2024 March Madness Bracket Predictions: Midwest Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/21/2024

Sure, there will be some upsets and general insanity throughout the Midwest Region. It’s the NCAA Tournament, after all, and a bit of craziness is to be expected. But when you scan through this part of the bracket it really seems like the most likely to yield a fairly chalky, favorite-laden Elite Eight matchup before sending one of the top seeds to the Final Four.

2024 March Madness Bracket Predictions: West Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/20/2024

Does defense really win championships? We’re going to find out in the West Region of the 2024 NCAA Tournament. The West boasts four of the highest scoring offenses in college basketball. Alabama (90.8), Arizona (89.5), North Carolina (81.6) and Baylor (81.6) all among the Top 25 in the country in points per game.

2024 March Madness Bracket Predictions: South Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/20/2024

The NCAA Tournament is madness. Sort of. We know WHAT is going to happen this weekend in the NCAA Tournament. We just don’t know WHEN it is going to happen. But chaos is a certainty; it is a feature of this glorious contest, not a bug. So let me walk you through the rituals that take place every year – but still seem to surprise everyone when they occur.

2024 March Madness Bracket Predictions: East Region
by Robert Ferringo - 3/20/2024

If Connecticut is going to become the first repeat NCAA Tournament champion in nearly two decades, they are certainly going to have to earn it. The Huskies, the No. 1 overall seed and the current No. 1 team in the country, sit atop an East Region that is absolutely loaded. It has 11 conference champions, the most of any bracket in the field. (By comparison, the South Region has six conference champs - all seeded No. 11 or worse.)

2024 Big Ten Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/13/2024

We are just over a week away from one of my favorite events of the year. We will call this one, “Laugh Your Ass Off As The Big Ten Embarrasses Itself In The NCAA Tournament”. It happens every season. The Big Ten usually sends way more teams to The Big Dance than it deserves. And then we get to watch the utter hilarity of those teams throwing up on themselves in front of the entire country in the first and second round of the NCAA Tournament.

2024 Pac-12 Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/13/2024

This is The End. The Pac-12 has been crushed under the cold, cruel weight of The Market and is preparing to be ripped to shreds by the claws of Capitalism. A year from now, this league will no longer exist, with shards being absorbed by the Big 12 and Big Ten. Meaning that this will be the final Pac-12 Tournament ever.

2024 Mountain West Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/13/2024

That’s right, boys and girls, it is that time of the year again. Time to play one of my favorite games: “How Badly Is The Mountain West Gonna Get Screwed?”. It is an annual rite of passage for the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee to absolutely screw the Mountain West and short them the at-large bids that they deserve. It happens every year. The only question is just how egregiously the selection committee will screw the Mountain West in favor of sending mediocre teams from marquee conferences to The Big Dance.

2024 Big East Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/12/2024

Yes, I’m absolutely biased, but for my money the biggest spectacle of Championship Week is still the Big East Tournament. Played at The Mecca of Basketball, the rabid energy, wrenching physicality, and relentless intensity of this championship can rarely be matched. And as we line up for this week’s action I’m expecting another stressful, unpredictable, exhilarating four-day gauntlet featuring some of the top teams in the country.

2024 SEC Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/12/2024

In the two decades that I’ve lived The South, it always baffled me that none of the frenzy and fervor that swirl around college football ever spilled over into SEC college basketball. It is clear that college hoops will never arouse the same maniacal energy and tribal egoism from school fan bases that college football does. But the action on the hardwood can certainly match the gridiron in terms of intensity, talent and entertainment value.

2024 Big 12 Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/11/2024

For the past two decades, this has always been one of the easiest conference tournaments to preview. Just pick Kansas. The Jayhawks, who at one point won 14 straight regular season conference championships, have cut down the nets at the conference tournament nine times since 2006. They’ve lost in the finals three more times, including last year to Texas, and have dominated the Big 12 tournament since its inception in 1997.

2024 ACC Tournament Predictions with Betting Odds and Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 3/11/2024

The ACC may no longer be the dominant conference in college basketball. But that doesn’t mean that they can’t produce one of the most exciting and consequential tournaments of Championship Week. Storylines abound. North Carolina is making its pitch for a No. 1 seed in next week’s NCAA Tournament. A potential rematch with Duke in the finals after last Saturday’s contentious Tar Heels victory would be sweet. And a bevy of bubble teams – Virginia, Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Syracuse – will try to shoot their way into The Big Dance.

Chiefs Looking at Potential Dynasty in Super Bowl 58
by Robert Ferringo - 2/9/2024

Nihilism is in right now, dear readers, and the only way out is through. So on the eve of a game that may end up as the paragon of American sports spectacle in this century the only rational choice seems to be to embrace The Darkness and use it as fuel, a spiritual heroin. Eat, drink and be merry, folks, for tomorrow we die. At least.

Super Bowl Handicapping: Expert Tips for Betting Success
by Robert Ferringo - 2/8/2024

The Super Bowl is not just the biggest sporting event of the year; it's also one of the most heavily bet-upon events in the world. With billions of dollars on the table, handicapping the Super Bowl requires a blend of strategy, analysis, and, frankly, a bit of luck. This year Kansas City will take on San Francisco at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 11 at Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas. The 49ers are currently a -2.0 favorite and the total in this game is set at 47.5.

Super Bowl Wagering Advice: Block out the Noise, and Ignore the Spread!
by Robert Ferringo - 2/7/2024

Every year just about everyone I know shoots me a text or an e-mail in the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl with the same question: “Who is going to win?” With rare exception my answer is usually the same: “How the hell should I know? I’m not a fortuneteller!” Super Bowl handicapping is a completely different animal than handicapping during the regular season. Reports have suggested that as much as $23 billion will be wagered on this year’s game, and everyone looks at this as the Go Big Betting Moment of the year.

Chicago Bears: Easy Decision for Justin Fields vs. Caleb Williams
by Robert Ferringo - 1/11/2024

The biggest story in the NFL right now is, obviously, the unfolding playoff drama and the question of who will win the Super Bowl. But the minute that the first piece of confetti hits the turf at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Super Bowl Sunday, it will mark the official beginning of the NFL offseason. And for the second year in a row, all eyes will be on the Chicago Bears at the top of the NFL draft.

NFL Power Rankings Week 18
by Robert Ferringo - 1/3/2024

So, last week I warned you against getting conned into betting on NFL teams that were in “must-win” situations. Cleveland, San Francisco, Jacksonville and Houston all came through with games that they absolutely had to have. However, the Cowboys, Rams, Colts, Eagles, Bucs, Falcons, Bills and Bengals all flopped against the spread in games that they absolutely had to have for one reason or another.

NFL Power Rankings Week 17
by Robert Ferringo - 12/26/2023

We are still in the throes of the holiday season for one more exhausting, family-oriented week, so I am going to keep this short and sweet. My advice over the next two weeks is this: good teams don’t put themselves in must-win situations. One of the primary aspects that bettors and handicappers consider when wagering on any team in any sport is motivation. “What are these guys playing for and how hard are they going to play?”

NFL Power Rankings Week 16
by Robert Ferringo - 12/19/2023

The only certainty in the NFL is constant change. Nowhere is this truism better reflected than the yearly turnover of NFL playoff teams. Dating back over the last 30 years, an average of five teams that make the playoffs one season do not make it back the next year. Usually, about half of the playoff teams don’t return. And that number is rarely, if ever, below one-third.

NFL Power Rankings Week 15
by Robert Ferringo - 12/12/2023

Instead of using this space for my normal insightful-yet-entertaining introduction, I thought I would do some house cleaning. OK, so Doc’s clients know that all of our handicappers release their football plays at 6 p.m. EST every Thursday and that covers games through to the following Wednesday, with college football and the NFL included in one package.

NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/5/2023

And here comes the weather. NFL offenses have done a great job of tripping over their own d!#ks all season long. The current average of 43.4 points per game would make this year the lowest scoring season of the last 14 years, and it has been absolutely brutal to watch.