Sports Betting Tips and Game Handicapping Picks » Heisman Trophy

Can the Tide roll on the Longhorns?

Jeffdstuff — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 08:10:07 +0000

They are the favorites.

And that’s despite the fact that Alabama is coming to the 2010 BCS national championship game without any experience whatsoever playing in a game this big with the freaking national title at stake.

Yep, the Alabama Crimson Tide is coming to their first ever BCS national championship game facing the Texas Longhorns who have already won it five years ago on the same field that they’ll be in this Thursday night. We still like the Tide though, here’s why.

Third year head coach Nick Saban has engineered a quick turnaround in Tuscaloosa as he led the Alabama Crimson Tide to two undefeated seasons in the last two years. This season, the Crimson Tide dominated the defending national champions Florida Gators to win the SEC title, earning a bid for the Crystal Trophy for the first time.

Alabama enjoyed a significantly improved season on offense. Behind the rushing of Mark Ingram and the steady play of quarterback Greg McElroy, the Tide scored an average of 31.7 points per game, finishing 27th nationally.

Their running game was dominant, finishing 8th in the country and earning starting tailback Mark Ingram an invite to the Heisman Trophy ceremony. Their passing offense was efficient but it only finished 67th nationally, showing their commitment to running the football. With the way Ingram has been running with the football, nobody is complaining.

As good as their offense already is, the Crimson Tide’s true strength rely on their defense. They are the top-ranked defense in the country as far as points allowed are concerned at a mere 11 points per game. Tim Tebow and the rest of the Gators learned that the hard way when they could only come up with 13 points against the Alabama defense.

Alabama is also 2nd in the country in...

Betting on the 2010 BCS Title Game?

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:38:36 +0000

Water coolers and sports talk radio hosts can rejoice once again this year, as the BCS system has people bemoaning the lack of a true playoff system in college ball.

In case you didn’t know it yet, the Alabama Crimson Tide pulled off a tidy upset of the No.1 Florida Gators, moving into the 2010 BCS national championship game. Listed anywhere from as 5.5-point underdogs up to +7, ‘Bama was getting only about 30 percent of all the betting action by kick-off, according to online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com.

Bettors took a hit when the Tide defense did a number on Gator QB Tim Tebow en route to a 32-13 win.

Now Nick Saban and the rest of the Alabama Crimson Tide will prepare to play the Texas Longhorns, who were much less convincing in their BCS title berth showcase.

Coming into a few weeks ago ranked No.3 by the BCS, the Texas Longhorns were set for one of the national championship spots, facing the No.22 Nebraska Cornhuskers in the Big 12 title game. Texas was in a ”win and you’re in” scenario, kicking off as 14-point favorites.

It was hardly a convincing win, as Texas struggled throughout, but they did manage to eke out a 13-12 win to claim the conference championship. Texas bettors were never really in a spot to cover the two touchdowns all game and moneyline bettors were fortunate to get even the straight up win.

The near-loss to the Cornhuskers didn’t matter to the BCS selection committee though as the Longhorns were given a berth to the college football championship game in Pasadena to face the Crimson Tide.

SPORTSBETTING.com opened Alabama as a 3.5-point fave. Money immediately flowed in on the Tide and the number moved to -5. It has since gone up to -5.5 as ‘Bama money continues to show up.

The total sites at 44.5, with about 65 percent of the action so far favoring a play on the ”Under.” Bettors have clearly been impressed by this team’s defensive performance all year, but particularly in that matchup with the Gators in the SEC Championship game.

Let’s look at a few numbers for the big game...

Who’ll win SEC? Florida or Alabama?

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:04:17 +0000

It doesn’t get any better than that.

Arguably the biggest game of the weekend, the top two teams of the nation, both still yet to taste defeat this 2009 NCAA college football season, collide as No.1 Florida Gators take on No.2 Alabama Crimson Tide for the SEC title.

That’s right, the SEC championship game will pit two undefeated teams against each other in order to decide who wins the conference this season. The 2009 SEC championship game will also most likely decide who will play for the national title come January.

This title game between the Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide is dubbed as the most anticipated matchup in college football since Florida and Oklahoma played in the BCS title game last year. It’s the game people started talking about in the preseason and have been pointing to ever since and now it’s finally here.

The Florida Gators and the Alabama Crimson Tide are in a battle between two high-profile coaches; Florida’s Urban Meyer and Alabama’s Nick Saban. This contest will also be about two Heisman trophy hopefuls Tim Tebow and Mark Ingram, not to mention a war between two of the nation’s best defenses with a spot in the national championship game on the line. The winner advances to the BCS title game in Pasadena, Calif. The loser still gets a BCS berth, almost certainly in the Sugar Bowl.

In a game this huge, who should you pick?

Let’s look at Florida. The Gators, the defending national champions, were the unanimous choice to win the Eastern division, while No.2 Alabama was a popular pick in the West. The Gators needed a last-second field goal to beat Arkansas and played close games against Mississippi State and South Carolina. They secured a spot in the SEC title game in late October.

Meanwhile, the Crimson Tide edged Tennessee on a...

College Football Week 13 Betting Tips

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:02:31 +0000

Which teams will play for a BCS bowl game?

We’ll know soon enough. But right now, we have games for you to bet on for Week 13 of the 2009 NCAA college football season.

First we have the Oklahoma State Cowboys looking for their fourth straight victory as they battle the Oklahoma Sooners. The 12th Cowboys are on a roll with three straight wins, getting a huge lift from quarterback Zac Robinson.

He set an Oklahoma State record last season by completing 65 percent of his passes and still has a shot at achieving that mark again, completing 158 of 249 passes for a .635 completion percentage in 2009. Also stepping up for the Cowboys is running back Keith Toston. Since taking over as Oklahoma State’s featured rusher, the guy has averaged 103.6 yards.

On the other hand, the Oklahoma Sooners will try to rebound from a 41-13 loss against Texas Tech. With the loss, Oklahoma (6-5, 4-3) now has its most losses since going 7-5 in 1999. It was just the fifth victory in 17 meetings for Texas Tech against the Sooners, and the Red Raiders had never won by more than 10 points in the series.

The huge win was a stunning reversal from last season, when the Sooners crushed Texas Tech 65-21 to end the Red Raiders’ national championship hopes. Oklahoma hadn’t lost this badly since falling to Texas 45-12 in 2005.

Expect the Sooners to bounce back against the Cowboys.

The no.1 team in the nation Florida Gators will look to continue to play at a high level Saturday at home against the Florida State Seminoles. Florida already posted a significant accomplishment in becoming just the 13th team to make it through an SEC regular season undefeated following a 24-14 win over South Carolina.

Florida’s Joe Haden was named SEC Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against South Carolina. Haden led the Gators with 11 tackles, including a sack. He also had an interception, a career-high two forced fumbles and a pass breakup.

Florida’s defense has come through big in the...

Florida on top of 2009 BCS Rankings

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:55:22 +0000

Surprise surprise.

After all the drama and the emotional comebacks, everything is where it should be at this point of the 2009 NCAA college football season.

You read it, because after watching Tim Tebow go down hard that almost destroyed the world around Gator fans in Florida, the Florida Gators are once again on top of the BCS rankings.

Thanks to Tebow’s surprising return to the Florida Gators roster two weekends ago, the Gators were able to stay undefeated to be named no.1 in this season’s first BCS rankings. Their first test as the nation’s no.1 team this year is on Saturday when they go up against Mississippi State.

Not far behind are the Alabama Crimson Tide. Second in every statistical category compiled by the USA Today coaches’ poll and the Harris poll, the Crimson Tide is easily Florida’s biggest threat, so far anyway. If both the Gators and the Crimson Tide remain undefeated, they will play each other in the Southeastern Conference championship. A prelude to the BCS national championship game perhaps?

Sitting on third are the Texas Longhorns, joining Florida and Alabama in the top three. With the strength of their schedule, all three just need to win out to reach the BCS national championship game on January 7 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. At least that’s according to BCS analyst (yes, the BCS has analysts…) Jerry Palm.

The problem is, it seems history is not on their side.

In the first 11 years of the BCS rankings, the top two teams in the first standings have only reached the title game once when Texas and Southern California did it in the 2005 season. Overall, only 10 of the 22 teams that were ranked first or second in the first standings made it all the way to the championship game.

That’s probably good news to the still undefeated...

Oklahoma Sooners – Texas Longhorns Tips

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:02:21 +0000

Bradford’s back. That’s everything you need to know this week.

Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford and the rest of the Oklahoma Sooners are ready to face the Texas Longhorns this Saturday as the 2009 NCAA college football season continues with Week 7.

Sam Bradford had 49 throws in a 33-7 for the Oklahoma Sooners over Baylor. Bradford threw for 389 yards and a touchdown after missing the last month with a sprained AC joint in his right, throwing shoulder. It was the 14th 300-yard passing game of his career, matching the school record set by 2000 Heisman runner-up Josh Heupel.

If there’s still any questions on Bradford’s health, he sure answered those in emphatic fashion.

”I think that’s something that we were all curious around here is how I would react to 3 1/2-4 hours in my pads, on and off, not throwing the whole time, kind of sitting on the bench, coming back and making some throws,” Sam Bradford said. ”I felt like my arm responded great, and I felt good out there.”

”To have been off as much as he has and go out there in his first go at it to play as well as he did, I thought he played great,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said. ”He stays away from the poor, the negative plays or the bad plays and he had a great night.”

The undefeated Texas Longhorns, on the other hand, look to continue their winning ways at the expense of the Sooners. The Longhorns beat Colorado 38-14 win Saturday night with the help of Earl Thomas and Ben Wells. Thomas returned an interception 92 yards for a touchdown while Wells recovered a blocked punt for another score to help the Longhorns pull away in the second half.

Colt McCoy became the 15th player in college football history to generate more than 12,000 total yards last weekend. He has thrown touchdown passes in 21 consecutive games. It’ll be nice to see him match-up with Bradford.

Our pick? We’re sticking with...

Tebow played, kept Gators undefeated

Jeffdstuff — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 02:50:47 +0000

Last weekend, we all saw just how important he was.

You can just imagine how worried the Florida Gators have been after watching their prized quarterback get carried off the field. And since we are only in the first few weeks of the still young 2009 NCAA college football season, what happens from here will dictate if they can still compete for the national title come January.

In case you didn’t know, Tim Tebow was taken out of their game against the Kentucky Wildcats after he was sacked hard by defensive end Taylor Wyndham. Tebow’s head hit his teammate Marcus Gilbert on the leg, bending his neck violently.

Of course, since the Florida Gators are looking to defend their national championship, this is a huge blow to their campaign this season. Tebow is the focal point of the Gators offense. He is a quarterback who can run with the football as good as he can throw it. He is arguably the best college football player to ever play for Florida and with him out, the SEC becomes a free for all for teams like the LSU Tigers and the Alabama Crimson Tide who are both looking to take advantage of what they thought would be a Tebow – less conference but since he played anyway last Saturday to keep his team undefeated, I guess the only thing Tebow has to make sure now is to stay healthy.

Tebow began his college career as a role player, getting on the field in goal-line and short-yardage situations. But it didn’t take a while for him to become team captain, a Heisman Trophy winner and a two-time national champion.

He set records, made history and picked up enough awards to fill just about any trophy case.

The son of a missionary who has worked in the Philippines...

College Football Week 6 Betting Tips

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:02:37 +0000

The season on the college gridiron is already six weeks old. How about that.

And while the 2009 NCAA college football season will continue to be overshadowed by its pro counterpart until January gets here and the BCS Bowl Games start rolling, we’ll be here trying to get you earning as much money as possible.

With that being said, we’ll kick this thing off with one of those teams that you can ride on this season with ease, the Alabama Crimson Tide. Alabama is coming off a huge win against Kentucky 38-20 last weekend with Mark Ingram leading the way, running for a career-high 140 yards while scoring for two touchdowns.

Alabama relied on their quarterback Greg McElroy, who added a pair of scoring passes as the Crimson Tide (5-0, 2-0 SEC) pulled away from the Wildcats (2-2, 0-2) during a stretch in the second and third quarters when they scored 24 points in just over 5 minutes.

Alabama has the Mississippi Rebels next. The Rebels will still continue to rely on the services of Jevan Snead who passed for three touchdowns to overcome three interceptions as they bounced back from a loss to South Carolina last weekend with a 23-7 victory over Vanderbilt.

Snead threw for just one touchdown in last week’s 16-10 loss to South Carolina, a game that dropped the Rebels (3-1, 1-1 SEC) from a No.4 ranking that had been their highest since 1970. He matched his season high with three TDs against Vanderbilt in helping the Rebels to their best start since 2002 when they opened 5-1.

Unfortunately for these guys, Alabama could care less.

Next we have the Ohio State Buckeyes hosting the Wisconsin Badgers. This might be a good week for the Buckeyes since starting safety and co-captain Kurt Coleman might be able to play after his suspension last week. Ohio State is coming from a 33-14 win over the Indiana Hoosiers.

Terrelle Pryor was huge in their win as...

Tebow still out, won’t play Saturday

Jeffdstuff — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:58:08 +0000

Yep, he’s still down and out.

And just like that, the entire complexion of the 2009 NCAA college football season has changed. Can the Florida Gators remain on top without their prized quarterback? And we thought the injury to Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford was big.

You read it, Florida Gators quarterback Tim Tebow, regarded by many as the best quarterback in college football today, is out with an injury after getting knocked out in their game against the Kentucky Wildcats last weekend.

Sure, the Florida Gators won the game, 41-7, but after losing Tim Tebow that way that fast, the Gators may have lost a heck of a whole lot than what they gained from beating the Wildcats last Saturday.

With the Florida Gators in control of the game, leading the Kentucky Wildcats 31-7 in the third quarter and driving deep in Kentucky territory, Gators QB Tim Tebow was sacked hard by Wildcats defensive end Taylor Wyndham and as soon as Tebow fell down to the ground, his head hit his teammate Marcus Gilbert’s leg, bending his neck violently.

Ouch.

The 245-pound Tebow lay motionless on the field for several minutes while the crowd fell silent. He sat up with some help then slowly made his way off the field to a loud ovation. Tebow was then carted off the field with concussion – like symptoms, vomiting several times.

Florida Gators head coach Urban Meyer told everybody...

College Football Week 5 Betting Tips

Jeffdstuff — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:02:59 +0000

And trust us, we have a couple of games that will prove to be good ones.

The 2009 NCAA college football season resumes with a couple of games you shouldn’t miss. Its only Week 5 and already, we’ve seen a lot movement as far as the national rankings are concerned.

First we have the fourth – ranked LSU Tigers visiting the Georgia Bulldogs, becoming the highest-ranked team to visit Athens in 14 years. However, it is safe to assume that the LSU Tigers are in a tough spot. They hardly survived their match against Mississippi State last week and their schedule doesn’t get any easier with a slew of tough SEC opponents ahead.

For what it’s worth, the LSU Tigers thrive on interceptions as they’ve picked up six so far this season, returning two for touchdowns. This Tigers defense is hungry, but it will still come down to stability.

Georgia won last year in Baton Rouge, Louisiana 52-38, and are also sporting a three-game win streak against the Tigers. However, the Bulldogs (3-1, 1-0) had a quieter offensive day last week, holding off Arizona State 20-17 at home, after scoring 52 and 41 points in the previous two games.

Let’s see if they can pick up the scoring against LSU.

The Bulldogs won their last matchup with LSU at Sanford Stadium 26-13 in 2004, still LSU leads the all-time series 14-12-1. Georgia is 9-1 versus SEC West opponents during the past four seasons and 20-5 overall against that division.

The other huge game this weekend is the contest between No.7 USC Trojans and the No.24 California Golden Bears.

The USC Trojans (7-1, 1-1 Pac-10) bounced back from...