Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza 11/17/2015

by Doc's Sports - 11/17/2015

The Oklahoma Sooners out of the Big 12 Conference are making their move towards a possible spot in this season's College Football Playoff. In this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza, we will get his thoughts on just how far he sees the Sooners taking this run.

Raphael became one of the top sports handicappers in the nation during a long and prosperous career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. Before retiring in 2013, the former Vegas Sports Informer held the prestigious position of the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria. Nowadays, he continues to own and operate one of the most diversified and successful sports investment services from both Las Vegas and New Orleans. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: Which NFL game from this past Sunday produced a bigger gain for the Las Vegas sportsbooks; Green Bay getting beat straight up by Detroit or New England failing to cover against the New York Giants?

RE: The Packers' SU loss had the bigger impact on bettors since New England still covered quite a few teaser bets by winning its game. It was an all-around big day for the books with multiple upsets on the board, and the icing on the cake was Cincinnati's SU loss to Houston on Monday night.

Doc's Sports: The big game this Sunday in the NFL is Cincinnati on the road against Arizona. Despite the Bengals' loss this past Monday night, these are two of the top teams this season both on the field and against the spread at the betting window. So, which side would you lean towards in this inter-conference clash?

RE: Given what I saw from both of these teams last week I would have to go with Arizona at home as a slight two or three-point favorite. The Cardinals have to be riding pretty high after last Sunday's huge win on the road against Seattle, and the Texans gave them the perfect blueprint for slowing down this Bengals' offense. Cincinnati having to go on the road on a short week also works in Arizona's favor.

Doc's Sports : College football's regular season continues to wind down ahead of this year's four-team field for the College Football Playoff. Clemson is currently the top-ranked team in the nation followed by Ohio State and Alabama, but just how much of a threat is Oklahoma to upset the field following last week's victory against Baylor?

RE: If Oklahoma can get by Oklahoma State in its final regular-season game, you would have to think that the College Football Playoff selection committee would give the Sooners the nod as the fourth team assuming that the first three teams on the list win out. That being said, Oklahoma's past track record in postseason games points towards an early exit from a run at the national title.

Doc's Sports : Last week you mentioned that you enjoy watching certain college basketball players this time of the year to get a better gauge on how they will help their team win games further down the road. Did anyone really stand out from the crowd in your mind through the first weekend of games?

RE: The duo of Jaylen Brown and Tyrone Wallace at California has definitely caught my early eye, making the Golden Bears one of my top teams to watch in the Pac-12 this year. Cal is also on my watch list early in the season as a good team for an "over" bet on the total line. Another player that impressed me early is LSU's Ben Simmons. Everyone knows he can rebound, but I think he is going to be an excellent team player for the Tigers.

Doc's Sports: Can you put into perspective just how big an upset was Ronda Rousey getting knocked out in her UFC bout last Saturday night was in terms of its impact on the Las Vegas sportsbooks?

RE: The books got flat-out killed in this fight since the only way to bet it was to go with Holly Holm as a huge underdog. From a fight perspective, it was not as big of an upset as you may think. Holm's boxing background was a bad matchup for Rousey, and early into this fight I knew she was in trouble.

Click here to visit Raphael Esparza's Insider's Page at Doc's Sports for more information on his amazingly-profitable sports handicapping picks. Also, get $60 worth of Esparza's member's picks absolutely free - no obligation, no sales people - you don't even have to enter credit card information. You can use this $60 credit for any sport Esparza handicaps. Click here for $60 worth of free picks from Raphael Esparza .

Pick:	CHICAGO BEARS +3
Start:	November 24, 2024 @ 1:00 PM
Expert:	Doc's Sports

Analysis:

Free Play from Doc’s Sports. Take #256 Chicago Bears +3 over Minnesota Vikings (1p.m., Sunday, November 24 FOX) We used the Bears as a free play winner last Sunday and easily covered the spread and should have been an underdog outright winner. Now we will ride them for a second straight week against another NFC North rival, the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings are 8-2 on the season, yet are only around a field goal favorite. I still do not trust Sam Donald to win consistently over the course of a 17 game regular season. Minnesota is not as good as their 8-2 record would indicate and playing outdoors in Chicago on Sunday will cause issues for them on both sides of the ball. Chicago has been hit or miss this season, but they will be up to play another divisional rival and we expect them to take this down to the wire as well. Do not miss out on Doc’s Sports Weekend Card featuring top plays in college and NFL football. Read More Read Less

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