The Big Ten Report - Week 6
As the midpoint of conference play approaches, the Big Ten clearly appears to be separated into two tiers. Four of the six games last week were routs, including the nation's No. 1 team, Ohio State, taking care of in-state mid-major Bowling Green by a score of 35-7 at the Horseshoe. In my opinion, the top tier is filled by the Buckeyes, Michigan, Iowa and Wisconsin. With limited exception, I would not expect any of these four teams to lose to the bottom seven. Wisconsin may struggle with its trip to West Lafayette in two weeks and Iowa may be given a battle at the end the season with a trip to the Twin Cities. Will one of these two games be our Big Ten Game of the Year? Only time will tell but there is a good chance. Other then that, four teams should end the season with impressive records and two should receive BCS bids. I really hope Michigan and Ohio State can go into their Nov. 18 meeting undefeated, as it would bring great recognition to the conference. The winner of the game would easily finish the season atop the BCS standings and earn a spot in the national title game in Glendale, Arizona, which will be called by former Wisconsin Coach Barry Alvarez. The following will recap some of the action from last week and preview an important week ahead: A wild game took place in Champaign, Illinois, when the Hoosiers came calling on Saturday. Illinois was coming off an impressive win and we felt that the situation was right to pull the trigger on them as an eight-point favorite over Indiana. The Hoosiers were really struggling, having lost three straight home games, and were mixing-and-matching their offensive line. Things went as expected in the first quarter when Illinois put 22 points on the board en route to an early 25-7 lead. I felt this game was in the bag, but then the Hoosiers rattled off 24 straight points to take six-point lead. The teams went back-and-forth from that point and Indiana eventually claimed the victory on a 33-yard field goal by Austin Starr as time expired. This was an embarrassing loss for Illinois, as they could have moved the program to the next level. That could have set up a shot at three consecutive victories and it would have given the Illini a winning record in conference play. The Fighting Illini rushed for 209 yards, yet their downfall was that they only converted 1-of-11 chances on third down. I don't think too many people are upset about the coaching change that was made when they replaced Urban Meyer. But no matter who the coach is, this team continues to underachieve as they have talent on paper. Next up for Illinois is a home date with Ohio. They enter as a touchdown favorite and they are 10-2 straight up against the MAC. The Hoosiers hope to build upon this shocking upset when they welcome Iowa to Memorial Stadium. The early line has Iowa as a 17.5-point favorite and I would not expect this game to be close. Another impressive victory by a road team saw Penn State going into the Twin Cities and coming away with a one-point overtime win. The most intriguing stat of this game was that the Golden Gophers were held to just 67 yards rushing. This is a team that makes a living of the ground and that is quite an accomplishment for Joe Pa and his Lions. Minnesota has seen a big drop-off in talent at the running back position and Amir Pinnix was not able to get the job done. This game was close throughout as no team had more then a 7-point lead and then Minnesota scored with just over one minute remaining to send it into overtime. They converted quickly in OT when Bryan Cupito threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Eric Decker to give the Gophers a six-point lead. However, Jason Giannini's extra point hit the upright and bounced back. That give the Lions confidence, and Tony Hunt's two-yard run and accompanying extra point gave them the win. Will this game give Penn State momentum going back home to take on the Wolverines? It certainly could. Revenge will be on their minds after the heartbreaking loss in Ann Arbor last year. Minnesota will have to regroup quickly as Paul Bunyan's Axe will be up for grabs when they visit Madison. The Badgers will enter their Homecoming game as a 10.5-point favorite, and I would not expect Minnesota to struggle running the ball yet again. However, an interesting stat from last week's game is that QB Cupito threw for 348 yards. Pass defense may be the one weakness of the Badgers unit. Michigan will enter Happy Valley as a touchdown favorite looking to keep their perfect season alive. To me, they are by far the better team and I would only consider playing the chalk. Finally, a game that few people were able to watch was a border battle between Wisconsin and Northwestern. The game was on ESPN 360 and bar owners in Madison were struggling to find equipment that would allow this Internet feed to be able to be seen on big screen TVs. From what I heard, not many of them had success and thus business suffered. Northwestern had traditionally been a thorn in the side of the Badgers, as they haven't beaten them two out of the last three years (including last season's 51-48 thriller). The Badgers jumped out to a 10-0 led and it appeared to be an easy victory for them. The Cats did run off the next nine points to get within one, but that was all they could do. Wisconsin gradually pulled away for a 41-9 victory. Northwestern has lost their identity with the sudden passing of Coach Randy Walker and their offense is just a shadow of what it was in the past. They finished with just 216 yards of offense and the spread is not fooling anybody. RB PJ Hill continues to surprise opponents with his rushing ability and is the conference leader in yards. He has gone over the century mark in five of his six games and should eclipse the 1,000-mark next week. Next up for the Cats is a home date with Purdue. The Boilers enter as a touchdown favorite and it will be interesting to see which team responds, as both were blown out last week. This would be a game to stay away from since both teams have problems stopping opponents. The over looks to be the only possibility. The other intriguing game next week features the No. 1 team in the land heading to East Lansing to take on the Spartans. Michigan State realizes this game is their season and their last chance to showcase their underachieving talent on the national stage. I said two weeks ago they would get the Bucks or the Wolverines. They didn't beat Michigan, so who what to expect this week. The talent is there, but their minds tend to drift. Final Thoughts from Around College Football 1) For those of you who played Mississippi State, you had to have been heartbroken when two touchdowns were scored with under three minutes to play. The dagger was a 50-yard punt return by Vaughn Rivers with 1:07 left that pushed the lead to 28 points. 2) When gambling, I always like to bet with big game coaches, as they seem to do whatever it takes to win. Urban Meyer fits that bill along with Pete Carroll. Les Miles does not and thus I have no confidence in his ability in an evenly matched game. 3) Teams continue to pound San Diego State. I had a chance to see them in person and the offensive unit is definitely one of the worst in the nation. Continue to lay the big numbers until they can prove to me that can score consistently. Coming off a blowout victory with our, "Revenge Game of the Year" we will carry that over into this Saturday's card when we release our "Underdog Game of the Year." This team has an outstanding chance to win this game straight up and I will be taking a serious look at the moneyline. For those of you that have not tried our hockey service, I would encourage you to do so. We are offering a special through Sunday, Oct. 15, where you can get a week of selections for only $20. I make the selections myself and cater to the gambler that likes to bet big bucks on one game each night. We expect another big week in football and would like you aboard. Free Pick: Take Texas Tech -8 over Colorado.
Other Football Betting Articles
No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker Most online casinos offer three different types on Texas Hold'em Poker, namely No Limit Texas Holdem poker , Limit holdem Poker and Pot Limit holdem poker.The only differences in these three types of poker are the restrictions placed on betting.In No Limit Texas Hold'em Poker there are no limitations on the size of th ...Famous Poker Hands Doyle Brunson’s 10-2This hand was made famous Doyle “Texas Dolly” Brunson, one of poker’s all-time legends and a member of the Poker Hall of Fame. Brunson won the World Series of Poker Championship event in back to back years (1976 and 1977). In 1976, Brunson’s final opponent was Jesse Alto who held Ace-Jack. Brunson held the 10 and 2 of ...Top Sportsbook After reading several comments made to some of the worlds most respected top sportsbook sites, I made a list of what many satisfied customers have agreed, makes a top sportsbook.1 - Who doesn’t like to be attended by a nice, intelligent, capable, english speaking customer service representative? Some one who is able to deal with all you q ...Casino Affiliates & Why Hitting The Jackpot May Be Easier Than You Think In just a matter of two days or less, online entrepreneurs can watch their dreams of operating a casino website turn into a reality of big bucks. Internet gaming is one of the fastest growing online opportunities on the internet. And, if done responsibly, it can be a terrific form of entertainment. It’s glitz and it’s glamour, but it’s also a to ...Online Casino Games for Charity The idea of it throws the whole concept of gambling on its ear; funny thing is, it looks dashing that way. Playing online casino games only to give your winnings away to charity is not without precedent. Long before online casino game rooms adopted the practice, Barry Greenstein was making a name for himself doing just that: raking in th ...Understanding The Logistics of Poker Tournaments Tournaments are poker competitions where all of the players play at the same time and continue to play until only one player is left. Tournaments are fun to play in, have a low entry fees and offer a large prize pool to be won. For these reasons they are a very popular. They are inexpensive way for novice poker players to learn how to play th ...Inside the Boxscores Week 1 Part 2 Inside the Boxscores is a weekly feature from Matt Fargo that has been widely recognized as the best summation in college football. He takes an in-depth look at each game and pulls out the most pertinent information that will help you handicap games in the future. College football is filled with quirky plays, misleading scores and surprise endin ...Poker Room Gambling There are a number of websites these days that cater to poker room gambling. If you are fairly new to the game either online or offline, you will want to make sure that you choose a website with poker room gambling that best fits your skill set. Don’t expect to win any money right away; it takes time to learn the nuances of the software for ea ...League One Betting Review - 8 May 2006 Southend were crowned League One champions following a 1-0 win against Bristol City. Wayne Gray came off the bench to score the winner with three minutes to go for the 4/5 Shrimpers.Colchester only needed to avoid defeat to secure automatic promotion and earned the point they required with a goalless draw at Yeovil. The 12/5 draw means Co ...What Is Luck and What Is Skill in Poker? There seems to be quite a bit of confusion on what role luck and skill plays in poker. What is most important, luck or skill? This article will debate the subject by beginning to look at different peoples perspective. It will then enter into why the question is not as easy to answer as it may seem at first, moving on to the sensible answer and w ...NBA Betting NBA is today one of the most popular sports in the world and in the environment of the sports betting. The sport has evolve in an incredible way pushing competition between players to amazing levels of agility and skill, making the game look so entertainment.You can find a NBA betting site anywhere in the internet today; ...Play Omaha Online If you find yourself an Omaha poker fan lost in a world of Texas hold em only players, fear not. You can sign up for a poker site and play Omaha online. Even if none of your friends know the game you love so much, you still have a solution. You can play hold em with your friends and play Omaha online. All your friends play their favorite games a ...Finding the Best Multiplayer Poker Site Thousands of new players have been flocking to online poker sites due to the increased popularity of poker. If you are interested in playing poker online, finding the best multiplayer poker site for you probably will not be a hard task.The best multiplayer poker site for one person won’t necessarily be the best multiplayer poker site for ...The Dish: Boys Do Cry Let me preface this by saying: I don't have children.But if I did, I'm pretty sure just about the last thing I'd want them to do is play in the Little League World Series.Don't get me wrong: I think youth sports rock. And as recently as, say, 10 years ago, playing in the LLWS probably would've been an awesome experience. But after ...2005 World Series of Poker -- Complete Report Over 29,000 poker players came to Las Vegas from 40 different countries all over the earth to play in the 2005 World Series of Poker tournament events. This generated a total net prize pool of over $103,000,000 dollars, more than twice the total prize pool amount in 2004. New records were being made and old ones being broken so fast the challeng ...Focus on Annie Duke Annie Duke may not have won her first World Series of Poker Bracelet until 2004 but she is still one of the most feared poker players around the ring games at The Bellagio in Las Vegas. Annie’s long-overdue WSOP bracelet came with a win at the “forgotten game” of Omaha Hi-Lo.While player from the “younger generation” of poker run wild aft ...Building Your Bankroll The first thing one needs to do before they even think about laying a bet down is: set your bankroll before the season even begins. You have to know how much money you are going to start with. To clarify what a bankroll is, it’s the total amount you have saved up, put in dresser and so on, and can afford to lose and not effect th ...Bingo Supplies Bingo is accessible to many different people. It is a very safe game that is fun to play, and the necessary supplies are affordable and easy to use. Bingo can be played just for fun, or it can be played for prizes or cash in a gambling situation (where allowed). They can be for private parties, or you can also have bingo sets custom-made for you ...The Basics of Backgammon Strategies The objective of a Backgammon game is to move your pieces around the game board and bear them off the board faster than your opponent who works harder to do the same but in the opposite direction. Winning a game in Backgammon requires both strategy and luck. How far you can move your pieces is up to the numbers from rolling the dices, and how yo ...Dice Setters or Rhythmic Rollers? If you ask a group of craps players if they would rather be on a table with a rhythmic roller or a dice setter, they will almost inadvertently tell you a dice setter. This is because they have most likely played with numerous dice setters with some grade of success and secondly, because most people will think of rhythmic rollers as just somebody ...How to Enjoy a Vacation at the Casino Everyone needs some time away to rest and recuperate. People do this to get away from a demanding job or for the person to be able to spend some time with the family. There are a lot of places to go to do this such as the beach and the wilderness. Another good place worth going to is the casino.The best and known gambling place in the wor ...Blackjack Casino Online And Offline Rules Can Vary Among Casinos Playing blackjack casino online is virtually the same as playing it in a real casino. One of the benefits with playing black jack online - especially if you are a newbie - is that it is much more relaxing and convenient to sit by your computer in the comfort of your own home and learn the game, than have to travel to a casino where everybody is ...Strong Muscles for Stronger Bones Exercising to strengthen muscles strengthens the bones on which these same muscles attach.Bones in the arm that holds the racquet of a professional tennis player are much larger and stronger than the bones in the other arm. The arm bones are bigger, denser and stronger in athletes who whose activities involve upper body strength, such as ...
| 