Greetings! 
Let's get this season started...
Pick - Week 0 - NCAAF - Lines at Heritage Sports
Southern Methodist -24 over @Nevada - Reno
Predicted Score - Southern Methodist 45 Nevada - Reno 10
Rationale - Big chalk, on the road, at night, as SMU steps up to the ACC, and Nevada get's a new head coach, new coordinators, new systems etc. Lashlee has made an impact in structure and recruiting, SMU well funded to get Tr Portal and Nil talent. Choate will create a winner by season 2 or 3, but in game one, even at home, with probably a sparse home crowd, and SMU should be able to do its thing, and make a statement to the ACC, that it is indeed ready...QB Stone at SMU with its solid WR's and RB's should be able to hit early and often, to go along with a stingy D...Steele has SMU averaging 38 and giving up 24 on average, while Nevada is forecasted to score 20 on O and give up 35 on D...I see the case for a fast start by SMU, but I think that will be countered by more disciplined and aggressive play from Nevada with the new coach...at least for a while. Thus, I did not play SMU -14 first half. But, eventually, I think SMU's depth will be too much, and even when Stone get's pulled with 3 or 4 TDS, Jennings will be inserted and the machine will continue to run. No lookahead for SMU with Houston Christian on deck prior to BYU in week 3. I think SMU wants to kick off the season with a bang, with the goal of the D to pitch a shutout, and the goal of the O to try to score 40+...On the technical cap, I got 24 on the way up a few weeks ago, saw it peak at SMU -28.5, and then come back to earth at SMU -25 or SMU -25.5 during game week. SMU lost its 3rd string RB Cam Wheaton a 2nd year Tr from Alabama to a season ending injury. Perhaps that impacted the sell off, with what appears to be Sharps, who I believe drove the line up from the open of SMU-20.5, and decided to hedge out of some of its long SMU position, that was probably above reasonable expectations. I believe SMU is at full strength for this game, at least from a starters perspective. I think the open was set too low, based on the relative comparison of these two teams, and SMU-27 and SMU -28 was a bit too high. As my predicted score indicates, I believe SMU will cover SMU-24. - LHH
Going Forward - I plan to play 1-3 college games each week, with a focus on the full game side ATS. My goal will be to hit 100%. I sincerely doubt that will happen, but that is my goal...70% is aggressive, but a bit more realistic. I know I have a reputation here on covers for backing a predominance of favorites, and I expect that to continue, at least for September...I just need to figure out when to embrace "Live Dogs" as many of you play. I think that failsafe switch will be around October 5, 2024 or October 12, 2024... I dedicate this college football capping season to my good friend and former poster here on Covers.com NCAAF Forum COMBATO (Ross Johnston), who passed away in July 2024 at the age of 74. I welcome your opinions and constructive feedback on my picks per below. Good Luck to All! 
season @LonghornHoosier
Hot Forum Topics
