College Football

It’s the prime time for the sportsbook odds makers and NFL scouts of the world as the top athletes in college football are at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. A lot of big questions for a bunch of key players have been answered with combine scores and interviews. Here are some combine winners and losers.

Winners:

Tim Tebow QB Florida

Tim Tebow arguably had the most to gain and lose at the scouting combine as harsh criticism has fallen upon him for having a slow throwing motion and not having a game suited for the NFL.

Tebow’s athleticism was on display at the combine and he impressed all who watched him. Tebow ran a 4.72 40-yard dash time when he was thought to be closer to 4.9 and had a vertical jump of 38.5 inches which ties an all-time quarterback record with Josh McCown. Tebow also apparently had a great interview process. He will reveal his new throwing motion at his pro day at the University of Florida on March 17^th.

5dimes review: Tebow can be assured a second round selection with a good show at the pro day while a bad show could drop him all the way to the fourth.

C.J. Spiller RB, Clemson

C.J. Spiller already had been considered the top back in the draft, but he impressed at the combine with a 4.37 40 yard dash time with 18 reps on the bench press of 225. He has locked himself in as the first running back to be taken off the board and may slip into the top 15 with his performance.

Golden Tate WR, Notre Dame

Golden Tate had a tremendous year for the Fighting Irish despite a poor showing from the team’s defense. Tate ran a 4.42 40 yard dash which was faster than expected and will likely be a late first early second round pick. Tate’s hands and speed will be able to make up for his size which came in at less than 5’11”.

NFL Predictions: Expect to see Tate off the board in the late 1^st round or early 2^nd.

Arrelious Benn WR, Illinois

Benn has been a much debated about receiver coming into the draft. Benn’s play suffered mostly from poor quarterback play at Illinois and showed good speed with a 4.48 40 yard dash time and good strength with 20 bench press reps. Benn has great hands and will likely be a hot name in the late 1^st round as teams look for a big fast target like Benn.

Losers:

Joanthan Dwyer, RB Georgia Tech

Dwyer looked out of shape and ran a 4.64 40 yard dash. His hands were AWOL and concerns about being able to produce on 3^rd down have his draft stock plummeting to 3^rd round territory.

Dan LeFevour, QB Central Michigan

LeFevour looked impressive in the Senior Bowl and the MAC quarterback needed a good showing at the combine to keep the momentum up for his growing draft buzz. Well, he didn’t. For some reason LeFevour decided to only throw to stationary targets and didn’t show off much arm strength doing so. He did run a 4.6 40 yard dash which was second fastest in the combine for quarterbacks, however LeFevour will have to have a good pro day to stay in the 3^rd round.

This guy must have done this as a joke because that’s what his team played like on Saturday! Check out this video of FSU’s right tackle not even moving after they snap the football.  How does he not move when all other 21 plays are running around on the field? This has to be a joke. The video comes from NFL Monday Night countdown:

Overall Profit 5 units

We gave back a few units, but are still on the plus side of things. I have keyed one game for this weekend that I believe may be the absolute biggest play of the year. I will have it posted as soon as I confirm all the numbers and analysis.

College Basketball has started and I cannot be more excited. I told you before it is where I have found the most success, in terms of money made. Last year I was posting my plays on another site under SMART BET and received roughly 500 hits a day. Last night I tipped things off by going 2-0 with a first half and game side play on Ohio State. There are more college games beginning on Wednesday.

Thanks for all the comments.

I am analyzing tonight’s game between Ohio and Buffalo and will post a play if I find something I really like.

Miami’s Jordan Futch completely lays out Georgia Tech’s Steven Sylvester.

The BCS rankings are out. After giving them a look, this is what I think the Bowl games should be. Oklahoma is just barely ahead of Texas, which means they’ll face Missuouri in the Big 12 Championship. Missouri should get killed by them and Oklahoma will walk their way into the National Championship, to face the SEC Champion, which is between Florida and Alabama.

BSC Championship: Oklahoma vs. Florida

Sugar Bowl: Texas vs. Alabama

Rose Bowl: USC vs. Penn State

Fiesta Bowl: Texas Tech vs. Utah

Orange Bowl: What’s the deal with the Orange Bowl, is it usually ACC vs. Big East or just the next two BCS teams? OK, Ohio State vs. Boise State.

Let’s hope that’s how things shake out.

Here is the BCS Bowl Game schedule (Final BSC standings):

BCS Championship:
No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 2 LSU
January 7, 2008, 8 p.m. FOX

My take: I think this is who has to be in the national championship. I would argue that it should be LSU v. Oklahoma because the are, in my opinion, the two best teams in the NCAA and would make a better national championship, but unfortunately the computers like 11-1 teams more than 11-2 regardless of the way Oklahoma had lost game #2 (an injured quarterback and a controversial penalty call that cost them the game). Ohio State played a mickey-mouse schedule and it’s ridiculous that they get to sit back in the last 2 weeks of the season and watch teams lose so they could sneak in. There needs to be a Big 10 title game in the future, they just need to find 1 more team to join their conference, or at least add another game to the schedule!

Rose Bowl:
No. 7 USC vs. No. 13 Illinois
January 1, 2008, 4:30 p.m. ABC

My take: With the Rose Bowl, you have to keep it Pac 10 vs. Big 10, so 9-3 Illinois gets in by default. It’s too bad it can’t be Ohio State vs. USC with the national championship between LSU and Oklahoma.

Fiesta Bowl:
No. 4 Oklahoma vs. No. 9 West Virginia
January 2, 2008, 8 p.m. FOX

My take: This is a game I’m really excited to watch. There should be a lot of offense.

Sugar Bowl:
No. 5 Georgia vs. No. 10 Hawaii
January 1, 2008, 8:30 p.m. FOX

My take: Hawaii may be 12-0, but I’m not drinking the Cool Aid yet. The Boise State team that played Oklahoma last year was much better than this Hawaii team. I think Georgia will straight up dominate them. I’m waiting to see what the spread on this game will be. If it’s around 10 points, I would take the Bulldogs.

Orange Bowl
No. 3 Virginia Tech vs. No. 8 Kansas
January 3, 2008, 8 p.m. FOX

My take: The Sugar Bowl isn’t too exciting and neither is this game. I would rather see Virginia Tech against Georgia and you could throw in Hawaii vs. Kansas as the default bowl game, but I guess that isn’t how these things work.

The rest of the bowl games:

Honorable mention goes to the Capital One Bowl, which is probably the only other Bowl game worth watching. It will be between Michigan and Florida. It takes place January 1 at 1:00, and will be seen on ABC.

Check out this referee explanation, I can’t believe he said that. [With Leather]