NFL Power Rankings Week 14
by Robert Ferringo - 12/5/2017

As we come down the stretch of the NFL regular season, all of the attention shifts to the high-intensity battles for postseason positioning. Whether it is divisional races, battles for the No. 1 seed in each conference, or the desperate scramble of teams for that final Wild Card position, the best teams in pro football will be front and center over the final four weeks of the NFL season.

NFL Power Rankings Week 13
by Robert Ferringo - 11/28/2017

Every week I look around the NFL and laugh at some of the quarterback matchups. Blaine Gabbert? Blake Bortles? C.J. Beathard? Tom Savage? Quarterback play in the NFL has never been worse than it is right now at this moment in our history. But last week I found a position group that may be even more pathetic than the current crap crop of signal callers: NFL coaches.

Expert College Football Handicapping: Alabama Doesn't Deserve Playoff Invite
by Robert Ferringo - 11/27/2017

Alabama absolutely, positively should not make the College Football Playoff. And there is no coherent argument that anyone in the United States can make to the contrary. The Auburn Tigers manhandled the Crimson Tide 26-14 last Saturday, dealing Alabama its first loss of the season. That defeat eliminated Alabama's hope for an SEC West or an overall SEC Championship. And when the most recent college football rankings were released on Monday, it prompted the Tide to drop from No. 1 to No. 5.

South Florida Bulls at Central Florida Golden Knights Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 11/21/2017

No one anywhere in the country predicted that the South Florida-Central Florida rivalry game on Thanksgiving weekend would be one of the most consequential football games played in The Sunshine State this season. However, Florida State and Florida have gone off the rails this season. And Miami has only played two truly big home games (vs. Virginia Tech and vs. Notre Dame) this season. So with two Top 20 teams and a spot in the conference title game on the line, this USF-UCF game is one of the most important games in this football-rich state this college season.

NFL Power Rankings Week 12
by Robert Ferringo - 11/21/2017

It's Thanksgiving week, so this will be the rapid-fire version of Doc's Sports NFL Power Rankings. And with that in mind, let me take this time to let you know what I am thankful for: The New England Patriots. I know that after the Dallas Cowboys the Patriots are the most hated team in the NFL. And I am not going to make any value or moral judgments on their litany of crimes against sportsmanship over the past 20 years. Their fans are easy to hate. A lot of their players over the years have been easy to hate. Bill Belichick is eminently hateable. I understand.

Kentucky Wildcats at Georgia Bulldogs Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 11/15/2017

I don't know if any team in the country has a tougher task than the Georgia Bulldogs this week. And it has very little do to with playing Kentucky. Georgia has to pick itself up off the mat this week after getting floored 40-17 at Auburn last week. The Bulldogs were the No. 1 team in the country heading into that game. But their national title hopes took a major shot, and now Georgia has to regroup and try to refocus against an opponent that is a step down in class.

NFL Power Rankings Week 11
by Robert Ferringo - 11/14/2017

Football is really not nearly as complicated as people make it. If you run the ball and play good defense you are generally going to win more games than you lose in the NFL. It's not rocket science. And even as the league has changed the rules to stimulate more passing (and, in theory, more scoring) the fundamentals of this sport have been unchanged for over 100 years.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Miami Hurricanes Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 11/9/2017

It's Catholics vs. Convicts, Part Two. Miami and Notre Dame will resume a longstanding feud this week in a game with enormous national ramifications. The No. 7 Hurricanes will host No. 3 Notre Dame at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 in a game that is perhaps a de facto playoff for the right to get into the College Football Playoff.

NFL Power Rankings Week 10
by Robert Ferringo - 11/7/2017

We are now at the halfway mark of the NFL season. I know we're heading into Week 10, but the overwhelming majority of teams have played eight games this year so it is basically halftime of the NFL year. Here are three random league trends that have presented themselves in the first half of the season that we will continue to track the rest of the way:

Clemson Tigers at North Carolina State Wolfpack Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 11/1/2017

No. 5 Clemson and No. 19 North Carolina State are the top two teams in the ACC Atlantic right now, with Clemson sitting at 5-1 in league play and N.C. State undefeated at 4-0. Clemson, which was announced at No. 4 in the first college football playoff rankings on Tuesday, will not only be putting their league title hopes on the line but their national title hopes as well.

2017 SEC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 11/1/2017

For the past two seasons SEC brass have been touting their schools' coaching hires and pushing the narrative that the league is on the rise. The results have been mixed. Last season the SEC finished the year as the No. 5-rated league in the country just one season after finishing No. 6. The SEC hasn't been in the Top 4 since 2012, with a low point in 2013 when they finished the year rated No. 7, behind the Pac-12 and the Mountain West.

NFL Power Rankings Week 9
by Robert Ferringo - 10/31/2017

Let me first say that I think, generally speaking, that NFL officials do a pretty solid job relative to other sports. NBA refs probably have the easiest jobs. MLB umpires are generally outstanding and do the best of all professional sports. And I literally can't watch college football sometimes because the officiating is so grossly incompetent. So relatively speaking, NFL officiating is pretty solid.

2017 Pac-12 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/31/2017

While this Pac-12 basketball season will serve as a rebuilding season for most of the top programs in the league, there is one that will be experiencing a Renaissance. USC has been under renovation for several seasons, and now Andy Enfield is ready to watch the Trojan wreck shop along the West Coast and challenge Arizona for league supremacy.

2017 Big Ten College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/30/2017

Big Ten basketball is usually one of the most popular arenas for college basketball bettors to ply their trades each season. The combination of well-known programs, nationally-televised games, and ample line value has made this conference, after the ACC, one of the most wagered on leagues in the country each winter.

2017 Big 12 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/30/2017

Gravity. The sun rising in the east. Kansas winning the Big 12 Championship. It is nice that in a chaotic world there is still some semblance of certainty. And Kansas provides that by continually dominating one of the best conferences in college basketball. This isn't Kentucky owning the feeble SEC or Gonzaga crushing the comical WCC. Kansas is playing in a league that routinely sends at least half of its members to the NCAA Tournament, and the Jayhawks often leave little doubt as to who is the dominating force in Midwest hoops.

2017 Big East College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/27/2017

In terms of college basketball handicapping, the Big East Conference is one of the most difficult in the sport to make picks and predictions for. And the reason is simple: these teams are all really, really good. Much like the Big 12, the smaller size of the Big East (10 teams) compared to leagues like the ACC (15), Big Ten (14) and SEC (14) means that there are fewer "tiers", less bottom feeders and easy wins, and thus more parity throughout the league.

2017 ACC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/27/2017

There's a dark cloud hanging over ACC basketball this season. The FBI's investigation into college athletics and illegal bribery has already claimed a Hall of Fame coach and threatens to expand beyond the two programs, Louisville and Miami, that it has already engulfed. Add in the controversy surrounding the North Carolina program and there is a lot of lingering cynicism around this league as we head into the season.

Washington State Cougars at Arizona Wildcats Expert Picks with Odds and Predictions
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2017

The first 2018 BCS playoff rankings of the season will be released on Tuesday, Oct. 31. And the impending judgment on the teams vying for this year's college football national championship should provide a jolt of motivation for teams across the country this weekend.

2017 Atlantic 10 College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2017

Over the past five years the Atlantic 10 Conference has surpassed the Mountain West as the best mid-major basketball league in the country. The Atlantic 10 has sent at least three teams to the NCAA Tournament for 10 straight years, including back-to-back seasons with five teams in The Big Dance in 2013 and 2014. And while the A-10 will be hard-pressed to match their now expected three bids this season, there are still a lot of excellent players and coaches toiling in this oft-overlooked conference.

2017 AAC College Basketball Predictions with Conference Odds and Betting Picks
by Robert Ferringo - 10/25/2017

The American Athletic Conference, the afterbirth of the Great Conference Realignment earlier this decade, continues to be a sloppy hodgepodge of college basketball programs. Well-regarded powerhouses like Connecticut and Cincinnati, respected programs like Temple and Memphis, and upstarts like SMU, Tulsa and Houston have been sharing the court with bottom-feeders like Tulane, East Carolina and South Florida since the league's inception in 2013.