Today's Free Picks for
Posted at 10:00 AM EST. Odds are subject to change.
Bridgeforth Stadium, Harrisonburg, VA
Stream:ESPNU
Georgia State +9½ -105 over James Madison
12:00 PM EST. Five games, five covers. Georgia State is 5-0 against the spread this season — you could set your watch by these Panthers. The market keeps pricing them like a Sun Belt afterthought and they keep cashing tickets, and now they're getting nine and a half against a team whose pass defense ranks 115th nationally (245 yards a game through the air) while the Panthers own the No. 18 scoring offense in the country. That's not a mismatch. That's an invitation.
The weapons are real. Rodshaun Dorsey has caught two touchdowns in three straight games — two, every single week, like clockwork — and Georgia State puts up 39-plus a game. James Madison's run defense is legitimately stout (28th, 102 yards a game), but their secondary leaks, and here's the quiet part: the Dukes' own passing efficiency has cooled off. Camden Coleman went from 8.9 yards per attempt in the first three games to 6.7 in the last three. If the favorite's offense is settling into grind mode, the dog doesn't need a miracle — it needs four quarters of competence.
Now the other side, because 6-0 teams don't happen by accident: JMU is 16th in scoring defense (15.0 a game), George Pettaway has rushed for 110-plus in three straight, and the Dukes are 5-1 ATS themselves. This is not a fraud alert. But even Action Network's handicapper likes JMU's team total under 35.5 — the believers don't think the Dukes hang 40. And if Georgia State scores its usual 30ish against that leaky secondary, JMU needs a genuine blowout to beat nine and a half, and blowouts need the kind of explosive passing they haven't shown in a month.The Panthers hang around, and we will see you at the window after this one!
Our Pick
Georgia State +9½ -105 (Risking 2.1 units - To Win: 2.00)