The 2008-2009 Football season is off to a rough start...for bettors and sports handicappers alike. Tony George brings us his 2008-2009 football betting tips and trends based on what he has had a chance to observe thus far.
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Wow! More and more surprises as many teams, especially in College Football are starting to show their true colors, which has made my season to date miserable in College Ball predictions, but I will turn the tide this week with a some Monster plays based on the lines I have seen.
That is when 17 years of experience, especially with some rough starts as in the past, comes into play and I fire back at the books who will continue to base lines on public perception. Not an excuse, and who needs one, as many games have simply baffled the experts with some surprising results. The NFL provided a few as well, along with some season changing injuries on opening day.
Here are my takes after the first 2 weeks of the football season, College and Pro:
EAST CAROLINA IS GOOD - I though maybe the Virginia Tech game was somewhat of a fluke, and I thought all along the Hokies were overrated. I really like to think that since they are traveling to Lincoln Nebraska to play my beloved Huskers in 3 weeks and thought we might have a chance for a marquee win. Not so fast my friends, as Lee Corso would say. The Pirates demolished a very good and potent West Virginia team which I took on Saturday to my ultimate dismay, and there is no doubt that the Pirates are for real and will be a contender this season with a weak schedule overall remaining. They played the 2 toughest games of ANY team in the USA to date and won them both in convincing fashion, and received a #14 ranking this week, much deserved.
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DO NOT OVERLOOK KANSAS - A surprise blowout winner of the Orange Bowl last year, and a 12-1 team in 2007, I sincerely thought the Jayhawks from my specialty conference, The Big 12 (which went 12-0 as a conference last week!), may have been a 1 hit wonder. They took on Louisiana Tech, who was off an upset win of SEC member Miss. State the week before, a 2007 bowl team, and shut them out 29-0. Kansas has a defense folks and Mark Magino and company take on South Florida this week as an underdog, a landmark game for the Jayhawks this season in the non-conference schedule. Ike may not be the only storm brewing in South Florida this week folks!
IS NOTRE DAME / MICHIGAN GOOD TV? - Wow..how far the mighty have fallen, and I am from Nebraska for crying out loud. Notre Dame struggled in their opener against lowly San Diego State and Michigan, off a loss to a good Utah team, barely beat Miami of Ohio! Neither one of these teams should ever look ahead with the way they are playing, and the Irish, whom Lee Corso predicted to play in a BCS bowl game this year ARE in fact be as usual, OVERRATED, even though they are not ranked and are an underdog at home in this game. Michigan's offense through week 2 is ranked 114th in the NCAA! I can name you 20 games better to watch than this one on Saturday. The landscape in college football has changed folks. Name me one Top 10 team the Irish have beaten with this new coach they pay in excess of 2-million dollars a year? Calling touchdown Jesus, please answer!
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FAVORITES FALL IN THE NFL - I guess Peyton Manning should have been working with receivers more often while nursing a bad knee in the preseason! The Bears walked into Indy, in their new stadium debut and kick the snot out of the Colts in every phase of the game. Message to Chicago - Leave Rex Grossman on the bench more often! Colts travel to Minny this week, no easy task there either. The Patriots / Chiefs game saw both starting QB's not make it until halftime, and Brady out for the year now and Croyle out for 3-4 weeks for KC. While New England won the game at home, KC is a bottom feeder and a 7 point win here should not be overlooked. New England without Brady at QB is like the Lakers without Kobe Bryant. Cincinnati looked horrible and their defense is is just porous, look for physical teams to hammer them all year folks. The Chargers ran into a buzz saw at home with a Carolina team playing to their potential, I had them in a Teaser play this weekend. The Panthers have a good team and are contenders. The rest of the games on Sunday provided some insight into some good teams, namely Dallas, Pittsburgh and look at what Philly did to the Rams!
DO NOT BUY INTO BRETT FAVRE HYPE - I love Brett Favre, but the Jets needed a Hail Mary (classic Brett Favre) to win the game against the Dolphins, who won 1 game last season. While the Jets made some changes in the off-season even before Favre showed up, they are not an instant contender for the playoffs as New England is still far superior even without Brady and if no one noticed, the Bills made minced meat out of a good Seattle team this past weekend in an upset in my mind. It will be a long road, but if the Jets can run the ball like they did against a suspect Miami defense, they might have a shot at 8 wins this year or maybe 9, but 1 future hall of fame QB does not make the Jets a powerhouse football team, there will be many bumps in the road for them this season.
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