The pros at FiveStarPick.com got blown up yesterday.  Our bankroll took a serious hit and we know yours did too, but what’s done is done and we have to focus on today’s comeback.  Spoken like a true gambler…Today we focus on the Rose Bowl which features two powerhouses in Penn State (11-1 Straight Up, 8-3 Against the Spread) and USC (11-1 SU, 6-5 ATS.)  Las Vegas sports books list the Trojans as 8.5-point favorites with the total listed at 44.5. 

Penn State’s bid for a national championship ended on Nov. 8 when they lost to Iowa on the road 24-23 on a last-second field goal. The Big Ten conference has been down all year and the Lions’ non-conference schedule wasn’t good enough to boost their BCS rankings.

The Trojans’ fall came a couple months earlier (Sept. 25) and also on the road. After crushing Virginia (52-7) and Ohio State (35-3) at the beginning of the season, USC traveled to Oregon State and got rocked.  The Trojans were down 21-0 at the break and ended up losing 27-21.

USC head coach Pete Carroll is 5-2 in his bowl history and 3-1 in the Rose Bowl.  USC lost in the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl to Utah 10-6 in Carroll’s first season at USC. In 2005, his 12-0 team fell to Texas 41-38 in the Rose Bowl, which cost USC its third straight national title. 

Penn State is 23-10-1 in bowl games under Paterno and has recently won three straight. The Lions have played twice in the Rose Bowl with Joepa, their last visit coming in 1995 when the school downed Oregon 38-20.

USC owns the nation’s best scoring defense with 7.8 points per game and the Lions are boasting 12.4 PPG. The Trojans also lead the nation in yards allowed per game (206.1).  Penn State’s 263 YPG surrendered is 5th best nationally.

Offensively, Penn State is averaging 40.2 PPG but was held to 13 points when it faced Ohio State, which most would agree was the best unit the team faced all season.  QB Daryll Clark (2,319 yards, 17 TDs) and RB Evan Royster (1,202 yards, 12 TDs) will be tested against USC linebackers Rey Maualuga, Brian Cushing and Kaluka Maiava.

USC QB Mark Sanchez (2,794 yards, 30 TDs) is looking to light it up tonight with RB Joe McKnight (646 yards) in the backfield both running and catching the football. The USC receiving corps is average, but Patrick Turner (667 yards, 10 TDs) is Sanchez’s top target. 

Now let’s talk trends…USC is 8-0 both SU and ATS in its last eight meetings against Big Ten opponents and all eight wins have come by double digits. The Big Ten is 0-2 this bowl season, while the Pac 10 has gone 2-0. 

It’s time to step up your game and become a member of our family!  Why not try our service out for 2-days and see if our talent for picking winners exceeds your expectations?  With over 2300 active members, you owe it to yourself to find out why FiveStarPick.com is the most accurate sports handicapping service on the net.  Our dime bettors are up nearly $100K in 2008.

FiveStarPick.com is hot on several games in today’s line-up.  After reading this, you must see our preview of today’s game between the Oklahoma State Cowboys and the Texas Longhorns.  In this preview we will be looking at the matchup between two Big Ten Rivals in Penn State and Ohio State.  Las Vegas sportsbooks have listed Penn State as a 2-point favorite with the total set at 44.5.

The Nittany Lions (8-0 SU, 5-2-1 ATS) have dominated every team they’ve faced in 2008. The offense ranks 7th in the nation in scoring with 45.4 points per game and has the 6th best scoring defense in the land, allowing just 11.8 PPG.  Penn State can hurt you with the run and the pass behind Senior QB Daryll Clark.  Clark has passed for 1,531 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 190 yards, 8 touchdowns.  Then you got Evan Royster who has rushed for 893 yards and 10 TDs.  Clark also has three quality receivers to choose from with Deon Butler (30 catches, 486 yards, 3 TDs), Jordan Norwood (25 receptions, 405 yards, 5 scores) and Derrick Williams (24 catches, 282 yards, 1 touchdown).

The Buckeyes (7-1 SU, 2-5 ATS) are feeling good about this week’s showdown after a solid perfomance last week against Michigan State. Terrelle Pryor wasn’t even at his best going only 7-11 for 116 yards and a TD in the air.  He also rushed for 72 yards on 12 carries and a score.  Beanie Wells appeared to be healthy carrying the ball 31 times for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

This is the first time in a long time that the Buckeyes are home underdogs in the Big Ten.  Ohio State is a dismal 3-7 SU and 5-4-1 ATS the last 10 times this has happened.

So who covers the spread in today’s game?  Why not let FiveStarPick.com help you with the answer?  Aren’t you tired of getting cold called by services that tell you about their 750,000 star play that’s a guaranteed winner. Here is a bit of advice…NOTHING is guaranteed when you are betting on sports.  These so called “handicappers” call 500 people on a Saturday morning and give them all a free play; 250 people will get Penn State -2 and 250 will get Ohio State +2.  After the game ends, they call back the 250 people who won and pitch them on charging thousands of dollars to their credit cards for more guaranteed winners.   We are not your typical sports handicapping service.  We care about our members and we live and die on every play. Why?  Because we are moving thousands of dollars of our own money on the same plays we give you. Gambling on sports is how we make our living.  Do we win every play?  Absolutely not and we will never pretend to.  Our plays are always posted for all to see, including our losing streaks. But by the end of the year we always seem to have a few hundred thousand dollars of the sportsbook’s money in our casino account.  Let us try and do the same for you.  Join our family of winners today and start your winning streak tonight.

Jimmy the Geek – FiveStarPick.com