NCAA Tournament Projections Updated Feb. 12
by Robert Ferringo - 2/12/2010

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: St. Mary’s at Gonzaga Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 2/11/2010

Kangaroos have no natural enemies. But the St. Mary’s basketball team certainly does. St. Mary’s heads to Gonzaga at 11 p.m. on Thursday night to play in one of the burgeoning mid-major rivalries in the country. The visiting Gaels have been instilled as six-point underdog and the total is set at a healthy 152.0.

Super Bowl Betting Recap
by Robert Ferringo - 2/9/2010

Whenever I talk to people before the Super Bowl they still all say the same thing, “I just hope it’s a good game.” It’s as if the blowouts of the late 80s and most of the 90s still have an impact on the expectations that people have for The Big Game. Well, those days are over. This is now three straight years that we have had games in which there were fourth quarter lead changes. And if you look back at the last 11 Super Bowls there were six that were decided by a touchdown or less and six that were decided on the final drive of the game.

NCAA Tournament Projections Updated Feb. 5
by Robert Ferringo - 2/5/2010

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.

Super Bowl 44 Betting Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 2/3/2010

Manning and Indianapolis will face New Orleans at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday in Miami in Super Bowl 44. The Colts are presently listed as five-point favorites and the total is situated at 56.5. The line on this game actually opened at 4.5 and was immediately bet up to 5.5. However, recent action on the Saints has helped pull it down to five and even 4.5 at some books, while still other books have boosted the line to six.

NCAA Tournament Projections
by Robert Ferringo - 1/29/2010

It’s starting to get intense. That’s the most obvious thing that I noticed this week watching the college hoops landscape unfold. Lines are getting tighter, teams are getting more emotional, and things are really starting to tighten up. It’s not exactly the stretch run yet and there is still a lot of ball to be played.

Saturday College Basketball Preview: Kansas at Kansas State
by Robert Ferringo - 1/29/2010

On Jan. 18 the Wildcats welcomed the No. 1 team in the country, Texas, into a raucous atmosphere in Manhattan. Kansas State overpowered the Longhorns to knock off the top team in the land. Now, on Saturday, they welcome the No. 1 team-in-wait, in-state rival Kansas, and are looking to take down another one of the best teams in the country.

Ranking the Super Bowl Winning Coaches
by Robert Ferringo - 1/28/2010

There are only 26 coaches that have ever won a Super Bowl and this year rookie coach Jim Caldwell and relative neophyte Sean Payton are fighting to be No. 27. Chuck Noll is at the head of the class in terms of Super Bowl coaches with the most wins. He was a perfect 4-0 in The Big Game. Bill Walsh, Bill Belichick and Joe Gibbs are right behind him with three wins and then eight other coaches are a pair of rings.

College Basketball Handicapping: Kentucky Not Worthy of No. 1 Ranking
by Robert Ferringo - 1/26/2010

Right now Kentucky reminds me of a little kid trying on his dad’s clothes and shoes as kind of a joke. As of Monday the Wildcats were the No. 1 team in the country in college basketball. I have been banging against the Kentucky bandwagon all season long and I’m hear to tell you once again that they aren’t the best team in the country. Not even close. They are good. They are better than I thought they would be.

Syracuse Stacks Up Well With Classic Florida Teams
by Robert Ferringo - 1/26/2010

Obviously, I’m feeling pretty good about Syracuse right now. I think that they are the best team in the country right now and that’s coming from a guy that is always quick to take a pessimistic stance on his alma mater. The reason that I think that they are the best team and, right now, the favorite to win the National Championship, is that I think that they have every single aspect covered that a championship team needs.

NCAA Tournament Projections – Updated Jan. 22
by Robert Ferringo - 1/22/2010

There are 65 slots in the NCAA Tournament Field. There are 31 automatic bid leagues in college basketball and my projections for the 2010 field show that there are 17 one-bid conferences. That means that there are essentially 48 slots open for tournament teams. That seems like a lot, but when you consider that, by my count, there are 26 teams that have sealed up bids now we’re down to just 22 at-large bids that about 90 other schools are fighting for just 22 openings.

Saturday College Basketball Betting: Duke at Clemson Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/22/2010

Every time Duke shows up in an opponent’s gym they have to know that the crowd will be louder and rowdier and the players will be hungrier and feistier than they are when anyone else comes to town. No matter where they go they are going to catch a team’s best game and they have to be ready to handle it at every turn.

AFC Championship Game Preview: Jets at Colts
by Robert Ferringo - 1/20/2010

I have to admit, I was losing faith. After watching the opening weekend of the NFL playoffs and seeing scores like 51-45, 34-13 and 33-14 I was convinced that football, at least this year, was drifting away and being replaced by seven-on-seven drills. Run the ball and play good defense. That’s what I’m looking for. That’s the tried-and-true method of winning in the NFL playoffs. And as I looked around I didn’t see a whole lot of teams subscribing to that theory.

NFC Championship Game Preview: Vikings at Saints
by Robert Ferringo - 1/20/2010

Jasper Brinkley, come on down. Brinkley, the rookie middle linebacker for Minnesota, is in the eye of the storm in one of the biggest games in the history of either the New Orleans Saints or the Minnesota Vikings. He was thrust into this position due to an injury to Vikings starting MLB and defensive leader E.J. Henderson last month. So now it’s on Brinkley to shore up the heart of a defense facing one of the best offenses in the NFL.

Bad Coaching Dooms Dallas, San Diego
by Robert Ferringo - 1/18/2010

In the least surprising news that I’ve heard since Sarah Palin joining Fox News, Wade Philips and Norv Turner once again humiliated themselves and their teams on Sunday en route to a premature playoff exit. Weird. I’ve been repeating this over and over and over again all season and have said that I was just waiting for their most recent implosion.

College Basketball Handicapping: Mississippi at Tennessee Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/15/2010

The Tennessee Volunteers entered the season as a Final Four sleeper and through December, in my opinion, they were casting the largest shadow in the SEC. But, as I’m sure you’ve heard (and if you haven’t, politely move along), that’s when half of the Vols roster started acting out their own scene from “The Wire”. But instead of earning Emmy’s, the four players – Tyler Smith, Cameron Tatum, Brian Williams and Melvin Goins – left the Vols with an empty bench and almost no shot at postseason glory.

NFC Divisional Round Preview: Dallas Cowboys at Minnesota Vikings
by Robert Ferringo - 1/13/2010

The Cowboys (12-5) will line up to crunch skulls with the Vikings (12-4) at 1 p.m. on Sunday in the Metrodome. This game will match up two of the most physically imposing, most bloodthirsty, most rage-filled teams in the NFL and will be a contest of attrition. With two punishing running games and mountainous offensive lines clashing with a pair of maniacal and abusive defenses this game should be more of a throwback to the type of Playoff Football that we’ve come to expect from the NFL.

College Basketball Handicapping: Injuries Not Always Cut and Dry
by Robert Ferringo - 1/12/2010

Injuries to key players in sports aren’t always what they seem. In NBA it’s been a widely held maxim to always bet on a team that just lost its best player to injury. (Milwaukee covered at Phoenix this week right after losing Michael Redd for the season. That’s just the latest in a long line of examples.) And if you’ve been following the rise of the Volunteers over the last week it would appear that it holds up in college hoops as well.

AFC Divisional Round Preview: Baltimore Ravens at Indianapolis Colts
by Robert Ferringo - 1/11/2010

About four years ago the idea of a team, in the playoffs, heading to New England and beating Tom Brady one week and then going to Indianapolis and beating Peyton Manning the next would be about as likely as me sleeping with Alessandra Ambrosio one weekend and Megan Fox the next.

College Basketball Betting: Connecticut at Georgetown Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 1/8/2010

If you threw the numbers "13" and "12" at me in regards to Connecticut and Georgetown basketball this year my Jeopardy-style response would have been, "What is the number of losses that each team has this year?" Nope. The numbers "13" and "12" are the respective rankings for the Huskies and the Hoyas as they enter their marquee matchup at noon on Saturday at Georgetown. Somehow these two teams, despite significant personnel losses in the offseason, have managed to work their way into the Top 15.