Football Betting

It happens every year: after guiding a team through a successful season, a coach leaves the team before the bowl game. Suddenly, everything that the team had worked for all year is up in the air as the coach is thinking about his new job, leaving the school to scramble for an interim coach to take over duties for the bowl game.

For sports fans, Super Bowl Sunday is one of the best days of the year. For bettors, it can be not only entertaining, but profitable as well. This year’s Super Bowl predictably pitted the New Orleans Saints against the Indianapolis Colts. Through 14 weeks of the NFL season, these two teams combined for an unconscious 26-0 record, before both teams clinched home field advantage for the playoffs and rested their starters.

The best 2 teams made the Super Bowl. Two months ago this was the match up that everyone wanted, then people started to talk about San Diego, Dallas, Baltimore or whatever team played one good game. The same people that said that the Colts wouldn’t recover from resting Peyton Manning are the same ones that are saying the Colts can’t lose this week.

The Saints started to play like they did earlier in the year last week, and the Viking defense helped us hit our under bet, as well as side–total parlay bet. The defensive ends got off the ball so fast it seemed like were in the backfield before Tony Romo was. The Saints will find a way to score some points here, the question is, can Brett Favre match Drew Brees stride for stride

Maybe it’s time give the Jets a little credit and start to take them seriously or maybe not. This team is made up of a bunch of no name players, with a rookie quarterback, rookie coach, and one great corner back. It just goes to show you how important coaching is in football.

This is the toughest call of the week. Whenever it looks too good to be true, it normally is. The Cowboys have been playing great as of late, while the Vikings have limped into the playoffs. So why is Dallas a 3 point dog here?

Are you kidding me? How the hell did the Jets go into Cincinnati and win that game last week. We know Palmer was hurt but they had Cedric Benson back, and were at home. We always like a juicy upset but not when we had so much riding

Traditionally on the second weekend of the playoffs, the favorites win easy. In the last few years however this hasn't been always the case, as many wild card teams have gone on the road and won .We tend to look at the bigger picture and still are going to remember what has happened in the last 20 years, as opposed to the last few in making our picks here

We expected Baltimore to have a shot to win that game last week, but to totally dominate the Patriots the way they did, was a surprise. Baltimore looked like a team that is ready to make a serious run at the Super bowl. They run the ball extremely well

Of all the games this weekend, this is the one that is the toughest to figure out. The Ravens have been playing exceptional football as of late, and could go all the way. That being said, the Patriots have been playing terrible football the last few weeks but are still the Patriots

Another rematch, but it isn’t because Arizona really didn’t show up to play last week. In general we like Green Bay but not in this spot. Arizona is the defending NFC Champion, they are playing at home and will find a way to win this game. Aaron Rogers and company will have many days in the sun

No more messing around here. No more worrying about what team is resting their players and who will be eliminated with a loss and all of all that other nonsense. It's time for real football, the NFL playoffs and the pursuit of being a world champion. Traditionally the dogs do very well on wild card weekend, and then the favorites win big a week later.

It seems almost like Vegas and the online sports books planned week 17 to be a set-up for a huge pay day this week. This is the second game in a row that is going to have stupid people looking back at last week’s game and betting the wrong team. The Eagles did need that game last week, but once thing got out of hand, they stopped playing in the second half.

The point spread may be close, but this game will not. Alabama and Texas both got through their seasons with undefeated schedules, but Texas didn’t have to get through a Florida, Virginia Tech, Mississippi, South Carolina, or LSU

One of the best mid major teams this year, Central Michigan would like to send off senior quarterback Dan LeFevour on a high note. The passer threw for 234 yards per game and 27 touchdowns to 6 interceptions in leading the Chippewas to an 11-2 season.

Few people thought that Georgia Tech would be in a BCS bowl game just two years after hiring head coach Paul Johnson, but his tricky run option offense has other teams confused and the Yellow Jackets plowing through opponents.

In a battle of the mid major football teams, the Fiesta Bowl pits Texas Christian against Boise State. Both teams are undefeated, combining for a 25-0 record, having blown out most of their opponents. A poor strength of schedule due to a weak conference

South Florida has been distracted since the end of their season because of an off the field incident between head coach Jim Leavitt and player Joel Miller. The Bulls could have come out and beaten Northern Illinois by 17 points, otherwise. As it stands, South Florida may come out with a bang

Both South Carolina and UCONN enter this game with a 7-5 record and a losing record in conference play. The Gamecocks play in a much tougher SEC conference, while Connecticut dealt with the death of a teammate early in the season, which served as a distraction. Though UCONN won its last three games, topping Notre Dame, Syracuse and South Florida, the Huskies will have their hands full

With nine wins under their belt, Oklahoma State is looking for its first 10 win season since head coach Mike Gundy was a quarterback on the team. A win in the Cotton Bowl would compensate for a painful 27-0 shut out loss against Oklahoma in the season finale

East Carolina must appreciate another opportunity to win a Liberty Bowl. After leading 16-3 in last year’s Liberty Bowl, the Pirates lost 25-19 to Kentucky.

With a public relations disaster causing serious problems at Texas Tech, the Red Raiders are extremely unfocused heading into their January bowl game. Head coach Mike Leach was dismissed due to abusing a wide receiver on the team

Northwestern and Auburn took distinctly different paths en route to the Outback Bowl. The Wildcats won their last three games, including two against ranked opponents – wins at No. 8 Iowa and against No. 17 Wisconsin – while Auburn lost five of its last seven games. All in all, it was a successful season for Northwestern

With 44 years under his belt, Florida State coach Bobby Bowden will get one last chance to leave his post on a positive note. The Seminoles (6-6) have steadily declined from their reign of terror in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but still manage

Outside of a pair of conference losses, Penn State ran through the rest of its schedule, winning every single game by double digits. LSU would be 9-1 if it had not had played against No. 1 Florida and No. 3 Alabama, but the Tigers showed they could win some big games

It is rare to see Ohio State as an underdog in a January bowl game. After all, head coach Jim Tressel typically enjoys a Big Ten Championship to go along with either a National Championship game or a Rose Bowl victory

With emotions running high on both sides of the ball, one team (Florida) will benefit greatly. The other will suffer an embarrassing loss on New Year’s Day. Cincinnati is playing without former head coach Brian Kelly, who led the Bearcats to significant success in recent years

Though coach Lane Kiffin has done a good job creating some buzz around his Tennessee program in his first year, the Volunteers are just 7-5, with losses to UCLA, Auburn and Mississippi. Those three games were big losses in the year, and while the Vols lost to No. 1 Florida and No. 1 Alabama

When Oklahoma and Stanford meet in the Sun Bowl, it will be a cross roads of two different teams who have had completely different seasons. Behind the stellar play of Heisman finalist running back Toby Gerhart, Stanford had its best season in eight years, finishing 8-4 with a No. 19 ranking

While Air Force may be honored to play in the Armed Forces Bowl, the Falcons have a poor track record at Amon Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, compiling an 0-6 record over the last handful of years. Air Force is just 7-5 this season, their first non 10 win season since 2005 when the Falcons were 6-6.

Bowling Green wide receiver Freddie Barnes may be the only reason to watch this game. The Falcons wide out is just five catches away from holding the NCAA’s all time mark for receptions in a season, with 142. Barnes is Bowling Green’s biggest threat, hauling in 158 yards per game and reaching the end zone 14 times

Nebraska was this close to a BCS bowl game. A heart breaking 13-12 loss to Texas on a miracle field goal kept the Cornhuskers away from a big time bowl berth. They now face off against Arizona, a team that lost two games by a field goal this season to prevent them from a 10-2 season

More impressive than Minnesota’s third trip to the Insight Bowl in four years is Iowa State’s turn around in the last year. The Cyclones were 2-10 in 2008 after starting the season 2-0. Iowa State is now 6-6 and, though they lost their rivalry game against Iowa as well as both of their games against ranked opponents

The Texas Bowl may be one of the more interesting bowl games to watch this season, as it pits one of the nation’s top passing offenses (Missouri) against one of the nation’s top rushing offenses (Navy). Yet somehow, these two teams have not met in nearly 50 years. Many expected Missouri to have a down year

Temple coach Al Golden is one of the most coveted big time head coaching prospects in the near future, after taking the Owls to their first bowl game in 30 years. Golden turned the program around quickly after inheriting poor facilities and a practically non existent fan base

After starting off the season 5-0, it looked like Wisconsin was going to be the team to beat in the Big 10. However, a pair of losses to Ohio State and Iowa quickly put into perspective who the players were in the conference

We hate to say I told you so, but I told you that the Vikings were overrated all year, and I think after a second embarrassing loss on national TV, I proved my point. Favre is done, was done 4 years ago, and as far as fighting with the coach about coming out of the game, that’s B.S

Though neither Texas A&M nor Georgia had what would qualify as a good year, both teams have put up lots of points and allowed even more points throughout the season. Georgia did themselves a disservice in the middle of the season when the Bulldogs lost three out of four games

This is one of this week best bets. Jacksonville proved last week to the nation that they are for real. They could have won that game versus the Colts, but a late interception cost them the game

Both of these teams played games last week that will define their regular season. The Colts showed that they will be the Super bowl favorite come January, and the Jets blew one that might cost them the playoffs

Now we’re talking. The Steelers proved last week that they are alive and well, and won’t give up their title without a fight. Baltimore has been playing the best football in the NFL as of late. Both of these teams need this one badly. Pittsburgh to make the playoffs and Baltimore to have an outside shot at the division

The Bengals still haven’t clinched the division yet and they are starting to feel the Ravens breathing down their necks. Make no mistake about it, either they win this game this week and clinch, or they were a fraud all along. They were not a fraud and

As a Giant fan, my blood pressure finally went down after week 10 on Monday night. The Giants played like the team that won the Super bowl in that game. Eli had his brother’s look in his eye, not the “Opie” look. Brandon Jacobs and Amand Bradshaw refused to go down and the defense stepped up

We are going to use the same philosophy with game 2 of our teaser that we used with game one. Both of these teams come into this game at 7-7 and must have a win here. Again the line is about right, as the home team should win this game by around a field goal, but it’s too close to call

Arizona played like the Lions last week and won, while the Rams played great and lost, but such is life. Good teams find a way to win while bad teams find a way lose. This has been a great week to bet so far as we feel strongly about our picks. This game however scares us

The Eagles have been playing great as of late, and we grade them at the highest we have graded them in years. Donovan finally has some playmakers and they get Brian Westbrook back this week

Boy did the Saints really change the playoff picture with their loss to Dallas last week. Not only did it give life to the Cowboys, it showed that any team still might win the NFC. As a matter of fact these are our most likely teams to go to the Super bowl now. The Eagles, Saints, Giants, Cardinals, Cowboys, Packers and the Vikings in that order to win it all. Not quite the way the seeds are right now

The Browns have started to play surprisingly better the last few weeks. It is hard to believe that they like Eric Mangini enough to try to save his job. There is however a lot of talent on this team, that hasn’t performed up to their potential

Again we have a match up of teams that played very similar games last week. However, the difference is that one of these teams won a close fought boring game, and the other lost. The Giants win on Monday night eliminates Atlanta from the playoffs this year while Buffalo was eliminated when they signed Terrell Owens in the offseason.

The Cowboys played their best game of the year last week in beating New Orleans and look like they are ready for a playoff run.

Your eyes are not deceiving you, and this is not December 2006, when these teams met in the Music City Bowl last time. Instead, it is the same match up, but with all new players, although Kentucky is trying to repeat their 28-20 win from the ’06 game.

Though it has been renamed since last year, the first annual Little Caesars Bowl is far from the first Detroit bowl game held at Ford Field. The bowl was previously named the Motor City Bowl, and has featured Central Michigan each of the last three seasons

Pittsburgh was so, so close to being invited to a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game. And they will not be forgetting it any time soon. The Panthers dropped the Big East Championship game to Cincinnati in a heart breaking fashion

Coming into the season, Southern Cal would have bet the house that they would be playing in a January bowl game. After all, the Trojans have not played in a December bowl game in nearly 10 years. Pete Carroll did not have much of a choice, having started freshman quarterback Matt Barkley

Be very careful the next 2 weeks in your bets, as some lines might seem a little strange, as teams try to make the playoffs and other teams try to play spoiler. We are going to start this week with our weekly teaser bet, and include a great Christmas Day game in it

The Hawaii Bowl signifies a much bigger moment for SMU head coach June Jones than simply a homecoming to his former school. Instead, he has turned around a program plagued with failure and NCAA sanctions in less than two years. Now, Jones is looking for SMU’s first post season win in nearly 25 years

There is not much suspense in BYU playing in the Las Vegas Bowl. The Cougars are appearing in their fifth straight Las Vegas Bowl, having won two and lost two. It is Oregon State’s second appearance in the bowl, and if history is any indication, the Beavers will win again

We knew the Steelers weren’t that good, but to lose to Cleveland is inexcusable. This is the week that they finally get back on track. Green Bay has played at a very high level for weeks now, and will make the playoffs. The Packers don’t need this game as much as the Steelers do

Very sad night for Giant fans last week. Winning the division is out of the question now, but the playoffs are still a possibility. No matter, this team is not winning the Super bowl. This is the worst Giant defense I have ever seen. We have cornerbacks playing safety

We knew the Cowboys didn’t have enough guns to beat the Chargers last week, but this week is a different story. New Orleans has been just winning by the “skin of their teeth” lately, and will continue to until they finally lose their fear of losing their first game. People are fickle. You know that everybody is going to be betting the Saints here

This is the time of year when you must be very careful, because some teams are resting players, others are hungry, and some are just playing for their jobs. Each game must be analyzed separately, because each team takes a different view on when to rest their players. The coach of the Colts says that all healthy players will play in this game, and since 16-0 is still on the line that is probably true

Arizona showed that they could be back in the Super Bowl by destroying Minnesota last week. San Francisco lost a close one to Seattle. The 49ers went to the Cardinals on opening day and came away with a 20-16 victory, so don’t think for a second that the Cardinals

Buffalo played pretty well last Thursday against the Jets but didn’t have enough talent to win that game while the Chiefs didn’t bother to show up against Denver . This game is a coin flip, but that is why God created teasers, so you have a way to bet on a difficult game

The Patriots showed last week that they really don’t care very much about this season. Did you see some of the really stupid passes that Tom Brady threw last week, maybe marriage doesn’t agree with him? It certainly doesn’t seem to be working for Tiger Woods. Sometimes really great athletes

Both of these teams were the surprise teams of last week. One succeeded in their mission of pulling a major upset and one fell slightly short. Washington had New Orleans beat last week but found a way to screw it up at the end. We still hit on Washington and the points which is all we really care about. Oakland stood tall

The Broncos have been very tough to figure out all year. In the pre season they looked like the worst team in football, then got off to a 6-0 start, then lost 4 straight. 2 weeks ago they destroyed the Giants and last week killed the Chiefs. The Colts did what they always do and that's win

Let me start by saying I am a lifelong Giants fan, but as a professional I try to be objective about my team. I bet heavy on the Giants money line early in the week last week because I knew the Giants would win that game against Dallas. This week is a different story however

The magic number for the Bengals to win their division is now 1 and make us some money. The Bengals would have to lose their final 4 games and either Baltimore or Pittsburgh would have to win their last 4 for them not to win the AFC North which is not likely to happen

We got a good one for you here. San Diego is quietly playing like the best team in football lately while Dallas is doing their usual “folderoo” late in the season. We do have to give them credit for giving the Giants a harder fight than we expected last week in N.Y

If you have been following my column all year you know I always love a juicy dog and we have one here. We bet the Falcons +10 on Monday Night Football against the Saints a few weeks ago when nobody else did, and we won. We are taking Atlanta again here

We told you to take Miami over New England last week and we hope you did. Jacksonville won a big game against Houston and is in the play-off picture. Actually both of these teams want to make the play-offs and this game may decide which team goes or stays home after the season

The Packers looked really good on Monday night in beating the Ravens while the Bears finally won a game against the Rams. We wish we knew what the line is here, but since the Packers played Monday night and I write my column on Tuesday morning there was no line available at the time

Mark Sanchez is a little banged up for the Jets here so at the time of writing this column there was no betting line on the game. No matter, we couldn’t care less who wins this game. The Jets still feel like they can make the playoffs, yea right, and I still have a chance to marry Scarlett Johansen

Seattle was able to win a close one against San Francisco last week while Houston lost a game that they had to win at Jacksonville. We have been waiting for years for Houston to finally get their stuff together and they haven’t yet. All is not lost however as in the wacky AFC

Both of these teams played great games last week but didn’t have enough talent to beat their superior opponents. Steve Spagnolo is trying to build a team in St. Louis but it will take time. Jeff Fischer has all the pieces in place to be a contender next year as it might be a little too late this year. This will be a close game believe it or not, and 13.5 points are too many points

We really felt that Baltimore would play better Monday night at Green Bay last week but too many mistakes and penalties cost them the game. Joe Flacco has to stop thinking he is Joe Namath, start to play within himself as he did last year

Another great week betting, if you’ve been taking our advice all year, you have money in the bank by now. We hit on our weekly teaser last week, and we are going to start off with another one this week. What the hell is wrong with Pittsburgh? The problem is that they are not that good, and never were. Even last year when they went all the way, they never totally dominated people

If the statistics point one obvious thing out about the two top teams in the country playing each other, it is that this game will be a low scoring slug fest. While Florida and Alabama are playing for an appearance in the National Championship and an SEC Championship, consider that Florida has the No. 1 defense in the country

Guess how many wins Western Kentucky has at home this season? Here’s a hint: it’s exactly the same number as wins they have on the road. Want to know the answer?

Southern Cal has had a disappointing season for sure, and that has culminated in an 8-3 season to date, their most losses in nearly a decade. The Trojans have been even worse to bettors, covering just three of their 11 games this season. Though Arizona hasn’t been much better covering the spread

As expected, Washington snapped their four game losing streak with a triumphant 30-0 shut out over in state foe Washington State last week. The win was good for the Huskies’ fourth of the year, and four more than their horrendous 0-12 campaign in 2008.

If this one sided rivalry lives up to its recent history, or even its long term history, this game should be all West Virginia from the get go. The Mountaineers absolutely own this match up, tallying a 30-4-2 record, much of that success coming since 1980. West Virginia has won the last 14 meetings between these two teams. However, if there is one ray of shining light

Fresno State and Illinois isn’t exactly a marquee match up late in the season. Neither team has had a ton of success this year, with Illinois nearly firing head coach Ron Zook and Fresno State boasting a 7-4 overall record with no wins over BCS teams. In addition, neither team has been much of a cash cow

Unlike most games this weekend, the Boise State versus New Mexico State match up does not shape up to be a suspenseful game by any means. The Broncos are favored by nearly seven touchdowns, and for good reason. New Mexico State ranks last in the entire NCAA in both offensive yardage

Pittsburgh had strung together six straight wins to the point where they had forgotten what it felt like to lose. Then unranked West Virginia gave them a harsh dose of reality and brought the Panthers back to earth with a 19-16 win over the Mountaineers’ arch rivals

Though Clemson has managed to work its way into the ACC Championship Game and a possible Orange Bowl bid, a Tigers loss this weekend would leave the team wondering ‘What if we had beaten 2-10 Maryland earlier this season?’. A conference title would be icing on the cake, even though both Clemson and Georgia Tech both lost to their mediocre in state rivals last week

If there is one thing that Houston can do, and can do well, it is scoring a flurry of points quickly. In fact, the Cougars lead the country in yardage and points per game, and have tallied 64 offensive touchdowns in 12 games. Houston has put up 45 points or more six times this season

At first glance, a game pitting No. 2 Texas against a three loss Nebraska team looks like a blood bath waiting to happen. Not so fast. Even though Texas has not faltered once this year – winning every game but one by at least 10 points – they won’t be facing a cream puff defense like they have seen a handful of times this year against teams like Central Florida, UTEP and Wyoming

What happens when two teams who have had over achieving seasons, one of which has high scoring shoot outs each week (Oregon) and the other who has low scoring battles (Oregon State) meets? Your guess is as good as mine. Fortunately, we can be sure that Oregon will win this game outright, as they won the match up last year 65-38. The Ducks appear to be the superior team

The Bills offense exploded in the 4th quarter last week to beat Miami and showed that they are going to play hard the rest of the year. The Jets won an ugly 17-6 game last week against Carolina in which we said take the under. This is going to be a better game then people think

Here we go, the type of game we like to bet on. 2 very good teams playing on National T.V and the Patriots are still pissed off about what happened to them at the Colts 2 weeks ago. New Orleans keeps on winning, but except for last week’s game against the Bucs

We scored on Tennessee +5 last week. Everyone was betting Houston when the line went down to 4, but we knew better. Tennessee has won 4 straight after their bye, with Vince Young at quarterback. Sitting his ass down for a year made him grow up. If the Titans keep winning

We were right in saying that Washington would play hard against Dallas last week and this week will no different. The Washington defense has been playing much better, and if the offense can score some points then they might be able

There was no line at the time of the writing of this column because of the uncertain Pittsburgh QB situation. Charlie Batch is gone, and but it looks like “Indestructible Big Ben”, will play even with his head injury. He has proven before how hard his head is

This is another one of those mid season games that nobody cares about. The Rams have been playing better as of late but can’t seem to find a way to win. It’s not going to get any easier this week with Mark Bulger out for 3-6 weeks

The Bills played pretty good last week under their new coach in almost winning in Jacksonville. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a very smart and efficient quarterback. The Dolphins played very well in beating a good Carolina team on the road last week. The Dolphins play hard every week and that is what you look for in team

We knew the Bengals were going to have an off week but losing that game against the raiders is unacceptable. That is not what Champions do. Luckily for them Pittsburgh and Baltimore also lost. Everybody is entitled to make mistakes but, one must learn from their mistakes

The Bears let us down last week. They looked like they were going to win that game against the Eagles, but a late touchdown cost them the game, and probably their season. Jay Cutler looks like a defeated man. He came into town as the saviour