College Basketball Handicapping: Big 12 Tournament Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2010

While the Big East is getting all of the love and attention for the mediocre teams that are playing their way into the NIT, the Big 12 currently sits as the best conference in college basketball. And we’ll get to see this group go at it starting at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Kansas City as the Big 12 Conference Tournament gets underway.

College Basketball Handicapping: Mountain West Conference Tournament
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2010

One of my favorite conferences in the country – The Mountain West – starts its tournament on Wednesday with a play-in game between Wyoming and Air Force. The winner advances to the quarterfinals, and the rest of the tournament begins in earnest at noon on Thursday, March 11 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

College Basketball Handicapping: Atlantic 10 Tournament Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/9/2010

The Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament will be one of the more closely watched tourneys in the country this week as bubble teams from the major conferences sit around and sweat out how fellow bubblers Charlotte, Dayton and Rhode Island perform in Atlantic City this week. All three of those teams are presently on the outside looking in on the NCAA Tournament, but all three are also capable of making a significant run and potentially swiping a bid.

NCAA Tournament Projections Updated March 8
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2010

Well, there is good news and bad news for bubble teams the country over. The good news is that Northern Iowa won the Missouri Valley, leaving just four conference tournaments left where if the regular season champion losses they would steal a bid, and that Gonzaga, Old Dominion and Butler have each reached their conference tournament final. The bad news is that most of the bubble teams – even those that I’ve had definitely in for the last month – are doing everything in their power to play their way out of the field regardless of what is going on with the mid-majors.

College Basketball handicapping: Big East Tournament Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2010

There is no conventional way to break down the absolutely mammoth Big East Tournament, which begins at noon on Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. So instead of parsing through sleepers, favorites, dark horses, and permutations of matchups I will simply take a look at each of the 16 teams headed to NYC and discuss their prospects and motivations.

MLB Betting: 2010 NL East Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2010

With the exception of the Philadelphia Phillies, the National League East may be the biggest “if” division in baseball: “If the Mets ever get their stars back and healthy they could have a great year.” “If the Braves can avoid the injury bug and keep their aging veterans on the field they could make a run at a Wild Card spot.”

MLB Betting: 2010 NL West Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/8/2010

You know, after a while you would think that someone in the National League West would try to mix it up and go “off script” in order to win the division. But not this year. Not any year. The same teams are following the same game plan and the result is the same unpredictable National League West.

MLB Betting: 2010 A.L. East Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/5/2010

Baltimore, Tampa and Toronto are a combined 173-262 against the Yankees and Red Sox over the last four years. Only one time of a possible 12 – Toronto in 2006 – did any of those teams manage a winning record on the year against The Bosses.

MLB Betting: 2010 A.L. Central Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/5/2010

Three different organizations – Minnesota, Chicago and Cleveland - have won the American League Central in the last three years. And looking around the rosters of the Central squads this year I can say that I see a lot of question marks and not a lot of separation between the clubs. Here is Doc's Sports 2010 American League Central preview:

NCAA Tournament Projections Updated March 4
by Robert Ferringo - 3/4/2010

Below is a look at my 65-team field and some NCAA Tournament projections as of the start of business on Thursday. I didn’t worry about regions or matchups or pods or any of those intricacies that make the final bracket the dazzling dance card that it is.

MLB Betting: 2010 A.L. West Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/3/2010

Last season Seattle, Texas, Oakland and the Los Angeles Angels each turned a profit. That was just the third time in at least the last 10 years (as far back as I have records on this topic) that at least four teams turned a profit from the same division.

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 3/1/2010

Time for a little Arch Madness. For the 20th straight year the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament tips off Thursday in St. Louis with everyone chasing top-seeded and 25th-ranked Northern Iowa. Unfortunately for Northern Iowa, the Missouri Valley tournament has been fairly predictable. And the No. 1 seed hasn’t had as much luck as you would think.

College Basketball Handicapping: Mid-Major Conference Tournaments
by Robert Ferringo - 3/1/2010

These small, regional teams aren’t playing for banners as much as they are playing for pride and bragging rights. Sure, everyone wants a trip to the Big Dance. But as you wander through the smaller conferences you’re going to find that the intensity level in these tournament games is maxed out. I mean, no one out of the Sun Belt is going to be playing for the national title. But for four days in Arkansas those 13 teams are going to toe the line and go all-out in order to earn their own regional championship.

College Basketball Handicapping: Villanova at Syracuse Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 2/26/2010

No. 8 Villanova will trek to Upstate New York to take on No. 4 Syracuse at 9 p.m. Saturday. This game will determine the Big East regular season title and should go a long way to establishing which one of these two upper echelon teams will be granted a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. These are the two best teams in the nation’s deepest and most talented conference, and one or both of these teams will be penciled into the Final Four on about 95 percent of the March Madness brackets in the country in about two weeks.

NCAA Tournament Projections Updated Feb. 25
by Robert Ferringo - 2/25/2010

I’m going to do my NCAA Tournament projections article a bit differently this week. Right now all we’re hearing about is “bubble teams”, “must-win games”, “good” and “bad” wins and losses, and “Judgment Week”. It’s all nonsense, really. And as you’ll see in a moment, right now the “bubble” is really just 11 teams fighting for six open at-large bids, with about five conferences, outside of the “major” leagues, sitting there with potential bid stealers and X-factors waiting for the conference tournaments to start.

College Basketball Handicapping: Senior Night
by Robert Ferringo - 2/23/2010

Every college team celebrates a Senior Night, generally as the last home game of the season. It’s a chance for the guys playing in their final game in their own gym to say thanks to the fans, parade out their awkward parents, get a little love from the hoops community, and then go out and play with the abandon of someone who sees that The End is near. It’s a night of reflection, passion, fervor and enthusiasm and can provide the host team with just that little extra motivational edge to score a key win and cover a solid spread.

College Basketball Handicapping: Surprising Bubble Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 2/23/2010

Keeping your finger on the pulse of the college basketball betting landscape this time of year is a dizzying exercise. With all of the talk of bubbles, brackets, and Bob Knight it’s tough to keep track of who is streaking and peaking and who is crashing and not cashing.

NCAA Tournament Projections Updated Feb. 19
by Robert Ferringo - 2/19/2010

There was some small moving and shaking in my NCAA Tournament projections this week. And over the next few weeks there will be a lot more action. In fact, I’m sure that at least two teams that I’m certain are “In” right now will manage to play their way out of a ticket to The Big Dance over the next few weeks.

College Basketball Handicapping: Bracket Buster Betting Trends
by Robert Ferringo - 2/18/2010

I've analyzed the last five years of the mid-February mid-major hoops orgy known as Bracket Buster Weekend to see if I could establish any useful betting angles or trends. Instead of working over every single "official" Bracket Buster game I squared my focus on the ones that featuring the mid-major conferences that were routinely wagered upon.

2011 Super Bowl Futures Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 2/12/2010

Some people are still reeling from their Super Bowl party or Super Bowl winner’s parade, and the memories from a great game between New Orleans and Indianapolis in The Big Game are still as fresh as the stains on those clothes or the DWI ticket you picked up that night.