Jacory Harris Miami Hurricanes Football
The Miami Hurricanes May Be Overvalued Coming Into the 2010 Football Season
With the first college football rankings poll released today what better time to look at some over valued college football teams. The sports media and college football fans spend the whole offseason building hype around a wide range of teams. Some of those teams thrive under the burning glare of the spotlight, while others inevitably wilt under the weight of expectations. It always seems easy in hindsight to look at the teams that don’t live up to their hype and pick out the reasons for their struggles. At this time of year, though, it’s much tougher to spot the ones who are headed to troubles. Here are five teams that are getting a lot of attention right now that could be headed for troubles as well as overvalued by the college football oddsmakers.

Continue reading “Over Ranked and Over Hyped College Football Teams” →

Two teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today face off in the second game of a four-game weekend series in Atlanta.

San Francisco Giants at Atlanta Braves

San Francisco entered this four-game series winning 21 of their last 27 games since July 4, but fell 3-2 in defeat in the opener at Turner Field.  The Giants have now dropped back-to-back games for the first time since July 1-2.  “We’ve won these kind of games.  Look at the Dodgers series,” manager Bruce Bochy said after the game.  The club has a good chance of bouncing back over the weekend, given its 6-0-2 series record in their last eight sets.  San Francisco is 37-33 this season against teams with a record above .500, while going 25-14 versus losing teams.  The Giants are 29-28 on the road this season (+120) and the total is 31-25 O/U in those contests.  The team is 46-35 when facing right-handed starters in 2010 (+780) and a solid 166-147 in this situation over the last three seasons (+2,580).  San Francisco hasn’t dropped three in a row since a season-high, seven-game skid from June 26-July 2.

Continue reading “Friday MLB Preview – Giants at Braves” →

New England Patriots Football
Are the Patriots Still the Team To Beat in the AFC East?
Ever since the Patriots lost arguably the greatest Super Bowl ever to the New York Giants 17 to 14 in 2008 after their remarkable undefeated regular season run, sports bettors have wondered if the Patriots are still worth betting on. The Patriots, who are led by head coach and master strategist Bill Belichick and superstar Quarterback Tom Brady, have been the most successful franchise of the last ten years by winning three Super Bowls. Now that Brady finally has someone good to throw to when the Patriots acquired Randy Moss, there is still some uncertainty as to how good the Patriots still are and what their NFL spreads record will look like in the 2010 season.

Continue reading “NFL Betting: New England Patriots Predictions” →

The greatest rivalry in baseball kicks off an important three-game series in the Bronx with a pair of right-handed starters on the mound.

Boston Red Sox at New York Yankees

Boston picked up a 6-2 victory in the final game of a four-game series against the Cleveland Indians and now will head off for a 10-day, 10-game road trip to New York, Toronto and Texas.  We’re probably going on as it looks right now the most important road trip of the season, most important 10 games of the season,” said second baseman Bill Hall.  The Red Sox are in third place in the AL East division and sit 5.5 games back of tonight’s opponent.  In losing first baseman Kevin Youkilis for the year, the club will be leaning on All-Star third baseman Adrian Beltre more than ever.  He is hitting .336 with 20 home runs and 75 RBIs.  The Red Sox are 20-21 against the division this year (-570) and 106-86 versus the AL East over the last three years (+230).  Boston brings a 3-1 record into this contest as a road underdog of +125 to +150 this season (+320).

Continue reading “Friday MLB Preview – Red Sox at Yankees” →

virgina tech hokies football
The Virgina Tech Hokies football team were shown major love at the ACC media days.
We are pretty much at the end of the annual parade of conference media days. Each year all of the coaches and national media spend a day or two together telling lies and half-truths to get people to start thinking about college football again. Most of what we hear from the gatherings is pointless – at least from a betting perspective. Once in a while, though, we hear something that could prove to have some value down the road. Here’s a quick gathering of some of the more interesting things that came up in this year’s media days:

Continue reading “Recapping College Football Media Days from a Betting Perspective” →

Hall of Fame Game Bengals vs Cowboys
Oddsmakers currently have the Bengals as a 3 point favorite
Sunday’s NFL Hall of Fame Game pits the Cincinnati Bengals against the Dallas Cowboys, which would be an outstanding matchup for the regular season and still makes for an intriguing preseason battle.  If this were the regular season, the publicly popular Cowboys would definitely be favored by more than the opener of -1.  Instead, injuries and the fact that Dallas could be resting several key players as well as not caring about games in prior preseasons has seen the Hall of Fame Game NFL odds shift to Bengals -2.5 or -3 with the total set at 32.5. 

Continue reading “2010 Hall of Fame Game NFL Odds: Bengals Vs Cowboys” →

NL Central rivals get set to play an important three-game series at Wrigley Field.

Cincinnati Reds at Chicago Cubs

Cincinnati has won six of its last eight games and moved its record to 10-1-1 in its last 12 series.  The Reds will now face off with a team that they’ve beaten five of six times this year, outscoring the Cubs by a 49-13 margin.  “Yeah, we’ve got to keep winning series and hopefully you throw a sweep or two in there somewhere,” manager Dusty Baker said.  The club is just a game over .500 with a 19-18 record this season (-150) and the total is 11-21 O/U in those contests.  Cincinnati is averaging 4.1 runs per game and hitting for a combined .259 average during the day, which is almost a full run lower (4.9) than its average for the year.  Playing divisional opponents has provided a boost to the team’s record all season, coming into this three-game series with a 31-18 record against NL Central opponents (+1,340).

Continue reading “Friday MLB Preview – Reds at Cubs” →

Miami Dolphins FootballThe Miami Dolphins will be looking to take the next step this season and become a playoff contender after suffering through a somewhat disappointing campaign a year ago.  The Dolphins showed flashes of brilliance at times offensively with their Wildcat backfield of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams after QB Chad Pennington got hurt, but they struggled to figure out who they were as a team as the season wore on.  When Brown also went down for the year with a foot injury, young QB Chad Henne stepped up and gave Miami fans a glimpse of his potential.  Now with All-Pro WR Brandon Marshall in tow thanks to a trade with the Denver Broncos, Henne has the perfect weapon to take the team’s passing game to the next level.  If the Dolphins can improve enough defensively – they ranked 26th in the NFL last season, giving up 24.4 points per game – Henne and the offense should be able to score enough points to make them a legitimate threat in the race for the AFC East division title.

Continue reading “2010-11 Miami Dolphins Betting Odds & Schedule Analysis” →

Both of today’s starters have thrived in their respective situations this year, as division rivals finish a four-game series at Comerica Park.

Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers

Chicago picked up a 4-1 victory in yesterday’s contest over the Tigers, as the team has won eight of its last 10 games.  The White Sox currently hold a 1.5-game lead over the Twins in the division and are eight games ahead of the Tigers.  The club holds a 5-2 season series advantage over today’s opponent, outscoring them by a 43-21 margin.  Offensively, the team is batting .300 and the pitching staff has recorded a 3.05 ERA against the Tigers this season.  The White Sox are 9-1-1 in the last 11 season series versus their division rivals.  Even more impressive, the South Siders are 31-19 in their last 50 games at Comerica Park.  Chicago is 22-12 in day games this season, which is the fourth-best record in the league and the total is 18-16 O/U in those contests.  The team is 18-21 against the AL Central division in 2010 (-7000 and 96-88 over the last three years (-80).

Continue reading “Thursday MLB Preview – White Sox at Tigers” →

Indianapolis Colts Football
The Colts Once Again Look Very Strong and Should Be the NFL Odds Favorite of the AFC
Despite all the talk about not going for the perfect season, the Indianapolis Colts still managed to complete a successful campaign, culminating in their second trip to the Super Bowl in four years.  A couple big mistakes – a botched onsides kick to start the second half and Peyton Manning’s interception for a New Orleans touchdown – ultimately cost them their third Super Bowl title, but nobody can argue that not going for perfection hurt them or the Saints since both top seeds ended up playing for the championship for the first time since 1993.  This year, Indy will be tested early with four of their first six games on the road before their bye week.  The Colts then must face five playoff teams from last year in the first six weeks after their break, making a shot at perfection highly improbable.  Instead, they will likely focus on just making the playoffs again.

Continue reading “2010-11 Indianapolis Colts Betting Odds & Schedule Analysis” →

The information contained at this site is for entertainment purposes only. Any use of this information in violation of any state, federal, or local laws is prohibited.
Copyright © MadduxSports.com - Premier Sports Picks and Sports Odds Web site