Texas vs. Alabama – BCS Championship Picks Against The Spread
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
The 2010 college football season comes to a close tonight for the pros at FiveStarPick.com and I have to say that it’s a very sad day for all of us. We have been working overtime for our members today to analyze tonight’s BCS Championship Game between the Texas Longhorns and the Alabama Crimson Tide and we look forward to another spread winner in tonight’s finale. Las Vegas Sportsbooks list Alabama as 4-point favorites with a total of 45. Early action on Alabama pushed the line to as high as 5.5, but the betting public has since moved the line back down to 4 as more money has come in on the Longhorns.
Alabama (13-0 SU, 8-5 Against The Spread) is coming off an emotional win in the SEC Championship game against Florida. It was the Tide’s best performance of the season as they crushed the Gators, 32-13, at the Georgia Dome. The Tide took the cash as a 5.5-point ‘dog and money-line backers hit a winner with a plus-170 return (risk $100 to get $170).
Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram was the star of the show rushing for 113 yards and three touchdowns on 28 carries. He also had two catches totalling 76 yards, one of those a 69-yard screen pass in the second quarter. Junior quarterback Greg McElroy came into his own as well completing 12-of-18 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown with no turnovers.
McElroy will need to take care of the football tonight if he expects to win a National Title tonight for the Tide. McElroy has a 17/4 TD-INT ratio and has completed 61.1 percent of his passes for 2,450 yards on the season. Ingram rushed 249 times for 1,542 yards and 15 touchdowns, averaging 6.2 yards per carry on his season. Through the air, Julio Jones is McElroy’s top target and has 42 catches for 573 yards and four touchdowns against SEC secondaries.
Texas (13-0 straight up, 5-7-1 against the spread) had its hands full against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship Game. The Longhorns managed a 13-12 win thanks to a 46-yard field goal as time expired. The win didn’t come without drama as Colt McCoy threw an incomplete pass with the clock at double zero. The Cornhuskers began to rush the field to celebrate the upset, when all of a sudden, a second mysteriously reappeared on the clock. That was all the Longhorns needed. Regardless, Nebraska backers easily cashed as 14 point dogs.
Texas QB Colt McCoy was not on his game that night. He connected on 20-of-36 throws for 186 yards, but threw three interceptions. On the flip side, the Longhorn defense was incredible, limiting Nebraska to 106 yards of total offense.
But we expect McCoy to be back on form tonight. Barring the Big 12 Championship Game, McCoy has connected on 70.5 percent of his passes for 3,512 yards with a 27/12 touchdown-to-interception ratio this season. He also has senior wide receiver Jordan Shipley as his #1 target. Shipley has 106 receptions for 1,363 yards and 11 touchdowns. It won’t be easy for Shipley tonight as he will have to face Alabama’s Javier Arenas, who is one of the SEC premier cover corners.
Now let’s talk trends…During Mac Brown’s tenure in Austin, Texas has been an underdog 16 times and have gone 11-5 against the spread. As for Alabama, it has a 7-1 Against The Spread record in its last eight games as a single-digit favorite. The Tide has seen the ‘under’ go 5-2-1 in its last eight games, while Texas has seen the ‘over’ go 3-1 in the Longhorns’ last four.
If you are wondering who will cover the spread in the BCS Championship, try FiveStarPick.com and eliminate the guesswork. For only $19.99 you can test us out and see if our talent for winners exceeds your expectations. We are the only sports handicapping service in the business who documents wins and losses and displays them on our homepage for all to witness. It’s because we have nothing to hide…we just win games against the spread. Join our family today and start your winning streak tonight.
Rick Riley – FiveStarPick.com
