Every week T-Roc will share his thoughts on what is going on in college football, make picks and fire back at your nasty comments. Want to learn more about him, check out his first post or visit his archive.

I’ve been a rational thinker for a long time. I questioned the existence of Santa Claus very early on. Same with the Easter bunny. I didn’t buy into that tooth fairy bullshit either. That said, I played dumb for my parents’ sake, thereby maintaining a steady flow of loot under the tree, shitty chocolate rabbits and quarters under the pillow.

So it came naturally to not be superstitious when I grew up. And karma always sounded like superstition. But I was apparently smarter as a 6-year old than I am today, ‘cause I ditched the “play it dumb” routine and now karma’s biting me on the arse. As evidenced by my three straight losing weeks after being overly tickled about my 5-1 start.

There are more personal and meaningful examples of my recent karmic retribution, but you don’t give a fuck so I’ll spare you. This is a football betting column, after all.

So come on, you sexy Saturday sextet! Re-introduce T-Roc back to the money-making side of life! Odds from Pinnaclesports.com as of Wednesday evening.

South Florida at Syracuse, noon ET: South Florida -6 ½

USF’s never been all about Matt Grothe. The Bulls’ defensive speed is the key and that speed will be even more apparent on the Carrier Dome turf. Yet the line has dipped under a touchdown…

On a personal note, I look forward to a 45-second highlight package of Greg Paulus getting either hit or picked off. As are the myriad Duke-haters coating this continent of ours.

Michigan at Michigan State, noon ET: Michigan +2 ½

I’m not a fan of how many road teams I’m backing, but I’m even less of a fan of the Spartans these days. The loss in South Bend was a kick in the gut but Saturday looks like another with the Wolverines rolling into East Lansing with momentum.

If I saw this line in August, I’d have been all over laying the points with MSU, but State’s defence just doesn’t impress.

East Carolina at Marshall, noon p.m. ET: Marshall +2 ½

Holy Thundering Herd! My sole home side of the day is Marshall?

The visit to Virginia Tech showed the Herd can’t stop a strong ground game, but ECU’s backfield is still banged up. If Darius Marshall finds holes like he has the last couple weeks, the Herd makes a helluva home dog.

UCLA at Stanford, 3:30 p.m. ET: Under 45 ½

I try to go for variety, but the playing the under with UCLA is just too tempting. The only way this game plays over is with multiple defensive or special teams majors.

The Bruins held down a good ground game at Tennessee and should keep Toby Gerhart’s numbers within reason. Gerhart’s the only offensive star in this game and it’ll show.

Air Force at Navy, 3:30 p.m. ET: Air Force +3 ½

The numbers are against me - Navy’s not only won six straight Commander-In-Chief’s Trophies, the Middies have won a record 13 straight games against Service Academies.

I prefer current numbers to historical ones, though, and I love what Air Force has done this year. Especially on defence. Minimize turnovers and the Falcons should get a wing up in this year’s CIC competition.

Houston at UTEP, 9 p.m. ET: Under 68 ½

I was originally going to fade Houston (again), citing East Carolina’s letdown in 2008 once it entered C-USA play after knocking off BCS giants. But then the climbing total saved me from being wrong about the Cougars (again).

UTEP only gave up 34 to a good Kansas team a couple of weeks ago, a more realistic expectation than a repeat of last week, when the Miners allowed 64 in Austin.

Last week: 2-3-1

2009 to date: 11-12-1

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