Finally, we’ve reached college football’s championship game between Ohio State and Oregon. Let’s take a quick look at how it will come down.
Monday
At Arlington, Texas
Ohio State +7 vs. Oregon (75): Did you know the Ducks have never beaten the Buckeyes? Did you know the HC Urban Meyer has gone 6-0 SU and ATS in his coaching career when getting points with rest?
The Urban legend will have a game plan to hawk the elusive QB Marcus Mariota who has thrown only three interceptions this entire year; he is good, no doubt. Look for Brutus to dot the “i” in Texas with Cardale Jones, who owns an arm like a rocket and a body like a tank, taking them to the promised land, take the points. OHIO STATE.
Last week: 7-10
Season: 71-65-1
Now to the National Football League and those playoffs.
It was just a thought as I love a good conspiracy theory and was just wondering if the schedule makers work for Bill Belichick and Company? The Pats will be at home for the better part of six weeks. After being crushed by the Chiefs on Monday night back on Sept. 29, the Pats, with the exception of a short road trip when they shuffled off to Buffalo on Oct. 12, slept in their own beds (well, maybe) from Sept. 30 to Nov. 15.
Their schedule was as follows: Oct. 5 at home vs. the Bengals, Oct. 12 shuffled off to Buffalo and then three straight home games, Oct. 16 the Jets, Oct. 26 the Bears, Nov. 2 Denver, then a nice bye week. Their next game was Nov. 16 in Indy and then back home to play the Lions on Nov. 23. It’s no wonder they put together a seven game win streak during that period. In the NFL there is nothing like getting that home cooking and R&R to take care of those nagging injuries.
Compare this to the Broncos who had three straight road games, flew from Denver to New England, then cross country again to play Oakland, another halfway journey to St. Louis, back to Denver to play Miami on Nov. 23, and then flew to Kansas City. This was a very tiring schedule for the Broncos.
After the tuck rule and Spygate, one would think the NFL is certainly looking to get the Pats back to the Super Bowl – just a little soup for the brain.
Here’s breakdown of the Conference semifinals.
Saturday
Ravens +7 at Patriots (48.5): The Ravens coming off of a huge win at Pittsburgh last week and match well with the Pats. Baltimore defeated the Pats in New England on the road to their Super Bowl win back in 2012, so they know how to beat these guys. Hey, Ray Lewis came out of retirement for one more game against this overrated bunch of crybabies and pretty boy Tommy Brady, who does have great taste in girls. Remember those 18-0 invincible Pats went down the tubes vs. the Giants. RAVENS.
Panthers +11 at Seahawks (41): These two met in Carolina back on Oct. 26 with the Seahawks squeezing out a 13-9 win. Just a very tough spot for the Panthers, but we can’t lay the 11 in what looks to be a low scoring game. We will wait late and look at the total. If it gets to 41, could play a little teaser with the Panthers +17 going to the Ravens +13. UNDER.
Sunday
Cowboys +6.5 at Packers (53): The Cows were very fortunate to win against the Lions even with the Bobby Layne curse on the Lions, but they got the big INT and the win. They won’t get that INT in Lambeau Field with Aaron Rodgers calling the signals. Green Bay gets the job done. Bye bye Cowpokes. PACKERS.
Colts +7 at Broncos (54): This should be a doozy of a game to watch as ex-Colt Peyton Manning meets the new Manning-Unitas QB of the Colts Andrew Luck. Indy opened the season in Denver losing 31-24 when getting 7 points. No Unitas to Berry in this game but we will see the ball is in the air a lot. Luck does have the ability to run with the ball where Manning does not want to run at all. This should be a wild and crazy game. We will play a teaser laying -1 with Denver to 0.5 with the Packers. Teaser: BRONCOS -1/PACKERS 0.5.
Last week: 0-0
Season: 14-17
Have a great week and remember make a bet everyday as you just may be walking around lucky and not even know it.
Richard Saber, a former director of race and sports at the famed Stardust book, is GamingToday’s horse racing and sports handicapper. Follow Richard on Twitter @SabesBet. Contact Richard at [email protected].