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Weekly Q&A with Doc's Sports Expert Handicapper Raphael Esparza


by Doc's Sports - 10/17/2017

Saquon Barkley Penn State

A pair of major upsets in college football this past weekend has radically altered the landscape for this year's four-team College Football Playoff. In this week's discussion with Doc's Sports expert handicapper Raphael Esparza , we will get his take on which four teams have the best shot at filling the field. We will also get his thoughts on his beloved Cubs' chances to crawl out a 0-2 hole in their best-of-seven NLCS matchup against the Los Angeles Dodgers to make a return trip to this year's MLB World Series.

Raphael rose through the ranks to become one of the most successful sports handicappers in the nation while also enjoying a long and successful career in the Las Vegas sportsbook industry. He became known in sports betting circles as the Vegas Sports Informer, and at the peak of his sportsbook career he held the prestigious position as the Director of the Race and Sports Book for MGM Grand's Aria. Since his retirement from that position in 2013, he has been splitting his time between Las Vegas and the Big Easy in New Orleans running a successful and diverse sports investment service. The following is this week's Q&A with one of Doc's most interesting handicappers.

Doc's Sports: With then-No. 2 Clemson's stunning loss to Syracuse last Friday night combined with Washington also going down in defeat last Saturday as the No. 5 team in the country, what would your new college football Top 5 look like?

RE: Alabama is still solid at the top, and I would probably put Georgia in the No. 2 position. Penn State would be third on the list followed by TCU and Wisconsin. With the possible exception of the Crimson Tide, all of the other teams on my list could easily get tripped up in the next few weeks. One team primed to move into this group is the 5-0 Miami Hurricanes, which I would put ahead of both Ohio State and Clemson right now.

Doc's Sports: The Chicago Cubs have been in tight spots before in the MLB postseason and prevailed, but what kind of odds would you give your home-town team right now to overcome a 2-0 deficit to Los Angeles and win the best-of-seven NLCS?

RE: The first four innings of Tuesday night's Game 3 in Chicago could be crucial to the Cubs' chances get back into this series. They have scored a total of three runs in the first two games, so they need to find a way to put up some early runs on Yu Darvish as the Dodgers' starter to swing the momentum back into Chicago's favor.

Doc's Sports: Green Bay was favored to win the NFC this season following a 4-1 start, but with Aaron Rodgers on the shelf for the foreseeable future, all the value in that futures bet was lost. Looking at the rest of this conference, which team would you bet on right now to represent the NFC in this season's Super Bowl?

RE: The loss of Rodgers actually opens the door for a number of teams to step and fill the void as a legitimate contender to win the NFC. Philadelphia has the inside track with the best early record, but you can add Minnesota, Seattle, Atlanta and Carolina to the mix. Even New Orleans is back in the picture with three big victories in a row.

Doc's Sports : When it comes to dominating sports franchises, Golden State in the NBA is probably at the top of the list for most sports bettors. With the new NBA regular season getting underway this week, is there any other team in the league that might have made enough moves this offseason to justify a futures bet to win the 2018 NBA title?

RE: The obvious choices would be Cleveland or Boston out of the East, but I would not go to sleep on the Minnesota Timberwolves given the roster that they have put together. The addition of Jimmy Butler with Jamal Crawford coming off the bench gives Minnesota the scoring capability to compete with anyone in the Western Conference.

Doc's Sports: Looking at this Saturday's boxing card on HBO from both Verona, New York and Belfast Ireland, are there any bouts that have caught your interest from a betting standpoint?

RE : The featured fight in New York is for the WBA junior lightweight title with the champion Jezreel Corales taking on Alberto Machado. I am not sure if the betting odds for the 'over/under' in rounds has been posted, but I fully expect this fight to go the distance. On the undercard, Demetrius Andrade vs. Alantez Fox should be another close hard-fought bout.

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 .

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