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Protect Your Unit, Week 8 Picks Thread: Houston, We Have A Problem

Let's talk about the other other unbeaten team in the AAC.

By Gary Stephen
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

(DISCLAIMER: This contest is for entertainment purposes only. No actual money is being wagered.)

As we all know, the UCF-Louisville game is tonight. It is being billed as the game of the year in the conference, and has the subtext of the Brandon Bender/DaMarcus Smith/Ken Caldwell fracas. It's also attracted the most fake-money wagers of the week (eight). But I like to mix things up in this column, so let's talk about... Houston.

Houston is 5-0, despite their starting quarterback, David Piland, leaving the team due to concussion issues. If you had to list all the unbeaten teams in the country, Houston is the last one you'd name, after even Fresno State and Northern Illinois. Their list of opponents is a sad lot: Southern, Temple, Rice, UTSA, Memphis. But, as we USF fans have become fond of saying lately, they CONTROL THEIR OWN DESTINY. They even play the other conference leaders in three consecutive weeks: South Florida on Halloween night (we're a conference leader for one more week, dammit), followed by trips to UCF and Louisville.

But the odds makers clearly don't believe in Houston. Despite being unbeaten and at home, UH is a ten-point dog to an up-and-down BYU team. This is the sort of game where you can find a favorable line, if you've seen these teams play and you know how good they really are. Too many people will just look at Houston's record, or give BYU too much credit for being Texas, or too much blame for losing to decent Utah and Virginia teams. And we do have some takers on that game.

Here's everyone's picks:

PARLAYS:

  • ulismyhothotsex, $8: Buffalo-Massachusetts under 47, Boise State-Nevada over 67, Fresno State-UNLV over 73.
  • AndrewPorter, $248: Connecticut +15, Georgia Tech -7.5, Southern Methodist +3.5. (added Sat AM)
  • zls44: $50 on Washington State-Oregon over 72.5, Iowa State-Baylor over 76.  (added Sat AM)
  • zls44: $15 on New Mexico State +17.5 over Rice, Massachusetts +19.5 over Buffalo. (added Sat AM)

By the way, the website will now accept bets denominated in dollars and cents. This opens a new avenue of spite betting, as you can use the cents to enter meaningful numbers. For example, can anyone guess the significance of the amount I wagered on Louisville?

As always, this is not the deadline for making your picks; you may do so up until one hour before the game kicks off. Use the comments to discuss who you like this week, and why. There's already three $200+ bets in play, so clearly some of our players saw favorable lines. Lots of opinions on Florida-Missouri, FSU-Clemson, and SMU-Memphis as well. Happy fake gambling!