, let's get on to this week's action.

Middle Tennessee State + 4 1/2 at Louisiana-Lafayette (Tuesday 12/2/08, 7 EST) 3 out of 10

As the season winds down one of the things I won't miss is having to pick games like this one where I normally wouldn't touch it if it was just a Saturday game.

What I have learned to be the norm on games like this is that if I happen to be on the right side I don't hear anything about it, if I happen to be on the wrong side, the YouTube trolls come out of the woodwork and act like I told people to put their life savings on the outcome.

Those who take the time to actually check out The College Football Place know that isn't what we're all about, but for some reason it still bothers me, probably something that over time I'll actually really be able to let go of.

In any event, both of these teams come in on three-game streaks, for ULL it's a losing streak, for MTSU it's a winning streak. This game sets up to be a pretty high scoring game as while Middle Tennessee State has the better defense, their weakness is against the run, which is all Louisiana-Lafayette is able to really do efficiently.

Normally, I would be all over a team like ULL in a match up like this, especially at home, especially on Senior Night, but it's just tough for me to bank on a team with the 105th-ranked scoring defense and the 107th-ranked defense in total yards allowed.

MTSU comes in at 5-6 against the spread while ULL is 7-4 against the spread. The Blue Riders are just 1-4 against the spread in their last five meetings with the Ragin Cajuns but the road team has covered in four of the last five and the underdog is a perfect 5-0 against the number.

While MTSU is just 1-7 against the spread in their last 8 conference games, they are 9-4-1 against the spread when playing a team with a losing record and 6-2-1 against the spread in their last nine following an against-the-spread win.

Louisiana-Lafayette is just 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 home games, 3-8-1 in their last 12 following a bye week, and 2-5 against the spread in their last 7 following an against the spread loss.

Since I need to pick someone, as I pick all of the weekday games, I'll take my chances on MTSU and the points.

See the rest of Mitch's week 15 part 1 college football picks and predictions against the spread