MWC

 Thumbnail image for College football rivalries: Coaches who make the most money for bettors in ‘big games’
College football

College football rivalries: Coaches who make the most money for bettors in ‘big games’

November 24, 2012

College football rivalry games can be among the most difficult to handicap.

But some coaches have dominated their rivals consistently, including Steve Spurrier, whose South Carolina Gamecocks are 4-point underdogs at Clemson this evening. Read on for a look at some of the best spread-covering coaches in rivalry games.

 Thumbnail image for Nevada is awful on the road against BCS teams & Cal is 18-3 ATS since ’08 as a home favorite
College Football

Nevada is awful on the road against BCS teams & Cal is 18-3 ATS since ’08 as a home favorite

September 1, 2012

Nevada stinks on the road. California is great at home when they’re supposed to win.

Can a game be broken down that simply? Not really, but all recent history seems to point in the direction of the Golden Bears for today’s matchup.

 Thumbnail image for UNLV or New Mexico? In MWC tourney, offshores disagree on who should be favored
Unfair Advantage

UNLV or New Mexico? In MWC tourney, offshores disagree on who should be favored

March 7, 2012

The Mountain West Conference tournament will be hosted at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center for the 10th time in the last 13 years, and some of the league’s coaches aren’t happy about it.

But how much of an edge do the Rebels truly enjoy? Oddsmakers don’t seem to have a consensus, as MWC futures are all over the place.

Vanderbilt coach James Franklin has led the Commodores to just their second bowl appearance since 1982, so you know the fan base isn’t very acquainted with their team playing in a bowl game.

Bowl inexperience, according to former oddsmaker Kenny White in a recent article by ESPN’s Chad Millman, can play a huge role in handicapping the bowl season, which starts Saturday. Read on for a list of the last three times each team has earned a bowl berth.

Throughout the college football season, a Midwestern bookmaker who lives in between a pair of Big 12 cities will be providing BTB with information on who his players are taking. In exchange for his kindness, I’ve agreed to place a few futures bets here in Las Vegas on his behalf and will fill a few other occasional requests.

Here is a look at the bookie’s three biggest exposures for Week 11 college football games.

In this week’s edition of the BTB Mailbag, a reader which teams in college football are covering — or failing to cover — the spread by the most points per game.

Spoiler alert: In a total shocker, Stanford comes out on top, covering by a ridiculous two touchdowns per game.

Bodog has new futures odds listed for the BCS National Championship, and only 12 teams remain. Some of them, like Kansas State, probably don’t have much of a chance.

But at least eight of them do and possibly more. Read on for three solid “value” plays.

After a four-week absence, the BTB ‘extra games’ experiment is back. Most conferences wrapped up their non-con schedules in late September, but every now and then, a team from a major conference will step away and take on an FCS team for a mid-season tune-up.

That’s the case this week, as Kentucky will take on Jackonsville State as a 9.5-point favorite and BYU will take on Idaho State as a 38.5-point favorite. Should you make a play on either of these two games?

The top college football teams in the country are covering at an 81 percent rate halfway into the season. There are many theories being tossed around as to why they’re having so much ATS success, but the idea that these teams are all trying to “run up the score” is one that I’m failing to understand.

By the way, that Wisconsin score in the photo above is from 2010, not 2011. The Badgers haven’t scored more than 60 so far this season and have routinely let off the gas late in games, just like every other team.

Sportsbook.com released its updated odds for Games of the Year on Tuesday, and there have been plenty of line moves, including a handful in big-time, marquee games.

Some of the biggest moves can be found within the Pac-12, including Oregon, who has gone from a 14-point favorite to a 28.5-point favorite in its matchup against Oregon State. Also, Stanford is now a 9.5-point favorite at USC after being listed at -1 back in late August.

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