Categories
Cappers

2010 NFL Conference Championship Handicapping Tips

We are the Champions

It’s Championship Week in the NFL and with it two teams are one win away from playing in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV. Like most football fans nationwide, everyone has an opinion on which those two teams will be. Our database does, too.

There are generally two schools of thought when it comes to handicapping the final four teams on this week’s card. You can look at them statistically, or you can analyze them technically.

Categories
Cappers

2009/2010 College Football Bowl Gambling Advice

LET’S GO BOWLING

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

It’s that time of the year where we head to the alleys and look to knock down anything in our path. No, we’re not talking street gangs or the PBA. It’s the last leg of the 2009 College Football season and with it the last chance to stuff the stockings for the holidays.

Categories
Cappers

Week 13 College Football Gambling Advice

College Football Cheat Sheet

The noose gets tighter and tighter for the six undefeated teams this Thanksgiving week. Four of then take on winning opponents that will be looking to exact revenge from losses last year. How many of the half-dozen will remain perfect? Stay tuned.

Categories
Cappers

Week 7 College Football Gambling Advice

College Football Cheat Sheet

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Let’s examine some of the top factors and handicapping trends on teams in the USA TODAY Coaches’ Top 25 Poll on this week’s college football card in games versus lined opponents. Note: No. 6 Boise State played and won, 28-21, at Tulsa on Wednesday.

Top 25 ranking in (parenthesis). Home team in CAPS. All results are ATS – Against The Spread – unless noted otherwise…

Categories
Cappers

Week 6 College Football Gambling Advice

College Football Cheat Sheet

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Let’s examine some of the top factors and handicapping trends on teams in the USA TODAY Coaches’ Top 25 Poll on this week’s college football card in games versus lined opponents.

Top 25 ranking in (parenthesis). All results are ATS – Against The Spread – unless noted otherwise…

Categories
Cappers

Week 4 CFB Betting Systems

Four On The Floor

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Our powerful database tells us that Game Four is a critical turning point for most College Football teams, especially if they’re playing off their first loss of the season. From a handicapping perspective, the venue goes a long way in determining Game Four ATS results as well. Check out the situations of teams in Game Four, off their initial loss of the season, since 1980…

Categories
Handicapping

2009 NCAA Football Handicapping / Coaching Tips

New 2009 College Football Coaches

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com

(1) NEW HEAD COACHES ARE MONEYBURNERS

For the most part, new coaches are brought into college football programs that are in need of a transfusion. Much like a body that undergoes alterations during a lifestyle change of diet and exercise, it also takes a while before first year coaches turn a program around. In fact, all teams with 1st year head coaches are 1307-1445-45, or 47.4% ATS, since 1990.

Categories
Cappers

2009 NFL Divisional Previews: NFC West

NFC WEST DIVISION 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

By Marc Lawrence • Playbook.com

Last year we went out on a limb and predicted that a sleeper team could emerge from the NFC WEST DIVISION and that the Cardinals appeared ready for a breakthrough year.

And like the amazing Karnac, Arizona opened the envelope and answered when the Redbirds came within 30 seconds of winning the Super Bowl.

Categories
Cappers

Marc Lawrence’s 2009 WAC Conference Football Preview

Western Athletic Conference 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com

Here’s another bar bet guaranteed to stack a few extra shot glasses in front of you’re your seat at the bar.

Next to the PAC 10, the SEC and the ACC, name the conference with the 4th best all-time win percentage in bowl games.

It’s not the BIG 10. Not the BIG 12, nor the BIG EAST. It’s the WAC, whose current team members’ .522 percentage in post-season play ranks the conference 4th best in the land.

Categories
Handicapping

NFL Pre-Season Handicapping / Wagering Tips

NFL PRE-SEASON PRIMER

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

By Marc Lawrence • Playbook.com

With this year’s NFL Hall of Fame game now in the history book, let’s take the time to assess some of the key do’s and don’ts when it comes to handicapping pre-season football games.

Categories
Cappers

2009 NFL Divisional Previews: NFC South

NFC South DIVISION 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

2008 marked the first time in the last six years that a team from the NFC SOUTH DIVISION failed to move from the outhouse to the penthouse, or last place to first place.

That’s not to say that Atlanta, the NFC SOUTH DIVISION cellar dweller in 2007, didn’t deliver last season. They did. It’s just that Carolina won one extra game and edged out the Falcons for division honors.

Categories
Cappers

Marc Lawrence’s 2009 Sun Belt Conference Football Preview

Sun Belt Conference 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com

If the SUN BELT CONFERENCE was a racetrack, they would running low-level claiming races.

Sure, one or two thoroughbreds surface each season and find their way to a stakes race (read: bowl game), but in sport where breeding is key, the SBC is a league filled with geldings.

Entering its 33rd season as a conference, the Sun Belt has had a modicum share of success of late.

Categories
Cappers

Marc Lawrence’s 2009 SEC Conference Football Preview

SEC 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com

SECond to none.

That’s the SEC’s mantra and it’s hard to argue.

Consider, the SEC: has lead the nation in total attendance the last 27 seasons; owns the best non-conference win percentage 18 of the last 29 seasons, including 43-13 last year;

Categories
Cappers

2009 NFL Divisional Previews: NFC North

NFC North DIVISION 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Life is a struggle during these troubled times in the Motor City.

It’s sad when the biggest selling souvenir on Sundays at Ford Field during the football season these days is a paper bag. That’s because the Lions’ football team is deeper in the tank than the auto industry.

Categories
Cappers

Marc Lawrence’s 2009 Pac 10 Conference Football Preview

PAC 10 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence
Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence • PLAYBOOK.com

On the heels of a brilliant 5-0 bowl season last year, the PAC 10 CONFERENCE features 146 starters (out of a possible 240, including kickers) returning for the 2009 campaign.

The league spotlights five 1000-yard running backs, including the top-three from 2008. New to the scene will be a pair of first-year head coaches, Chip Kelly at Oregon and Steve Sarkasian at Washington.

Categories
Cappers

2009 NFL Divisional Previews: NFC East

NFC EAST DIVISION 2009 FOOTBALL PREVIEW

Marc Lawrence

Marc Lawrence

Hands down the toughest division in the NFC, and arguably in the entire NFL, the NFC EAST DIVISION is home to the best defensive brand of football in the league.

The division completed a ‘grand slam’ of sorts in 2008 when all four residents ended the season with sub 300-yard defenses.

To further enhance their stance, a message was sent to the rest of the league when all four teams shored up their stop-units in the off-season.