Miscellaneous Articles

College Football Predictions: Alabama at LSU Odds and Betting Picks
by Alan Matthews - 10/31/2012

Not sure if you heard, but Alabama and LSU are playing this week. It’s not quite the “Game of the Century” that it was last November, but once again the SEC West title is likely on the line as well as a potential spot in the BCS Championship Game.

College Football Power Rankings: Ferringo 15
by Robert Ferringo - 10/31/2012

The Ferringo 15 made it a three-week winning streak as our top college football profit makers went 8-7 against the spread last week. That came just one week after an incredible 11-3 ATS effort from our teams and last week’s small win may be the signal that the books have caught up with these top moneymakers.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 9 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 10/31/2012

Once again, the oddsmakers split the uprights on the total line in the NFL with seven games going “over” the total in Week 8 and seven staying “under”. My current hot streak finally cooled with a 0-2-1 record last week, dropping me down to 9-5-1 over the past five weeks. The poor showing also leaves me at just 12-10-1 on my top NFL picks for the entire 2012 NFL season, but I am looking for a big second-half run.

Weekly CFB Mid-Major Betting Report: Ohio Bobcats Week 10
by Aaron Smith - 10/30/2012

Ohio’s hopes for an undefeated regular season were dashed last weekend in a heartbreaking way. The Bobcats dropped a 23-20 contest against the Miami Redhawks. The Bobcats were 7-0 heading into the game, and they had just gotten into the Top 25 for the first time in school history. Why is the focus directly on the Ohio Bobcats here? All year I’m following the Ohio Bobcats for the mid-major betting report. I’m reading transcripts from press conferences, keeping up to date with beat writers, and doing everything necessary to become an expert on this Ohio Bobcats team. The goal of this weekly report is to show how specialization is a profitable sports betting strategy.

College Football Picks: Virginia Tech at Miami (Fla.) Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/30/2012

As hard as it is to fathom, the University of Miami has yet to win the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Coastal Division since arriving from the Big East. Certainly no one expected the Canes to change things this season as they were generally picked to finish fifth in the six-team division ahead of only Duke. Yet there Miami (4-4, 3-2) is tied atop the division with the Blue Devils and North Carolina – the Heels, who beat Miami, are ineligible for postseason play.

College Football Picks: Mid-Major Game Day Predictions Week 10
by Dave Schwab - 10/30/2012

The college football season is in the stretch run towards the upcoming bowl season as the top teams in the nation continue to jockey for position for a favorable spot in the BCS rankings. However, there are also a number of mid-major teams that are fighting just to get to a bowl. These kinds of matchups will usually not attract too much attention from the betting public, but they offer a ton of value in the betting lines if you know where and how to look.

NFL Week 8 Player Props, Leaders Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/26/2012

The marquee individual matchup of Week 8, even though the players will never be on the field together, is when Drew Brees and Peyton Manning face off in Denver on Sunday night. Clearly both are Canton-bound five years after they hang up their cleats, and this is the first time they have played since the Saints beat Manning’s Colts in the Super Bowl in Miami three seasons ago.

College Football Picks: Notre Dame at Oklahoma Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/25/2012

No. 8 Oklahoma (5-1) has played in a ton of big games since Bob Stoops arrived on campus, but Saturday night’s nationally televised game against No. 5 Notre Dame (7-0) is one of the toughest tickets in school history. And it’s easily the biggest game for the Fighting Irish in several years. The winner would remain in great shape for a place in the National Championship Game at best and a BCS bowl at worst. The loser almost certainly can forget about playing for the title (these schools have combined for 15 National Championships).

NFL Picks: Saints at Broncos Odds and Betting Predictions
by T.O. Whenham - 10/25/2012

This game really almost has it all — strong offenses, marquee superstars, public interest, and a real potential for thrills and excitement. The only thing holding it back from being a classic is that neither team is reliably playing in particularly good form. Both are coming off pretty solid comeback efforts in their last time out — historically so in the case of the Broncos — but neither squad is nearly as reliable as it would like to be, and neither has nearly the record it expected at this point. I’m not complaining — I am looking forward to this one as much as the next guy.

College Football Power Rankings: Ferringo 15
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2012

It was another all-time week for the Ferringo 15! Our teams went a sparkling 11-3 against the spread and dominated the books. That now makes three of four winning weeks for our select teams, and over the past month they have gone a collective 34-18-1 ATS. It was also another successful week for the best of the best, with the top six teams on our list going 4-1 ATS. That runs their four-week rush to a spectacular 16-4-1 ATS.

Weekly CFB Mid-Major Betting Report: Ohio Bobcats Week 9
by Aaron Smith - 10/25/2012

After a week off last weekend, Ohio is back in action this weekend, which means it is time for another edition of the mid-major betting report. The Ohio Bobcats have now reached the Top 25. The latest BCS Standings show Ohio in the No. 24 spot. This is the first time the Bobcats have cracked the Top 25 in the BCS Rankings in school history. There is still an outside chance that if Ohio wins out, they could get into a BCS bowl.

College Football Picks: Mid-Major Game Day Predictions Week 9
by Dave Schwab - 10/25/2012

The college football season enters its ninth week. And while some of the top teams in the nation continue to jockey for position in the BCS rankings, I am much more interested in the mid-major teams that are fighting to get to six wins just to go to a bowl game. The matchups at this level usually do not attract that much attention from the betting public, but they offer a ton of value in the betting lines if you know where and how to look.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 8 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 10/25/2012

The oddsmakers nailed the NFL total lines right on the head in Week 7, with six games going “over” the total and six staying “under” and one game ending as a “push” My current hot streak continued for a fourth-straight week and I am now 9-3 in my last 12 top plays on the total line. This also helped to improve my overall record on the year to 12-9.

Weekly Philadelphia Eagles Betting Picks: Week 8 vs. Falcons
by Dave Schwab - 10/25/2012

The undefeated Atlanta Falcons will look to pick up where they left off before last week’s bye when they head to Lincoln Financial Field this Sunday afternoon for a NFC tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles. The game is set to get underway at 1 p.m. (EST) and it will be broadcast nationally by FOX.

College Football Picks: Clemson at Wake Forest Odds and Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/23/2012

If the Clemson Tigers have any hope of repeating as the ACC Champions, they have absolutely no room for error the rest of the regular season. That’s because Clemson lost 49-37 at Florida State on Sept. 22. FSU has also since lost a conference game but obviously would hold any head-to-head tiebreaker with Clemson for the Atlantic Division title.

NFL Week 7 Player Props, Leaders Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 10/19/2012

Chicago Bears teammates Lance Briggs (linebacker) and Charles Tillman (cornerback) set an NFL record in Chicago’s last outing by each returning an interception for a touchdown for the second straight game. No teammates had ever scored defensive TDs in back-to-back games. In a weird coincidence, Briggs and Tillman both did it from 36 yards last time out vs. Jacksonville (first game was at Dallas). Tillman has a franchise-record eight defensive scores in his career, and the Bears lead the NFL with five interception returns for touchdowns this season. Coach Lovie Smith stresses forcing turnovers, and the Bears have now recorded 30 defensive touchdowns under Smith.

College Football Picks: Utah at Oregon State Odds and Betting Prediction
by Alan Matthews - 10/18/2012

Back in August, 5Dimes listed wins totals for the major-conference college football teams. Oregon State was coming off a 3-9 mark, the second straight losing season for Mike Riley. The coach was clearly on the hot seat, and the Beavers were given a wins total of 4.5 on the site and were expected to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12 North again.

NFL Predictions: Steelers at Bengals Odds and Betting Picks
by T.O. Whenham - 10/18/2012

There are, incredibly, only two teams in the AFC with records above .500 through six weeks of the NFL season. That means that the Bengals at 3-3 and the Steelers at 2-3 are certainly not out of the chase for postseason glory despite sluggish starts. The Ravens are well ahead in the AFC North at 5-1, but with two huge injuries on defense there is hope for these squads, and that hope will be fueled by a win here.

College Football Power Rankings: Ferringo 15
by Robert Ferringo - 10/18/2012

It was a rare losing week for the F-15, which went 6-6-1, with one team on a bye and two other teams – Utah State and San Jose State – playing one another. That runs the three-week mark to 23-15-1 ATS. Our top six teams went 3-1-1 and are now 12-3-1 over the last three weeks.

NFL Totals Betting: Week 7 Over and Under Predictions
by Dave Schwab - 10/17/2012

The “over” on the total line was the strong play last week in the NFL with 10 of the 14 games on the slate going over the closing line. A perfect 3-0 showing in Week 6 raised my three-week record to a profitable 7-2 on my top three total line plays and finally took me over .500 for the season at 10-8.