NFL Power Rankings – Week 1
by Robert Ferringo - 9/3/2013

I have been staring at these spreads for a month. Time has seemingly been standing still over the past six weeks as we have endured the time between the start of training camp and the actual start of the 2013 NFL season. Professional football is one of the most massive industries in this country, and it has become a 365-day-a-year obsession. But after seven months of pointless speculation and gossip, we are finally at the moment where it has come time to prove one’s self.

NFL Handicapping: Preseason Winners and Losers
by Robert Ferringo - 8/30/2013

Contrary to popular belief, the NFL Preseason is not worthless. There is plenty of information to be gleaned from the exhibition season, and after a month of closely analyzing the 32 professional teams, I feel like the tone has been set for the pro football betting season.

College Football Opinion: Manziel Got Off Easy
by Robert Ferringo - 8/30/2013

Unless you have been living in a cave, you know about the drama surrounding Manziel. He signed thousands of autographs, “allegedly” for money, in clear violation of NCAA rules. His potential suspension has cast a pall over Texas A&M’s season prospects, and the reigning Heisman’s status has been a major issue in the sport since the story broke several weeks ago.

College Football Predictions: Syracuse vs. Penn State Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/29/2013

There was a time when a Syracuse-Penn State game would’ve been a headliner for the opening week of the college football season. Instead, these two programs will meet this weekend in a game that features two programs just trying to pick up the pieces and wipe off the dust of their former glory.

College Football Power Rankings: Ferringo 15
by Robert Ferringo - 8/27/2013

When I was a reporter in New York, a former sports editor of mine used to say that college football was nothing more than “violent figure skating”. His point was that without a playoff, college football was no different than other “sports” that rely on a third party – beyond the two teams on the field – to determine the “champion” based on style points. College football crowns its champions not on pure achievement but on its stylistic and subjective merits. Like figure skating.

2013 SEC Football Predictions and Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/21/2013

Basically, the SEC is a shell game. They have ranged from “pretty average” to “terrible” in the nonconference portion of the schedule the past two years, and that is a decent indicator of how they stack up with the rest of the country. Also, the SEC is the nation’s best conference only if you are willing to ignore A) the eight teams at the bottom of the 14-team league and B) the fact that middling Big 12 teams have managed to fare pretty well in their first seasons in the league.

2013 Big Ten Football Predictions and Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2013

I think that most Big Ten football fans would agree with my assessment that the SEC is overrated and a little too full of itself. I don’t think that most of those same college football fans would agree with me that the second-most overrated football conference is their beloved Big Ten. But the fact is that while this league is seeped in tradition it is also seeped in mediocrity at the moment.

2013 Pac-12 Football Predictions and Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/19/2013

A recent infusion of coaching talent, including the guys tasked with replacing hero coaches Jim Harbaugh, Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly, has helped send the Pac-12 on an upward trajectory. Guys like Rich Rodriguez, Mike Leach, Jim Mora, Sonny Dykes and Todd Graham have their respective programs in the infant stages. But each of those leaders know what they are doing, and it won’t be long before the Pac-12 is a high-flying, high-scoring league threatening the Big 12 and SEC for supremacy.

2013 Big 12 Predictions and College Football Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2013

The Big 12 is still leading the sport in offensive innovation. Their 66.6 total points per game dwarfed the game totals of leagues like the Big East (46.1) and the almighty SEC (51.0). And all that scoring has made the Big 12 one of the most difficult leagues in the country for bettors to predict.

2013 ACC Football Predictions and Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/16/2013

The Atlantic Coast Conference used to be a pretty respectable league. Now they are nothing more than the SEC’s half-witted cousin. There is a load of top-flight individual talent in this conference, as indicated by their NFL Draft picks and preseason awards finalists, but on the whole the ACC is one of the least predictable and least stable leagues in the country.

College Football Handicapping: the SEC is Overrated
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2013

Failing educational systems. Rotting infrastructure. High rates of obesity and infant mortality. Yes, the South has a lot to be proud of. But as we head toward the fall the conversations between the Secesh focuses on their one true love: Southeastern Conference football.

2013 American Athletic Predictions and College Football Futures Odds
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2013

The Big East is no more. The generically-sounding American Athletic Conference has picked up the pieces of the shattered B-East, added in rejects from Conference USA, and thrown them together to create this Franken-fiasco of a college football conference. The league will not have a title game but was able to inherit the Big East’s automatic BCS bowl berth. Despite that, I expect this conference to be completely ignored on the national level for most of the season.

NFL Handicapping: Worst Starting Quarterbacks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/14/2013

What comes to mind when I mention the names Michael Vick, Carson Palmer, and Mark Sanchez? Is it their numerous Pro Bowl appearances? The hype and untold millions they have been showered with throughout their careers? Maybe it is the conference championship appearances and playoff games they have accounted for in their careers.

Ranking the NFL Divisions
by Robert Ferringo - 8/7/2013

I am a firm believer in the concept of relative divisional strength. The idea is that when trying to break down a matchup between two seemingly equal teams you should give greater weight to the club from the better division. And that considering a team’s division – and also their conference – can create a framework from which a bettor can gauge line value.

NFC South Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/5/2013

The NFC South may be the most competitive division in football this year. Besides the NFC North, the South is the only group in the NFL where I wouldn’t be surprised if any of the four participants rose up and won the division.

AFC South Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2013

The first thing you do when handicapping a team is look at the coach and the quarterback. That gives you a baseline of the franchise and is a determinant as to how good that team should be. With that in mind, let’s do a quick rundown on what the AFC South is packing.

NFC North Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/2/2013

The NFC North was the best division in football in 2012. Teams in the North combined to go 23-17 against the rest of the league last year. Those 23 wins were tied with the NFC West for the most in the NFL, but the North was the only division to produce three teams with 10 or more wins.

AFC West Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/1/2013

I don’t know what it is about the West Coast, but football doesn’t exactly flourish there. The NFC West had been the worst division in football over the past decade. They are attempting a revival. But in the meantime the AFC West has taken up a post as the league’s outhouse.

AFC North Predictions and Futures Odds with Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 8/1/2013

Three of the four divisions in the AFC are all but decided before a single game has been played. Miami might threaten embattled New England. But no one seriously thinks they will overtake them. The same can be said for Indianapolis in the South; they could put up a good fight, but it would be a massive upset if Houston didn’t win a third straight division title.

2013 NFL Power Rankings – Preseason Edition
by Robert Ferringo - 7/31/2013

I wish I had something provocative or surprising to offer you in the way of The Best Team in Football. But it is the 49ers. San Francisco is the best team in the best conference in the game. The offseason didn’t sabotage them. Each loss to free agency or injury was replaced by a comparable part. The 49ers have the best defense and one of the best running games in the NFL.