Every year in college football expert analysts in the national print media , on TV network sports shows , on sports-talk radio shows , and on blogs all over the World Wide Web come out with predictions on which teams will soar like an eagle and which teams will fall flat.Predictions, of course, are like the weather. They change frequently. So fans of the sport, in particular of specific teams sometimes tend to get caught up in the words theyve read or heard that came from someone who may or may not know more than they themselves know.And yet, when someone labels himself an expert, the label tends to stick , at least for a period of time.

The fact is, so-called experts who provide predictions about college football teams are really handicappers. Most often, the predictions are based on events that occurred the previous season. Perhaps the Arkansas Razorbacks won their last three games after losing early in the season. That late season success is used by an expert to predict future success, in an upcoming season. Of course, the factors that contributed to the wins may no longer be present. No matter. Arkansas, based on its previous performance, will probably be listed as a team to watch.Sometimes, predictions occur during a season.

For example, lets say the Princeton Tigers have just lost four games in a row, a three out of conference. A prediction for them is likely to be that theyre in a funk and likely to lose their next game even if that next game will be played against an inferior in-conference opponent.Fans, and those who bet on college football, have to know which predictions to take seriously and which to overlook. Its not always easy. But, if youre someone who pays close attention to the sport, and to what is happening around your team, you should be able to separate reality from fiction.Gamblers, in particular, need to recognize a prediction that marks a real trend, something to be heeded, and a prediction that is based on, well, nothing. Its important, of course, because there will be money on the line.

Every bet is serious and should only be made when the person making the bet has all the facts at his/her disposal.Again, predictions are exactly what the word implies , a guess on what may or may not happen. As such, the chance that the prediction will be right is no greater than the chance that it will be wrong. A late season winning streak the previous year is no guarantee of success in the upcoming year. Yet, predictions may suggest otherwise.A current winning streak against inferior competition may lead to a misleading and potentially costly prediction as well. Keep these thoughts in mind , or even if youre just a rabid fan of college football.

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.

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.

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.

If youve ever bought selections from a Professional Football Handicapper, you know that hes generally good at figuring out the right side to play on and letting you know some reasons for it. Fans who bet always want to put their money on the team thats expected to cover the spread.

In the sports relm, theres a favorite, so there must also be an underdog. The question is this: how does the handicapper determine who to go with, the favorite and lay the points or money, or the underdog and get some points or money favors.

He could offer the underdog as a selection to you just as frequently as the favorite, after all its all about raking in the money from covering the line.

Frankly, there is no doubt whatsoever that Good Professional Handicapper Services spend as much time determining which team to go with, weather its a dog or the favorite. And, in some cases, especially if he thinks the underdog presents you with a solid betting proposition, he may tell you to unload on it, after all you got a safety net with some points.

There is a lot of research by vegas that goes into determining which team is the underdog. The capper has to look at the same information they use to pick the winner based on the current line. Look at the information from a different perspective, you’ve got a team say florida state and they are playing a nobody, so they are like 29 point favorites, they will no doubt win the game by a decent margin, but do you grab all those points and take the dog? I mean come on now, more then 4 touchdowns wow! But from my experience it comes down to garbage time, and are the backups better then the dogs starter in cases where the spread is huge, commonly seen in ncaa and not the nfl.

Some of the factors he the handicapper will consider prior to picking a team to cover is if they are on a losing streak and playing poorly , if it is struggling with injuries to key players , if the match-ups of key players favor the opponent , if weather figures to work against the team he thinks will lose , if the team generally performs poorly on the road or on its own home field , and for many, many other reasons including revenge and also the laws of nature since not everything goes to true to forrm.

Good teams with winning records stand up to this kind of scrutiny, but a bad team will show itself to be ripe for another loss, but that loss does not mean its a loser ATS , and that is something an experienced and successful handicapper knows and uses to help his clients win bets, on the underdog or favorite.

One more important note: when a bad team is playing very poorly, its opponent will often jump out to a big lead early in the game , and coast to the finish. With no fear of losing, the favorite will ease up and may even remove its star players early. The result: the bad team, the underdog, can often score meaningless points late in the game to make the final score closer and then chnage who covers. This factor is a major one and you need to know what the tendencies are for that teams coach and also the situation they are in at that point in the season.

The favorite will still win the game, of course, but you, the bettor, can lose because of the spread and the fact that your team didnt win by enough points , unless youve bet on the underdog. Theres a winner and a loser in every game, ok well sometimes theres a push.

In this college and pro football season, use your knowledge of the game, and your handicappers selections to bet wisely , fully aware of how an overmatched underdog can score late to turn a winning bet into a losing bet , or vice versa.

When an NFL Handicapper provides his customers with the favorites for upcoming games, it seems like it must have been easy for him to come up with the selection. The truth is it was anything but easy.

Professional handicappers put a lot of work into coming up with a prediction of a favorite in a game , an amazing amount of analysis and scrutiny of lots and lots of information.

It starts with a review of all the games played by the two teams that will be competing in the next game. The handicapper looks at common opponents to see who fared better and who played poorly. He looks at current injuries to determine which, if any, of the teams will be without important players.

The handicapper looks at lots more information, too. For example: he studies the past history of the two competing teams in games theyve played against each other. He looks at weather conditions and determines if it will be a factor and, if yes, who will benefit from it and who will suffer.

There is still much, much more he has to review and analyze before he can predict which team should be the favorite and which will be the underdog. Coaching, for instance, may be a factor. Grudges or one teams dislike for the other can play a role in the outcome, as well.

Will the home teams fans intimidate the visiting teams players? Does one team have an offensive or defensive player who is unstoppable by the other team and can actually impact the game? Clearly, as you can see, there are almost countless factors that the professional handicapper looks at , considers , and utilizes to establish a clear favorite in every game he sells to his customers.

However, the single most important factor is, and always has been, the point spread. It is not enough for a handicapper to predict which team will win the game. In order to help you win your bet, the handicapper needs to tell you that the team he believes will emerge as the victor will also be the team that covers the spread.

The strategies used in NFL games, unlike those used in professional baseball, basketball or hockey, tend to be somewhat complex. While baseball has a Manager, a hitting coach and a pitching coach and basketball and hockey have a head coach and a couple of assistant coaches, football is different, very different.

Football has a head coach, just like basketball and hockey, but that is where the comparison ends. Football teams have many assistant coaches. Theres a coach for the offensive line , another for the defensive line , a quarterback coach , a receivers coach , a coach for the defensive backs and for the linebackers .And there are coordinators, one for the offense and one for the defense. These two coaches are, for all intents and purposes, Assistant Head Coaches.

Every football team needs all of these coaches because the different groups of players perform different functions on the field, all of which require different techniques , which is what these specialized coaches teach. Then, each week, all of the coaches meet for long hours to create a coordinated strategy, and plan of attack, for the upcoming game.

Its tedious, tiresome , and necessary. Depending on the strengths of a particular team, a strategy, or game plan, might center around a strong and prolonged running attack, with few passes thrown by the quarterback. Or, it could go the other way , lots of passes with virtually no ground attack.

The decision belongs to the Head Coach and, ultimately, is based upon two factors: his teams strengths and the opposing teams weaknesses. Of course, the best plans mean nothing if the players dont execute the strategy to perfection.

Of course, another factor that plays an important role in a coachs strategy is weather. Early in the NFL seasons schedule, the weather is generally good throughout the league. But, as autumn turns to winter, games played in the eastern U.S. are often subject to extreme weather conditions, frigid cold , snowstorms , heavy, freezing rain , powerful cold winds , and more.

The knowledge that the weather will be bad always factors into the strategy that will be employed in the game. Moreover, bad weather almost always favors the cold weather teams over those that play their home games in the south or in the west.

So, how do you determine who to bet on each week when Sunday rolls around? As an observant and loyal fan, youre likely to know which coaches are better at game-planning , and at putting their players in the best positions to succeed, in every game.

Its not a science, but it does require a lot of hard work and a laser-like focus to calculate all the factors relevent in this game thats going to be played. Its interesting to note that when looking at angles, trends and so fourth, that not all could pertain to this game. Theres a million stats, but there will only be one winner or loser vs the line. An nfl sports handicapper can see what should play into the matchup and what doesnt, then make his sports pick for you.

NFL Football and betting go together like beer and pretzels … steak and fries … a boy and his dog - you get the picture. They are a natural, meant to be almost “joined at the hip.” Betting is one of the primary reasons for footballs immense popularity. Every Sunday, Monday and Thursday nights, as well football fans and people who “love the action” that gambling provides - bet countless millions on the outcome of games.

However, unlike betting on other sports where all that is necessary to win a bet is to pick the winner, people who bet on football have got to “beat the spread.”That’s a lot harder than it seems. The “spreads” which are the point differentials between the winner and loser, is set every week by Las Vegas professional odds makers. Spreads are usually based on recent past performance … injuries … home field advantage … and many other factors. It often means that to win a bet on a favorite, for instance, the team has to win by 3, 4, 7, 10 … even more points.

Consider. Your team can win the game, but you can lose your bet … just because the team you chose didn’t win by enough points. That’s what makes betting on football so difficult … and so irresistible. It’s a lure that few bettors can avoid.
And betting on the game’s outcome is not the only wager available to fans and other gamblers. Las Vegas odds makers also set “Over and Under” scores for each game. You can bet that the total number of points scored - by both teams - will be Under 36, for example and, if you’re right, you win. Bet the “over” and the teams’ combined score for the games has to be more than 36 points for you to win.

This is the kind of nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat action that few, if any, other sports can deliver. Football is played to a time limit and, more often than not, a winning bet hinges on a last-second play. It’s nerve-wracking, to be sure … but it is the kind of excitement most people crave - a real rush!

Professional handicappers advertise weekly, all during football season, to fans who like to bet. They offer their “expertise” for a price and generally include what they call “a best bet.” The truth is that, as a football fanatic, you are also a football expert. You probably watch as many games as the professional handicappers … probably know who is hurt and who’s healthy … probably know a team’s tendencies and its historical record against an opponent. And if you do, you may know enough to make an intelligent decision regarding a wager. A final point: betting adds an extra element of excitement to for football fans. But there can be a risk involved in betting if you allow yourself to bet beyond your budget. This year … bet smart.