Big East Football Previews – No. 25 West Virginia Mountaineers vs Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The West Virginia Mountaineers will look to bounce back from a tough conference loss this upcoming Saturday afternoon when they take-on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in a battle of two teams that still have designs on the Big East title.
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct. 29 3:30 p.m. (ET)
Venue: High Point Solutions Stadium, Piscataway, NJ.
Broadcast: ABC
Mountaineers at Scarlet Knights lines by BetOnline.com
Point spread: Mountaineers -7
Over/Under: 53.5
Kick-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ABC.
West Virginia’s steady climb up the national rankings came to a screeching halt this past Friday after losing to Syracuse 49-23 as a 14-point road favorite. The loss dropped the Mountaineers to 5-2 straight-up (3-4 against the spread) overall and to 1-1 SU in the Big East. The total easily went ‘over’ the 60-point line in that game and has now gone ‘over’ in their last six games.
There is no problem with West Virginia’s offense as it is averaging 38.3 points a game, but its defense has now given-up a total of 96 points in its two losses this season.
Rutgers is off to a surprising 5-2 start both SU and ATS that has it currently in the lead in the conference at 2-1 SU. The Scarlet Knights have already knocked-off Syracuse (19-16 as 1.5-point road underdogs) and Pittsburgh (34-10 as 6.5-point home underdogs), but come into this game with a bad taste in their mouth after dropping a 16-14 decision to Louisville last Friday as one-point road underdogs. The total has stayed ‘under’ in their last four games. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The claim to fame for this team this season has been a stingy defense that is only allowing an average of 16 points a game, which is currently ranked ninth in the country. The most points it has given-up this season was 26 in a 12-point win over Ohio.
The Mountaineers are 4-1-1 ATS in their last six conference games and the total has gone ‘over’ in their last four games in the Big East.
The Scarlet Knights are 5-2-1 ATS in their last eight games overall and the total has stayed ‘under’ in five of their last seven games as underdogs.
Head-to-head, the Mountaineers have won 10 games in-a-row SU, but the series is tied at 2-2-1 ATS in the last five meetings. The total has gone ‘over’ in three of the five games. This time around it will be West Virginia’s high-powered offense against Rutgers stout defense, but stick with the Mountaineers to get back-on-track with a road victory that keeps them in the national rankings for at least one more week.
The Pick: West Virginia 28 vs. Rutgers 20
The 2011 CFB Season is finally here. Welcome to the CappersPicks.com college football weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly college football picks, tips, betting advice, strategies, CFB gambling articles and more to help you become the best College football bettor on your block!!