It’s the start of the college football bowl season, but a lot of games will be played before the big ones – the BCS games – get underway. In a lot of ways the BCS games are just like every other bowl game. Those five games are unique in some keys (more…)

As far as I am concerned February is the most interesting time to bet on college football’s BCS futures. The lines are still fresh enough that there can be mistakes and opportunities because the public hasn’t heavily bet on them yet. On the other hand, though, enough change has happened that (more…)

The stadium isn’t even empty after the BCS Championship game each year before the future odds for the next BCS Championship are posted at many sportsbooks. There really aren’t a lot of reasons you would want to tie your money up a full year by making one of these bets when (more…)

The tail end of the college bowl season creates a strange scheduling situation. There are five BCS bowl games. The first four bowls – the Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar – Are lumped together and played over a few days. The last game – the BCS National Championship game – exists (more…)

There is no bigger single factor in handicapping college bowl games than motivation. That sounds like a bold statement, but it is absolutely true. The usual suspects are important – matchups, the caliber of the coaching, the talent levels, the schemes and so on – but none are as important as (more…)

When it comes to handicapping college football bowl games conference strength can either be a big help or a very misleading factor depending on the circumstances. Later in bowl season chances are pretty good that for each team playing in a game there will be have been several other teams from (more…)

There are at least two weeks between the last significant college football games of the regular season and the first bowl games. Time to think is often the enemy of handicappers – the more time they have, the more they will think about things that could be significant, and the better (more…)

We looked earlier at overrated factors in bowl handicapping – things the public just gives too much credit to. These include things like the past record of football coaches in bowls, the team’s record in bowl games, past meetings between teams, and lingering injuries. Since we looked on that side it (more…)

We’re in a dead zone in college football – the two week gap between the conference championship games and the first bowl games. There’s an even longer gap between the conference championships and bowl games that most people care about. There is lots of other sporting action to occupy your betting (more…)

Critics of the bowl system in college football would argue that there are too many bowl games. I don’t agree – the more the merrier in my mind. There’s no doubt, though, that there are some bowl games that just aren’t embraced by the community they are played in or the (more…)

Turnover in the coaching ranks in college football is a frequent fact of life. With so many schools looking for a better answer every year it is inevitable that several coaches that are hired are in their first year as a head coach. Many of those college coaches will struggle, but (more…)

As bowl season nears college football handicappers are faced with a decision – should they bet on all of the small bowl games that come along, or should they hold out for the bigger games with the big name teams? I’m a bowl junkie, so there has never been a bowl (more…)

The day after the league championship games end in early December is a big day for college football bettors. That’s the day in which the bowl assignments are all announced and we know for sure which teams will be playing where. That’s also the first day that odds will be posted (more…)

My favorite part of the sports calendar –  the college bowl season – will be underway before we know it. It’s popular these days to bash bowls and support a football playoff. I’m not entirely opposed to a playoff, but only as long as the bizarre and pleasingly awkward spectacle that (more…)

The BCS bowls get more attention from the media and the betting public every year than the other bowls combined, even though there are only five BCS bowls and almost 30 other bowls. The betting public is understandably drawn to these games far more than the rest, as well. Whenever there (more…)