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By Mike Wynn Sports

When handicapping the weekend’s football card there are many different ways one can go about doing it, and in this article we’re going to take a look at four different angles that are easy to use and require little work on your part.

1. The Sandwich Game
Throughout the course of a football season every team is going to have games where they’re focused and ready to go, and every team is going to have a game or two where they just come out flat. Sandwich games are often those games where the players just aren’t focused, and they can be great spots to pick up some easy money. Basically, in a sandwich game I’m looking for a team coming off a big game in a situation where they’re playing a far lesser opponent, and they’ve got another big game on deck next Saturday. Let’s use this scenario as an example. Take a team like Florida playing a game at home against a Florida St., and then they face a Mississippi, and then LSU after that. In an ideal sandwich situation you want a few things to take place. First I always want the team we’re looking to play against coming off a win in that first game. In our example I would have no interest in a Florida team off of a loss, as they’d be in a fowl mood and looking to vent a little frustration. Secondly I prefer the team we’re looking to go against, in this case Florida, to be laying substantial points on the road in a non-revenge situation. If Ole Miss had upset the Gators the year before I would look to stay away, as revenge is always a good motivator in college football. Thirdly the bigger the game on deck the better chance that your go against team will be peeking ahead. In our example a Florida/LSU game could have huge implications in the SEC conference race as well as national implications. Obviously not every sandwich situation is going to be ideal, but checking the schedules and looking for these spots can pay big rewards throughout the college season.

2. Double Digit Rivalry Dogs
Later in the college football season we get into the rivalry games and double-digit rivalry dogs are always something you want to take a look at. I think this system works for a couple of reasons. First and most obviously it’s a rivalry game, and generally speaking the two teams involved have penciled in the game as one of the highlights for the entire season. Emotions always run high and you’ll get a big effort from both teams, but especially the underdog as they are generally trying to salvage something from the season, and that’s why they’re getting the big points in the first place. Secondly and maybe not so obvious is the time of year that the rivalry games are generally played. They play these games most often late in the season, and what that does is give the teams a ton of game footage for the coaching staffs to go over. Let’s face it, by the 12th game of the season there probably isn’t a whole lot of tricks and wrinkles to the offensive and defensive schemes that they haven’t showed somewhere during the season. Rivalries tend to go back and forth so revenge is always something to be very aware of here, and double digit rivalry dogs at home are doubly nice as the home crowd atmosphere is huge in college football.

3. Bowl Underdogs Getting More Than A Touchdown
Bowl underdogs getting a touchdown plus have been fairly easy money over the years. Once again there are several reasons as to why this is the case. Firstly if your playing in a bowl game your generally a pretty decent football team. I know with all bowls that they play these days the teams playing in the lesser bowls have become weaker and weaker, but they play each other and games are generally competitive. Secondly, as I noted in the previous system, they play these games at the end of the season. Game film is readily available for all the teams playing in Division 1A, so the coaches have all that film and generally they have 4 weeks to go over it and come up with ways to defend or attack the other team. Thirdly is the intangible motivation of being the underdog, and not only an underdog, but an underdog of a touchdown plus. Let’s face it everybody on and off the field knows the lines of these football games, and it’s always easier for the coaching staff to motivate their team when they feel that they’re that they aren’t being given any respect. Throw in the fact that they play these games on neutral fields for the most part and your going to get a competitive game that stays inside a touchdown.

4. Ranked Underdogs Versus Unranked Teams
The last system I’m going to talk about here involves top 25 teams throughout the season. It’s a very simple that has produced good results in the past although it was not a money maker in 2007.What we are looking for is any ranked team in the top 25 that’s getting points versus an unranked opponent, and I look to go against the ranked team, and I’ll give you an example. Last year Wisconsin went to Illinois ranked 5th in the country and was a 2 point underdog against an unranked Illinois squad. We played Illinois in that game and got the money as Illinois won the game 31-26. The odds makers are generally looking for a underdog money here as the average fan would see Wisconsin undefeated, ranked number 5 in the country, and getting points Joe Public will undoubtedly look at this game and take the points with a ranked team and Vegas makes a nice profit. Now you do have to check the injury reports to make sure there’s nothing happening there to cause a drastic line adjustment, but if the game is clean take the favorite. This may seem backward for some of you, but trust me you don’t want to follow the sheep here. Be on the side of the bookmakers and you’ll be surprised how often you cash in using this simple system.

By Mike Wynn Sports

I’ve never been a big fan of using line moves as a handicapping tool per say. But I do believe there are a couple of strategies the average player can use to increase his or her chances of showing a profit by seasons end. There are usually two schools of thought when it comes to line moves.

1. Fade the line move. Opening numbers are sharper than the inflated closing numbers the public has driven up all week long. Bet against the line move as the odds makers know best.

2. Go with the line move. Lines are moving because of perceived sharp money, so jump on the bandwagon; they must know something you don’t.

Obviously these 2 strategies are extreme and simplistic, but I think with some tweaking we can make a modest profit with both schools of thought.

The first strategy I’m going to talk about is fading the line move, backing public teams in high profile TV games. When the weekend lines come out Sunday night at www.freeplays.com, pay close attention to the high profile National TV games with a clear-cut favorite. Call it the gambler’s mentality or the nature of the beast, but inevitably the money will come in on the favorite, as Joe Public generally desires to back the clear favorite. Don’t believe me, just watch the action on those late Saturday College TV games of 6 points or more, or watch the moves on Sunday and Monday Night NFL games when the line is more than a field goal. It’s rare to see the underdog getting the play, and of course the odds makers are well aware of this. So with this in mind, our strategy gives us double value as an already inflated line becomes more inflated with the public’s passion to back the perceived favorite and chase the line moves.

A good rule of thumb is to assume the early week line is the correct line. A line move toward the favorite of 2 points should make you money over the course of a football season. Line moves of 3 points or more should garner extra attention. Of course line moves due to injuries or suspensions to players or coaches should be thrown out. So check with www.freeplays.com for any critical injury information that would cause the lines to move.

The second strategy is going with the line move on low profile games where the money is flowing onto the underdog. My basic thought here is that money moving on these types of games generally represents your sharper players. Lets face it; Joe Public knows nothing about the Arkansas St’s, the Utah St’s, and Buffalo’s of the world. So when a line moves toward an underdog here, it’s not the general public taking N. Texas +10 down to +8, it’s people who know what they’re doing, and have specific reasons for playing N. Texas.

Playing with or against line moves is an easy system for players who don’t have a lot of time to handicap games. Best advice is to follow the simple rules I mentioned above and pay attention to line moves at www.freeplays.com.

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