College Football Edition of the Pinnacle Pulse
Internet's largest sportsbook gives betting strategy and tips for college football season.
(PRWEB) August 31, 2006 -- With the opening weekend of college football just days away, many players are studying off-season changes. One of the biggest changes doesn’t involve any players or teams, but the length of the game.
Rule 3-2-5-e states, “When Team A is awarded a first down, the clock will be stopped and will start on the ready for play signal.” This amendment means the clock will restart when the ball is ready after a punt or kickoff; the clock didn’t start in prior years until the ball was snapped.
In a typical game, each team has about 12 possessions. The new rule should come into play approximately 24 times and is estimated to shorten games by five minutes. One consequence of this new rule is lower scoring games. If each team now only has 11 possessions instead of 12 (12 * 55 minutes / 60 minutes), scoring should be about 8% lower. The linemakers at Pinnacle Sports agree, and totals will be lower than in previous years.
Additionally there are two less obvious impacts that sharp bettors will look to exploit in college. First, the average margin of victory will decrease. A game spread is the sum of expected scoring in all possessions. In reasonably close match-ups (where the spread is 14 or less), expect the game to be slightly closer than in years past. A game lined at -14 in previous years might be -13 or -12.5 this year.
This won’t be as significant between unevenly matched teams. For example, take the Texas/North Texas match-up, where the Longhorns are 41-point favorites. In expected blowouts, the favorite typically plays its starters until up about 30 points before putting in the second-string. While there’s still one fewer possession per team, many second-half possessions are routinely spent just chewing up the clock and have less effect on the total compared to possessions in close games.
Another more subtle result of the new clock rule is that more games will be won by exactly 3 and 7 points. If each team had exactly one possession, nearly all games would be decided by 3 or 7 points (or end in a tie). Each additional possession decreases the likelihood of landing on the 3 or 7. In a two possession game, a team could also win by 6, 10 or 14. Conversely, reducing the length of the game by five minutes makes the 3 and 7 slightly more likely to occur.
Many books already under-price the 7, allowing bettors to buy onto and off of the 7 for 10 cents. With the new rules, this type of point buying becomes even stronger -- perhaps strong enough that some may blindly play all teams at -7.5 or +6.5 at retail, buying onto and through the 7.
These changes will provide the greatest opportunities for sports bettors early in the season before lines are fully corrected by oddsmakers. In addition to rule changes, understanding how teams have changed in the off-season can also reap profits.
All college teams experience a learning curve during the season. The longer teammates play and practice together under a single system, the more consistent they’ll become. While bettors understand that low roster turnover will improve a team, many sports bettors underestimate the changes that occur during a season.
A team with only five returning starters doesn’t play equally bad all season; instead, they’ll often start poorly and improve throughout the season. Instead of viewing this team as “consistently bad” for the entire year, the more precise opinion is to view this team as “very bad” during the first half of the season, and just “somewhat bad” as the team gains experience. Similarly, teams with many returning starters have a pronounced early season advantage, but this diminishes as the season progresses.
Bettors should also consider whether there’s been a coaching change. If there’s a new coach, the team tends to revert to the mean -- winning teams will win less, and losing teams will lose less. On the other hand, a team with a returning head coach and many returning starters should be on track for a solid season.
The following teams that return their head-coach and at least 20 starters are poised to start 2006 on a high note:
1. Arizona
2. Ball State
3. Kent State
4. Mississippi St.
5. Ohio U.
6. TCU
7. Western Michigan
Compare those to these teams returning less than 10 starters:
1. Florida St.
2. Georgia
3. Kansas
4. Louisiana Tech
5. Miami-Ohio
6. Penn State
7. Temple
For the first weeks of the season, there may be opportunities to back the first seven teams and fade the second set. On September 16th, Miami-Ohio will play at Kent State. This game presents a unique betting opportunity, when a team from each list plays, and it’s doubtful the point spread will adequately adjust for the extreme difference in returning starters.
So which game are players betting at Pinnacle Sportsbook?
USC -8.5 +101 at Arkansas
Sharp betting 101: Fade teams that played for the National Championship the first two weeks. USC opened as moderate 9-point road favorites in the opener, and heavy balanced action poured in. It’s been mostly sharps on Arkansas and public money backing USC. What does “sharp players” are on a side mean? Player profiling identified long-term winners through a variety of statistics. Last year’s “sharp plays” listed in The Pulse won over 58% of the time, but remember that past results are no guarantee of future success.
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