With the NBA and NHL seasons complete, we’ve entered the slow portion of the betting calendar. College football is still nearly two months from getting underway, but lines have been posted, and the alert bettor is always on the lookout for value, no matter the time of year.
Only a few more days to wait – time enough to pick up your snacks, finalize your guest lists and place your wagers before the Big Game! Who ya got to win? Will the total go over the inflated 55 point line?
No home-field conference losses since 1998. No home-field losses since 2005. A 35-game home-field winning streak. No halftime deficits faced since 2007. Three perfect regular seasons in the past five years.
There’s an outside chance that the Iowa State Cyclones could make the Oklahoma State Cowboys sweat on Friday night in a contest that, unexpectedly, has national championship implications.
After gutting out an ugly 24-17 win last week at Wake Forest, Notre Dame travels to FedEx Field to take on Maryland. The Irish shut out the Demon Deacons in the second half last week to claim the win and move to 6-3 on the season.
There’s ample of history in this game for two teams who have never been in the same conference before… and will only be in the same conference for this single season, since TCU will head to the Big 12 next year.
The Temple Owls and the Ohio Bobcats have been at the forefront of the race for the Mid-American Conference’s East Division title the last few years.
The Boise State Broncos are making their way through the Mountain West Conference for the first time. The Broncos played in the Western Athletic Conference in previous seasons, as this Division I-A (now Football Bowl Subdivision) program worked its way up from the lower divisions.
If anyone previously doubted how much Peyton Manning meant to the Colts, they shouldn’t after the team’s start to this season.
The Texans are coming off a draining home loss against the Raiders, while the Ravens are coming off a bye week. Both of these teams have high aspirations for the 2011-2012 season.
The Hawaii Warriors seemingly fixed their most persistent and urgent problem a few weeks ago. They traveled to Ruston, Louisiana, making the longest commute within the Western Athletic Conference, and found a way to decisively win a road game on the mainland United States.
When Arizona State takes on Utah this weekend, the Pac-12 South Division championship will be on the minds of fans, players and coaches. USC is ineligible for the title due to a two-year postseason ban.
The Boise State Broncos and the Fresno State Bulldogs have battled each other over the past decade as members of the Western Athletic Conference. However, Boise’s move to the Mountain West Conference has caused the 2011 edition of this regional matchup to become a non-conference affair.
The Steelers and the Texans both enter this week’s matchup at 2-1. Both of those teams have high hopes for this season. The Texans are looking to get over the hump and get into the playoffs.
North Texas is a sheep that’s about to be led to slaughter. While it’s true that a Sun Belt Conference school, Louisiana-Monroe, went into Tuscaloosa and shocked Alabama four years ago, that 2007 upset was very much a product of the fact that Alabama was trying to rebuild under current coach Nick Saban.
It’s rivalry time in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, but while the locals in Bluegrass country might be very excited about this reunion of two bitter foes, it’s going to be hard for this game to draw considerable national interest.
