College Football Handicapping Articles

2013 Alamo Bowl Picks: Oregon vs. Texas Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 12/26/2013

The Alamo Bowl is a showdown between two high-profile teams that are not where they imagined being at this time of year. Oregon wanted to be playing in Pasadena instead of San Antonio. Texas didn’t have realistic aspirations of that level, but they didn’t expect to descend into the embarrassing circus that their program has become. In order to handicap this game, then, we need to be less handicappers and more psychologists.

2013 Hawaii Bowl Picks: Boise State vs. Oregon State Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 12/19/2013

While Santa is loading up his sleigh and starting on one heck of a road trip, the Beavers and Broncos will be clashing in sunny Hawaii. It certainly isn’t the best bowl game of the season — and given the Dec. 24 date, there is no reason to expect it would be — but there are plenty of storylines to make this one an interesting handicapping puzzle.

Weekly CFB Mid-Major Betting Report: UNLV Rebels Bowl Game
by Aaron Smith - 12/19/2013

It’s time for the bowl edition of the mid-major betting report. This year the team in focus is the UNLV Rebels. After lots of disappointment in recent years, the Rebels secured a New Year’s Day bowl berth against the North Texas Mean Green in the Heart of Dallas Bowl. A bowl game on New Year’s Day is a big deal for this program, and it’s a sign of how much progress has been made this season. I’ve been following the UNLV Rebels all year long to have a better understanding of this team. Bettors should consider closely following teams, because specialization is often one of the most profitable sports betting strategies.

Next Texas Longhorns Head Coach Props Odds and Betting Predictions
by Alan Matthews - 12/18/2013

I would agree that in many ways Texas is the best head coaching job in college sports but also the worst. And, of course, now it's open with Mack Brown resigning/getting pushed out last week. I do find it rather humorous how self-important Texas is being in all this mess. It's like the Horns fans and boosters feel they "deserve" any coach they want.

NCAA Bowl Game Handicapping: Potential Upsets
by Trevor Whenham - 12/17/2013

For bettors, the college football bowl season can be a whole lot of fun. It’s like a restart on the entire season. Throughout the month of games there are going to be some upsets, and bettors who call those upsets are going to make out nicely. Here are five games with the potential to be upsets:

2013 Las Vegas Bowl Picks: Fresno State vs. USC Odds
by Trevor Whenham - 12/12/2013

I’m sure that there are teams that have gone through more coaching drama in a season than the Trojans have heading into this game, but I sure can’t think of any. They entered the season with the handicap of having Lane Kiffin at the helm. He was fired — in an airport parking lot, no less — and Ed Orgeron was named interim.

Betting College Bowl Games: Clashes of Style
by Trevor Whenham - 12/12/2013

One of the many things that make bowl games so interesting for bettors is that we get to see teams play each other that aren’t natural rivals. It can get dull to handicap the same teams playing each other every year, so this is when things get mixed up. That leads to fun and profit. What makes it particularly interesting is when the teams have clashing styles. Not only do we have to figure out how they will respond to teams they have never seen, but we have to decide how they will handle a style of play very different from their own — and often different from what they are used to.

Best Bowl Games to Bet On: Handicapping Primer
by Trevor Whenham - 12/11/2013

There is no such thing as a bad bowl game in my eyes. Some games are obviously better than others, but every game has something to offer, and watching them is better than a lot of things you could be doing with your time. That being said, there are certainly some games that are more intriguing and compelling from a betting perspective than others. Here are five of the more compelling betting bowls coming at us over the next month (all odds are from Sportsbook.ag):

College Bowl Picks: Teams that could Disappoint
by Trevor Whenham - 12/10/2013

According to the blueprint, college football teams are supposed to improve as the season builds, and the combination of their experience and an extra few weeks of practice time leads them to their best performance of the year in their bowl game. Of course, it doesn’t always work out that way. For every team that comes out and does what they are supposed to, there is one that just plain embarrasses themselves. Here are my college bowl picks for eight teams in real danger of putting forth an underwhelming performance in their matchup:

College Bowl Game Handicapping: Matchups Better than they Appear
by Trevor Whenham - 12/10/2013

I love bowl season. It’s possibly the best time of year — and not just because of the whole Christmas thing. The BCS bowls are great and all, but what I really love are the 20 or more bowls that few people really care about. Games almost every day. Matchups we don’t see often. Teams coming off long rests and often facing countless distractions. It’s handicapping wonderland. Those who don’t share my love of the season complain that there are too many boring games.

NCAA Football Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/9/2013

This will be my final NCAA Football week ahead story of the 2013 season, although you can certainly find plenty of bowl previews here at Doc's, and it's been a pretty successful one in terms of my weekly trap game picks. Alas, I can't say the same as far as the Heisman or National Championship picks from back in early in the summer. I'm not all that surprised that Florida State is in the title game as the Noles had a pretty easy schedule and a ton of talent. They played two teams that are currently ranked, Clemson and Duke, and neither of those were close.

NCAA Football Betting Line Moves For Championship Weekend
by CarbonSports - 12/6/2013

This is one of the only championship games being played on a real home field as Arizona State hosts Stanford for a chance to represent the Pac-12 at the Rose Bowl. Not many people are paying attention to the Sun Devils down the stretch, and that’s been a costly mistake. They are a 7-0 SU and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games.

American Athletic Conference Weekly Betting Report (Plus Free Pick)
by Dave Schwab - 12/4/2013

We have come to the final week of the inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference, and four teams have already qualified for a bowl (Central Florida, Louisville, Cincinnati and Houston), and two others (Rutgers and SMU) need one more victory to become eligible. I am guaranteed a winning season with my AAC ‘pick of the week’ with a 10-4 record in the first 14 weeks, but my year-to-date unit total took a hit when this past Friday’s Houston vs. SMU game stayed “under” the total.

BCS Championship Game Scenarios
by Trevor Whenham - 12/3/2013

Thanks to quite possibly the all-time craziest end to a game in The Iron Bowl, we now have a fair bit of clarity in the hunt for a berth in the BCS Championship Game — just not what we expected a few weeks back. There are realistically five teams that still have a shot of playing for the big prize, with three in much better position than the other two. Here’s how the hopes for the teams break down:

NCAA Football Betting and Handicapping: Scouting the Week Ahead
by Alan Matthews - 12/2/2013

There can be no arguing that we just saw the greatest ending to a regular-season college football game in history on Saturday at the Iron Bowl. I had no rooting interest in Alabama at Auburn, but I sure felt a bit of satisfaction when the smug Nick Saban made a few terrible decisions when it came to kicking field goals, the last of which cost him a shot at a historic threepeat of BCS National Championships.

Week 14 College Football Betting Line Movement
by CarbonSports - 11/27/2013

The BCS is a murky swamp right now filled with would-be contenders, championship hopefuls and a few pretenders. Questions abound as the Oregon Ducks continue to plummet in the rankings, while Clemson and South Carolina attempt to continue their late-season pushes towards the top of the BCS. However, nothing is bigger than the Iron Bowl game this weekend, which features two Top-5 teams. Let’s get to the line movement this week in college football betting.

Weekly CFB Mid-Major Betting Report: UNLV Rebels Week 14
by Aaron Smith - 11/27/2013

It’s time for the Week 14 edition of the mid-major betting report. This year the team in focus is the UNLV Rebels. After failing to become bowl eligible in its previous two games, the UNLV Rebels went on the road and beat Air Force to pick up their sixth win. I’ve been following the UNLV Rebels all year long to have a better understanding of this team. Bettors should consider closely following teams, because specialization is often one of the most profitable sports betting strategies.

American Athletic Conference Weekly Betting Report (Plus Free Pick)
by Dave Schwab - 11/26/2013

I have gone against Rutgers a number of times this season in my AAC ‘pick of the week,’ and this past Thursday that strategy paid off again for my biggest win of the year. No. 19 Central Florida came into that game as a 17-point home favorite over the Scarlet Knights and easily covered in a 41-17 victory that moved it one step closer to claiming the first-ever American Athletic Conference title.

Doc’s Sports Fourth Down and Inches
by Max Powers - 11/26/2013

Rivalry Week in college football is upon us, with many of the top teams in the nation squaring off against a familiar, and often hated, foe this weekend. The showdown at the top of this list is the annual Iron Bowl between Alabama and Auburn. This year’s game takes on some special meaning with a trip to SEC Championship Game on the line for both teams. The Crimson Tide come in ranked No. 1 in the BCS standings at 11-0, and the Tigers have vaulted to No. 4 behind a record of 10-1.

College Football Handicapping: Key Matchups Week 14
by Trevor Whenham - 11/25/2013

As we enter the last full week of the regular season in college football, the reality is that a lot of games just don’t matter very much. Teams can change their place in the standings a little, and maybe change where they will play a bowl game, but in meaningful ways the season is already finished.