Handicapping by Liz

Below are my bowl and season stats for college and the regular season for the NFL. What a shame Colt McCoy went down in the Texas/Alabama game. I would still bet that Texas would have won that game if McCoy didn’t go down, but congrats to Alabama. Now if the BCS puts Boise State second in the polls it will have been a good season. I can’t believe that my underdog picks this bowl season were dead on, I went 7-2 ATS and SU, if you had just bet my underdog picks you would have made a killing in Vegas. Maybe next year I’ll pick more underdogs and less favorites.

My Bowl picks for the season
Bowl Best Bets 2-3 ATS and 3-2 SU
Bowl Underdogs 7-2 ATS and 7-2 SU
Bowl Regular Plays 5-4 ATS and 5-4 SU
Over/Unders 3-5

For the College Season
College Best Bets 28-35 ATS and 51-12 SU
College Underdogs 34-21 ATS and 24-31 SU
Regular Plays 33-34-1 ATS and 49-17 SU
Over/Unders 25-20-1 ATS

For the NFL Season
Pro Best Bets 31-32-1 ATS and 48-16 SU
Pro Regular Plays 35-35-3 ATS and 40-33 SU
Over/Unders 26-38 ATS

The end of the regular football season is over and with only playoff games and 4 bowl games left, this is a bittersweet week. I am excited about this week’s bowl games and the playoffs but at the same time I am saddened by the end of another football season. I would like to thank my guest handicappers, Moose the Greek, Sweet Baby Ray and last but certainly not least, Deto, who handicapped his first game giving his pick in the GMAC game on Thursday.

Below are my bowl and season stats for college and my regular season for the NFL.

My Bowl picks so far
Bowl Best Bets 2-3 ATS and 3-2 SU
Bowl Underdogs 6-1 ATS and 6-1 SU
Bowl Regular Plays 5-4 ATS and 5-4 SU
Over/Unders 3-4

For the College Season
College Best Bets 28-35 ATS and 51-12 SU
College Underdogs 34-21 ATS and 24-31 SU
Regular Plays 33-34-1 ATS and 49-17 SU
Over/Unders 25-20-1 ATS

As for the NFL this week
Pro Best Bets 1-1-1 ATS and 3-0 SU
Pro Regular Plays 5-2 ATS and 5-2 SU
Over/Unders 2-3 ATS

For the Season
Pro Best Bets 31-32-1 ATS and 48-16 SU
Pro Regular Plays 35-35-3 ATS and 40-33 SU
Over/Unders 26-38 ATS

Well this is it, the last college football picks this year. I decided to bring in a guest handicapper, so I asked my godchild, Deto, to gives us an opinion on the GMAC bowl and here’s what he has to say -

In the GMAC Bowl, and for my first pick ever, I’m going with the Central Michigan Chippewas over Troy. The Chippewas are giving the Troy Trojans only 3 points. Look for senior QB Dan LeFevour to continue picking apart his opponents’ defense like he’s been doing all season. On nearly 400 attempts he’s thrown for 27 touchdowns, with only 6 INTs. The strong defense of the Chippewas will also add to the demise of the Trojans. Central Michigan’s defense allows only 17.2 points a game, but more importantly keeping their opponents to a FG try 66% of the time. Look for the Chippewas defense to keep the Trojan offense at bay, and the Central Michigan offense to capitalize on the field position their defense gives them. In my first ever pick, I’m going with the Chippewas minus the 3 points.

Here are my bowl stats going into the last 4 bowl games. I am kicking butt on my bowl underdogs as I am 6-1 ATS and SU.

Bowl Best Bets 2-3 ATS and 3-2 SU
Bowl Underdogs 6-1 ATS and 6-1 SU
Bowl Regular Plays 5-4 ATS and 5-4 SU
Over/Unders 3-4

Before I give you my pick on the Fiesta Bowl, I just have to stand on my soap box for a second here, and tell you that the BCS absolutely copped out on this game. They could have had these 2 terrific teams play a legit BCS team, but NO, the BCS pitted these 2 undefeated teams against each other. What a shame the BCS didn’t have enough balls to give these 2 teams a chance against Cincy or Florida. With that being said here’s my pick. In the Fiesta Bowl, I have to go with my Boise State Smurfs, actually it’s the Broncos : ), to stay within the 7½ points against TCU. I know TCU looks like the better team here but if there ever was a team who could fool you, it’s Boise State. I just can’t wait to see what tricks Boise’s HC, Petersen has up his sleeve. I have an underdog play on Boise State and I also like the over 53 ½.

In the Orange Bowl, I have to admit I haven’t seen Iowa much this year but I did get a chance to see Georgia Tech play and I just can’t go against the ACC in this game, but Iowa does scare me. With that being said I will make this a strong opinion on Georgia Tech minus the 4½ points.

Now for the BCS Championship game between Alabama and Texas. Alabama is favored by 4 points over Texas with an O/U of 44½. Colt McCoy is having a very quiet season while Mark Ingram wins the Heismann and his team beat Florida in the SEC championship game, decisively. Then why I am not super high on Alabama here, I just have gut feeling that Texas will not only keep this game close but could win this game outright. I’m going with Texas and the 4 points here as my final pick of the year. This is an underdog play on Texas plus the 4 points.

Well that’s it for another college football season. I will be back with you again next season, God willing and if Jim lets me !!

(Admin Note) Jim plans on doing this from his new home near Clemson, Home of the Tigers. And no I won’t be converting to a Panthers fan.

As always bet with your head not over it

Well, sad but true, this is the last week of yet another football season. I must admit I am looking forward to the playoffs but doesn’t this season just fly by, while the baseball season drags on and on and on and on. Well, in the final week I really don’t have a good feeling on many games, so here is what I do like in the last week.

My first pick this week is the Tennessee Titans on the road at Seattle giving the Seahawks 4 points. Tennessee has made a remarkable comeback this year and they are 1 game away from going 8-8, and I think they will play to get that win and cover in the process. The Titans are the bet here as they win and cover the 4 points.

My next pick this week is the San Francisco 49ers on the road at St. Louis giving the Rams a touchdown. I think Mr. Singletary will have his team ready here to also get to 8-8, and the Rams are looking forward to putting this season behind them as it has been absolutely horrific. The 49ers are definitely the bet here as they win and cover the 7 points.

My last best bet this week is the San Diego Chargers at home giving the Washington Redskins 4 points. I’m guessing this line is so low because the Chargers will most likely rest players but I just can’t pass up taking San Diego at home giving a team who obviously has packed it in only 4 points. This is my last best bet of this regular season so go Chargers and cover the 4 points.

Other games I like as regular plays are the Minnesota Vikings at home giving the New York Giants 9 points. The Baltimore Ravens on the road giving the Oakland Raiders 10 ½ points. I like the Pittsburgh Steelers minus 3 points on the road at the Dolphins. And finally I like the Chicago Bears on the road at the Detroit Lions giving the Lions 3 points.

As for underdogs this week, I just can’t pass up getting 9 points with the Patriots and also the Colts. I just can’t imagine that Buffalo or Houston will be able to cover that many points. Take the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts with 9 points. I also like Green Bay on the road getting 3½ points from Arizona.

As for over/under bets, I like the
over 47½ in the New York/Minnesota game,
over 38 in the Kansas City/Denver game,
over 39 in the Washington/San Diego game,
over 41 in the Atlanta/Tampa Bay game,
over 44 in the Tennessee/Seattle game.

Well, that’s it for the regular season.
Looking forward to the playoffs and Super Bowl.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read what I had to say :

I’ll back late Sunday night with the rest of my bowl picks for this year.

As always bet with your head not over it.

Here are my bowl picks for Friday and Saturday.

But first I want to mention that Sarah Thomas was the first woman to officiate in a bowl game. She officiated in the Little Caesar’s Bowl between Ohio U and Marshall and did a great job. All I can say as a woman is, IT’S ABOUT TIME !

Friday January 1st, 2010

My first pick is in the Gator Bowl, I just can’t believe that once again a coaching legend is being forced to retire or be fired, not the way, Bobby Bowden, should be ending his career. With that being said, I just can’t believe that his players would let him go out on a losing note, so I like Florida State here getting 2½ from West Virginia. Farewell Bobby, it was an honor to watch you coach these past 33 years. This is an underdog pick on Florida State getting 2½ points.

My next pick is in the Sugar Bowl, I just feel that Florida will come to play in Tebow’s last game at Florida. Another reason I like Florida is that Cincinnati has to be a little upset that their coach not only left but isn’t even coaching the bowl game for them, which has to hurt anyone’s psyche. This is a BEST BET on Florida minus 11½ points, and I also like the OVER 57½.

My last pick is in the Rose Bowl, for some reason I like Ohio State to shock Oregon and give the Big Ten Conference, a little more respect. Wisky did beat Miami which I didn’t think was possible, so why not Ohio State. Ohio State in the last 5 bowl games they were underdogs they covered 4 of them and won 3 outright, I like this streak. This is an underdog pick on Ohio State getting 3½.

I do have an opinion on the Capital One Bowl and I am leaning towards Penn State minus the 2½ points. You just can’t give Joe Pa this much time to come up with a game plan, but for some reason LSU scares me. Can the Big 10 actually beat an ACC and SEC team in the same bowl year.

Saturday January 2nd, 2010

Well it sure is a shame that we have to have a bowl game between a team that suspended 8 players and another team that fired their coach for allegedly mistreating a player. I had this game circled around Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl, giving Michigan State a touchdown, but who knows if this game is even going to be played. I will leave this game as a strong opinion instead of a best bet on Texas Tech minus the touchdown.

My next pick on Saturday is in the International Bowl, between South Florida and Northern Illinois. The current line is South Florida minus 6½ points. South Florida is by far the more talented team, the only thing in question is how motivated they are, there is an investigation going on against HC, Jim Leavitt who supposedly grabbed a player by the throat, my God, will the soap operas never end this year ?? So I would have made this a best bet but instead I am making this a regular play on South Florida giving Northern Illinois 6½.

I do like the OVER 50 ½ in the Cotton Bowl between Mississippi and Oklahoma State.

Well that’s it for college for the weekend. I will be back late Sunday night with my last bowl picks.

As always bet with your head not over it

As there are more and more bowl games to choose from I will only be picking games I like. I will be offering opinions on a few bowl games that just miss being a pick.

I picked the game tonight(Monday, 12/28), in my last bowl update, and it was on Georgia and the Over.

Here are my bowl picks for the bowl games this week.
Tuesday, December 29th thru Thursday, December 31st.

On Tuesday, in the Champs Sports Bowl, I am very high on the Miami Hurricanes giving the Wisconsin Badgers 3 points. This is a BEST BET on
Miami minus the 3 points.

On Wednesday, in the Holiday Bowl, I like the underdog Nebraska Cornhuskers getting 2 points from Arizona. This is an underdog pick on Nebraska getting 2 points.

On Thursday, in the Armed Forces Bowl, I like Houston to cover the 4 points against the Air Force. This is a regular pick on Houston minus 4 points and the OVER 63.

Also on Thursday, in the Texas Bowl, I like Missouri to cover the 6½ points against Navy. This is a regular pick on Missouri minus 6½ points and the OVER 52½.

My next pick is in the Chick fil-A Bowl, also on Thursday. I like Virginia Tech to cover the 4½ points against Tennessee. This was my toughest decision this week but I’ve seen both teams play and I just like the way VT plays, so I’m going with them. This is a regular pick on Virginia Tech minus 2½ points.

And my last bowl pick this week is on Thursday, in the Insight Bowl, I like Minnesota laying 2½ points against Iowa State. This is a regular pick on Minnesota minus 2½ points.

As always bet with your head not over it

I wanted to post these stats as soon as possible so that I can post my bowl picks for this week. I am having a great bowl season with my underdogs which are so far 3-1 ATS and SU. The stats below will not include Monday’s game between Georgia and Texas A&M, this game will be included in next week’s stats.

My pro picks did well this week considering how some games meant something and others didn’t. I went 3-1 ATS and SU on my best bets and that is nice. I did however, have to wave farewell to my Giants as they got humiliated by Carolina. What a horrible way to send off Giants stadium.

Below are my weekly and season stats.

My Bowl picks so far
Bowl Best Bets 0-2 ATS and 1-1 SU
Bowl Underdogs 3-1 ATS and 3-1 SU
Bowl Regular Plays 2-1 ATS and 2-1 SU
Over/Unders 1-1

For the College Season
College Best Bets 28-35 ATS and 51-12 SU
College Underdogs 34-21 ATS and 24-31 SU
Regular Plays 33-34-1 ATS and 49-17 SU
Over/Unders 25-20-1 ATS

As for the NFL this week
Pro Best Bets 3-1 ATS and 3-1 SU
Pro Regular Plays 2-3-1 ATS and 3-3 SU
Over/Unders 2-3 ATS

For the Season
Pro Best Bets 30-31 ATS and 45-16 SU
Pro Regular Plays 30-33-3 ATS and 35-31 SU
Over/Unders 24-35 ATS

Let’s hope we can get some redemption this week and not get backdoor covered again and again.

My first pick this week is the Green Bay Packers at home giving Seattle 14 points. Green Bay has won and covered the past 3 meetings between these teams and Green Bay has something to play for, you certainly can’t say that for the Seahawks. I look for Green Bay to bounce back from that heartbreaking loss at Pittsburgh last week and take out their frustrations on a very bad road team. The Packers are the bet here as they win and cover the 14 points.

Second on my list this week is the Arizona Cardinals at home giving 14 points to the St. Louis Rams. Once again I’m going against a team that has nothing to play for and is a horrible road team. The Cardinals still have a chance of getting a higher seed in the playoffs and they are coming home after a 2 game road trip.
Arizona is 3-1 ATS the last 4 games between these 2 team. I look for the Cardinals in front of their home crowd to score and score often.
Take the Cardinals at home to cover the 14 points.

Coming in third this week is the New Orleans Saints at home giving the Tampa Bay Bucs 14 points. The Saints lost their chance last week at perfection to a very impressive Dallas team. This week they are facing the Bucs who beat up on the Hawks last week, which gives us a little value in this number. I will back a team that has won 13 games this year to bounce back and take out their frustrations on the Bucs. Take the Saints at home to make amends and cover the 14 points.

My last best bet this week is the Dallas Cowboys on the road at the Washington Redskins giving the Skins 6 ½ points. Dallas has to win out just in case the Giants do as the Giants have the tie breaker with the Boys. After what I saw on Monday night against the G-men, the Skins are going to be a hurting unit on Sunday against Dallas and with the line under a touchdown this looks like a very very good bet. (boy if I had a nickel for every time I’ve said that :
Look for the Cowboys to play with a necessary intensity and I’m not really sure what to look for with the Redskins. Lay the 6 ½ points, Dallas will with this game and cover.

Other games I like as regular plays are the Philadelphia Eagles at home giving the Denver Broncos 7 points. I will stick with my Indianapolis Colts to cover the 5 ½ points at home against the New York Jets. I also like the San Francisco 49ers at home giving the Detroit Lions 12 points.

As for underdogs this week, I like the Baltimore Ravens on the road at the Pittsburgh Steelers getting 3 points. I also like the Oakland Raiders (that’s right I’m actually picking the Raiders) on the road at Cleveland getting 3 points. And this is difficult to say but I like the 7 points and the Carolina Panthers at the New York Giants, just a lot of points for a team that played as well as Carolina did last week.

As for over/under bets, I like the
over 43½ in the St.Louis/Arizona game,
over 38 in the Oakland/Cleveland game,
over 41½ in the Denver/Philadelphia game,
over 40 in the Kansas City/Cincinnati game,
over 41½ in the Seattle/Green Bay game.

Well, that’s it for another week.

I will be back on Monday with my bowl picks for the games Tuesday thru Thursday.

As always bet with your head not over it.

Here are my bowl picks for Saturday, December 26th.

The Little Caesars Pizza Bowl between Ohio U. and Marshall. The current line on this game is Ohio U. by 2½ and the O/U is 49½ . This will be a hard game to handicap as Marshall’s head coach, Snyder, resigned and the Herd will be coached in this bowl by Defensive Coordinator, Minter. I’m not sure what state of mind Marshall will be in for this game but neither team is an offensive juggernaut so I look for this to be a defensive battle with Ohio U. winning and covering. This is a regular play on Ohio U. minus the 2 ½ points and I also like the Under 49½ .

The Meinke Car Care Bowl between North Carolina and Pittsburgh. The current line is Pittsburgh by 2½ and the O/U is 44. This is one of the bowl games that I had circled when the bowl games were first announced and before I saw the lines. When I saw that Pitt was favored by only 2½ I was very happy. Pittsburgh definitely will come out pumped up after losing that heartbreaker to Cincinnati in their last game. Pitt in my opinion is the much better team here and Bill Stull will have an outstanding game and if Pitt gets enough ahead I can’t see UNC’s QB, Yates who has more picks than TD passes, bringing the Tarheels back. I am making Pittsburgh minus 2½ a BEST BET.

The Emerald Bowl between Boston College and USC. The current line is USC by 7½ and the O/U is 44. This should another defensive battle and I like the points here. Boston College is 4-0 ATS as an underdog their last 4 bowl games, I do think, however, that USC will squeak out the win but not cover. This is an underdog play on Boston College plus the 7½ points.

Sunday, December 27th.

The Music City Bowl between Kentucky and Clemson. The current line is Clemson by 7 and the O/U is 52. I know that Clemson is disappointed to be in this bowl game but they are the far better team here and if they come to play they will win this game. I think the far better bet in this game is the over 52 but I’m also sticking with Clemson here to come out and win and cover this game. This is a regular play on Clemson minus 7 and the OVER 52.

Monday, December 28th.

The Independence Bowl between Georgia and Texas A&M. The current line is Georgia by 7 and the O/U is 66½. I have great respect for the SEC and mostly for this reason I am backing Georgia in this game. I do believe that this will be a shootout especially seeing that both QBs have thrown for a combined 50 touchdowns. This is a regular play on Georgia minus 7 and the OVER 66 ½.

As always bet with your head not over it

The bowl season has started and so far this lady is 2-1 ATS with a straight up winner on underdog, Wyoming. Here are my picks for this week.

The Maaco Las Vegas Bowl Tuesday, 12/22 between BYU and Oregon State. The current line on this game is Oregon State by 2½ and the O/U is 58½.
I’m sure everyone is on Oregon State in this bowl, but BYU has won the last 5 out 7 against the Pac-10 and I can see the Beavers coming in a flat after losing their chance to be in the Rose Bowl since 1964. I like BYU to keep this game close and possibly win it outright, I also like the Over in this game. This is an underdog play on BYU plus the 2 ½ points and the Over 58 ½.

The Poinsettia Bowl Wednesday, 12/23 between Utah and California. The current line is California by 3½ and the O/U is 52. This is a very tough game to pick as Utah is on an 8 game bowl winning streak and Cal is on a 4 game bowl winning streak. For some reason, I just don’t feel comfortable going with Utah in this spot but also not all that comfortable backing Cal, but if I really had to choose a winner it would be Cal minus the 3½ but it is only an opinion.

The Hawaii Bowl Thursday, 12/24 between SMU and Nevada. The current line is Nevada by 13½ and the O/U is 72½. This should be a shootout as both teams can score but I just the feel the O/U number is a little high. I believe that Nevada will win this game but I’m not sure about covering the spread. Nevada is the more explosive team and if they get out to a lead it might be tough for SMU to catch up, but if SMU can keep Nevada in check then SMU will cover. I’m going to take a chance with SMU and the generous spread. This is an underdog play on SMU plus the 13 ½ points.

Well, that’s it for this week I will be back on Friday night, with my picks on Saturday’s bowl games.

I want to wish all everyone a very very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, especially my good friends, Sweet Baby Ray and Moose the Greek.
Hopefully, I can get them to give some of their picks on these bowl games.

As always bet with your head not over it