Texas Longhorns at Oklahoma State Cowboys (+8.5, 52)

The Texas Longhorns march closer to a shot at the BCS title but have to face a feisty rival in OSU. Texas thumped Missouri 41-7 last weekend and now have another road test in Stillwater. The Longhorns showed that their defense can be just as nasty as QB Colt McCoy and the offense. That stop unit held the Tigers to a season low of 173 yards of total offense.

The Oklahoma State Cowboys continue to plug new players into their lineup. Wide receiver Dez Bryant will remain suspended, and running back Kendall Hunter is questionable for Saturday with an injured ankle. Quarterback Zac Robinson has kept the team afloat and is getting big games from senior RB Keith Toston on the ground.

Georgia Bulldogs at Florida Gators (-15, 48)

Georgia Bulldogs has had two weeks off, using the bye to prepare for the reigning national champs in the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”. The Bulldogs haven’t been able to hang with the SEC elite this season but are coming off a win over Vanderbilt two weeks ago. Georgia has lost three of the last four meetings with UF in Jacksonville, but has gone 2-2 ATS against the college football point spreads.

Florida Gators got a scare last weekend from Mississippi State. The Gators have seemed far from their championship form the last few weeks. Last Saturday, the passing attack totaled only 127 yards and QB Tim Tebow was picked off twice. The burly signal caller did rush for 88 yards and a score, and is gradually getting back to his smash-mouth self since suffering a concussion over a month ago.

In the last two games the Mountaineers has needed second-half comebacks to win them. Despite suffering a concussion in the previous game, West Virginia QB Jarrett Brown played and had a rushing and passing touchdown in the win 28-24 over Connecticut.

Brown’s season so far has been on and off and he hasn’t found the consistency that WV needs.  That’s why the Mountaineers have been relying on the running game with RB Noel Devine as their best weapon with 912 rushing yards and 10 TD. He’s up for a treat against a South Florida defense rank second worst in the Big East against the run.

On the other hand the Bulls also struggled offensively against the Panthers.  Freshman QB BJ Daniels went 4 for 8 for 54 yards and two interceptions in the horrible loss 41-14 to Pittsburgh last week.

Considering West Virginia’s run defense is 9th in the nation Daniels may need to improve his game if they want to pull this one.

College football betting trends to consider

* West Virginia is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games
* West Virginia is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
* The total has gone OVER in 4 of West Virginia’s last 6 games
* West Virginia is 19-6 SU in its last 25 games on the road
* South Florida is 6-2 SU in its last 8 games
* South Florida is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home

My free pick: Mountaineers will cover the spread.

This game will be very personal as the Georgia players look to upset the season that Florida has put together. The recent rivalry stems to 2007, where Georgia practically stormed the field as if they had won the BCS Championship. The reason? They scored a touchdown. They should’ve saved the celebration for when they actually beat Florida 42-30 to disrupt their season.

In 2008, coach Urban Meyer called two timeouts during the final minute of the game as revenge, exasperating the 49-10 beating that the Gators handed the Bulldogs. Meyer insists that he wasn’t being a dick, but what possible explanation could he have had? Georgia hasn’t soon forgotten Meyer, and would love nothing more than to destroy the Gators’ chances of repeating BCS glory.

I’m not thrilled about Georgia after they’ve piled up a 3-9 ATS record in their past 12 games. They’ve also gone just 2-4 ATS in their past 6 road games. Against Georgia, they’re 2-9 SU and 1-7 SU in their past 8 road games. Of course, this doesn’t exactly count as a road game but I guarantee that the Florida fans in Jacksonville will be more behind the Gators than Georgia.

For the moneyline, this game is all Florida. But that spread is big, even for Florida. Tebow is coming off one of his worst performances in his college career, throwing two picks and no passing touchdowns. While this will be a game that will really drag the TOTAL down, I don’t think there’s enough room in this low-scoring game for Florida to clear the spread.

Bet against Georgia if you want, but they’re coming off a bye and have had two weeks of prep for this game. Florida is coming off three narrow victories against Mississippi State, Arkansas and LSU. The bow could break any moment for the Gators and Urban Meyer.

Furious Free Pick: Georgia +15 (UNDER)