Vanderbilt is in a winter wonderland, going to its first bowl game in 26 years, seeking its first post-season win since 1955, and at home no less. The Commodores had even higher hopes than their own hometown Music City Bowl when they got off to a 5-0 start, but they went just 1-6 beyond that. One of the reasons was that the offensive faucet got completely turned off.
LeSean McCoy rushed for more yards this season than he did in his terrific freshman year. McCoy gained 1403 yards (scoring 21 TD’s) and really got going toward the middle of the season. He did cool down a bit toward the end, with 39 yards against Louisville, 82 against Cincinnati and 95 against Connecticut. He is, nonetheless, the foremost offensive weapon on this field.
Oklahoma State was unbeaten and a top ten team this season until the Cowboys suffered a 28-24 loss to Texas. What followed was a 36-point loss to Texas Tech and a 20-point defeat to Oklahoma, and teams like that wind up in places like San Diego for the Holiday Bowl.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: OKLAHOMA STATE -2.5, Total 76.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
Neither of these teams come from a power conference; after all, Rice is part of Conference USA, while Western Michigan is a member of the Mid-American Conference. Neither team has stepped up in a very big way against upper-echelon competition, though it should be mentioned that Western Michigan beat Temple and Buffalo on the road and beat Illinois at Detroit, a neutral site, while Rice won its big regular season game in a 56-42 shootout over cross-town rival Houston.
Maryland was a Jekyll-and-Hyde act for much of the season. At home they beat California, North Carolina State and North Carolina, and shut out Wake Forest (26-0). Away from home it was largely a different story.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: NEVADA -1.5, Total 58
Here are some of the NCAAF betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* NEV has won four of its last six games SU
Football Betting 2008: NFL Matchups Wild Card Weekend
Are you looking for all of this weekend’s NFL Playoff Football Matchups for Wild Card Weekend? We’ve got the best football betting links for you online!!! CappersPicks.com NFL Section for starters is worth your bookmark weight in gold. You can find links to all the NFL action this week on our NFL Picks Guide Index Page >>
NFL point spreads from cappers picks your source for online wild card playoff game football handicappers.
Look no farther. We’ve got all the previews, for every NFL game coming up in Wild Card Weekend of the NFL Season
Top matchups on tap for this weekend’s playoff games include: The Wild-Card Round in the NFL is set now that every seed has been decided after a wild Week 17 in the NFL!
Northwestern’s defense did a heck of a job this year. Only two teams exceeded 30 points against them (Michigan State and Ohio State) and the Wildcats limited capable offensive clubs like Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa to 17, 10 and 17 points respectively. All told, they allowed just 19.2 points per game.
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: MISSOURI -12.5, Total 66
These are two hot teams as far as the point spread is concerned. Rutgers comes into the PapaJohns.com Bowl having covered its last eight games, while N.C. State has covered seven straight. During its surge, Rutgers ran up scores on some teams, beating Pittsburgh by 20 points, South Florida by 33, Army by 27 and Louisville by 49, for example.
Kudos to Jerry Kill, the first-year Northern Illinois coach who took a team that was 2-10 last year and turned it around somewhat, guiding the Huskies to a 6-6 record in the same year one of its alums, Michael Turner, became one of the most valuable players in the National Football League.
The Jets are going so bad right now that they managed to gain just 265 yards in last week’s pitiful loss at Seattle. Brett Favre, who’s been intercepted 19 times this season, was just 18 for 31 and suffered four sacks.
Miami Dolphins at New York Jets
BetUS NFL betting odds: N.Y. JETS -2.5, Total 42
BetUS Sportsbook bettors who follow pro football know that the New York Giants (12-3 SU, 11-4 ATS) have clinched home field advantage in the NFC playoffs. The Minnesota Vikings (9-6 SU, 6-9 ATS) can clinch a spot in the playoffs with a win when these two teams get together in Sunday’s NFL betting action that is scheduled to get underway at 1 PM ET at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (artificial turf) in Minneapolis.
The Bears tried to kill themselves last week, showing even less imagination of offense than they normally do, but they stayed with it and took advantage of Packer mistakes to keep themselves alive for another week.
They also had some incredible luck.
Will that luck continue, as Chicago heads into the final week having to win, and hope for Minnesota and/or other teams to stumble?
Obviously the Chargers are a testament to the “never say die” attitude, as they looked well out of the division race but were playing hard anyway, just in case Denver would falter. The Broncos, not being a very good team, did just that. So that opens things up for a winner-take-all showdown that will decide the AFC West title, and will be the “Flex game” that NBC televises on Sunday night.
There is a lot of talk about the job Randy Shannon has done recruiting for the Miami program. Indeed, there are plenty of future pro players on both sides of the ball. Freshmen have been nice contributors on the defensive side, and Aldarius Johnson was the team’s leading receiver (30 catches).
This is the third straight trip to the Motor City Bowl for Central Michigan, which has been one of the MAC’s more consistent performers for years. It may or not be the last collegiate game for junior quarterback Dan LeFevour, who is a definite pro prospect. LeFevour, who can run (536 yards rushing) or pass, completed 66% of his passes this season with 19 touchdowns, and took care of the ball very well, with just five interceptions.
