MR EAST
NCAAF SATURDAY SLEEPER
#337 LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS @ NAVY MIDSHIPMEN 3:30PM EDT
PLAY ON #337 LOUISIANA TECH BULLDOGS +7.5 -110 FOR 3 UNITS
I'm out of the gate 7-1 in NCAAF and this is off an 86-63 finish a year ago. The Naval Academy came within an eyelash of pulling off what would of been the biggest upset of the week last week, when a botched 2 point conversion, kept them from getting into OT vs Ohio St. So looking at this line of just 7 makes it very tempting to grab them here, afterall they just played one of the best teams in the country almost dead even. Not so fast. Think of the circumstances here. Ohio St. has USC this week, and you can bet they had USC on their minds, and were not very amped up to play Navy, while for Navy, this was a huge motivational spot, to come into Big-10 country and spring the upset. Now they face a BCS sandwich, as they play Pittsburgh next week. I expect Navy to be flat as a pancake here. This is a team that closed 5-1 a year ago. The strength of the LA Tech team is running the ball, and stopping the run, which puts them right in the thick of things here. This is a team that has a punishing running game, and an OL that returns in tact. They also have a bigtime running back in Daniel Porter, who will likely finish this season as the all-time rushing leader at Tech. The defense is vulnerable in the secondary, but Navy does not throw the ball but 10-15 times a game, so they will stack against the run, and will have success. Tech was down at Auburn by just 10 into the 4th quarter, so they are definately capeable of winning here. Navy has no homefield advantage and are just 5-12 ATS in their last 17 at home. The public is all over Navy in this one, as 82% have sided with the service academy here, yet lines have moved the opposite way, as 7.5 is still available, but 7's are popping up now. Why with 82% on one side, would the line be going the other way? That means that 18% are wagering bigger money on LA Tech than the 82% are on Navy. I'm part of that 18%, and I'm going with LA Tech here, with a chance to win this one straight up.