If someone would have told you that referees would affect your NFL weekly picks, you’d probably think that Roger Goodell lost his marbles and hired Tim Donaghy to start officiating football games. Certainly it’s nowhere near that serious, but a small tweak to the positioning of officials has caused a big stir during the preseason.
For years, we’ve all seen video of running backs and linebackers plowing over officials too slow to clear out. While it’s provided plenty of Football Follies fodder over the years, it became a safety issue for many of the older officials in the league. So in an effort to keep the men in stripes up to speed with the fastest players on the field, the NFL decided to try placing the umpire in a new spot. Instead of lining up in his traditional spot in the center of the defense, the league chose to move the umpire into the offensive backfield behind the deepest running back. The official would move back to his original spot during the last several minutes of each half.
One problem: No one consulted Peyton Manning. During last week’s game against the Green Bay Packers, Peyton and pals were flagged twice for illegal snaps – not waiting long enough for the official to get into position before starting the play. That made Manning snap; complaining that the new rule would make it harder for teams – his team specifically – to rally in the two-minute offense. Manning got some backup from his general manager, Bill Polian, who says he would have voted against the rule change if he knew how it would have affected his team.
In response, the league is attempting to tweak the rule. For the weekend’s games, the umpire will stay in the offensive backfield except for the final five minutes of game, when he will once again spot up in his traditional position. The league is also looking at increasing the spot up to five minutes instead of two minutes for the final minutes of games.
Regardless of how the rule is enacted, one thing is for certain: There will be plenty of action over the course of the next several months both in the NFL and in the NCAA. Both leagues expect fan and television ratings to go through the roof once the final regular season rolls around. More action means more money in the bank as both negotiating rights still exist and extended licenses mean longer seasons.
But beyond the markets in both sports, there is another potentially huge sports betting area that is just as exciting as last year’s BCS Championship. That is, the college football market. A year after Florida slugged it out with Tennessee for the BCS title, the recreational betting world was introduced to a new way to bet on football: the “Dewavegas.”
Under this new structure, which is still being implemented in some markets, the favorite college football team is not the only team that counts. The points spread goes also to the team that is less favored, known as the “underdogs.” If you bet on the “underdogs” and the team wins, you win the money line credited to you. If you bet on the favorites and the team loses, you lose the bet. What makes the money line setup interesting, though, is that the betting can be split between the two teams, so if the favorites win or lose, you win some cash on the favorites and lose some on the underdogs.
For example:
The line was -58 and -58 respectively. You bet on the favorites (+110), since they are more likely to win. Your opponent bet on the underdogs at +110, you on the longshot at + 110. Now the point spread is -58 and +58. You win the money line credited to you, since you bet on the favorites. On the other hand, your opponent bet on the underdogs at -58 and +58. Now the line is -130 and +130. Your initial bet of -58 plus the -10 on the favorites, results in a win. Your opponent’s bet of +58 plus the +10 on the underdogs results in a loss.
As you can see, betting the longshot can pay off quite well. The NCAA football betting lineswill go through cycles, but the long runs are the determining factors in determining whether a team will contend for a title each year or not. Knowing this, it’s easier to look at the quarterback situations during the cycles and how they relate to changes at the quarterback.
Obviously, everybody knows about Vince Young and his Texas Longhorns. But there are other teams that can threaten to do great things this season. Thus, it’s important to check out how the quarterback situation can affect a team over the season.
From that information, it’s obvious Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Troy Smith will not run the ball any time this season, thus putting more pressure on JT3.