Maddux Sports Blog

So, when did the NFL become less competitive than non-conference college football? Six of the 12 games played yesterday were decided by at least four touchdowns. That’s preposterous. It makes for ridiculously uncompetitive action, and therefore mostly uninteresting football. The good news, I guess, is that at least we aren’t taking bets on the games – books are getting absolutely killed by favorites covering monster spreads like this. The favorites were 8-3-1 ATS this week, and the three biggest spreads, usually the public money magnets that the books feast on, all covered. Ouch. The disparity in the league this year is amazing. For the first time ever we have three undefeated teams through seven weeks of the season. On the flip side, we have three teams that could quite conceivably not win a game, and for a couple more it seems impossible to believe that they have already won one (or more). I thought salary caps were supposed to bring competitive balance?

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1. The Florida Gators have been voted as the most overwhelming preseason number one in college football history. I don’t see it. I could see the team going undefeated and adding a third title in four years, but I could just as easily see them lose a couple of games. They aren’t dominant enough to justify this kind of attention.

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The UFC is celebrating an anniversary of sorts tonight, and they are doing it with one heck of a card. UFC 100 has not one but two titles fights – one featuring one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, and the other featuring the biggest name to make a transition to MMA from another sport – perhaps ever. As if that wasn’t enough, you also have a great fight between the latest coaches on The Ultimate Fighter, a match featuring an undefeated fighter and anopponent desperate for another title shot, and the UFC debut of a highly touted Japanese fighter that could be the closest thing to a challenger for Anderson Silva that is out there. That’s all the ingredients for a good night. Let’s take a look at those top five fights:

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