Mitch's Week 15 College Football Picks: Part Four

I'm having very mixed feelings about doing my final write-ups of the regular season for this year.

I am coming to the realization that football is almost over for another year, but at the same time, I realize that we have a full slate of bowl games to go. As I know that most days I'll be writing up just one or maybe a handful of games at a time, it is going to give me time to work on a lot of the other projects I have been talking about recently.

Jordan and I have been working on and discussing the inner workings of several other sites we'll be starting up that will all be similar to The College Football Place.

On tap we have college basketball, Major League Baseball, pro football, pro basketball, and pro hockey, but we plan on branching into just about any sport you can imagine.

While my favorite sport is and always will be college football, I plan on remaining active in the other sites but may not be as prominent as I am here. For the professional sports, we plan on having fantasy covered as well, though we haven't fully decided if we are going to go with a fantasy site that covers fantasy of all pro sports or just add a fantasy section to the site itself.

We're just trying to keep it real and to give people what they want in a comprehensive manner that will allow the sites to be easily navigated . We feel based on what we've seen and heard from everyone about the first site, we can deliver the same quality that our audience has grown accustomed to.

I also plan on writing a series of articles that I intend on compiling together into a book.

While my first book, Betting on College Football Made Simple, was more of a "how to" style book, my next work will revolve directly around the current state of college football and delve into what is working and what isn't, bringing to light a lot of how we got to where we are today.

Without giving too much away, I plan on going into everything from bowl tie-ins to ESPN Game Plan and the impact of cable television. I will also take a peek into the future and on what paths I think we are headed.

This is something I have been planning to do for quite some time, and I am looking forward to getting it rolling, though I have no idea how long a project of this scale will take to complete, especially with everything else I'll be working on.

In any event, back to picking some games.

Today I'm only going to cover one game, as I've already covered all but four, and they can be found as usual under the picks tab.  I am saving the Big 12 Championship for the expanded coverage in the free newsletter, and tomorrow I will spend the entire article previewing the SEC Championship Game between Alabama and Florida.

Ball State -15 Vs. Buffalo (Friday 12/5/08, 8 EST) 4 out of 10

Here is a pick I'm not enjoying having to make and a game I probably will end up not playing.

I have been on Buffalo and coach Turner Gil almost all season, but I think that the Bulls may just be too overmatched in this one to continue to side with them. Ball State has been on a season-long roll, and I have ridden it as well.

The past few games I thought I could get value going against the Cardinals, but in the end, the value wasn't there, as Ball State covered against both Central Michigan and Western Michigan. I think Gil and the Bulls need to be congratulated for the fine job they've done, especially QB Drew Willy.

That being said, I don't think the Bulls' offense is going to be the problem. Ball State QB Nate Davis has proved that he has all the tools to be successful under center at the major college level, and I suspect he'll have his way with the nation's 78th-ranked defense.

What disturbs me even further about Buffalo's defense is that they are 94th in the country in yards allowed and 94th in passing yards allowed. This matchup doesn't look favorable for them.

Buffalo enters the contest 7-4 against the spread this season, while Ball State is 9-2 against the number.

Buffalo is 5-1 against the spread in its last six following an against-the-spread loss and is 9-4 against the spread in its last 13 conference games.

Ball State is 6-2 against the spread in its last eight conference games, 20-7 against the spread in its last 27 games overall, and 6-2 against the spread following an against-the-spread win.

As I said earlier, I admire a team like Buffalo that gives 100 percent effort every time it hits the field, but In this case, I just don't think that effort is going to be enough to cover against a very good Ball State team.

See the rest of Mitch's Week 15 Part 4 College football picks against the spread