USA Today’s Danny Sheridan told the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club he likes to go against the spread as much as possible when making his college football picks, according to WholeHogSports.

“Take the underdog,” Sheridan said Wednesday. “I pick underdogs.”

That bodes well for the Razorbacks, who are currently a 10-point underdog heading into Saturday’s matchup at Auburn. Sheridan blamed public perception for the double digit spread, which surprised many with Arkansas coming off a convincing win against Ole Miss.

“It’s an indication of public perception,” he said. “It’s what is needed to produce bets by the public. It started at around 8 ½ on Sunday, but quickly went to 10. It’s going to fall back to around 8 or 9 points.

“I can tell you what happened Sunday. There is a professional group that made a huge bet on Auburn on Sunday and that made the number go to 10. As the week has gone along, that number has produced money on Arkansas and the line will go down.”

Sheridan said the Razorbacks are a much better team than last year, with a defensive line he believes is among the best in the SEC.

“I look at a lot of things when I make my picks,” he said. “I look at defense. Auburn is good there. Arkansas is allowing on average 40 points against three SEC teams and TCU. That’s a lot.

“I also think this is a game Auburn has pointed to after losing last year. That’s a factor in what I look at, and what kind of emotional effort was expended the week before. Auburn was off and Arkansas used a lot of energy in beating Ole Miss.”

He also revealed that a key theory in figuring out is picks in emotion, which he believes favors the Hogs.

“I think Arkansas has a very good coach,” he said. “I bet if you ask him a lot of what goes into winning football game is mental. I think it’s as much as 90 percent.

“I think the biggest thing a coach does is get his players to care about the game. I think it’s tougher if you have used up a lot the week before. Arkansas did that.”