Connecticut Huskies vs West Virginia Mountaineers Point Spread Picks

The Huskies made it all the way to the Fiesta Bowl a year ago, as everything broke their way. This team is certainly not of the same ilk, and the offense simply has few playmakers. They have rotated three QBs against some very mediocre competition, and the Huskies have suffered losses to Western Michigan, Iowa State and Vanderbilt already. The only decent offense they have faced has been Western Michigan, and the Broncos torched the Huskies’ secondary for almost 500 yards. That spells bad news in the Dana Holgerson led Mountaineers attack which will have the football in the air a lot here. This is by far the best team on both sides of the ball that UConn will have faced all season. Lyle McCoombs at 5' 8”, 170 is being asked to carry the rock 25+ times a game, and he is going to struggle against better and deeper defenses. The Mountaineers are going for on average 40+ points at home, and are going to have the Huskies playing from behind, and with a poor and inexperienced passing game, they will pay the price. Play on West Virginia for the blowout.

This game is for all the marbles in the Big East and a BCS berth. For W. Virginia, it could make or break a National Championship opportunity. W. Virginia was supposed to be here in this position, and UCONN was not. This is a lot of points in a game that has so much meaning. The Connecticut defense has been good, holding every single opponent under 20 points except for Cincinnati. When you take a look at what led to that Cincinnati score, think of this: UCONN had three consecutive emotional, highly energized games prior to that Cincinnati game. They played S. Florida, Rutgers and Louisville and won them all. It was improbable to think they were coming off those three with anything left in the tank vs. a good Bearcats team. This line is inflated thanks to that game. The thinking being that UCONN is not that good as they were exposed vs. Cincinnati. Well, this team was supposed to be exposed when they went to Virginia (who is suddenly 9-2) and poised to win the ACC. UCONN lost in Charlottesville by 1, the closest anyone has come to beating Virginia at home. The Huskies were supposed to be exposed by Louisville, then certainly S. Florida, but it never happened. They went to Morgantown and forced OT. UCONN is this year's Rutgers in the Big East. The bottom line here is this team isn't good by name as they, like Rutgers last year, weren't supposed to be here. But they have answered all the questions, at every stop. W. Virginia has scored 26.3 ppg vs. defensive teams in the top 30 this year, and 45.7 ppg vs. everyone else. Many may feel they put up 40+ against UCONN, but if they get to 30, we would be surprised. We like getting this many points, on a very solid UCONN team.