The pros at FiveStarPick.com want to congratulate Tuesday’s new members on their first win as the ‘Over 8′ in the Yankees/Angels game covered in the 8th inning last night. Remember…statistical probability always trumps luck. Tonight we are giving our members a play on tonight’s college football matchup between the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and the UTEP Miners. Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Golden Hurricanes as 7.5-point road favorites with a total of 58.

Tulsa (4-2 straight up, 3-1-1 against the spread) gave the undefeated Boise State Broncos all they could handle last week as 9.5 point dogs, but the FiveStarPick.com staff was pissed that neither team could score a touchdown with more than 9 minutes remaining in the game to cover our play on the ’Over 53′. The Golden Hurricane got the ball back twice with a chance to tie, but they couldn’t muster a first down. Therefore, the 49 combined points stayed ‘under’ the 53-point total.

Golden Hurricane QB Kinne completed 14-of-27 passes for 154 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. The Texas transfer has completed 61.9 percent of his throws for 1,296 yards with an outstanding 12/2 touchdown-interception ratio.  Kinne has got a stallion in the stable in wide receiver Damaris Johnson, who has 24 receptions for 428 yards and a pair of TDs.  Johnson also runs the ball and has 118 rushing yards on just 15 carries.

UTEP (2-4 SU, 2-4 against the spread) was off last week, but in their last game at Memphis, the Miners lost 35-20 as 1-point road favorites.  UTEP is 1-2 both SU and against the spread at home this year. They opened the season with a 23-17 loss to Buffalo as an 11-point home favorite.  In Week 2, Kansas crushed them at home, 34-7, as a 13 ½-point road favorite.  Week 3 got the Miners their first win, a 38-12 triumph at New Mexico St. as a 14-point road favorites; and then another let down on the road at Texas, losing by a 64-7 count as 36-point dogs.

What really throws us for a loop about UTEP is that in Week 5 they beat the Houston Cougars, 58-41. Houston, a ranked team that had previously beaten Oklahoma St. and Texas Tech…and have a Heisman hopefull under center, were manhandled by the Miners.  Beyond unexpected… 

UTEP Junior QB Trevor Vittatoe has not been as impressive this year as he was in 2008. Vittatoe has seen his completion percentage drop 6 points this year and has turned a 33/9 TD-INT ratio from 2008 into an abysmal 5/7 ratio this year.  Miner RB Donald Buckram is the go-to guy for UTEP rushing for 618 yards and six touchdowns. He averages 6.4 yards per carry to date, but blew the doors off the Houtson Cougar defense rushing for 262 yards and four TDs.

The home team has won five in a row in this series. When these schools met last year, Tulsa had a NCAA season-high 791 yards of total offense in a 77-35 win as an 18-point home favorites.

So who covers the spread tonight?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com tonight for only ($19.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football winners exceeds your expectations.  We are the only sports handicapping service in the business that documents our wins and losses, then displays them on our homepage for all to see.  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

FiveStarPick.com will be giving its members the ‘Total’ in tonight’s ESPN showdown between the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the Tulane Green Wave.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list Tulsa as 14-point favorites with the total coming in at 65.

The Golden Hurricane returns eight starters on defense and five on offense, but the big loss is in quarterback David Johnson, who threw for 4,059 yards and 46 touchdowns in 2008. His replacement candidates are junior Jacob Bower, who connected on 11-of-15 passes for 138 yards with one touchdown and one interception in limited playing time last year, and University of Texas transfer G.J. Kinne.

Our sources say that Kinne will most likely be getting the start and his first snaps under center as a college football player.  Mac Brown redshirted him at Texas in 2007 and Kinne sat out last year after transferring to Tulsa from Austin.

The Tulsa offense lost a few other stars as well.  Running Back Tarrion Adams, who ran for more than 1,500 yards and 14 TDs while averaging 6.2 yards per carry is gone. Also gone, WR Brennan Marion who tallied 1,112 receving yards and eight TD catches.

So it seems that their only returning playmaker tonight is Damaris Johnson, who led C-USA in all-purpose yardage as a true freshman.  Johnson had a team-high 53 receptions and 10 TD grabs in 2008 and will add punt-returns to his list of duties this year.

Tulane finished 2008 with a 2-10 SU and a 5-7 Against The Spread ledger.  But the Tulane staff feels the eight-game losing streak to conclude the season was misleading.  For one, since Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Tulane’s athletics budget has been decimated. With that in mind, Tulane had the nation’s worst rash of injuries in ’08 losing almost 20 starters. 

The Wave returns seven starters on offense and six on defense, but they will be without a pair of starters along the defensive line Friday night so that means only 4 will start tonight from last year’s squad.  Tulane sophomore QB Joe Kemp will make his first career start after a broken collarbone limited his playing time in 2008.  As a freshman, Kemp completed 26-of-46 (57%) passes for 344 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

Now let’s talk trends…Tulane is 4-5 Against The Spread as a double-digit underdog in Coach Toledo’s first two seasons. The Wave is 3-3 Against The Spread as a home ‘dog in the same era.  Meanwhile, Tulsa is a mediocre 4-7 Against The Spread as a road favorite during Coach Graham’s tenure. The Golden Hurricane is 2-4 ATS as a double-digit road favorite under Graham.

So who covers the spread tonight in the bayou?  It’s very easy to find out.  Try FiveStarPick.com for a month ($99.99) and see if our talent for picking college and pro football 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.

Jimmy the Geek – FiveStarPick.com

FiveStarPick.com looks to increase its stellar college bowl record by giving its members the ATS winner of the GMAC Bowl featuring the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes and the Ball State Cardinas.  Las Vegas sportsbooks list the Golden Hurricanes as 2.5-point favorites with the total listed at 75.

The Cardinals are hoping stud quarterback Nate Davis will return to campus next year, but Coach Brady Hoke has already made his decision to leave the Cards and head out to sunny San Diego to tackle the San Diego State program.  Hoke, posted a 34-38 record over his tenure of six seasons with Ball State, this year going 12-1.  But Stan Parrish, the team’s offensive coordinator, succeeds Hoke after signing a 4-year contract last month with Ball State and feels confident that he can lead the Cardinals to a victory tonight.

This will be a great matchup between two of the nation’s top quarterbacks.  David Johnson is having an outstanding season for the Golden Hurricane (10-3) and ranks among the top 10 in the nation in passing efficiency.  But both Davis and Johnson failed in their respective conference championship games.

Ball State had four fumbles in the MAC title game and cost the Cardinals a shot at a perfect season.  Buffalo returned two fumbles for touchdowns and the other two eventually turned into scores. Davis was also picked off once while throwing a TD pass and unfortunately it came with NFL scouts in the audience.

Johnson threw 5 INTs in the Golden Hurricane’s 27-24 loss to East Carolina in the Conference USA Championship.  Tulsa RB Tarrion Adams has rushed for 1,341 yard and 11 TDs ranking the Golden Hurricanes 8th in the nation in rushing, averaging 254.8 yards per game.  Tulsa is also 2nd in the nation in yards gained with 565.0 yards per game.

So who covers the spread in the GMAC Bowl?  It’s time to step up your game, become a member of our family and find out.  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 won nearly $100K in 2008.

Jimmy the Geek – FiveStarPick.com