The USC Trojans have been an unstoppable force in the Pac-10 so far but this year may be a different ball game after all. This is a team that has been a stockpile for talent for quite some time now but now that some of the best ones have left for NFL, the team faces a shortage in talent. Filling the gaps left by start quarterback Mark Sanchez and lineback Rey Maualuga will be a tough job indeed for coach Pete Carroll. Sure USC has been a gold mine for talents but not even they are perhaps equipped to fill gaps so very big.This means that USC just might lose the Pac-10 title to someone else this year. After seven straight wins, it remains to be seen whether they make it to the eight Pac-10 win in a row. Let’s look at them and the other two of the top 3 Pac-10 teams.USC Trojans ? The superstar Quarterback Mark Sanchez decided to leave for NFL just when he was beginning to open up. Smart move on his part but it has left coach Carroll with the huge task of finding and preparing his successor. Aaron Corp and Mitch Mustain are currently vying for the position right now. While Mustain has a great high school record, Corp seems to be having a better chance right now. Whatever Corp has in his favor (for no one is quite sure), one thing’s for certain ? he will be working with the best offensive line in the country at the moment. So the Trojans still remain the favorite for the Pac-10 this year. They do lose a lot of power in the defense but at least Taylor Mays returns as the safety.Oregon Ducks ? The Ducks had slow start last year where they almost lost to Purdue. Then they bounced back by the end of the season when they had an impressive wins over Oregon State in the Holiday Bowl and the Civil War. The real thing that real thing that remains to be seen however is whether they are able to sustain that force this season. Their quarterback Jeremiah Masoli certainly had a lot to do creating this force and we are all eager to see how the Ducks perform in their first game under their new coach Chip Kelly. Ducks have a good runner in tailback LeGarrette Blount and have good speed where it counts the most. All in all, they will make USC fight for it for sure.Cal Bears ? This team has been receiving mixed opinions mostly. While some are looking at the returning talents and the 2008 defense as a potential Pac-10 title contender, others are still looking for the offense line. Sure the Bears have tailback Jahvid Best but there’s still no quarterback who can mount a powerful attack. The Bears have been winning their recent games though but anything spectacular remains to be seen from the team. (continue reading…)

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Gambling with the money-line is equivalent to picking a team to win the game straight up. For this wager, there is no spread. If the team you chose wins the game outright, you win your bet. If the team loses, you lose the bet. In addition, there is no additional juice. I understand what you are imagining – just chose the favorite each time and laugh all the way to the bank! Well, it is not that easy. If this bet gave even money, you would simply choose the favorites every week, win more than 50% of your wagers, and retire young. That is why, of course, this wager does not pay even money. If you pick a favorite to win straight up, you require putting down more than you can win. If you chose an underdog, you require putting down less money than you can win.What you may have observed is that if you can significantly choose underdogs to win straight up, you can win handsome money without risking almost as much. I like this reality about the money line. In addition, if you combine money-line selects into parlays, you can really hit the jackpot with a tiny investment. Obviously, it is very difficult to select underdogs to win straight up, right? Yes, but maybe not as difficult as you initially think. The propaganda only comes into game about 84% of the time in the NFL. In other words, the team that wins the game does not cover the spread only 16% of the time.In addition, since you win more than you wager when choosing dogs with the money line, you have to win a much tiny percentage of your games to break even. The specific percentage depends on the spread out in the games you select.For example, let us think over the course of the season you were to select 100 three-point underdogs to succeed straight up at a money line of +150. In this present scenario, you would only require to win 40% of those games to break even. On the 60 losing is you would of course lose 60 units. On the 40 victors, you would win 60 units (1.5 x 40).If you were to select one hundred 6.5-point underdogs to achieve straight up at a money line of +230, you would only need to win about 31% of your wagers to break-even.Therefore, there is a chance to do better with the money-line if you can pick enough dogs that win straight up.This season, consider utilizing the money-line to your reward. If you like an underdog and imagine they have a chance at succeeding the game outright, you might be more beneficial if you are putting that $100 on money-line for your team. If they achieve straight up, you will rake in a lot more profits than if you had just bet them to cover the unfold. If you are not certain, split your wagers and put $50 on the dog to achieve straight-up and $50 to cover the unfold. If the team covers the spread, out but does not acquire the game, you break-even. If they win the game, you win both wagers! (continue reading…)

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NFL betting is perhaps the most common form of sports betting in the country, although college football betting is sure to come close in number. The National Football League has 32 teams in total and they are all very professional teams. So the lines here are not as high as the college football lines. In addition to this, the scene here is very tough and the sportsbooks are not easy to beat if you are an amateur. But with determination, practice, a cool head and a bit of luck, you can major money in the NFL circuit.The first trick is to know which type of bet suits you the best. The first thing to understand that the sportsbooks and such are not there to lose money; they are there to win it. So if some odds look particularly easy to win, you better watch out. Those are sucker bets in all likelihood, meaning that you are sure to lose your money if you bet on those. So do not always go by what het books wants to show you. You have to be prepared to do your own digging if you want to make any money at all.There are several kinds of bets out there and they vary in their difficulty. Hence, some are easier to win, while a few are best kept away from till you are an absolute professional in the field. Bets take a lot of calculation when they are on point spreads. These bets work on points and how much point is made or lost on each play. You may lose the wager by a few points even though your team covers the play. So you need to be very careful about the points that you are wagering on. There are some very complicated bets that work on these point spreads and they are very hard to beat. That is because they involve a large amount of calculation in to the games. And usually, all your predictions are not going to come true.So knowing what kind of bet you are most comfortable with can save you a lot of money in the NFL circuit. Other than the points spread, there is also the moneyline. These do not depend on any points and work on odds instead. So you can win a small amount of money by betting a lot on the favorite and a large amount of money by betting a small amount on the team that is the least favored. Often enough, you can guarantee that you win an amount by betting on both sides. This technique goes by many names and is often used by professionals to have a sure bet. This kind of betting requires you to bet calculated amounts on each team so no matter what the outcome is, you stand to win some money, with the wining bet paying out the losing bet with some money to spare. However, the margin is small, you need to bet a lot to have a nice profit. (continue reading…)

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College football is often seen as a sports bettor’s paradise for a lot of reasons. The college football scene also considered to be a lot more profitable than the National Football League by a lot of bettors. The main reasons are quite easy to understand once you know what the main differences between the two scenes are. The college football scene is much larger than the NFL scene. To bring it down to sheer numbers, there are 117 Division IA teams compared to only 32 teams in the NFL. So this difference alone makes it a lot more challenging for bookmakers and sports books to make proper calculations, so errors often creep in.On top of that, there is a huge talent gap from the top to the bottom and hence it makes things even more complicated. So even though some teams are favored, college football betting lines also work in favor of the underdog or the team that is not favored. In such situations, intelligent and professional bettors can easily make a lot of money from the uncertainty and the general mistakes. The huge gaps and discrepancies between the competing teams make for really high betting lines, much higher than the NFL lines. This makes things even more profitable.Some of the common rules of proper betting apply while betting on college football games. So first of all, be careful of scams run by fraud websites and touts. These are only there so that you lose you money. There are many ways that a tout and a website can scam you, so beware of them and read up on safe betting habits. Next, you need to start looking at the lines more carefully. You will be given picks by a lot of people including your colleagues, friends and family. Most of them will be wrong but some of them can be right.So before you make a hasty decision, put in as much research as you can. As mention earlier college football lines are very high because of the large discrepancies in the teams. So researching a team’s history and the playing conditions should not be hard. This is especially true if you are at the end of a season. Because by that time, you know how the teams have been performing. At the beginning of the season, it might pay to listen to a few analysts, but try to research nonetheless. Also, if you see someone having a long hot streak, like a 16-11 for example, it might be worth your while follow their picks for the next three plays or so.Another advantage of college football is that the bookies sometime make mistakes; your job is to spot these and cash in on them. Scattering your bets can also ensure that you make some money at the end of the season. This can be done quite easily because of the large number of teams that are playing. Make sure you scatter small bets and not large ones. (continue reading…)

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As the NFL season draws closer so does the talk about the top 2009 NFL Sleepers Team picks up. Some of the important changes have been witnessed during the off season; new trades have been made, players inducted, legal issues plaguing the players, and recovering players join the teams. All these issues will have a considerable impact on the forthcoming NFL season.It is easier to select a player that you believe will do well in the season. But, it is quite difficult choose teams that will reach the top this season. Here is the list of some of the top 2009 NFL Sleepers Team.Kansas City ChiefsThe Chiefs are looked upon as one of the teams that could spring a surprise this season. Matt Cassel who finished the last season with 21 touchdowns and about 3,700 yards will look forward to take advantage of the more spread type offense play employed by the Chiefs. Cassel along with young players that are coming up the ranks will help the Chiefs to perform well. Predicted to be picked in the seventh round, Cassel would like to do better than the last year.Dwayne Bowe another young rising star, along with a new Quarter Back, is considered to play a big role in the Chiefs success this season and will try to take benefit of the offensive strategy to become one of the top NFL players.Larry Johnson will work hard in order to prove his value again as a reliable back in the league. Cincinnati BengalsThey seem to have overcome the injury and off-field problems, they faced in the past.Carson Palmer is reported to be fully fit and looking forward to assert himself as the best Quarter Back in the season. Palmer is stated to be introduced in the ninth round.Chad Ocho Cinco is expected to bounce back in this season after the not so good performance he gave last year. He underwent a new workout regime during the off-season and is feeling quite good and ready to go this year. Ocho Cinco is projected to be drafted around the sixth round.Laveranues Coles is another player to watch for. He has been the main target of the opposition throughout his career. Not as good as he used to be, Cole is expected at the ninth round.Baltimore RavensBaltimore is not recognized for its offensive play, but things could change this season.Joe Flacco will look forward to make most of the offensive line and running strategy. As a young Quarter Back, he has built a good chemistry with other players of his team.Veteran Derrick Mason has been a solid starter for the Baltimore Ravens for number of years and is expected to start again this season.Todd Heap will be looking forward to set himself up again as one of the best tight ends in the game.Seattle SeahawksSeattle Seahawks were dethroned by Arizona in the last season. Plagued by injuries they were unable to dominate the NFC West division.Matt Hasselbeck who got injured and was forced to miss half the season is reported to be back in camp and is in great shape. Hasselbeck should be excited that he will have two key players, Deion Branch and TJ Houshmandzadeh, to whom he can throw the ball to. Hasselbeck is expected to be drafted in the 11th round.TJ will be the leading target with his new team. He doesn’t have to play in the shadow of Ocho Cinco anymore. TJ is predicted to be introduced in the fourth round. (continue reading…)

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