Eastern Washington faces another tough start in 2012
NCAA Football Betting Lines
01/18/2012 -
Cheney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington football refuses to ease into
a season.
After starting the 2011 season with four straight losses in September, the
Eagles will face another difficult schedule in the first month of the 2012
season.
EWU, the 2010 FCS champion, will open its schedule, announced Wednesday, with
two straight games at FBS opponents, former Big Sky Conference rival Idaho on
Sept. 1 and Washington State on Sept 8.
Following a bye in the schedule, the Eagles will go on the road for their Big
Sky opener at Weber State on Sept. 22. They then will finish the month on
Sept. 29 by hosting rival Montana, the 2011 Big Sky co-champion and a FCS
semifinalist this season.
The Eagles will play four other home games at Roos Field against North Dakota
(Oct. 6), Sacramento State on Homecoming (Oct. 20), Cal Poly (Nov. 3) and UC
Davis (Nov. 10). Although Cal Poly is joining the Big Sky in 2012, the Eagles'
game against the Mustangs is not one of their eight conference games.
EWU's other conference road games are against 2011 Big Sky co-champion Montana
State (Oct. 13), Southern Utah (Oct. 27) and Portland State (Nov. 17)
This past season, EWU opened the season with road losses to Washington and
South Dakota, then began Big Sky play with a loss at Montana and a home
setback to Montana State. The Eagles won six of their final seven games to
finish 6-5.
"The teams are tough and that will be a challenge," said head coach Beau
Baldwin, who expects to return eight starters on both offense and defense.
"Yes, it's tough - there is no question about that. But in terms of the trips
themselves, they are not as difficult as they could be.
"Two out of our first three road games are pretty short bus rides," he
continued. "Then we have a bye before our first league game, which is a fairly
easy flight."
In the new 13-team Big Sky, EWU won't play Idaho State, Northern Colorado or
Northern Arizona, which all had losing seasons in 2011.
2012 Eastern Washington Football Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 1 - at Idaho - Moscow, Idaho
Saturday, Sept. 8 - at Washington State - Pullman, Wash.
Saturday, Sept. 22 - at *Weber State - Ogden, Utah
Saturday, Sept. 29 - *Montana - Cheney, Wash.
Saturday, Oct. 6 - *North Dakota - Cheney, Wash.
Saturday, Oct. 13 - at *Montana State - Bozeman, Mont.
Saturday, Oct. 20 - *Sacramento State (Homecoming) - Cheney, Wash.
Saturday, Oct. 27 - at *Southern Utah - Cedar City, Utah
Saturday, Nov. 3 - Cal Poly - Cheney, Wash.
Saturday, Nov. 10 - *Cal Davis - Cheney, Wash.
Saturday, Nov. 17 - at *Portland State - Portland, Ore.
* - Big Sky Conference game
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
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As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
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