2014 Chicago Bears Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

Perhaps no team in the NFL has underachieved as much as the Chicago Bears over the past four years. Chicago has parlayed 37 regular season wins during that stretch into just one playoff berth. They have been eliminated on the final weekend of the season each of the past two years and have wasted excellent first halves with disaster stretch collapses in the past several campaigns.

2014 Cincinnati Bengals Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

From 1991 to 2004 the Cincinnati Bengals failed to produce a winning record or a playoff berth. But last year’s 11-win campaign marked the third straight year with nine or more wins, and the fourth time in five years, for this one moribund franchise. They are clearly no longer league doormats and instead enter the season with heightened expectations.

2014 Dallas Cowboys Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

Truthfully, I think that Dallas is one of the worst teams in the NFL this year. Their odds will always be inflated because they are the most public team in the league. But this team is awful and when I scan the roster I see a five-win team, at best.

2014 Denver Broncos Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

There is generally little or no money to be made betting on the season win total of teams like the Denver Broncos. They are coming off a 13-win season and a trip to the Super Bowl. They have the highest season win total number on the board (along with Seattle) and because of Peyton Manning they are a very public, square team for bettors to wager on. I normally ignore these teams, just like I usually stay away from the two or three bottom feeder teams with the lowest season win totals. The value just isn’t there.

2014 Green Bay Packers Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

Over the past five years the Packers have essentially morphed into a poor man’s version of the New England Patriots. Both teams are riding five-year playoff streaks and each has made a Super Bowl appearance during that stretch. Their records are similar (55-24-1 for Green Bay versus 61-19 for New England) and both squads enter this season as prohibitive favorites to win their division. Finally, at the heart of each franchise is a talented coach and an all-time great quarterback.

2014 San Diego Chargers Season Win Total Picks & Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 6/4/2014

San Diego was a surprise playoff team in Mike McCoy’s rookie coaching season. They snapped a three-year streak of failing to live up to their preseason wins expectations and even won their first postseason game since 2008. As a result they won’t be sneaking up on anyone this year and will have to scrap their way to another winning season.

2014 Preakness Stakes Contenders
by Robert Ferringo - 5/16/2014

Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome’s fragile health is becoming one of the top stories leading up to this week’s Preakness Stakes. The Derby winner is a monster 3-to-5 favorite to win this weekend’s race despite swirling rumors regarding the horse’s health.

2014 NFL Draft Grades
by Robert Ferringo - 5/12/2014

The general football-loving public still has some pretty clear misconceptions about how the NFL Draft works and how successful teams approach the annual pro football meat market. And the public’s ignorance is fueled by the worthless bloviating of gasbags like the ones on ESPN all weekend.

2014 Kentucky Derby Contenders with Predictions and Handicapping
by Robert Ferringo - 5/2/2014

Well, it certainly appears that the Racing Gods are setting things up for California Chrome. The California colt is a massive favorite to win this year’s Kentucky Derby and has caught several breaks in the lead-up to the race that are helping to clear his path in the Run For The Roses.

2014 Kentucky Derby Post Positions: Handicapping and Analysis
by Robert Ferringo - 5/1/2014

There are generally very few winners in the Kentucky Derby post draw – only losers. However, Derby favorite California Chrome had a stellar day on Wednesday and has tightened his grip on the Horse To Beat title heading into this weekend’s big race.

Connecticut Huskies vs. Florida Gators Free NCAA Picks with Odds & Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 4/3/2014

This game is a rematch of a fantastic regular-season matchup on Dec. 2. The Huskies won that game 65-64 thanks to some incredible last-minute heroics from Shabazz Napier, including a four-point play with 33.5 seconds left and a game-winning jump shot as time expired.

Wisconsin Badgers vs. Kentucky Wildcats Free NCAA Picks with Odds & Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 4/3/2014

Kentucky began the season ranked No. 1 in the country and was touted as having the Greatest Recruiting Class of All Time. Of course, both of those claims were absolutely hysterical as the Wildcats were neither the best team in the country nor the top crop of freshmen in college hoops history.

MLB Handicapping: Atlanta Braves Have Lots of Questions Heading into Season
by Robert Ferringo - 3/26/2014

Last winter was one of the mildest on record in many parts of the country. Snow was sparse. Cold was transient. And jokes about global warming were freely flowing. Flash-forward to this winter, still ongoing in many parts of the country no matter what that drunken groundhog has to say about it. This winter has been a frozen hellscape of twisted ice and shattered dreams. It has been a frozen nightmare of apocalyptic doom, with humans caught in the crossfire of the sky’s unrelenting assault on the ground.

2014 AL Central Picks with MLB Betting Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/25/2014

The American League Central has established itself as the new Weakest Division in Baseball. The Detroit Tigers are head and shoulders above a group that can best be described as inconsistent, underperforming and overmatched.

2014 AL West Picks with MLB Betting Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/20/2014

When people talk about the most heated division rivalries in baseball, they will quickly rattle off the obvious feuds: Red Sox-Yankees, Dodgers-Giants, and Reds-Cardinals. But if you are looking for an area featuring an underrated amount of animosity, look no further than the American League West.

2014 AL East Picks with MLB Betting Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 3/19/2014

If I were MLB commissioner for a day, the first thing that I would do is shuffle up all of the divisions. Actually, I would institute a rule where every year all of the divisions are determined by a blind draw, essentially reshuffling the deck every season.

2014 March Madness Bracket Picks: Midwest Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/19/2014

Wichita State, Michigan, Duke and Louisville are four of the best teams in the country and among the favorites to cut down the nets in Dallas at the Final Four. And while the seeding of these four juggernauts has caused plenty of babbling from the bobblehead media this week, the reality is that it matters less what order they are presented in than it does what order they finish in.

2014 March Madness Bracket Picks: West Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/19/2014

Top seed Arizona is a tough, physical, defensive-oriented team. They want to lock people up and get in their faces with a hard-nosed man-to-man. Second-seeded Wisconsin is a team whose offensive flow and execution can carve up opponents. Sure, they can defend. Like Arizona can score. But the Badgers are a soft, skilled team that wants to get hot and hit jumpers for a full 40.

2014 March Madness Bracket Picks: East Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/18/2014

The East Regional of the NCAA Tournament could be considered the No Respect Region. Top-seed Virginia was given the No. 1 slot by default, and not many analysts in the country think that the Cavaliers have a realistic shot at winning a national title. The same can be said about Villanova, a team that was seemingly dismissed after their last-second upset loss in the Big East Tournament, despite the fact that only three teams in the nation have beaten the Wildcats this year.

2014 March Madness Bracket Picks: South Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/18/2014

I don’t know if any region has as much boom-or-bust potential as the South Region of the NCAA Tournament. This bracket boasts four programs – Florida, Kansas, Ohio State and Syracuse – that have dominated March in recent seasons. Add in a traditional power like UCLA and a traditional spur like VCU, and the South is stacked with proven commodities.