This Saturday started off so well and ended so badly. I released four college football picks to my clients. Three of them were bet & released on Friday and the fourth one was bet & released on Saturday morning. As you’ll see, I’m wishing I hadn’t pulled the trigger on that last one.
Our betting day started with Temple -6.5 at Connecticut. They played a pretty lousy first half, yet led 7-3 at halftime. The Owls opened it up in the second half and pulled away for an easy 36-10.
Next up was Ohio State -17 at home against Cincinnati. This was an up & down game. Ohio State led 30-7 at one point in the second quarter, but the Bearcats closed it 30-21 at halftime and 33-28 early in the third quarter. But it was all Buckeyes after that. Ohio State rolled up more than 700 yards of total offense in the 50-28 win & cover.
At 2-0 on the day, all we needed to do was split the final two wagers to secure a winning day. Next up was our Max Bet on San Diego State -18. Words cannot describe how disappointed I am in this one. UNLV came into this game severely short-handed due to injuries and the Aztecs had a 31-10 lead at one point in the fourth quarter. What we ended up with was a one-point loss in a 34-17 Aztecs win. Very frustrating.
The fate of our betting day rested with the Syracuse Orange, 9.5-point home dogs against 8th-ranked Notre Dame. I added this game to my betting card on Saturday morning after struggling with the decision whether to bet it or not all day Friday. I really felt the Orange could hang on Saturday night in front of a raucous crowd. They played a scoreless first quarter and I was feeling pretty good. Even at halftime it was 14-3 Notre Dame and I still felt Syracuse would hang around with a shot to win it late or at least come in through the back door for us to cash the ticket. But the Irish took the game over in the second half and we really never had a chance in a 31-15 Notre Dame win.
So a 2-0 day turns into a 2-2 day for -1.5 Units. It so easily could’ve been much different. I don’t know what frustrates me more; adding Syracuse to make it a losing day or the way we’ve lost these Max Bets. Remember a few weeks ago we had a Max Bet on Air Force, a pick’em at Wyoming. The Falcons led the entire game until the final 70 seconds or so. Then the one-point loss on SDSU last night. Nothing to do but move on and have a winning Sunday.
