NCAA College Football is a sport for action fans, college kids and alumni, and for people who enjoy betting on football. With dozens of games to choose from every weekend during the college football season, its almost an embarrassment of riches for gamblers.As Las Vegas odds makers establish betting lines every week for the seemingly countless games that are played on Saturday all over the country, are always based on a number of factors.

For example:A team from the Big 10 Conference, like Northwestern, for instance, may be favored over a team from a lesser conference , even if Northwestern comes into the game with a losing record and its opponent has a winning record. Why would the odds makers establish Northwestern as the favorite? They consider Strength of Schedule and Northwestern, because it has to play other teams in its conference, like perennial powerhouses Michigan and Ohio State, is considered to have played more difficult teams than the team with a winning record that may have beaten really poor teams.Additionally, home field advantage is huge in college football. A top team like the Michigan Woverines plays home games in front of about 100,000 screaming, crazy fans. These passionate fans make lots of noise for the home team and often intimidate and disrupt the play calling of the visiting team. In general, even when there are not tens of thousands of screaming fans, there is a home field advantage. In the NFL, it is worth about three points; the same is generally true for college football games maybe a bit more for some stadiums.

Coaching is also an important factor used by odds makers to create a betting line on a game. Some teams have nationally known and respected Head Coaches who have established themselves over long and successful careers. A case in point is Head Coach Joe Paterno of Penn State University PSU. In a career spanning well over 40 years, pappa has turned his team into a national power and has won more games than virtually any other coach in the history of college football. That impressive resume is worth something to odds makers and is usually reflected in the point spread.Naturally, winning and losing streaks are other factors that are used to establish a betting favorite for an upcoming game. Injuries are another very important consideration, as well.

Clearly, there are many factors that are used to establish a weekly betting line on the hundreds of college football games that are played every Saturday in autumn.However, there is always one thing that cant be measured or factored into a point spread. Thats the heart, grit and determination of the players who will be on the field when the whistle blows to start the game. Remember that when you look at a point spread for a college game and before you put your money on the line and at-risk.

What is with the logic-defying stranglehold that the AFC has held over the NFC for the past decade and a half. Not since the early stages of the first Clinton Administration has the NFC been able to claim statistical superiority. You are, Bill Parcells is so fond of saying, what you are. And by any sane yardstick (that is, all games after the exhibition season and before the Pro Bowl), the AFC has been better than the NFC.

It basically has put the wood to the NFC in both regular-season interconference games and the Super Bowl. Most wars are shorter than the AFCs period of dominance. By the time the tide turns, the Hundred Years War may wind up being shorter.ESPN, SI.com, John Clayton , every pro football gas-bag in the country has speculated about why. Better quarterbacks, smarter coaches, better-looking cheerleaders, better spy cameras . . . its all spec. TV gabber Cris Collinsworth says that it all has to do with the New England Patriots. Teams in the AFC know that the Patriots are the team they must catch up with, says Collinsworth. In the NFC, which team is the standard? Arizona ?Collinsworth may in the right church but the wrong pew when anyalyzing the AFCs dominance. The numbers, anyway, say that the Patriots are responsible for a huge chunk of the NFCs bed-wetting. Over the past six seasons New England has bended, folded and mutilated its NFC opponents. Even in the fall and early winter of 2008-09, when Tom Brady was spending Sunday afternoons getting fed grapes by Gisele Bundchen, the Pats still won three of four against NFC teams. Everyone always gives you the old cycle theory, said former New England linebacker Mike Vrabel, But 10 or 11 seasons . . . thats one long cycle.

So what gives here? NFC teams get the same number of draft choices, the same amount of TV money and can spend the same on salaries as AFC teams can. Yet year after year, they come up short. Is it the quarterbacks? Even die-hard Bears fans will have to admit that Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers are better than Jay Cutler. The QBs are so good in the AFC that Brady didnt even make it to the Pro Bowl in 2006.Is it the coaches? Bill Belichick against Wade Philips. Who would you back with your last $20 bill? Is it the overall talent? LaDainian Tomlinson, Ben Roethlisberger, Ray Lewis . . . who in the NFC matches up? Probably all of the above, and other factors not even mentioned.

As we look ahead to the 2009 season, NFC backers are faced with some sobering numbers: Three times in the last 14 seasons the conferences have finished at .500. Every other season, the AFC has had the edge. The AFC is so dominant that months before opending day Vegas oddsmakers give the NFC 7 points on any Super Bowl matchup that might develop. And as they say in the sports books on the Strip, never bet on a streak to end.

The NCAA - National Collegiate Athletic Association is the governing body of a truly popular sport, college football. With millions of avid fans closely following everything that happens to the players, the teams and their schools, football news is a constant throughout the year , even though the college football season is relatively short. It starts in September and ends in December, not counting bowl games which are still being played in early January.There is no doubt about it , college football is a big time sport and news about it is important to lots of people.

Much has and is happening in and around college football , and all of it has been reported. For example:A recent news release provided the names of the colleges and universities that were able to land the top recruits from high schools all across America. Not surprisingly, the top recruiting classes were all achieved by big time college football powers. Heres a list of the top ten: (1) LSU Louisiana State University; (2) Ohio State; (3) USC University of Southern California; (4) Texas; (5) Alabama; (6) North Carolina; (7) South Carolina; (8) Georgia; (9) Florida; and (10) Michigan. As is almost always the case, the best graduating high school seniors are all going to schools representing Major Conferences like the Big 10 , the PAC 10 , the ACC , and a few others. Less prominent conferences, and there are many, are left to recruit the remaining good players coming out of high school.

Want more news? Consider that in these tough economic times, the vast majority of colleges and universities have announced that they will not make any cuts in their football programs. While expensive to run, these programs generate significant amounts of revenue for the schools running them.More off-season news involves the publication of the schedule for Bowl Games which will be played after the regular season ends. Amazingly, there will be 34 bowl games played , beginning on or around December 19 and ending, with the BCS Bowl College Championship Game, on or around January 7.And if that were not enough new information for fans of college football, it has also been reported, on TV and in the national press, that as many as 22 Head Coaching jobs have changed hands since the last season ended.

Thats right, 22 Head Coaches have either been fired or quit their positions , and twenty-two new men have been hired to replace them.That may sound like extensive turnover, but in a sport where hundreds of colleges and universities support football programs for their male students its really isnt excessive turnover. Of course, the new season is still several months off in the future, so its entirely possible that more coaching changes will occur. Its certainly possible, and even likely, that college football will continue to generate many more big news stories in the months ahead.

Every year, hundreds of college football teams, from many different conferences, play out their schedule all with one thought in mind: to get to the Championship Game. In reality, very few teams ever get the chance to play in the big game. Teams like University of Miami … or Florida … or Florida State … Oklahoma or Nebraska … Big Ten teams like Michigan or Ohio State … southern powerhouses like LSU Louisiana State University … Alabama … Tennessee … or the current best team in all of college football, USC University of Southern California - these are the teams that, year after year, tend to make it to the BCS Championship Game.

Teams from lesser conferences without the reputation of being a “football factory” essentially have no chance … regardless of how well they play during the season. That’s just how things are done in college football.
In recent years, the teams mentioned above played in the big game at one time or another in Bowl Games that were selected in a sort of rotating schedule. Some years, the big game would be played in the Rose Bowl. Other years, it might be played in the Sugar Bowl … the Cotton Bowl … or the Orange Bowl. These are the most important Bowl Games in the entire college football schedule … and each Bowl got the game in alternating years.

the BCS Bowl will be the Championship Game for the College Football Season. This game is being created through the combined efforts of the NCAA and the BCS, the governing body for the college football playoffs. It should be interesting to the countless fans of the college game.

While there is no actual playoff system for college football, as there is for college basketball, there is a Ratings System that is based on Won-Loss Record and Strength of Schedule. When the schedule has been completed and the “smoke has cleared, the two top-rated teams will be invited to participate in the big game - before a national TV audience. This game will take place after all other bowl games have been played and completed so that it gets the attention it deserves - the “lone spotlight” of a big, big game that gets played before a huge national TV audience.

If you like to bet, figure that USC will be one of the teams in the game. They’ve been “top dog” in college football for several years. There’s a good chance one of the teams from Florida might also get into the game … or, perhaps a Big Ten team. It’s way too early to speculate, of course, but it’s also fun to try to figure it out … like filling in the blanks of a crossword puzzle. And when the game gets played, it’s sure to be exciting, no matter which two great teams compete in it.

College Bowl Games are often almost as exciting as the NFLs Super Bowl. Thats because college football fans are college students, young , rabid , a little crazy , totally committed , the worlds best sports fans!Now, there are, of course, countless Bowl Games at the end of each college season , and some generate much more excitement than others. The biggest and most important games are: The Rose Bowl , The Cotton Bowl , The Sugar Bowl , and The Orange Bowl. These are the oldest of all College Bowl Games. And, because there is no playoff/elimination system, the Number 1 Rated Team for the year is usually the winner of one of these games. Frequently, its The Orange Bowl.All major college football games and all of the bowl games are under the control of a single governing body, the NCAA National Collegiate Athletic Association.

The NCAA is roughly equivalent to the NFLs Commissioner because it acts as a watchdog and can penalize teams and their schools for rule violations.In fact, the NCAA will often hand out serious penalties that limit a schools ability to provide scholarships to highly recruited student athletes , keep a team out of bowl game competition for a period of time , and more. These penalties can put a severe dent in a schools ability to generate revenue through its major sports programs. So school Athletic Directors and the Head Coaches they hire work very hard to make sure no rules are broken. Of course, its virtually impossible for them to control everything that happens. And, when they lose control, even just a little control, problems happen quickly.The fact is every school want to be invited to a Bowl Game because even the less important games generate interest , are usually shown on TV , and can produce a windfall profit for the school and for its sports programming.

This is important income , cash flow that is desperately needed by even the wealthiest colleges and universities.However, the almost annual addition of new bowl games may be reaching a point of overkill and a feeling among fans that there are just too many games. There really are lots and lots of bowl games each year , so many that many mediocre teams are receiving invitations to play. That was not the original intent. Bowl games were originally established to reward the best team and put them in a kind of shootout to see which team from which conference was really the best in any given year.But, with the lure of money attracting new sponsors, more and more bowl games have been added almost annually. And today, there are Bowl games that should probably be described as Losers Bowl , or Mediocre Bowl — you get the picture. Of course, it really doesnt matter. As long as there are wildly enthusiastic college kids willing to bet on their teams

NCAA College Football attracts lots of people willing to bet on the games. And, like the NFL, Las Vegas odds makers create point spreads for the vast majority of the games. Unlike the NFL, however, the picks can involve huge point spreads , sometimes as much as 35 points or more!The same Professional Sports Handicappers that sell Best Bets and other live picks for the Pro Games tout their expertise and sell picks for college football games, too. Obviously, some of these handicappers are better than others, but most have records of success.

If youre a college football fan interested in buying picks form a Professional Handicapper, it makes good sense to try to get a handle on their past performance. Find out which of these pros has been the most consistent in providing customers with winning bets , especially for college games.

Of course, if youre a truly avid fan, you may think you know as much as the guy who sells information , and picks. Maybe youre just a huge fan of a particular college team the school you currently attend or your alma mater and you dont need a Sports Pick to help you make up your mind , because when it comes to college football, you bet with your heart. This can be good at times and really bad most of the others. Emotional betting is a disaster for you and a gift for your book.There are lots of college football fans like that , people so loyal to a particular team that they throw logic out the window when it comes to betting. That is often a formula for losing. But when it comes to college football it does matter and its always better to win than to lose.

So, even if youre a fanatic when it comes to a particular team, common sense should dictate how you risk your money. If your team is an underdog by four touchdowns, for example , if the Professional Handicappers have made a bet against your team as the Best Bet of the Week and you cant bring yourself to bet against your team, dont bet the game! Its simple.

You can watch the game, of course , root hard for your team but avoid making a bad investment. And, as a fan, you know which games you shouldnt wager on , the game where your team is playing a nationally-ranked powerhouse, for example , a game where the Sports Pick is obviously against your team.Betting on any football game is risky. Betting on college football games is really like taking a shot in the dark. College teams have lots of student athletes and walk-on players who will never become an NFL player. They put their teams a competitive disadvantage. Sports Picks by professional handicappers recognize this kind of shortcoming and it is reflected in their selections. As a fan, you may overlook it. And that can cost you money.

Every football fan knows that the NFL Schedule is a big deal. Its released every spring, usually in April, and once out, it gives fans an early-bird view on the opponents their favorite teams will be playing in the upcoming season.

NFL Fans care about that. Know , in advance, who your team is playing, and when the games will take place, and you can plan ahead , decide very early which games youre going to watch and where youre going to be when you watch n bet them.

The Schedule is important in other ways, too. Its always based on fairness , and a teams record in the previous season. For example: a team that finished in last place in its division in is going to play a Last Place schedule. That means, in addition to the games it has to play, against teams in its own division, it will be competing against teams from other divisions and the other conference who also played poorly during the previous season.

Thats how the NFL tries to level the playing field. So, now, the question has to be asked: what kind of schedule does a winning team get in a new season? The answer is obvious, of course. A team that finished first the previous year is going to play a First Place schedule and will face a season-long diet of some of the best teams from the last season. Thats a tough schedule , or is it?

The fact is you never know how a team will play from year-to-year. And while the NFL tries to match up teams based on past performance, teams sometimes change dramatically from one season to the next. Last years dynamos may have grown a year too old this year , or lost key players to free agency , or season-ending injuries. There are lots of factors that can turn a good team into a mediocre team. And those factors are among to be handicapped.

So, if you like betting on NFL Football Games, how can you know, before the season even begins, who deserves to get your bet? Obviously, you dont know , and you will not know until youve seen a game or two. And I dont mean pre-season games. Those games are not reasonable barometers of the kind of team performance you can expect.

Clearly, what you need to do is study the schedule , and each newly-revamped team. Figure out for yourself who is likely to be loaded for Septembers games and who will probably start off slowly. Its not a perfect science , you can be wrong , but, as a fan, you should know enough to not make an uneducated guess.

Now, all thats left for you to do is establish your weekly budget, decide on the number of games you want to bet, find a capper and sit back , and wait for the point spread covers to roll in and give you the fun of watching and winning.

Football is fun , betting on games makes it even more exciting, and combined you should be in for a great profitable year.

NFL Football appeals to fans on two levels , as a sport to be watched on TV or in person , as a contest thats perfect for betting on, week in and week out, all season and post season long.

Footballs immense popularity results from those two factors, games are almost always exciting to watch , and they always raise a fans blood pressure when betting on the outcomes and having money on the line.

Its a fact. Fans love to bet on football more than on any other sport. And huge numbers of fans who make wagers get their predctions from professional handicappers.

There are scores of NFL Professional Handicappers offering weekly analysis in the form of covering the spread and cashing in on the final scores of up to 16 different pro games and scores of them for college. Many of these predictions are, of course, based on the numerous factors and time spent calculating them to figure the outcome on any NFL Football game vs the spread, since that spread is really what counts.

But, there are many NFL Professional Handicappers who are very good at what they do , people who make predictions on games that are right more often than they are wrong; predictions that are on the mark even when the point spread is taken into account.

Thats not easy to do. Its the point spread, the number of points the favorite has to win by that makes betting on football games difficult. In sports, you need only pick the winner to earn money on a bet, however its at a cost, this is called a moneyline. In the NFL, the team you choose has a spread, aka needs to win by enough points if favored or lose by less then what your getting, in order for you to collect. If your team wins the game, but doesnt cover the point spread, you lose. If your team loses but covers the spread you win. Nothing like losing the game and covering the spread to make you feel like a champ.

A capable football handicapper will know how to come up with a winning prediction because he will know what factors to consider, injuries , recent trends , winning or losing streaks , head-to-head competition , weather , home field , and much, much more. While its true that every professional handicapper reviews, studies and then uses these factors in his prediction, only the best handicappers are consistently on the money in developing a prediction based on all of that information.

Of course, you may be as knowledgeable as most handicappers if youre a true fan of the game. And if you have the time to study and evaluate the many factors that impact most games, you may be able to come up with a winning prediction yourself. Perhaps you can do it consistently, too.

After all, you dont have to be a rocket scientist to figure out which bits of information will help you come up with a winning prediction. However, you do need to be an avid follower of the game so that you know the players and the teams , factors which will give you a fighting chance to accurately predict a games outcome and make your selections winning ones.

NFL Football fans who bet on games know its a tough way to make a few extra bucks. Putting your money on the line adds an element of excitement to the game, especially if youre watching it from the edge of your seat. Too often, however, that money flies right out the window as the game ends in disappointing fashion.

Theres a reason why so many bets end up costing you money. You simply dont have enough information to make an informed and intelligent pick. Thats not a knock against you , its a fact. The average fan doesnt have enough time to keep track of all the statistics and ever-changing information that regularly impacts football games.

That kind of information, however, is readily available from NFL Professional Handicappers. Its their job to stay on top of everything that happens, week in and week out, in the NFL. And the best handicappers do it well. They spend hours and hours each week sorting out information , reviewing it , analyzing it , and then they convert all of that into an informed and, hopefully, on-the-money prediction.

If youre using a handicappers picks to bet on NFL games, how do you know youre spending money with the right guy? Theres an easy way to find out. All NFL Professional Handicappers leave a paper trail, a record of wins and losses on the predictions they give to their paying customers.

You can access that record, without going directly to the handicapper himself, by logging on to some of the many websites that monitor working NFL handicappers. One of the best of these websites is called National SportsMontior.com

Throughout the regular NFL season, and into the playoffs, these types of websites keep accurate performance records on many of the handicappers selling weekly picks. Thats the paper trail you need to know if youre buying plays from a reliable and winning handicapper.

Imagine that youre using a handicapper who gives you some winning tips and a few losing tips, nothing special, and you look up his record and find out that , hes near the bottom of the list record-wise compared to other handicappers predicting the same games.

Why would you keep giving your money to that guy? The answer: there is no reason whatsoever to spend your hard-earned cash on his picks. Look at the list of other handicappers , check out their documented record , and switch to the guy who has the most winning predictions. Thats just plain common sense.

Betting on NFL Football games is fun and exciting. Betting, and winning, is more fun and much more exciting. Its easier than you think to access the records of professional handicappers , find the most consistent one , call him , listen to his information , pay him , and then place your bet or bets.

Odds are good, maybe very good, that, based on the handicappers successful record, youll win more bets than youll lose. And that can make the all your NFL Seasons the best.

Betting on NFL Football games is a big part of the sport’s popularity. Fans of the game love the added excitement they get by having money on the line. It’s a rush … a big time adrenalin rush. But, betting on football is different from betting on any other pro sport.

Here’s why: football bets involve point spreads. That means the person making the bet has to have his team win by a specific number of points in order for him to win the bet and collect. Winning, by any score, is not enough and can easily result in a losing wager.

The point spreads are generally set each week by professional handicappers and odds makers in Las Vegas. They look at the two teams in an upcoming game … review statistics and up-to-date information about the teams ((winning or losing streaks, injuries, home field edge, weather conditions, playing history against each other)) - and create a point spread based on probability.

For example: if Team A is the home team, it is worth 3 points in the “spread.” Playing at home is considered an advantage. Let’s say that Team B will be playing with a reserve quarterback. That, too, is worth points in the “spread” that favor Team A. The odds makers know it’s going to snow heavily when the game begins on Sunday. That favors Team A, a cold weather team. That advantage will also be reflected in the point spread.
Generally, the point spreads are published early in the week preceding the upcoming Sunday games. That gives fans that enjoy betting ample time to review the spreads and make their decisions about the games. A 3-point spread in a game means that the favorite must win by more than 3 points in order for the bet to be a winning wager. If the team wins the game by fewer than 3 points, the wager will be a losing one.
So, what happens if the team wins the game by 3 points? That will result in a “Push.” Which means the bet was neither won nor lost. Of course, many point spreads involve half points which guarantee that someone will win the bet and someone will lose.

A point spread of 3 ½ points means that a 3 point win will result in a losing bet. This ½ point added to point spreads always drives fans crazy and results in a lot of frustration … and losing bets.
Frequently, one team looks to be so much better than its opponent that the “spread” is in double digits - 10 points or more. Fans rush to put their money on the big favorite. But, that’s a dangerous bet. When one team is clearly superior, it often jumps out to a huge lead early … and coasts the rest of the game. That allows the underdog to score late and turn the bet on the favorite into a losing wager.
This season, enjoy the games and the betting, but remember to keep close tabs on the point spreads. They can be the difference between winning and losing.