Micah's Picks (4 Live)
Micah's Past Picks
Arizona is playing at the Footprint Center tomorrow in Phoenix and they're somehow favored over UCLA who is 8-1 and 6-3 against the spread. It's been a disappointing year for Arizona so far at 4-4 and 3-5 against the spread but what they have done is gone over the total at 6-2. Arizona averages 87 points per game but UCLA is the number one ranked defensive team allowing 55 points per game. Two differing styles and one team is on the skids. But I think Arizona enforces their will which is some fast pace. Over is the play.
Army has won the last two meetings against Navy and six of the last eight. They've covered eight of their 12 games this season. The most recent comparisons showing the disparity between the armed forces this year happened in their games against Tulane. When Army faced Tulane on December 6th they won 35-14. When Navy faced Tulane on November 16th they lost 35-0. Army is led by quarterback Bryson Daily who tossed eight touchdown passes but where he does his damage is in the running game where he had a 5.6 average, 29 TDs, and 1,474 yards. Army has the No. 1 rushing team in the nation averaging 314 yards per game. Army is in another class than Navy this year. Army covers.
Northern Iowa and Omaha hook up for a meeting tonight and Northern Iowa comes off a great season last year where they were 19-14 but lost two key starters. Omaha is 4-7 and lost their two best players but returned three starters from last year. They're 7-3 against the spread. Both teams favor the under on their games this year with UNI going 2-5-1 to the under and Omaha going 4-6 to the under. Omaha's average score is 69-73 and UNI's is 76-65 which is in line with the total tonight but the difference is that UNI put on the burners in their last two games scoring 101 and 83 points. The trend keeps going and they put up a bunch of points tonight. Over.
Both the Rams (7-6) and the 49ers (6-7) had impressive wins on Sunday and that's good because it keeps the 49ers as the betting favorite. The 49ers had lost three straight until beating the Bears on Sunday. All the same 49ers are still out, even their third-string running back was knocked out Sunday. The win against the Bears gave the 49ers some false hope while the Rams played a perfect game against the Bills to win by two, 44-42. That's six wins out of the last eight games the Rams have won. Matt Stafford has both his star receivers playing well and he's looking his best with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions between his last four games. Rams win this game.
Arkansas Pine-Bluff lost five starters from last year's team and might be worse than last year. They've started 2-8 and haven't won a game on the road, but they play fast and don't defend at all. They allow their opponents to shoot 49% on the year and are one of the worst in the nation allowing 32.8 buckets a game. This season their average score has been 70-95. Louisiana Monroe's only won three games and they're 1-7 against the spread but they'll get to play ball unfettered from good defense tonight. Over is the play.
Cornell comes off a successful 22-8 season under coach Jon Jacques in his first year last year and they've started this season out at 6-3 scoring 84 points a game with some insane shooting from three-point range making 11 of 31 shots per game. Defensively, Cal only allows 47.9% shooting which is one of the worst percentages in the nation. Cal's average score is 81-75. This thing is going to fly high and sail over the total.
St Joseph's possesses one of the best backboards in the nation led by Eric Reynolds 17 points a game last season in a 21-14 season for St Joe's. They scored 75 points a game last year and they're back at it again this year scoring 75 points per game. College of Charleston is the team that will get this over the total, they average 81 points a game on 47.8% shooting and defensively they allow 77.8 points per game and 46% shooting. This game gets over.
Joe Burrow is having an outstanding season but the team seems to have some trouble, especially on defense, and they can't get a win against a quality team. They've lost seven in a row to playoff-type teams and they handle business against the Raiders, Browns, Giants, and Panthers with ease covering. I think the Cowboys with Cooper Rush fit that mold of the four teams the Bengals have beaten easily. The over has also happened five straight times. Bengals to cover.
The Cowboys defense allows 28.2 points per game which is 29th in the league and at home they allow 34 points per game and have gone on to 1-5 this season. The Bengals score 27.9 a game on offense and allow 28.3 on defense going over their last five. The Bengals have gone 9-3 to the over and the Cowboys have gone over the last three games with Cooper Rush getting comfortable each time winning the last two. All signs are pointing to this game going over the total in quite an entertaining game.
The Chiefs haven't covered in their last six games and struggled the previous two weeks against the Raiders and the Panthers but they've won six straight against the Chargers and have lost only once this year. They're 11-1 and the Chargers are 8-4 but none of those eight wins were against stellar teams. The Chiefs haven't lost at home and won and covered their last six games last season. These guys know how to win. The scary thing is the Chargers are plus 11 in turnover margin and the Chiefs are -4. It's a short price with the Chiefs and I got a quarterback in Patrick Mahomes who has gone 17-1 in his last 18 games. I'll take my chances Chiefs to cover.
The Bills have won their last seven games covering six of them and they play a desperate Rams team who's taking a step up from who they normally beat. They've won two of their last four games beating the Saints and the Patriots on the road. The Bills have won and covered the last three meetings with the Rams. The Bills only two losses on the season were to the Ravens and the Texans both on the road and I don't see the Rams in the class of either one of those. The Bills have the No. 10 offense, the 11th-ranked defense, and are the second-best scoring team at 29.6. The Bills are No. 1 in turnover margin at plus-17. Bill's cover.