NCAA Football: Moving into the meat

By Danny Sheridan

We're moving into the real meat of the NCAA College Football season, with some big conference matchups over the next few weeks. It's what I like to call the "New York steak" part of the season, which leads up to the "tenderloin" section of the season – the bowl games (there will be lots of time to talk bowls in December).

This is when many football bettors can really start to make some money. As long as you know your teams and matchups, you should be able to pick some winners on a fairly regular basis.

Here's a look at some of the match-ups I'm looking forward to in Week 10:

The Northwestern Wildcats take on the Iowa Hawkeyes on the road on Saturday (12 pm ET, ESPN). The Hawkeyes are 16.5-point favorites in NCAA Football Odds at Sportsbook.com. The biggest story in College Football is undefeated Iowa. The Hawkeyes are 9-0 straight up and 6-2 ATS this season. NW is 5-4 SU and 2-6 ATS on the year. Iowa is 9-1 ATS in their last 10 against an opponent with a winning record. NW is 1-2 on the road this season. 4 of Iowa's 8 wins are by a total of 8 points.

Also Saturday, the No. 9 LSU Tigers visit the 9^th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide (3:30 pm ET, CBS). This is not just a Top-25 matchup — this is a Top-10 tilt! This is a huge SEC showdown.

The Tide are 9-point favorites in College Football Betting at Bodog.

LSU had beaten Alabama 5 straight times before the Tide won 27-21 in overtime last season. Alabama scores more, gains more yardage, allows fewer yards and controls the clock better than LSU. The Tigers beat Tulane 42-0 last week while Alabama had a bye, giving them two weeks to prepare for LSU. Alabama is undefeated while LSU is 7-1. 57% like the Tigers to cover on the road. The Under is 4-0 in LSU's last 4 games, and 3-0 in Alabama's last 3.

And the 16^th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes (+4) take on the No. 11 Penn State Nittany Lions in a Big Ten matchup Saturday (3:30 pm ET, ABC).

The Nittany Lions are 4-point favorites at Sportsbook.com.

While both are playing 2nd fiddle to Iowa's undefeated season thus far, both have a chance to represent the Big 10 in the BCS. The Buckeyes have won 5 of their last 7 games against Penn State. The road team has won the last two. The favorite has won 6 of the last 7. Penn State won last season. 58% like the Lions. Ohio State is 7-2 ATS this season, Penn State is 5-4.