College football authorities, especially executives of the NCAA governing body dont like to talk about it, but betting plays a big role in the sports popularity. College football has legions of fans, most notably current college students and alumni graduates of the schools that play football every week.The game is also popular with gamblers. And while most people who bet do so for added excitement and invest only what they can afford to lose, many people are big-time gamblers. They live or die with the odds.The odds are, of course, involve the point spread which is established each week for every college game by Las Vegas odds makers. Lots of factors go into creating the odds, home field advantage , coaching , winning and losing streaks , conference and out-of-conference schedule , weather , injuries , the list goes on and on.Yet, betting odds determine how wagers are made.

For example: if the odds have made a so-so team the favorite, people who wager are likely to go the other way and bet the underdog. If the underdog is a really bad team, money wagered will go to the favorite even if the odds seem to make the bet a bad risk.Since odds are based on point spreads, a favorite can win the game, but you can lose the bet because the spread wasnt covered. Often, a college team from a top conference or one that is ranked in the Top Ten nationally will be favored to win a game by two, three, four, sometimes even more than four touchdowns.

Normally, the disparity between the two teams in games like this is great enough so that the overwhelming favorite can win the game and you can beat the odds. But it doesnt always happen that way. The big favorite may win the game, but by two few points. And, in that case, you can, and will, lose your bet. Of course, college teams, unlike professional teams, tend to pour it on and often do win games by 4, 5, 6 touchdowns , even more. Theres no mercy asked , none given. But the risk is always there that the favorite will just do enough to win the game.

If you bet, you have to look at a teams past history to see if they run up the score or go easy on inferior opponents.Fans who bet also need to consider how the odds makers came up with the point spread , or the odds for the game. Remember: conferences play a huge role, often overshadowing won-loss records in some games. A Big 10 team with a mediocre record may actually have the odds in its favor to cover a line against a winning team from a secondary conference.Finally, the odds are just numbers , speculation from a professional handicapper who may or may not be right. When betting, consider the professionals opinion, but always resort to what you know and believe , because its your money at risk.

The NFL is one of the most successful sports enterprises in the entire world, big, big business. So its no surprise that, even though the season only lasts from September to January, news about the NFL, its teams and its players continues all year long.Clearly, the league believes it is in its own best interests to keep itself on the back page Sports Page of the countrys major newspapers. And, unlike other major sports, the NFL does a terrific job of staying in the headlines.

Unfortunately, the news is not always good.In recent years, a number of NFL players have run into problems with law enforcement agencies and local police departments around the country. The most noteworthy example was the case of Atlanta Quarterback Michael Vick who was charged with a serious felony crime, promotion of illegal dog fighting. Vicks case made headlines everywhere and he was eventually convicted of the crime and sentenced to a lengthy jail term. Other players like Adam Pacman Jones have also made bad headlines for firing a loaded pistol, illegally, of course. More recently, Plaxico Burress of The New York Giants accidentally shot himself in the leg while at a New York City nightclub, a clear violation of city law. Burress, currently awaiting trial, may also receive a jail sentence.

Of course, much of the news generated by the NFL is good, not bad , like the coverage it receives for its annual draft of graduating college seniors. The draft was extensively covered by ESPN on TV and there were also many stories written in local and national newspapers.Other stories to make the newspapers and TV-and-radio sports talk shows this off-season have been about marquee players, such as Defensive End Jason Taylor of the Miami Dolphins possibly seeking a trade , Chicagos Brian Urlacher ending his brief stay-away from mini-camp , the release of running back Travis Henry by the Denver Broncos , Thomas Jones attempt to force the New York Jets to renegotiate his contract , and much, much more.Obviously, there are many, many more stories about the NFL, its teams and players that come out literally every day of every week and help to keep the league front-and-center in the minds of its fans.

The result of this is, of course, a heightened anticipation of the season that has the normally crazy fans of the league in a near frenzied state when the games are played.Keep in mind: the NFL for all the popularity of its games is a league that thrives on wagering. Fans bet more money on football than on any other sport And that is one reason why off-season news stories are so important. The indisputable fact about the NFL is this: any way you look at it, whatever you think about it, the NFL is, and has long been, big news.

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.