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THE BEST OF THE REST

11/8/08

The best of the rest feature for college football generally consist of games we took a close look at for our Key Releases but for one reason or another didn't make the final cut. Some weeks this list is much longer than other weeks. This weeks lists is pretty short and does include one game which we'll put out as a 1* play.

1* Georgia Tech +4 over North Carolina - This is a game we were on the fence with all week as far as making it a key release. What keeps us from pulling the trigger here and boosting the rating on this game is that North Carolina has had an extra week to prepare for the Georgia Tech option attack. Running the option in a conference not used to seeing it is what has given Tech a bit of an edge most weeks. One week is never enough to fully prepare. Otherwise, we're on Georgia Tech as the numbers certainly support a play. Both of these squads have only lost two games all year and are either winning or losing by small margins. They even both lost to Virginia Tech by the exact same score. In what amounts to an elimination game we see this one going down to the wire, unless the Tar Heels are able to get out in front early and bottle up that Tech offense as a result of the extra time to prepare. We'll make a small 1* play here. 1* Georgia Tech +4

Oklahoma State +3.5 over Texas Tech - We were really impressed with Texas Tech on both sides of the ball last week, at least for the first half of that game. Being impressed with the offense at Tech is a no brainer, but the defense really stepped it up and stuffed that high powered Texas offense which was impressive. But they let Texas back into the game and now here comes another high powered offensive team that's every bit as good as the Long Horns on both sides of the ball so we're willing to take any points available in what figures to be another exciting shoot out. It's so hard to stay focused and get pumped for big games week after week for these college kids as we have seen over and over again this year alone. We saw it with Texas last week and may very well see it this week with Texas Tech. Throw in the potential look ahead scenario with Oklahoma up next and we just don't trust Texas Tech this week. It may be a flat spot.

Kentucky + 11 over Georgia - This certainly isn't a strong lean as we're likely to see an angry Bulldog team this week after being blown out by the Gators last week, but perhaps this Georgia team simply not as good as originally thought. Other than the LSU win, there's not much to get excited about. Kentucky has it's own problems and they too, were blown out by the Gators but otherwise have been holding their own. They are a surprising 6-3 and their losses, other than Florida, have been by 7 and 3 points and the 3 was to an Alabama team that blew the doors off Georgia. 11 could be too many.

Iowa +7.5 over Penn State - Penn State really needs a statement game. Otherwise they are going to be criticized heavily when talk of who goes to the Title game comes up. Another Big 10 week schedule is what everyone will say. Scoring a bunch of points against this solid Iowa defense would sure turn some heads. But on paper, this game plays out very similar to the Ohio State game. This Iowa defense looks to be the real deal and looks every bit as good as Ohio States. If that's the case the +7.5 points looms large here.