Less than 10 years ago, if you wanted to 'get down' on your favorite college team to beat the spread, you could either take a plane to Vegas for the weekend or you could get on the phone with your local bookie. Today you can sit on your Lazy Boy and sip on some Grey Goose, while you get down on hundreds of different lines on any given sporting event from your laptop... it truly is that simple. Internet has revolutionized the way we watch and enjoy sports, keep reading for some Free Picks.
Dallas +3 -112 v. Seattle
Both teams finished the regular seasons below expectations - Seattle as reigning NFC champion and Dallas as an early Super Bowl favorite. Both lost three out of their final four games, landing Seattle and Dallas the #4 and #5 seeds, respectively.
The Cowboys opened at +3 (-114). The public leaned on Seattle by a ratio of 3-to-2, due at least in part to Dallas's recent humiliation at the hands of the hapless Lions. Meanwhile, the sharps clearly favor Dallas and have been taking the points.
New York Giants +7 -103 v. Philadelphia
The Eagles have finished the season playing inspired football winning their last five games. Jeff Garcia led the Eagles offense after stepping in for injured Donovan McNabb, throwing 10 TDs to just 2 INTs. His 95.8 passer rating would make him the #4 QB in the league. The Giants started at 6-2, but then dropped six of their last eight games to limp into the playoffs.
When you have two teams moving in opposing directions, statistical handicappers will often disagree on a game. One approach is to weight all games of the season evenly. Another approach is to weight recent games more heavily than ones earlier in the season. Each of these styles will strongly favor opposite teams in this match-up.
In our most heavily traded game of the week, we opened the Giants at +6 (-106). The line crept up as bettors took the Eagles by a 3-to-2 ratio. Our professional players are split on this match-up, possibly due to their statistical methodology. We are also seeing one-sided sharp action teasing the Eagles down.
Florida +7 -105 v. Ohio State
Florida will try to maintain a trend seen in the last four National Championships: the underdog winning outright. Another trend that has extended even further is based on defense. In National Championship games, the team whose defense allows fewer yards per game has won the last five. In this match-up, this also favors Florida, which allows 269 yards per game versus 273 yards per game for Ohio State.
We opened the Buckeyes at -7 (-105) and the public has favored Ohio State, backing them over Florida by a margin of 3-to-2. Our sharps have been split fairly evenly on this game, though we have seen some unusual point-buying activity with some of our more successful players buying Florida up to +7.5.
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