Happy New Year

To start football for 2010, the compelling game of the three is probably the least interesting in football terms. Today marks the end of the line for Bobby Bowden’s historic coaching career. He was as gracious in defeat as he was in victory and the game of college football takes a hit for losing such a great man. The best early game is LSU and Penn State in the Holiday Bowl with two schools synonymous with winning. The Big Ten Conference opened strong in the bowl season with Wisconsin victory; can Northwestern build on the momentum with their first postseason triumph in 62 years?


Outback Bowl
Auburn vs. Northwestern
Raymond James Stadium – Tampa
11:00E ESPN

Northwestern hasn’t won a bowl game since 1948, to break that trend it will need to beat an SEC team in one of the New Year’s Day conflicts. The Wildcats haven’t played on Jan. 1 since 1997and are underdogs to Auburn (7-5, 6-5-1 ATS) team, which won just two of its last seven games in 2009. Interestingly, the Outback underdog has covered the number the last five times the pointspread exceeded four points. Auburn offers a new approach as offensive team these days; however is 5-9 ATS as bowl chalk. The Tigers were 3-5 SU and 4-4 ATS vs. other bowlers. Northwestern (5-6 ATS) won last three games both SU and ATS to finish at 8-4.

Reasons to wager – Don’t right off Northwestern in this New Year’s opener. QB Mike Kafka is an all-purpose performer and the Wildcats are well-suited for this role since they are 10-3 ATS as underdogs recently, with eight outright upsets. While Auburn’s offense saw dramatic improvement this season, the defense went backwards, allowing a SEC-high 26.9 points per game. Though the players change, coach Gene Chizik should remind his team, Northwestern has given 43.8 points a bowl in last six tries. The Tigers will look to establish runners Ben Tate and Onterio McCalebb. If they do, this opens up passing lanes for Chris Todd who threw 21 touchdowns with only six interceptions. The Auburn defense has to turnover the Wildcats since they are 2-9 ATS after a game where they forced one or less turnovers over the last two seasons. Sportsbook.com has Northwestern catching eight points with total of 54 and the Wildcats are 32-14 ATS as an underdog of 3.5 to 10 points, losing by 3.2 point per game.

3DW Line – Auburn by 7

Capitol One Bowl
LSU vs. Penn State
Citrus Bowl Stadium – Orlando
1:00E ABC

Penn State has gone 7-3 in bowl games since 1995, but two of the losses happened in Orlando. The Nittany Lions yielded just 11.8 points per game, en route to a 10-2 SU and 6-6 ATS record. LSU was 9-3 and 5-6-1 ATS, allowing just 16.0 points per game. The Tigers will also be looking to extend a run of overall success in bowl games, as they boast a 10-2 SU and 9-3 ATS record since 1995. Under head coach Les Miles, the Tigers are 15-6 ATS in games versus non-conference foes. Penn State was a perfect 4-0 SU and ATS on the road this year. The underdog is 4-1 ATS in L5 matchups.

Reasons to wager- Both of these teams are perfectly placed in Orlando, since neither could beat the superior teams in their conference and their best wins are ordinary to say the least. Penn State emerges as winner if they stop a pedestrian LSU offensive line. It appears they should, however the only comparable opponents Penn State faced were Iowa and Oho State and they shoved the ball down the Nittany Lions throat for a combined 391 rushing yards. Penn State is a mere 6-17 ATS away from Mt. Nittany vs. good defensive teams who give up 17 or less points a game. LSU has lacked any sort of offensive consistency all year and doesn’t figure to find it against a solid Penn State defense. What the Tigers have to do is stop Lions offense and win field position battle and stick with the running game. Jordan Jefferson can hit six passes in a row and miss next six, get him in comfortable locations on the field for success. LSU is 12-1 ATS away from home after consecutive games where they forced one or less turnovers.

3DW Line – Penn State by 4

Gator Bowl
West Virginia vs. Florida State
Municipal Stadium – Jacksonville
1:00E CBS

This will be Bobby Bowden’s last game on the sidelines for Florida State, as his team takes on West Virginia. Whether or not the Seminoles can make the game memorable for Bowden remains to be seen. With Florida State sporting a 6-6 SU and 3-9 ATS mark, they shouldn’t be playing New Year’s Day, but TV ratings matter. Florida State owns perhaps the worst defensive unit of any bowl team, yielding 443.4 yards per game and 6.8 yards per play. West Virginia (5-6 ATS) is 9-3 and has won four straight bowl games, with last loss coming to same opponent in this very game in 2005. The ACC is 7-2 ATS the previous nine encounters.

Reasons to wager- Not sure if there are exceptional reasons to tune in and place money on this Gator Bowl. Florida State’s flaws were spotted early, allowing almost 400 passing yards to Miami and having to come from behind in the fourth quarter to hold off Jacksonville State. Finishing second in too many recruiting battles, shows the Seminoles record is well-deserved. On offense, E.J. Manuel has stepped in for injured Christian Ponder, with mixed results. Like most freshmen quarterbacks, he was poised when he had time, but got in a hurry when pressured and was less selective in the red zone. The Noles are 29-11 ATS after two or more consecutive spread. Betting on old smiley face from West Virginia can be hazardous to one’s health and wagering account. West Virginia is 2.5-point favorite with total of 60 and coach Bill Stewart is 6-13 ATS as the favorite wearing the lead head set. The Mountaineers win this game with ease if QB Jarrett Brown returns to his pre-concussion form from October. West Virginia has too many speedy players to account for and if Brown is close to 100 percent clarity with this much time off, no reason they don’t knock off Florida State, except for the Stewart factor.

3DW Line – West Virginia by 4

Northwestern Double Digit Dogs to end Bowl Drought

Northwestern has something to prove coming into tonight’s Alamo Bowl game, after enjoying their best campaign since 1996, when they were 9-2 and played in Citrus Bowl. The Wildcats have lost five bowl games in a row, all as underdogs (1-4 ATS) and basically none of them have been close. Northwestern has been out-scored 47 to 28 in those five appearances and could start to take some of Notre Dame’s thunder for bowl futility with another embarrassing defeat in San Antonio.

“I think, if anything, (the bowl drought) will provide a little extra motivation,” senior quarterback C.J. Bacher said. “At the beginning of the year we set out to win a bowl game and we’ve put ourselves in a position to do that.”

Northwestern’s 9-3 record ended up quite a feat, though expectations were higher this season with a solid number of quality returning players. “To be at nine wins right now with an opportunity for number ten, the opportunity to achieve our main goal this year—to win a bowl game—is all right here in front of us,” said coach Pat Fitzgerald, the second-youngest head coach in the nation at 33, in his third season after taking over following the unexpected death of Randy Walker in June 2006. Fitzgerald was part of the 1995 Rose Bowl team, the last Northwestern squad to win 10 games.

Most previous Wildcats teams that have made it to bowl games lacked defense, this group is quite a bit more solid in allowing 19.3 points per game. This Northwestern club has a more aggressive approach on defense with 33 sacks on the season. Despite the lack of success in bowls by the ‘Cats, Big 10 bowlers are 21-11-1 ATS if their opponent is off a loss.

Bookmaker.com has Missouri as a 12.5-point favorite, with a total of 66, despite losing last two games. Offensively, the Tigers are exceptional at 43.2 points per game with quarterback Chase Daniel heaving the pigskin to the likes of receiver Jeremy Maclin and tight end Chase Coffman.
What ended up hurting Missouri as much as anything was the offense was always under pressure to score, since the defense was rather pathetic, allowing 27.5 points per game. In particular, the pass defense was atrocious, ranking 117th in the country, which accounted for the Tigers 9-4 season.

Coach Gary Pinkel was asked if this ended up being a disappointing year. “Well, I don’t think that,” he said. “Do I wish the regular season would have ended up that we were 11-1 instead of 9-3? Yeah, we should have done that. But I think we had a good year.” Missouri is was bombed by Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game 62-21 and is 19-7 ATS after allowing 42 points or more last game.

Senior quarterback Daniel has the right perspective, “We can finish off in style. When was the last time a Missouri team won 10 games back-to-back in history? Never. We still have a chance to make history.” It should be noted Misso is 15-4 ATS after trailing by 17 or more points at the half in last contest.

The Alamo Bowl has been a graveyard for Big 12 teams with 4-10 ATS record, including 3-10 against the spread if they favored against Big 10 teams in any recent bowl matchup.

Northwestern will try to emulate what others have done to Daniel, pressure him into mistakes. If the Missouri QB has time, it will be another long bowl date for the Wildcats. If they can make Daniel uncomfortable, they have the offense to play keep away and move the chains against a porous Tigers D. Coach Fitzgerald can also bring up about his team being dissed, since their position in the conference should have meant an Outback Bowl bid, but those representatives went for attendance and took Iowa because it travels better, despite Northwestern beating them on the road.

Missouri put last year’s Big 12 title loss behind them in 38-7 romp of Arkansas in the Cotton Bowl. Two significant differences were the game was played on New Year’s Day and they were playing a SEC team. This game is just another among the batch and purple and white doesn’t raise the hair on the back of the neck. Nevertheless, the Tigers have covered three straight bowl games.

Kick-off is at 8:00 Eastern on ESPN.

College Football Wagering Answers

Nice job by the Left Coast Connection with two Free Winners on Friday with Nevada and Atlanta Hawks. Greg of the LLC has hit seven straight winners in college football, he has four plays riding today and gives us his best Bet. A pair of plays out of one College Football System that is 26-2, 92.9 percent. We revisit a Top Trend we used earlier this season, which is still 100 percent accurate. Good Luck.

Free Football System-1) PLAY ON home underdogs of 10.5 to 21 points off a road win, when playing on a Saturday. This incredible system is 26-2 ATS (not a typo) 92.9 percent, including 2-0 this season. The qualifying teams are Kentucky and Northwestern.

Free Football Trend -2) Oklahoma State is 13-0 ATS after scoring 50 points or more last game.

Free Football Selection -3) Greg has hit seven college football games in a row and is using South Carolina as his best play for Saturday.

Note- If you prefer to have this sent to you daily instead of having to visit the site, sign up for our FREE mailing list on the right. You will also receive all my personal plays for Free and your name will NEVER be given to anyone.

Looking Ahead in Rearview Mirror Betting CFB

Seeing the latest craze in college football by some teams is to change the tempo of the offense and run more plays to keep the defense from changing players to fit situations, I’ll do the same thing this week.

Oklahoma State was expected to be better in 2008, but Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech were all presumed to finish ahead of them in the Big 12 South back in August. Thus far the Cowboys are the only team in college football not to suffer a spread loss at 7-0. You have to wonder if T. Boone Pickens is a betting man (sports’ betting that is), since if he bet his alma mater each game and had “let it ride”, he would be overcoming some of the big financial hits he has taken. It’s becoming more evident coach Mike Gundy can coach and recruit a little. Just asking- If you watched Oklahoma State and USC play on the road last week, whom do you think looked like the better team?

Tulsa is unbeaten and 6-1 ATS and had great second half in covering the spread against Central Florida. They have very good receivers and fascinating way of attacking both on offense and defense. Yet could not help but wonder if they wouldn’t be 6-10 point underdogs to Boise State and TCU on neutral fields, let alone against a top level BCS squad. Big test at Arkansas this week and at Houston on Nov.15.

Minnesota is 7-1 and 6-1 ATS and plays three of final four games at home. The Golden Gophers after a 1-11 campaign caught a scheduling break this season in avoiding Michigan State and Penn State. No doubt Minnesota is much improved, but here is a scary thought. If the Nittany Lions remain unbeaten and Texas or Alabama loses, and Ohio State slips up again, that could mean Minny goes to the Rose Bowl to face possibly face USC. A talented Illinois team was catching 13.5 last year, would the Gophers be on the receiving end of 20?

Though not official yet, Michigan will have 33-year bowl streak broken, still having to play three of last four on the road, including at Ohio State. At 2-6 and 1-7 ATS, the most disconcerting aspect of this Rich Rodriquez coached team is they have not gotten better. Though media-types have continued to say Rodriquez will win in Ann Arbor, watching him and his team on the sidelines is very uncomforting. This isn’t supposed to happen at Michigan. The last Michigan team not to go bowling was the 1974 squad who lost at Ohio State 12-10, ending their perfect 10-0 season, with far fewer bowls back in those days. This won’t have quite the same feel.

Fresno State was supposed to finally win the WAC, but once again the always bold talking Bulldogs are nothing special and causing backer’s lots of cash with 1-6 ATS record. Fresno State’s wins at Rutgers and UCLA are far less impressive today as is the narrow loss at home to Wisconsin. Losing at home to Hawaii is ridiculous and they could hardly have been any luckier in winning at Utah State 30-28 last Saturday as 15-point favorites. Coach Pat Hill has this tough guy persona, but how tough is it to bet against the 105th ranked run defense? Hill reminds me of a golfer who shoots one over par at the hardest course in town and is a 12-handicap at easiest course in the area. Of course all he talks about is his one great round.

Quick notes- What did I say about Pittsburgh last week, NEVER trust a Dave Wannstedt coached-team that is supposed to win.

Just a few of weeks ago it was fun to see the “smart” schools like Vanderbilt and Northwestern doing so well. The Commodores looked like MSNBC poll showing Barack Obama leading the presidential race, with 5-0 record. Three losses later and confronted with Florida and Tennessee at home and at Kentucky and at Wake Forest, the first bowl possibility in 26 years is slipping again. Northwestern not only lost at insipid Indiana, they lost all everything running back Tyrell Sutton.

Florida State is not only 6-1 and 3-2 ATS, they are returning to physical, smarter football.

At the end of September, talked about what a mess the Big East was based on how down the league is this year, it made sense to look at road teams in conference game. Thus far road teams are 6-4 ATS with four outright wins. One aspect not considered was road favorites and they are 1-2 SU and ATS.

After a 5-8-1 start, college football teams off a three exact spread covers are 10-3 ATS the last three weeks. That would mean Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and Louisville are possible play on teams. The opposite would be true for those failing to cover in a trio of tilts. On the season this group is 9-18-1 ATS and Clemson, Iowa State and Kentucky all make this week’s play against watch list.