I knew better than to deposit with a “too good to be true” signup bonus but figured I would roll the dice and see what the outcome was. Obviously it didn’t pan out to well for me and I hope this article saves a few members from joining sportsbooks without doing any homework.

Find Good Sportsbook Reviews

When you want to try out a new sports betting organization or receive an email with a special bonus to join them you need to first ask yourself a few questions. Is the bonus too good to be true? How professional is the letter? Do you think they are licensed and reputable?

These are all great questions you could ask yourself before sending in your hard earned money into a sportsbook. To find out the answers to some of the questions above you can do research on Google or even better read the reviews given on casinochoice sports betting reviews. A majority of these reviews are written from experience and give you as the gambler a better idea what you’re getting into before you get stuck and out.

One of the most disturbing things around sports betting is the scams and almost too hard to cash out rules that some businesses offer. Try to avoid sportsbooks who offer a high bonus and a large rollover. The value on such a bonus goes out the window when the rollover is high. I think the best option as a sports bettor is to go with no bonus where you’re able to cash out your hard earned funds at any time without having to worry about going bust prior to doing so.

When a bonus offer is just too hard to say no to and you have done extensive research. Do some more research! What I mean is if you feel safe wagering there I recommend you take another look on what competitors are offering. You might just find a better deal elsewhere. Sometimes sportsbooks will offer you a bonus bettor then where you’re considering on joining because they want your business. To receive these types of offers you need to contact them directly via email or over the phone and ask to speak to a sales representative.

My favorite sports betting bonus comes from Bet365. Currently new clients are eligible for a 25 dollar match bonus when they signup. The offer might not seem very well but the rollover and other terms that come along with it are very favorable towards you. If you have been paying attention during this thread you will realize you should do more research regarding them and I have provided an extended Bet365 online review for you to go over. They offer a large variety of promos and reviews on all the major sports betting companies and will help you determine what the best bet is for you.

These two teams obviously have great potential going far into the 2012 march madness but nothing in these two teams has the “Cinderella” name tagged to them. Below I have listed three teams I would not vote out early in this year’s bracket. They have proven to be legitimate teams and could make the sweet 16 with ease.

Michigan Wolverines (4 seed – Midwest Region Bracket)

Assuming the Wolverines continue to play well I see them advancing against Ohio with ease. Michigan has defeated some great teams this year including the dismantling of Memphis early in the season. They also have a great caliber win against Michigan State in January so this is not a team you can play lightly.

Although Michigan is rated No 4 in the Midwest bracket and is the highest seed for them since 1998 this is a bracket buster team all teams must watch out for. They are entering the postseason basically injury free and I predict them to put up huge numbers against Ohio University and potentially Temple the round after.

Vanderbilt Commodores (5 seed – East Region Bracket)

After hanging in tough and defeating arguably the best team in basketball, it’s hard not to select a team like Vanderbilt to reach the Elite 8. They are sitting in a great spot in the East Bracket starting their adventure playing 12 seed Harvard. I’m a big fan with the concept brains over brawn however this is going to be an example where brawn wins over brains. You must be able to play defense and have big men at the boards to compete in this tournament.

I have not heard of any injuries for Vanderbilt going into the dance so I would expect a healthy production from the entire team. Assuming Wisconsin is able to defeat Montana I expect Vanderbilt to be able to take Wisconsin down on the boards well and survive for another win. This is a team you must watch out for as they will make a run for the final 4.

Marquette Golden Eagles (3 seed – West Region Bracket)

Marquette committed 26 turnovers and allowed 26 offensive rebounds against Louisville on March 10th. They are going into the tournament with their heads down but do not underestimate this team. They are lined up nice in this year’s march madness bracket while getting to face the winner in the Iona and BYU game. No matter who wins that match up I think Marquette will come back knowing what needs to be done to win.

With a win, they would play the winner of the Murray State vs. Colorado State game. They might just have the easiest path towards the Sweet 16 where they will have an opportunity to give a team like Missouri a run for their money. Select Marquette to reach the sweet 16 and possibly further.

Some of the fans of these teams might question whether or not their team is truly a “Cinderella” team. However, you need to think about the big picture. How many people do you think will have Marquette, Vanderbilt or Michigan going deep in the tourney this year? These teams are all considered “Cinderella” teams by the average fan and that’s why I’ve picked them as my Cinderella teams this year. I will be watching this year’s march madness games on numerous channel networks however I prefer to watch the games on CBS as the commentating is far superior to what the other stations offer.

As a bonus I predict the winner of this year’s 2012 march madness tournament to come out of the west bracket with Michigan St. They have been playing great ball as of late and have the ability to perform well in competitive games. The big starting senior Draymond Green for Michigan State is playing very well and with his experience on the court I don’t think any team can keep up with them. Good luck with whomever you choose to win the big dance and remember to check back daily for more up to date picks and predictions.

We are less than 2 hours away from the beginning of the Selection Sunday show on CBS. There has obviously been a lot of action in the past 2 days, so let me get you up-to-date.

A-10 – The biggest news is that St. Bonaventure won the A-10 tournament and stole an At-large bid from the remaining teams on the bubble. This means at least 3 and possibly 4 teams will make the Big Dance: Temple, St Louis, St Bonaventure and possibly Xavier who lost in the A-10 finals. The teams hurt the most by this are the mid-majors like Drexel, Iona, Marshall (who made a valiant run to the C-USA finals), BYU and Oral Roberts.

ACC – Florida State went through both Duke and UNC to win the ACC tournament. NC State should have done enough to get into the NCAA tournament. However, Miami is most likely going to be left out.

Big East – Louisville came out of nowhere to win the Big East tournament. It will be interesting to see how many teams get in from this conference. I guarantee that at least 8 team will make the NCAA tournament. West Virginia and South Florida have the strongest cases to be the 8th and possibly 9th team.

Big Ten – As of writing this, this is the conference championship game still being played. Northwestern is probably out now that there are less at large bids left.

Big 12 – Missouri is going to be a team to look out for this March. They beat Baylor in the Big 12 tournament after Baylor took out Kansas. Texas is probably going to be in and I would not expect them to be one of the last four.

Mountain West – New Mexico beat both of the other two powers, SDSU and UNLV, on their way to the MWC title. If Colorado State makes the tournament, they will be one of the First Four teams. Their strength of schedule and RPI are what will probably get them into the Tournament.

Pac 12 – The other big shocker of the weekend was Colorado winning the Pac-12 tournament and getting the automatic bid. Sorry to say, but this does little to help out this conference. I did think that 3 teams could make it, but not anymore. The strength of schedule and RPI will hurt all of these teams except for California. I don’t expect Washington, Oregon or Arizona (who lost by 2 in the finals) to make the tournament. Of these teams, Arizona has the best case to be one of the last 4.

SEC – Vanderbilt knocked off Kentucky in the SEC finals to take their first title since 1951. This will be another interesting conference to see how many teams will get into the NCAA tournament. Mississippi made a run until they met Vandy in the semi-finals. They may have a good case over both Tennessee and MSU.

Bracket Predictions

1 Seeds – Kentucky, Syracuse, Missouri, (Winner of Ohio State vs Michigan State)
2 Seeds – North Carolina, Kansas, Florida State, (Loser of Ohio State vs Michigan State)
3 Seeds – Louisville, Duke, Memphis, Vanderbilt
4 Seeds – Marquette, Cincinnati, Michigan, Baylor
5 Seeds – Wisconsin, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Murray State
6 Seeds – Wichita State, Florida, Creighton, Temple
7 Seeds – New Mexico, St Mary’s, San Diego State, Iowa State
8 Seeds – Indiana, UNLV, Virginia, Connecticut
9 Seeds – Kansas State, California, West Virginia, Purdue
10 Seeds – Southern Miss, Texas, Alabama, NC State
11 Seeds – Xavier, Ole Miss, Colorado State, South Florida, Iona, Arizona
12 Seeds – Saint Louis, VCU, Colorado, Long Beach State
13 Seeds – Ohio, New Mexico State, Harvard, St Bonaventure
14 Seeds – Belmont, Lehigh, Detroit, Davidson
15 Seeds – South Dakota St., Loyola (MD), Norfolk State, LIU Brooklyn
16 Seeds – Vermont, Montana, UNC-Asheville, Lamar, Western Kentucky, Mississippi Valley State

Last 4 At-Large Bids – Colorado State, South Florida, Iona, Arizona

It’s only a few days away from Selection Sunday and some of the Conference Championship tournaments are finished or underway. The majority of the big conferences will begin their conference tournaments tomorrow, March 8. These conference tournaments will rap up on Sunday a couple hours before the NCAA tournament brackets come out.

This means that you have to get familiar with a lot of these teams very quickly before you need to fill out your brackets. I have traditionally done very well with picking winners for the first 2 rounds of the tournament. After that, my brackets usually get destroyed. But, selecting the correct teams for the Elite 8 and Final 4 is necessary if you are going to win any march madness contests.

Realize that there is a lot that is yet to be determined and don’t forget that there are still 68 teams selected for the Big Dance. The First 4 is the new first round of the tournament. This features 2 play-in games for the 16 seeds and 2 play-in games for the 11 seeds. This represents the weakest 4 conference champions and the last 4 at-large teams selected to the tournament. This is important in case a team can use this play-in game to get warmed up and make a run like VCU did last year.

So without further adieu, I give to you the important knowledge that is currently available in this post.

Conference Championship Tournaments

Here are the current Conference Champions:

Atlantic Sun – Belmont (27-7)
The teams that are on the bubble can breathe a sigh of relief because Belmont was the only team that could threaten to take an at large bid. They came back in the 2nd half against the Cinderella team of Florida Gulf Coast (15-17) to win their conference tournament.

Big South – UNC-Asheville (24-9)
UNC-Asheville needed to win the conference tournament as the #1 because they were unlikely to receive an At-Large bid. They were head and shoulders better than the rest of this conference.

Colonial Athletic Association – VCU (28-6)
Their back! VCU famously went to the Final 4 last year after being one of the last 4 At-Large teams picked (and heavily criticized for it). They had to play in the First 4 and road that win Houston last year. I think that it will be unlikely that 3 teams will be selected from the CAA this year. That means Drexel (27-6) will probably be in after taking VCU to the buzzer in the CAA title game. That also means George Mason will probably be out this year.

Horizon League – Detroit (22-13)
The Horizon League traditionally only gets 1 bid into the NCAA tournament. That means that Butler (20-14) will not be in the NCAA Tournament this year as they lost in the 2nd round of the tournament. Detroit was a mild upset as the #3 seed; but the top teams in the conference do not have as good of records as they did last year when they only received 1 NCAA bid.

Ivy League – Harvard (26-4)
The Ivy League does not have a conference tournament to decide the winner. Instead the automatic bid goes to the team with the best conference record. Harvard is not going to be an easy out in this tournament, but I don’t see them making the Sweet 16.

MAAC – Loyola MD (24-8)
If Iona (25-7) had won this conference tournament, the MAAC probably would have only got 1 team into the tournament. However, a second round upset by Fairfield means that there may be one less spot for a Bubble team. Unfortunately for Iona, they may be left on the fence if a bunch of teams in bigger conferences make a run in their respective tournaments.

Missouri Valley Conference – Creighton (28-5)
This was a big sigh of relief for all teams on the bubble. Both Creighton and Wichita State were going to be in the NCAA tournament. However, Illinois State (20-13) took Creighton to overtime in the MVC title game. This means that only 2 teams will receive bids from this conference.

Ohio Valley – Murray State (30-1)
While the outcome doesn’t seem to be a surprise, there was almost a major upset in the Ohio Valley title game. Tennessee State (20-12) lost by 2 points in a thrilling game. This is yet another time for the big conference teams to breathe a little easier as many of the lower conference teams are winning their conference tournaments.

Southern Conference – Davidson (25-7)
Davidson had a wild title game against #3 seed Western Carolina (17-18) where they won a double OT thriller. It’s a good thing for them because they would not have received an at-large bid.

Summit League – South Dakota St (27-7)
Even though Oral Roberts has a 27-6 record, they lost to Western Illinois in the 2nd round of the tournament and don’t have a chance at an At-Large bid. South Dakota St won in yet another conference title game that went to OT.

Sun Belt Conference – Western Kentucky (15-18)
Our first true Cinderella story. Western Kentucky defeated North Texas (18-14) in an upset laden Sun Belt tournament. Middle Tennessee (25-6) will be hoping for an At-Large bid, but they lost their last two games including a first round upset. This makes their trip to the NCAA tournament unlikely.

West Coast Conference – Saint Mary’s (27-5)
At this point, you can pretty much pencil in Saint Mary’s and Gonzaga (25-6) into the NCAA tournament every year. They played each other in the conference title game and it was still another contest that was decided in overtime. BYU (25-8) probably still have a legitimate shot to make the NCAA tournament as well this year.

Here are the Conference Tournaments that will be decided soon:

American East – #1 Stony Brook (22-8) vs #2 Vermont (22-11)
Unlike the other games in this list, this title game will not be played until Saturday. However, it will not matter who wins outside of the two fan bases because only one will make the NCAA tournament.

Big Sky – #1 Montana (24-6) vs #2 Weber State (24-5)
The loser of this contest is very unlikely to receive an automatic bid as the Big Sky is one of the weaker conferences in Division 1. (Montana Grizzlies win 85-66)

Northeast Conference – #1 LIU Brooklyn (24-8) vs #3 Robert Morris (24-9)
This is another lose and your out conference championship game. The NEC is another one of the weakest conferences in Division 1. (LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds win 90-73)

Patriot League – #1 Bucknell (24-8) vs #2 Lehigh (25-7)
Despite the great records, neither team has a signature non-conference win to the resume. So, this will be yet another win-and-your-in or lose-and-go-home title game. (Lehigh Mountain Hawks defeats Bucknell 82-77)

Other Conference Tournaments and Ramifications

All of the other conference tournaments have either not started or are not close to being finished. Here are the things that you will need to know about these conferences, Bubble teams and teams that are locks.

ACC

Teams that are in – UNC, Duke, Florida State, Virginia
Teams that have to win at least 2 wins in the ACC tournament – Miami, North Carolina State

Atlantic 10

Teams that are in – Temple, Saint Louis
Teams that need to do well in the A-10 tournament – Saint Joseph’s, Xavier, Dayton

Big East

Teams that are in – Syracuse, Marquette, Georgetown, Louisville, Notre Dame, Cincinatti, West Virginia
Teams that need to do well in the Big East tournament – Uconn, South Florida, Seton Hall

Big Ten

Teams that are in – Michigan State, Ohio State, Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue
Needs to win 2 games in the Big Ten tournament – Northwestern

Big 12

Teams that are in – Kansas, Baylor, Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas State
Needs at least 1 win in Big 12 tournament – Texas

Big West Conference

Teams that should be in – Long Beach State
All other teams need to win the conference tournament

Conference USA

Teams that are in – Memphis, Southern Miss
All other teams need to win the conference tournament

Mid American Conference

Only the winner of the MAC title game will be getting an NCAA tournament bid

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference

Only the winner of the MEAC title game will be getting an NCAA tournament bid

Mountain West Conference

Teams that are in – UNLV, San Diego St, New Mexico
Needs at least 1 win in the MWC tournament – Colorado State

Pac-12

The Pac-12 is very interesting this year, and by interesting I mean bad. The main reason for this is that not one team has a signature win outside of the conference. A first round loss for Washington, California, Oregon or Arizona could leave that team out in the cold.

Depending on how things go in the conference tournament, I expect at least 2 teams and possibly 3 teams to make the tournament from this conference.

SEC

Teams that are in – Kentucky, Florida, Vanderbilt, Alabama
Teams that need at least 1 win in the SEC tournament – Tennessee, Mississippi State

Southland Conference

Only the winner of the Southland title game will be getting an NCAA Bid

Southwestern Athletic Tournament

Only the winner of the SWAC title game will be getting an NCAA Bid

Western Athletic Conference

Even though Nevada has a 25-5 record, they will still probably need to win the WAC tournament in order to receive an NCAA Bid

NCAA Tournament Look So Far

Conference Championship Automatic Bids – 31 Teams
At Large Bids available – 37 Teams

Guaranteed At-Large Bids taken – 27 Teams
(This assumes that a team that is a Lock will win their conference tournament)

At-Large Bids available – 10
The following teams are in consideration for these 10 bids: Miami, North Carolina St, Uconn, South Florida, Seton Hall, Northwestern, Texas, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Mississippi State, Tennessee, Colorado State, Saint Joseph’s, Xavier, Dayton, Iona, BYU, Drexel

This is 20 teams, but remember that the PAC-12 does not have a team that is a Lock so there are 10 spots for 19 teams and 9 of the teams will be left outside of the NCAA tournament.

Update Friday, March 9 – 4:00PM ET

Here is a quick update for the Bubble Watch over the past 2 days:

A-10 – U Mass just provided the bubble teams a little bit more anxiety. They defeated the top seed Temple in the second round of the A-10 tournament. If Saint Louis doesn’t win the A-10 tournament, there will likely be at least 3 teams in the NCAA Tournament.

Big East – Connecticut locked up an At Large bid with 2 Big East tournament wins and a near upset of Syracuse. West Virginia should still be in as well, even with their loss to Uconn. South Florida and Seton Hall are starting to get on the wrong side of the Bubble.

Big Ten – Northwestern is probably out of the NCAA tournament after losing to #10 seed Minnesota in overtime.

Big 12 – Texas is probably in after beating Iowa State, although a win against Missouri would clinch it.

Mountain West – This tournament has gone true to form with all 4 higher seeds winning. Colorado State would probably clinch an at large bid with a win over San Diego St.

Pac-12 – Washington lost a game that they had to have against Oregon State. After giving the Beavers an early lead, they came back and lead by 8 only to give up the game at the end on a layup. Oregon met a similar fate to Colorado. Both of these teams have to hope a lot of teams falter.

SEC

Mississippi State did not want to go into Selection Sunday like that. A 10 point loss against a sub .500 Georgia team is probably going to make the Bulldogs miss the NCAA Tournament.

So this leaves a total of 9 At large bids that are not locks (Uconn took 1). We have possibly eliminated 6 of the 19 remaining potential at large teams: South Florida, Seton Hall, Northwestern, Oregon, Washington and Mississippi State.

That leaves the following 13 teams in that group of potential at large teams: Miami, North Carolina St, Texas, California, Arizona, Tennessee, Colorado State, Saint Joseph’s, Xavier, Dayton, Iona, BYU, Drexel

That total of 9 At-Large bids can change very quickly if a surprise team wins the A-10, Pac-12, Conference USA or Big West. Also, don’t forget that some of these team only need 1 or 2 more wins to wrap up a bid. That will leave more teams fighting for fewer remaining spots.

Meanwhile once the opening period has passed, Pinnacle accepts $30,000 per bet and this limit only provides them an opportunity to move the line. Professionals can place as many $30,000 max bets as they’d like and get down seven-figures on a game if they so desire. Meanwhile they have unparallel reputation for fast payouts.

For payouts $10,000 or less these are processed in less than 5 minutes 24/7/365 on demand to Moneybookers or Neteller. Payments of over $10,000 (and you can do $65,000 per transaction with multiple transactions per day) they often take 10-30 minutes as they require manager approval. This is the site the biggest punters in the world wager with (but be reminded they don’t accept US players).

I spent all this time explaining the betting market so you can understand that Pinnacle Sports offers true market price + vig. Their betting odds are a representation of the overall opinion of the largest, savviest and most successful bettors in the world. If you understand this and beat their prices elsewhere you’re making +EV Bets. This why understanding how to remove vig is important.

How to Remove Vig

Let’s Pinnacle Sports has a moneyline of Boston Celtics -285 / New York Knicks +245. A mistake many recreational bettors often make is averaging the two out and believing the fair price without vig is Celtics -265 / Knicks +265. This is in fact a mistake, to remove vig the first step is to convert to implied probabilities (scroll up to earlier where I covered this if you need the math).

-285 has an implied probability of 74.03% and +245 of 28.99%. Add them together 74.03+28.99 and you’ll see the total probabilities are 103.02%. The reason they are over 100% is the vig (bookmaker advantage) to remove it let’s just divide each implied probability by the overall percents market (in this case 103.02).

Doing out the math we see 74.03/103.02=71.86% and 28.99/103.02=28.14%; abracadabra alakazam a little division magic and these now total 100%. This tells us the betting market is giving Celtics a 71.86% chance of winning and Knicks a 28.14% chance of winning.

Let’s save this article from having any boring advanced math and I’ll just tell you Google search “odds converter” and plug in 71.86% in the implied probability field to see this is American odds -255, and plug 28.14% into the same field to see this is +255. So the no vig market price of -285 / +245 = -255 / +255.

Because we know the Pinnacle line represents the opinion of the best bettors in the world we now just need to find any online sportsbook, bookie or sports book willing to offer us better than -255 on the favorite or +255 on the underdog and we likely have found a +EV bet. This is actually a lot easier said than done… but if you understand everything I’ve covered in this article so far you now know more than 90% of the sports betting population and are going to be far more receptive to advanced strategy in the future.

Remember, when you accept a sports book deposit bonus or any free sports bets offers you will not have any of these options with the vig. In normal circumstances, I would try to get reduced juice for betting on games rather than being forced to wager a certain amount before being allowed to make a withdrawal. You will also find that bonus may have restrictions against betting on games with certain odds.

The two places where horse racing is the most popular are the United States and the United Kingdom.

Both countries have a long tradition with this sport and there are some classic races each year on both sides of the pond.

USA Horse Racing

If you live in the US, then you most likely are only start to pay attention to horse racing in early May when the Triple Crown starts with the Kentucky Derby. Two weeks later, the Preakness Stakes is held in Baltimore, Maryland. Three weekends after that, the final race in the triple crown is the Belmont Stakes.

The casual fans are waiting to see the next Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978. There have been several horses in the past 20 years that have won the first two legs and tripped up at the Belmont. One reason that is often blamed is the length of the track (1 1/2 miles) which is a quarter mile longer than the other 2 tracks.

If different horses win the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, the ratings for the Belmont will usually fall flat. The passionate horse racing fans will still crowd their local tracks as this does not usually effect people who are betting.

What most people don’t realize is that there are Graded and Stakes Races that are taking place every weekend. Most of these tracks are in the South and California because of the season. But the Graded races in particular will help to go a long way in determining the field for the Kentucky Derby.

The big races are the Graded Stakes for 3 year old horses. Horses make a name for themselves by winning one or more of the larger purses. This is because only 3 year old horses can compete in the Triple Crown. The horse only gets one shot to win and can’t come back the next year.

For example, one name you might be hearing in the Kentucky Derby is Algorithms. This is the 3 year old colt that just won the $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park. He beat the favorite Hansen (the reigning 2 year old champ) by 5 lengths. Of course, there are plenty of time for other horses to make a name for themselves.

UK Horse Racing

Horse Racing has been in the UK much longer than the US. The term Triple Crown was originated in 1853 when a horse named West Australian won three races: the 2,000 Guineas Stakes, the Epsom Derby, and the St. Leger Stakes. These three races are also run between early May and early July.

The main difference between horse racing in the United States and horse racing in England is how the race is run. Most horse racing in the US is done a track or oval that the horses race around. Different tracks can be different lengths. However, in England, there are two main forms of horse racing: Flat Racing and National Hunt racing.

Flat racing is very similar to the horse racing in America. The horses race a predetermined length on an open track without any obstructions. These races are designed to test the horses speed and stamina as well as the abilities of the jockey. These races vary in length between five furlongs (1,006 m) to over two miles (3,219 m). The three races in the Triple Crown are all flat races.

The National Hunt racing is a form of steeplechasing when the horse must race over fences or hurdles. The biggest event of the year in the UK is generally the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. This is a race that begins on the final day of the 4 day Cheltenham Festival.

If you would like, you can learn how to bet on the Cheltenham Festival. This horse racing event begins on Tuesday, March 13 and ends on Friday the 16th. Each day has a featured race at 3:20pm. This race and the race preceding it are the heats that take most of the betting.

Unlike the major horse races in the US, horses can race in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in multiple years. The top two favourites for this race are last year’s winner, Long Run, and the two time Gold Cup winner Kauto Star. This means that the majority of the field is going to be have long odds to win.

Most of the top sports news sites like ESPN and CBS sports offer these contests. This is also the time of year that you can find office pools for college bowl games. These contests usually work one of two ways: pick the winner or pick the spread. Obviously, picking the spread is more difficult because there aren’t many easy games to call.

If you are playing pick the bowl game winner, this can work in one of three ways:

1) You get 1 point for each correct team picked.

2) You get less points for winning the early bowl games and more points for winning the BCS and Championship games.

3) You pick teams based on your confidence that they will win. You will have to pick a number of points between 1 and 35 to wager on each bowl game. The same number cannot be used twice. The points are added up to determine a winner.

2011/2012 Bowl Schedule

I’m going to give you a quick rundown of the bowl games and my picks for this bowl season. This will be a quick explanation of the winner, score and confidence of the winner.

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL

Temple (8-4) Vs Wyoming (8-4)
Winner – Temple
Score – 28 – 24
Why – More impressive wins overall
Confidence – 8 of 35

FAMOUS IDAHO POTATO BOWL

Ohio (9-4) vs Utah State (7-5)
Winner – Ohio
Score – 27 – 21
Why – After almost upsetting Auburn in week 1, the Aggies have been struggling to beat mediocre teams.
Confidence – 15 of 35

R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL

SDSU (8-4) vs La Lafayette (8-4)
Winner – San Diego State
Score – 31 – 28
Why – SDSU has played tougher competition in non-conference and Mountain West is a better conference than the Sunbelt.
Confidence – 17 of 35

BEEF ‘O’ BRADY’S BOWL ST. PETERSBURG

Florida Int’l (8-4) vs Marshall (6-6)
Winner – Florida International
Score – 34 – 17
Why – Marshall has a poor offense and they sneaked into a bowl game by barley beating a bad Memphis and took the bowl invite from ECU in overtime.
Confidence – 28 of 35

San Diego County Credit Union Poinesttia

#18 TCU (10-2) vs Louisiana Tech (8-4)
Winner – TCU
Score – 34 – 27
Why – Don’t sleep on the bulldogs, TCU may take this game lightly because of the disappointment of not getting a BCS bowl bid.
Confidence – 34 of 35

MAACO BOWL LAS VEGAS

#7 Boise State (11-1) vs Arizona State (6-6)
Winner – Boise State
Score – 37 – 21
Why – I know that Nebraska was beaten by Washington last year in a similar situation, but this really would be a shocker if ASU wins.
Confidence – 35 of 35

SHERATON HAWAII BOWL

#21 Southern Miss (11-2) vs Nevada (7-5)
Winner – Southern Miss
Score – 35 – 34
Why – Southern Miss better not get a big head after beating Houston. They should have been undefeated but laid eggs against sub-par Marshall and UAB.
Confidence – 30 of 35

AdvoCare V100 INDEPENDENCE BOWL

Missouri (7-5) vs North Carolina (7-5)
Winner – Missouri
Score – 27 – 20
Why – Missouri is on a roll lately and they have played the Big 12 teams tough all year long.
Confidence – 14 of 35

LITTLE CAESARS BOWL

Western Michigan (7-5) vs Purdue (6-6)
Winner – Western Michigan
Score – 45 – 42
Why – Western Michigan has one of the best offenses and Purdue has played games like this against the MAC before.
Confidence – 4 of 35

BELK BOWL

Louisville (7-5) vs North Carolina State (7-5)
Winner – North Carolina State
Score – 24 – 20
Why – NC State is coming off of two memorable games and Louisville has been struggling against teams that aren’t in the Big East.
Confidence – 7 of 35

Military Bowl — Pres. By Northrop Grumman

Toledo (8-4) vs Air Force (7-5)
Winner – Toledo
Score – 54 – 47
Why – This could go either way, but it will be very high scoring. Both offenses are great and both defenses are mediocre.
Confidence – 10 of 35

BRIDGEPOINT EDUCATION HOLIDAY BOWL

#24 Texas (7-5) vs California (7-5)
Winner – Texas
Score – 30 – 27
Why – Very close matchup, almost a pick em in my opinion.
Confidence – 5 of 35

CHAMPS SPORTS BOWL

Florida State (8-4) vs Notre dame (8-4)
Winner – Florida State
Score – 20 – 17
Why – Notre Dame is 1-4 against good teams this year. However, FSU hasn’t distinguished themselves against good competition either. The FSU defense will be the difference in this game.
Confidence – 6 of 35

VALERO ALAMO BOWL

#12 Baylor (9-3) vs Washington (7-5)
Winner – Baylor
Score – 42 – 35
Why – See last year against Nebraska if you want to know if Washington can win. However, two bad defenses will hurt Washington more than Baylor and Robert Griffin III.
Confidence – 31 of 35

BELL HELICOPTER ARMED FORCES BOWL

Brigham Young (9-3) vs Tulsa (8-4)
Winner – BYU
Score – 31 – 20
Why – Tulsa has played poorly against good competition. BYU also had some BCS conference wins this year.
Confidence – 19 of 35

NEW ERA PINSTRIPE BOWL

Rutgers (8-4) vs Iowa State (6-6)
Winner – Rutgers
Score – 17 – 14
Why – As pumped up as Paul Rhoads is going to get his team, Rutgers essentially has the home field advantage. Iowa State had a couple of big wins but they have still lost 6 of their last 9 games.
Confidence – 11 of 35

Franklin American Mortgage Music City

Mississippi State (6-6) vs Wake Forest (6-6)
Winner – Mississippi State
Score – 37 – 21
Why – Mississippi State has played a brutal schedule and played well against some of the best teams in the country. Wake Forest has lost 4 of their last 6.
Confidence – 23 of 35

INSIGHT BOWL

#14 Oklahoma (9-3) vs Iowa (7-5)
Winner – Oklahoma
Score – 37 – 14
Why – Besides for beating Michigan, Iowa has played poorly this year including an embarrassing loss to Minnesota. Oklahoma was once the #1 team in the country before stumbling down the stretch.
Confidence – 33 of 35

MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL OF TEXAS

Texas A&M (6-6) vs Northwestern (6-6)
Winner – Northwestern
Score – 40 – 38
Why – Texas A&M is going to have a hangover after firing Mike Sherman. Dan Persa will lead Northwestern to a bowl win after falling just short the past couple of years.
Confidence – 21 of 35

HYUNDAI SUN BOWL

Georgia Tech (8-4) vs Utah (7-5)
Winner – Georgia Tech
Score – 35 – 27
Why – The fact that Utah lost to Colorado when they had a chance to go to the Pac-12 Championship. Georgia Tech will run the ball all day long.
Confidence – 20 of 35

AutoZone LIBERTY BOWL

Cincinnati (9-3) vs Vanderbilt (6-6)
Winner – Cincinnati
Score – 30 – 23
Why – Vandy plays teams close, but they can’t seem to actually win these games.
Confidence – 32 – 35

KRAFT FIGHT HUNGER BOWL

Illinois (6-6) vs UCLA (6-7)
Winner – UCLA
Score – 27 – 17
Why – Both teams lost their coaches, but UCLA had some backbone when they played Oregon. Meanwhile Illinois lost 6 in a row and their offense hasn’t scored more than 17 points in these games.
Confidence – 2 of 35

Chick-fil-A BOWL

#25 Auburn (7-5) vs Virginia (8-4)
Winner – Virginia
Score – 24 – 17
Why – Auburn has not done well against teams with a good defense. They average less than 17 points a game against teams with a defense in the top 3rd.
Confidence – 12 of 35

TICKETCITY BOWL

#19 Houston (12-1) vs #22 Penn State (9-3)
Winner – Penn State
Score – 25 – 24
Why – Houston is going to have an emotional letdown after losing their BCS bowl bid. Penn State has one of the best defenses in the country and will be on an emotional roller coaster of their own.
Confidence – 3 of 35

OUTBACK BOWL

#16 Georgia (10-3) vs #17 Michigan State (10-3)
Winner – Michigan State
Score – 34 – 30
Why – Georgia may be an SEC team, but they had an easy schedule this year as most of the SEC East was rather weak. Michigan State needs this one if they ever want to be taken seriously as a big time program.
Confidence – 1 of 35

CAPITAL ONE BOWL

#9 South Carolina (10-2) vs #20 Nebraska (9-3)
Winner – South Carolina
Score – 25 – 20
Why – I will call this the Forrest Gump bowl game; “I was running”. Both of these teams run the ball and have good/great defenses. USC got lucky and didn’t play Alabama or LSU. Nebraska has a couple of poor performances in big games this year.
Confidence – 9 of 35

TAXSLAYER.com GATOR BOWL

Ohio State (6-6) vs Florida (6-6)
Winner – Ohio State
Score – 18 – 13
Why – Ohio State has lost 3 straight, but won some big games earlier in the year. They also have their coach of the future and of Florida’s past in Urban Meyer. Florida doesn’t have the offense to win this game and hasn’t played well for much of the season.
Confidence – 18 of 35

ROSE BOWL GAME PRESENTED BY VIZIO

#5 Oregon (11-2) vs #10 Wisconsin (11-2)
Winner – Oregon
Score – 48 – 38
Why – Oregon clearly has the better offense even though they are going against Monte Ball. Wisconsin will struggle defensively against Oregon like they did against Michigan State. The Badgers may keep it close but Oregon will win.
Confidence – 27 of 35

TOSTITOS FIESTA BOWL

#3 Oklahoma State (11-1) vs #4 Stanford (11-1)
Winner – Oklahoma State
Score – 42 – 37
Why – This will be a shootout, but OK State has a little bit more offensive firepower than Stanford and Andrew Luck.
Confidence – 13 of 35

ALLSTATE SUGAR BOWL

#11 Virginia Tech (10-2) vs #13 Michigan (10-2)
Winner – Michigan
Score – 35 – 28
Why – Virginia Tech’s defense hasn’t seen an offense like Michigan this season. They lost both games to Clemson and layed an egg in the ACC championship game. Denard Robinson has saved his best for the end of the season and one of the worst defenses in the nation last year has been transformed into a top 20 defense in one season.
Confidence – 22 of 35

DISCOVER ORANGE BOWL

#15 Clemson (10-3) vs #23 West Virginia (9-3)
Winner – Clemson
Score – 34 – 27
Why – It was same old Clemson until they surprised Virginia Tech. There is just no way of knowing about West Virginia with their poor losses and lack of competition in the non-conference and Big East.
Confidence – 26 of 35

AT&T COTTON BOWL

#6 Arkansas (10-2) vs #8 Kansas State (10-2)
Winner – Arkansas
Score – 38 – 24
Why – Arkansas has a potent passing game and Kansas State is susceptible to being beaten by these types of teams.
Confidence – 29 of 35

BBVA COMPASS BOWL

Southern Methodist (7-5) vs Pittsburgh (6-6)
Winner – Pittsburgh
Score – 25 – 22
Why – SMU has played poorly since they beat TCU back in October. Pittsburgh won this bowl game last year.
Confidence – 25 of 35

GODADDY.com BOWL

Arkansas State (10-2) vs Northern Illionois (10-3)
Winner – Arkansas State
Score – 37 – 34
Why – These teams are pretty even, but Arkansas State has a better defense which gives them the edge.
Confidence – 16 of 35

ALLSTATE BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

#1 LSU (13-0) vs #2 Alabama (11-1)
Winner – LSU
Score – 17 – 13
Why – LSU is the best team in the country right now. They beat Alabama on the road and the Tide are lucky to get the rematch. It will be another defensive battle, but some TDs will be scored this time around.
Confidence – 24 of 35

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The Yanks looked like clear favorites after beating up on the Tigers 10-1 in game 4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Surely they would do just as well at home with their left-handed heavy lineup and a short right field deck.

Unfortunately for New York, the bats failed them at critical times when they could have blown the game wide open. The Yankees had the bases loaded with one out in the 4th and 7th innings and they could only manage to walk in one run in those two situations.

Aside from Robinson Cano, the Yankees hitters struggled up at the plate and could only hit dribblers and seeing-eye singles. Alex Rodriguez struggled particularly badly with an 0-4 game and two critical strikeouts; one with the bases loaded and 1 out and the other to end the series for New York.

Credit has to go to both pitching staffs for making critical pitches and shutting down both teams offenses. Detroit scored 2 runs on back-to-back homers in the first inning, but they only managed to squeeze one more run off of CC Sabathia who was making his first ever relief appearance.

After that critical run that CC gave up, the Detroit hitters didn’t have a chance against the best three man setup in the game. If the Yankees had pulled ahead, Soriano, Robertson and Rivera would have closed the door.

However, the Detroit bullpen was finally up to the challenge. Benoit through critical strikeouts to get the Tigers out of the 7th inning with only the one run allowed. Valverde had a perfect ninth and took out the heart of the Yankees line up for the save.

In the end, the Tigers found the magic formula for beating the Yankees in the playoffs: Don’t face Mariano Rivera! He through a postseason low of 8 pitches during the 5 game series. The three Tigers hitters didn’t have a chance as he took them out in 5 pitches in the top of the ninth.

So now we know that the Yankees season is over, while the Tigers go on to play the Texas Rangers in the ALCS.

This 5 game series makes a first round upset much more likely to happen. This is what the favorites in the AL and NL are hoping to avoid. Both the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Yankees were favorites to win their respective leagues, but both teams have been pushed to the limit. Will we see a major upset?

Game 5 Picks

Philadelphia vs St Louis

It would be a monumental collapse if the Phillies lost to the St Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals were an unlikely candidate to even make the playoffs. They sat 8 1/2 games back of the Atlanta Braves at the beginning of September. They made it into the playoffs on the last day by beating the Houston Astros while the Braves lost their last game to the Phillies.

This would make for an all-time irony if the Cardinals can repay the Phillies by beating them in game 5. Philadelphia looked like a shoe-in for the second round when they beat up the Cardinals for the first 11 innings of the postseason. Since then, they have had to scratch and claw for every run as the Cardinals pitchers have shut down the Phils vaunted offense.

However, the fantasy ending is not going to happen this time around. Roy Halladay is the started and the Phillies are at home for game 5. Roy shut the Cardinals offense down for 7 of the 8 innings of work in game 1 after he gave up 3 runs in a shaky first inning. The Cardinals are countering with their best pitcher, Chris Carpenter. However, Carpenter is going on short rest again and looked very average in the first two innings of game 2.

My predictions is that the Phillies are going to get out of the gates early on Carpenter and ride Halladay for an easy 5-1 win.

New York vs Detroit

The Tigers roared through September with the best record in baseball. They easily won the Central Division title, but couldn’t beat out the Rangers or Yankees for home field advantage. Because of that, the Yankees get to play game 5 at home.

The Tigers had a good shot at eliminating the Yankees after beating them in games 2 and 3. They were facing a mediocre in AJ Burnett. But, the Tigers could not capitalize with their bats and New York took all of the momentum back home with a 10-1 thumping.

New York has to hope that the game 5 starter for Detroit, Doug Fister, was as average as he appeared in game 1. If that is the case, the Yanks could run away with this game early. Except for Jose Valverde, the Tigers have no relief pitchers to help out if they get into trouble.

The Yankees are pinning their hopes to the Ivan Nova who effectively shut down the tigers for 4 hits over 6 1/3 innings in game 1. If they can get past Fister before the 7th inning, they should be celebrating in New York tonight.

I predict that the final score of this game 5 will be 10-4 Yankees.

Milwaukee vs Arizona

This series turned out to be more exciting then I thought. Both of these teams are very closely matched, finishing just 1 game difference in the standings. The home team has won all 4 games in this series so far.

Fortunately for Milwaukee, they were the ones that finished one game ahead in the standings, so they get the home field in game 5. Fans in both cities may want to call off work this Friday, as the game starts at 5:07 ET and 2:07 PT.

This is going to the toughest game 5 to call. Runs are going to be at a premium as both aces Gallardo and Kennedy will take the mound in this critical matchup. Will Milwaukee continue the home team trend or can the Diamondbacks complete the 0-2 comeback?

My prediction for this game is that the Milwaukee Brewers will win a tight game 3-2.

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Soon after hitting this buzzer beater to force overtime he went on to control the OT and guide the Bulls to win leading all scorers having 30 points 11 assists 4 rebounds and had a career high 5 steals.

Bulls won 119-116 and will deal with the Oklahoma City Thunder Monday at the UC.