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Bowl pix by JR -- the Real Expert

Posted on: December 17, 2010 10:48 pm
Edited on: December 17, 2010 11:05 pm
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Are you ready for the Bowl Season? First kickoff is less than 16 hours away.

Even though I failed to defend my regular-season title among the experts, I look to bounce back with my bowl picks … but I have always struggled this time of year. You never know what team will show up; if a team is so bummed it's not playing in a bigger bowl (See Alabama) and isn't as focused as it should be.

But below, I'm making my picks anyway. More importantly, I'd like to point out my underdog moneyline strategy, which I will keep an updated scorecard for on the comment part of this blog.

The idea: Play the moneyline on the underdog for every bowl through Dec. 30. In the picks below, I list the moneyline in parentheses from scoresandodds.com.

Ex: BYU over UTEP (+320) means, even though I'm picking BYU to win to help my standings vs. the experts, I'm suggesting to play UTEP at +320 to win outright. I will keep records for my picks and the underdog moneylines for all the games. But I don't like the underdog moneylines after Dec. 30.

Some games won't have a +moneyline next to it, because there isn't one if the game is virtually a pick 'em.

Before getting to my winners below, a quick reminder of the Expert Picks regular-season standings: Chip Patterson 236-68, Darst 234-70, me 230-74, Dodd 2227-77, Jacobi 225-79 & Horowitz 222-82.

HANDICAPPING
As for my regular-season suggestions, I finished 19-23-1. I know, not good, but we'll get three of them back on Day 1 as I like the lines on all three games (UTEP +11½, Northern Illinois -1½ & Ohio +2).

There are a total of seven games I like. Add Central Florida +6½, Michigan State +9½, TCU-Wisconsin over of 58½ and Kentucky +3½.

If there are any more that pop up, I'll post on the comment board of this blog.

Good luck and have a happy holiday & bowl season.

THE WINNERS
SATURDAY, DEC. 18
New Mexico:  BYU over UTEP (+320) – Take the 11½ points
Humanitarian: Northern Illinois over Fresno State (+114) – Lay the 1½ 
New Orleans: Ohio (+110) over Troy – Take the 2 points

TUESDAY, DEC. 21
Beef O'Brady's:  Southern Mississippi (+120) over Louisville

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 22
Maaco: Boise State over Utah (+485) 

THURSDAY, DEC. 23
Poinsettia: San Diego State over Navy (+165)

FRIDAY, DEC. 24
Hawaii: Hawaii over Tulsa (+305)

SUNDAY, DEC. 26
Little Caesars: Florida International (+108) over Toledo

MONDAY, DEC. 27
Independence: Air Force over Georgia Tech (+125)

TUESDAY, DEC. 28
Champs Sports: West Virginia over North Carolina State (+125)
Insight: Missouri over Iowa (+108)

WEDNESDAY, DEC. 29
Military: East Carolina (+240) over Maryland
Texas: Baylor over Illinois (+110)
Alamo: Arizona (+175) over Oklahoma State

THURSDAY, DEC. 30
Armed Forces: SMU over Army (+250)
Pinstripe: Kansas State over Syracuse
Music City: Tennessee (+110) over North Carolina
Holiday: Nebraska over Washington (+400)

FRIDAY, DEC. 31
Meineke Car Care: Clemson over South Florida (+170)
Sun: Notre Dame (+125) over Miami
Liberty: Georgia over Central Florida (+210) – Take the 6½ points
Chick-Fil-A: South Carolina over Florida State (+135)

SATURDAY, JAN. 1, 2011
TicketCity: Texas Tech over Northwestern (+300)
Outback: Florida over Penn State (+250)
Capital One: Alabama over Michigan State (+310) – Take the 9½ points
Gator: Mississippi State over Michigan (+170)
Rose: Wisconsin 36 (+120), TCU 28 – Play the over of 58½
Fiesta: Oklahoma 42, Connecticut 13 (+475)

MONDAY, JAN. 3
Orange: Stanford 38, Virginia Tech 30 (+140)

TUESDAY, JAN. 4
Sugar: Ohio State 31, Arkansas 24 (+145)

THURSDAY, JAN. 6
Go Daddy.com: Miami of Ohio over Middle Tennessee State

FRIDAY, JAN. 7
Cotton: LSU over Texas A&M (+101)

SATURDAY, JAN. 8
BBVA Compass: Kentucky (+145) over Pittsburgh – Take the 3½ points

SUNDAY, JAN. 9
Fight Hunger: Nevada over Boston College (+310)

MONDAY, JAN. 10
BCS title game: Auburn 43, Oregon 38 (+135)

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Category: NCAAF
Tags: Air Force, Alabama, Alamo Bowl, Arizona, Arkansas, Armed Forces Bowl, Army, Auburn, Bama, Baylor, BBVA Compass Bowl, BCS Championship Game, BCS Title Game, Beef O’Brady’s Bowl, Boise State, Boston College, bowl predictions, bowl season, Brigham Young, BYU, Capital One Bowl, Central Florida, Champs Sports Bowl, Chick-fil-A Bowl, Clemson, College football, college football handicapping, college football picks, Connecticut, Cotton Bowl, Eagle Bank Bowl, East Carolina, expert picks, Fiesta Bowl, Fight Hunger Bowl, FIU, Florida, Florida International, Florida State, Fresno State, FSU, Ga. Tech, Gator Bowl, Georgia, Georgia Tech, GoDaddy.com Bowl, Hawaii, Hawaii Bowl, Holiday Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl, Illinois, Independence Bowl, Insight Bowl, Iowa, K-State, Kansas State, Kentucky, Liberty Bowl, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Louisiana State, Louisville, LSU, Maaco Bowl, Maryland, Meineke Car Care Bowl, Miami, Miami of Ohio, Michigan, Michigan State, Middle Tennessee State, Military Bowl, Mississippi State, Missouri, money line, moneyline, MSU, Music City Bowl, Navy, NC State, NCAA football, NCAA football picks, NCAA handicapping, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico Bowl, New Orleans Bowl, NIU, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Ohio, Ohio State, OK State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Orange Bowl, Oregon, OSU, Outback Bowl, Penn State, Pinstripe Bowl, Pittsburgh, Poinsettia Bowl, Rose Bowl, San Diego State, SMU, South Carolina, South Florida, Southern Methodist, Southern Miss, Southern Mississippi, St. Petersburg Bowl, Stanford, Sugar Bowl, Sun Bowl, Syracuse, TCU, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Texas Bowl, Texas Christian, Texas Tech, Texas-El Paso, TicketCity Bowl, Toledo, Top 25, Troy, Tulsa, UCF, UConn, UNC, underdogs, upsets, USF, Utah, UTEP, Va. Tech, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin
 
Comments

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 10, 2011 10:29 am
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Fight Hunger Bowl update

Everyone had Nevada, so here are the standings heading into tonight's title game. Yep, I'm back at .500 for the bowls.

Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 22-12, Jacobi 19-15, Darst 18-16, me 17-17, Dodd 17-17 & Horowitz 17-17
Overall: Patterson 258-80, Darst 252-86, me 247-91, Jacobi 244-94, Dodd 244-94 & Horowitz 239-99 (One more chance to reach 100)

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 8, 2011 7:22 pm
 

Bowl pix by JR -- BBVA Compass Bowl update

Well it only made sense that I was wrong on my last handicapping suggestion of the year with my pick of Kentucky +3½ vs. Pitt. With the loss, I close the bowl season 2-6 and the finish 21-29-1 on the season.

Patterson, Jacobi & Darst had Pitt in their Expert Picks. The rest, including me, were wrong, which drops me below .500 again.

Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 21-12, Jacobi 18-15, Darst 17-16, me 16-17, Dodd 16-17 & Horowitz 16-17
Overall: Patterson 257-80, Darst 251-86, me 246-91, Jacobi 243-94, Dodd 243-94  & Horowitz 238-99 (Will he lose 100?)

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 8, 2011 3:36 pm
This comment has been removed.

Post Deleted by Administrator

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 8, 2011 3:34 pm
This comment has been removed.

Post Deleted by Administrator

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 8, 2011 12:20 am
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Cotton Bowl update

I won the last two games to reach.500, not that it's anything to brag about.

Experts: Everyone had the Miami RedHawks over Middle Tennessee State in the Go.Daddy.com Bowl except for Jacobi. Patterson, Dodd and me were the winners in the Cotton Bowl, picking LSU over Texas A&M.

Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 20-12, Jacobi 17-15, Darst 16-16, me 16-16, Dodd 16-16 & Horowitz 16-16
Overall: Patterson 256-80, Darst 250-86, me 246-90, Dodd 243-93, Jacobi 242-94 & Horowitz 238-98

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 6, 2011 12:59 am
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Sugar Bowl update

Was pretty close on the Sugar Bowl score. I predicted Ohio state 31-24. The Buckeyes won 31-26. Everyone had the Bucks except for Dodd.

Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 18-12, Jacobi 17-13, Darst 15-15, Horowitz 15-15, me `14-16 & Dodd 14-16
Overall: Patterson 254-80, Darst 249-85, me 244-90, Jacobi 242-92, Dodd 241-93, & Horowitz 237-97

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 4, 2011 4:40 pm
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Orange Bowl update

I was correct on the Stanford pick. Let's hope I'm right on tonight's Sugar Bowl -- sticking with Ohio State.

Expert Picks standings
Bowls: Patterson 17-12, Jacobi 16-13, Darst 14-15, Horowitz 14-15, Dodd 14-15 & me 13-16
Overall: Patterson 253-80, Darst 248-85, me 243-90, Dodd 241-92, Jacobi 241-92 & Horowitz 236-97

Handicapping
I forgot to add my loss on the Rose Bowl over. That makes me 2-5 on the Bowl season and 21-28-1 on the year.

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: January 2, 2011 12:39 am
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Jan. 1 update

As expected, the favorites controlled the day, going 6-0 straight up. This is why I said, the Underdog Moneyline Strategy ends after Dec. 31 games.

As for the expert picks, I did go 5-1 today, but the hole I buried myself in earlier in the bowl season is just too big to climb out of.

Expert Picks standings
Jan. 1 Bowls: Patterson 6-0, Darst 5-1, me 5-1, Dodd 5-1, Jacobi 3-3 & Horowitz 3-3
Bowls: Patterson 17-11, Jacobi 15-13, Darst 14-14, Horowitz 13-15, Dodd 13-15 & me 12-16
Overall: Patterson 253-79, Darst 248-84, me 242-90, Dodd 240-92, Jacobi 240-92 & Horowitz 235-97

Handicapping
That was a short winning streak (off of UCF's win yesterday) as I completely regurgitated on my suggestion of taking Michigan State and the points against Alabama. That makes me 2-4 on the Bowl season and 21-27-1 on the year.

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: December 31, 2010 11:44 pm
 

Bowl pix by JR -- Dec. 31 update

Underogs ruled again today, going 4-0.

South Florida wins as a +170 vs. Clemson, Notre Dame wins as a +115 vs. Miami, Central Florida wins as a +210 vs. Georgia & Florida State wins as a (+120) vs. South Carolina.

That's a composite of +61.5 for the day, finishing at 10-8. Remember I said, I don't like playing the underdog moneyline strategy after Dec. 31, but I will continue to follow how the remaining bowl games play out.

Underdog moneyline strategy
0-1/-10: New Mexico BYU wins as FAV vs. UTEP (+320)
0-2/-10/Total -20: Humanitarian: Northern Illinois wins as FAV vs. Fresno State (+111)
0-3/-10/Total -30: New Orleans: Troy wins as FAV vs. Ohio (+110)
0-4/-10/Total -40: Beef O’Brady’s: Louisville wins as FAV vs. So. Miss (+120)
0-5/-10/Total -50: Poinsettia: San Diego St. wins as FAV vs. Navy (+130)
DNP: Las Vegas Bowl: Boise State wins as FAV vs. Utah (+550)
1-5/+31/Total -19: Hawaii: Tulsa (+310) wins as DOG vs. Hawaii
DNP:  Little Caesars: FIU opened as DOG, wins as FAV vs. Toledo
1-6/-10/Total -29: Independence: Air Force wins as FAV vs. Ga. Tech (+125)
2-6/+13/Total -16: Champs Sports: N.C. State (+130) wins as DOG vs. West Virginia
3-6/+13/Total -3: Insight: Iowa (+130) wins as DOG vs. Missouri
3-7/-10/Total -13: Military: Maryland wins as FAV vs. East Carolina (+270)
DNP: Texas: Illinois opens as DOG, wins as FAV vs. Baylor
3-8/-10/Total -23: Alamo: Oklahoma State wins as FAV vs. Arizona (+170)
4-8/+25/Total: +2: Armed Forces: Army (+250) wins as DOG vs. SMU
5-8/+10.3/Total +12.3: Pinstripe: Syracuse (+103) wins as DOG vs. Kansas State
DNP: Music City: North Carolina wins as PICK vs. Tennessee
6-8/+39/Total +51.3: Holiday: Washington (+390) wins as DOG vs. Nebraska
7-8/+17/Total +68.3: Meineke Car Care: South Florida (+170) wins as DOG vs. Clemson
8-8/+11.5/Total +79.8: Sun: Notre Dame (+115) wins as DOG vs. Miami
9-8/+21/Total +100.8: Liberty: UCF (+210) wins as DOG vs. Georgia
10-8/+12/Total +112.8: Chick-Fil-A: FSU (+120) wins as DOG vs. South Carolina

Handicapping
And I'm back on the winning side on the Handicapping chart, suggesting to take Central Florida at +6½. That makes me 2-3 during the Bowl season and a horrific 21-26-1 on the year.

As for the standings, I continue to suck, going 1-3. I’m now 7-15 on the bowl season.

Expert Picks standings
Friday’s Bowls: Jacobi 3-1, Horowitz 2-2, me 1-3, Dodd 1-3, Patterson 0-4 & Darst 0-4
Bowls: Jacobi 12-10, Patterson 11-11, Horowitz 10-12, Darst 9-13, Dodd 8-14 & me 7-15
Overall: Patterson 247-79, Darst 243-83, me 237-89, Jacobi 237-89, Dodd 235-91 & Horowitz 232-94

Happy New Year all!

Since: Aug 24, 2006
Posted on: December 31, 2010 11:09 pm
This comment has been removed.

Post Deleted by Administrator
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