Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
The CONFERENCE USA is 12 years old and like a youngster about to enter puberty, they are breaking out all over.
Four teams from the league reached the 70-point scoring plateau in a game last year. That represented twice as many that had scored that many points in CUSA history.
Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
For all intents and purposes, the BIG 12 CONFERENCE has become a main player in the BCS picture.
The conference has proven that quality, not quantity, earns national championships while the loop continues to get stronger by the season. However, Oklahoma’s loss to Florida in last year’s BCS title game perpetuated a problem that has officials in the conference concerned.
Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
As we reported last year, the BIG 10 CONFERENCE has been an Ohio State love fest the last four seasons where the Buckeyes have gone 29-3 in conference play while capturing four straight titles.
That puts Ohio State in elite company, tying Michigan with four consecutive crowns. Better yet, OSU is the only team in its 112-year history to have stood alone atop the BIG 10 CONFERENCE four straight years.
Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
While BIG EAST CONFERENCE FOOTBALL continues to come up big in bowl games (12-4 SU the last three years), the fact of the matter is the league continues to shrink in stature. That’s because a dismal 15-25 ATS performance mark outside the conference last season watered down a sparkling 81-37 ATS effort the prior three years.
Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com
When you walk in the shadows of the most well known basketball conference in the nation, it’s difficult creating your own identity.
Give ACC football its props. They are branding an image that is leaving other football conferences green-eyed.
The Florida Gators and Oklahoma Sooners battle it out on Thursday night for top honors in the 2008 – 2009 College Football Season. The Gators had to fight tooth and nail to get into this game after losing to Ole Miss in the third week of the season. A victory against the less than impressive Alabama Crimson Tide in the Sugar Bowl signaled that Florida is ready to take on the Sooners for the championship trophy.
The GMAC Bowl between Tulsa and Ball State is the last chance to bet on college football except for Thursday’s BCS Title game.
Tulsa has moved from 2.5-point underdogs to three-point favorites at Sportsbook.com. The game will be on ESPN at 8 pm ET.
This was almost the fourth matchup of conference champions during the bowl season, but Tulsa and Ball State both lost in their championship games.
Two non-BCS conference teams that had dreams of going undefeated with a possible BCS bowl bid will meet in the GMAC Bowl tonight when the Ball State Cardinals (12-1 SU, 8-3-1 ATS) meet the Tulsa Golden Hurricane (10-3 SU, 7-5 ATS). Ball State is playing its first game since their crushing 42-24 MAC Championship loss to Buffalo despite the NCAA odds listing the Cardinals as lofty 15-point favorites.
Ohio St. Buckeyes vs. Texas Longhorns 8:00 PM ET
Two perennial powerhouses that have each challenged for BCS Titles recently meet in the Fiesta Bowl Monday night when the Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2 SU, 5-6 ATS) face off against the Texas Longhorns (11-1 SU, 9-3 ATS). This will be Ohio State’s sixth BCS game in the last seven years (more than any other team over that span)
The Ohio State Buckeyes are desperate for respect as they face the Texas Longhorns in Monday night’ Fiesta Bowl.
Ohio State has lost each of the last two national championship games. With that said, coach Jim Tressel’s team is happy to be back in the Fiesta Bowl, site of its last bowl win over Notre Dame three years ago.
This year’s opponent is Texas, who has been installed as an eight-point favorite by oddsmakers after an impressive 11-1 regular season. Bettors are backing the Longhorns at a 4-1 ratio.
Ball State is already shy of personnel. Coach Brady Hoke, an alum, took a better offer from San Diego State, which is a lowly team. That should tell you a little about the state of the Ball State football program. Taking over the team for this ballgame is Stan Parrish, who was formerly a coach at Kansas State and won two out of 33 games.
Sports betting fans have to respect the Utah Utes. It wasn’t but a few years ago when the Utes had Alex Smith at quarterback and Urban Meyer calling the plays. Smith went to the San Francisco 49’ers and Meyer ended up coaching the Florida Gators. But the Utes have kept movin’ on, as Sam Cooke sang, winning games at a blistering pace.
Why in the world did the Arkansas Razorbacks release Houston Nutt as coach? The man knows what he’s doing. In one season he’s turned the Ole Miss Rebels from one of the least respected teams in the SEC to one of the top four teams in the SEC. Ole Miss actually beat the Florida Gators this season. No other team can say that.
This year’s Orange Bowl isn’t what online betting fans had in mind when they figured the Big East would battle the ACC. Online college football betting fans were probably thinking the BC Eagles from the ACC, although Virginia Tech isn’t bad, but Cincinnati from the Big East? Seriously? The Cincinnati Bearcats made it to the Orange Bowl by virtue of their 11 and 2 straight-up record. Among the teams they beat to get there were the West Virginia Mountaineers, ranked in the top twenty to start the season, the South Florida Bulls, Rutgers and Pittsburgh.
The BCS Bowls start the New Year off with an online college football betting bang, as the big boys among the powerhouse schools take center and step into the spot light, while us bettors attempt to start 2009 by beating spreads and making money. New Year’s Day NCAA football wagering action is legendary and arguably the most anticipated day among the sports betting community, highlighted by the famed Rose Bowl.
The Rose Bowl, the granddaddy of them all, features two of the most storied programs in college football history as the Penn State Nittany Lions travel to the Coliseum to take on the USC Trojans. For sports betting fans, this is one of the more intriguing match-ups of the Bowl Season. Penn State was somewhat of a surprise this year going 11 and 1 straight-up and 7-3-1 against the BetUS online betting spread.
