Bowling Green vs Pittsburgh NCAA Football Handicapping
The Bowling Green Falcons and the Pittsburgh Panthers will make the trip out to Detroit to play in the Little Caesars Bowl on Dec. 26.
Devils vs Blackhawks NHL Line & Handicapping
Devils Try to Knock off the Champs – Jersey Travels to Chicago Monday Night
The resurgent New Jersey Devils travel to the Windy City Monday night to take on the Chicago Blackhawks who will be eager to get back on the ice after surrendering a two goal lead only to lose in a shootout Friday to the Vancouver Canucks.
Avalanche vs Sharks NHL Line & Handicapping
Scuffling Western Powers Do Battle Monday Night – Sharks Host Avs
Two of the best teams in the West will be after their first two-game win streak of December Monday night when the Colorado Avalanche head to San Jose to take on the Sharks.
Oklahoma St. vs Colorado CBB Picks
Very strong start for the Cowboys this season as they are living up to preseason expectations.
Spartans vs Longhorns College Basketball Lines
The number 5 Spartans are in tough as they travel to Austin to play the Texas Longhorns who are coming off a huge upset win on the road versus the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Georgetown Hoyas will travel to Allen Fieldhouse to take on a Kansas Jayhawks team that has lost three of its last five games. Both of these teams have seen their national image take a hit since the start of the season, but a win on Saturday would be a good anchor to begin to turn things around on.
BCS Bowl Game Picks
The BCS bowl games were decided after a wild championship weekend on the field in which had teams change their destination for better or worse.
The games won’t commence until the New Year, but it’s not too early to begin looking for value in the lines.
Here’s a quick look at each of the five games with odds from [dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′] and analysis of which of the sides stands out.
15 Central Florida Knights +16.5 vs. 6 Baylor Bears
The Central Florida Knights are the Rodney Dangerfield of the college football world: they get no respect. The team looked solid in a one-loss regular season, losing to South Carolina by only three points, and picking up a huge comeback win over Louisville, yet the team is giving away better than two touchdowns to Baylor in their bowl game.
Bryce Petty has the Baylor offense functioning at a very high level which led to many blowout wins for Baylor, but Central Florida will bring a top flight quarterback into this battle as well in the form of soon to be first-round NFL Draft pick Blake Bortles, who has led the Knights to the biggest game in the history of the program.
An outright win may be asking a little much, but there’s no question the Knights aren’t getting the respect they deserve from oddsmakers in this one.
The play: Central Florida +16.5
5 Stanford Cardinals -5 vs. 4 Michigan State Spartans
This game is probably the toughest to handicap on the BCS board. Two stellar defenses will meet in the 100th playing of the Rose Bowl.
The natural inclination is to take the points in a game where scoring will be difficult, but Stanford has proven to be very comfortable playing the Rose Bowl, and it’s hard to get a read on any Big Ten team given the state of the Conference.
[soliloquy id=”82219″]
The play: Pass
3 Alabama Crimson Tide -15.5 vs. 11 Oklahoma Sooners
Alabama will be hitting the field for the first time since crashing down to Earth in the Iron Bowl with a loss to Auburn. The team surely had its sight set on a third consecutive national title game, so motivation could be an issue, but don’t expect it to be with future pros like AJ McCarron on the roster, and McCarron in particular will look to put an exclamation point on his career with a statement win.
Oklahoma picked up a big win over Oklahoma State in its last game, but they’ve gotten extremely inconsistent play from their quarterbacks this year, and they could get exposed against Alabama. It hurts to give away this many points at this time of year, but Alabama’s the team to do it with.
The play: Alabama -15.5
12 Clemson Tigers +3 vs. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes
The Ohio State was close to a likely spot in the national title game before stumbling in the Big Ten title game and have now been relegated to the Orange Bowl.
As for Clemson, the team has just two losses on the year and they can hardly be faulted for either, losing to a South Carolina team that they always lose to, and running into a buzzsaw in the form of a rising Florida State team.
Guys like Tajh Boyd and Sammy Watkins are going to want to go out with a bang. Frankly, it feels like the Buckeyes have been playing above themselves for the better part of two years, and they’re not going to be facing a Big Ten opponent on this night, so expect them to get exposed.
The play: Clemson +3
2014 BCS Title Game Pick
2 Auburn Tigers +8 vs. 1 Florida State Seminoles
This year’s national title game is tougher to predict than it appears to be on the surface. Florida State has run through its opponents with ease, winning all of their games by 14 points or more, leading the nation in scoring defense and finishing second in scoring, but their strength of schedule left a lot to be desired.
Now they get a red hot Auburn team that feels an awful lot like a team of destiny. Gus Malzahn has made all the right decisions since joining the program, and he may have a few more tricks up his sleeve to catch the Seminoles off guard.
This number has already been bet down after opening closer to 10, so getting in on Auburn quickly isn’t a terrible idea, if that’s the side you’re riding with.
The play: Auburn +8
The BCS bowl games may yield some extra money for the schools involved, but value for bettors is more likely to be found in the lesser bowl games that can sometimes be overlooked by the casual bettor and oddsmakers alike.
Oakland vs San Diego NFL Handicapping
Needing to win out, the Chargers will play host to their bitter division rival Oakland who arrive in San Diego on Sunday in the midst of a four-game losing skid, but no less determined to sweep this year’s series.
When: Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 at 4:25 p.m. EST
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California
TV: CBS
LINE: -10 (Chargers), O/U 50.5
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s NFL FOOTBALL Picks Today!
Oakland (4-10) handed the Chargers a 27-17 defeat at Oakland on Oct. 6, a game in which the Raiders capitalized on five San Diego turnovers.
But since then, the Raiders have lost seven of nine, including last week’s 56-31 pummeling by Kansas City in which they set a franchise record for most points allowed in a game.
The Raiders defense is mired in a major tailspin, allowing around 41 points in the last three games. And the offense isn’t any better. Quarterback Matt McGloin turned in his worst performance of the season last week, throwing four interceptions against the Chiefs
Nevertheless, there is some optimism for the Raiders, who could return Darren McFadden back in time for their trip to San Diego.
[soliloquy id=”82219″]
With McFadden out, backup running back Rashad Jennings has done a solid job, rushing for 91 yards last week, while notching his second straight two-touchdown game.
Defensively, the Raiders are ranked 24th against the pass and are tied for the second-fewest interceptions in the league. Not good news as they face San Diego’s Philip Rivers, who has compiled a 28-6 career mark in the month of December.
Needing to win out and have Miami and Baltimore each drop their final two games to secure the AFC’s final playoff slot, the Chargers (7-7) postseason hopes appear distant.
Still, they will enter Sunday’s contest with lots of hope and momentum after a surprising 27-20 upset in Denver last week.
Rivers threw a pair of touchdown passes, while running back Ryan Mathews tied his season high with 127 yards and went over 100 yards for the fifth time in the past nine games against the Broncos.
Meanwhile the defense held the Broncos to only 18 rushing yards on 11 attempts and came up with a key fourth-quarter interception to hand Denver its first home loss of the season.
Matt’s Free Prediction
The Raiders are a mess, and San Diego seems to be surging towards a desperate attempt at a playoff spot.
If the same Chargers’ defense that held Denver in check shows up to this one, the party’s over for Oakland an may be just getting started in San Diego.
Chargers 28, Raiders 21
Tennessee vs Jacksonville NFL Football Spread/Handicapping
The AFC South is all weirded up this year. Houston was supposed to be good enough to compete for A Super Bowl but they stink; Jacksonville was supposed to be worst team in NFL history but they are just medium bad; and Indianapolis was supposed to falter but they are in first place.
New York vs Detroit NFL Handicapping
If Matthew Safford and the Detroit Lions want any shot at the playoffs, they will need a big win over the struggling New York Giants on Sunday.
Pittsburgh vs Green Bay NFL Handicapping
Green Bay will aim to extend its string of 13 consecutive regular-season home game wins in December or January, when they host the Steelers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.
When: Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013 at 4:25 p.m. EST
Where: Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
TV: CBS
LINE: -7 (Packers), O/U 44.5
[dfads params=’groups=63740&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
ATS Matchup Stats | Gambling Insight!
Check out our in-house Handicapper!!! Buy Razor Ray’s NFL FOOTBALL Picks Today!
It will be the first meeting between the Packers and Steelers since Green Bay’s 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV three years ago.
The Steelers (6-8) haven’t been eliminated from the postseason yet, and after a second half season surge, find themselves just two games out of the final AFC playoff spot.
Despite its sub .500 record, Pittsburgh has played well, losing four games by a touchdown or less, including a 34-28 defeat to Miami two weeks ago. However, the Steelers rebounded to kept their playoff hopes alive with a 30-20 win over division rival Cincinnati last week.
[soliloquy id=”82219″]
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger needs just 85 passing yards to reach 4,000 for the third time in his career, and has played well against Green Bay, throwing for a career-best 503 yards and three TDs in his only previous regular-season meeting with the Packers.
Defensively, Pittsburgh has been unpredictable, but was excellent last week, holding the Bengals to 279 total yards. They will however, be tested by the Packers, who despite being without quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who broke his collarbone in Week 9, have rode a steady wave of rookie running back Eddie Lacy all the way to a chance at the NFC North title.
Lacy, who has rushed for 1,028 yards and eight scores, will be a huge factor in this matchup, as Rodgers’ status is still yet to be determined for Sunday’s contest.
In the meantime, Green Bay (7-6-1) has soldiered on without their captain, bouncing back from a 26-3 halftime deficit to beat Dallas last week behind a solid effort from backup quarterback Matt Flynn, who threw four touchdown passes against the Cowboys.
Nevertheless, if Green Bay wants to stamp its title ticket, it will need an appearance from the defense that shut down Dallas last week.
Matt’s Free Prediction
The Packers have won their final regular-season home game in eight straight seasons and 20 of the last 21 and in one of the biggest games of the year for both teams, I expect them to get it done at home with a steady dose of Lacy, and maybe a slim possibility of a shot or two of Rodgers.
Regardless, Green Bay gets it done.
Packers 28, Steelers 24
Bucs vs Rams NFL Handicapping
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will make the trip over to Missouri to take on the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. Both teams are out of the playoff picture but there is still plenty of pride on the line.
Colts vs Chiefs NFL Handicapping
The Kansas City Chiefs will host the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday in a battle of playoff-bound clubs. Kansas City is coming off a shootout win in their last game, while Indianapolis cruised to an easy win over a division rival.
Vikings vs Bengals NFL Handicapping
The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in an inter-conference clash. The Bengals are coming off a woeful loss to the Steelers in front of a national audience on Sunday night, while the Vikings picked up an impressive win over the Eagles, 48-30.
Dolphins vs Bills NFL Handicapping
The Miami Dolphins will travel up to Ralph Wilson Stadium to take on the Buffalo Bills in an AFC East clash on Sunday. The Dolphins are still clinging to a playoff spot, while the Bills will look to close out their year by playing the spoiler roll by crushing Miami’s playoff hopes in this one.
