There may be no surprises when it comes to who we believe will meet for the conference title but there’s one team in the conference we believe is being grossly overvalued based on their 2012 win...

Everyone seems to have their own version of a college football power poll. Whether it’s the AP, Coaches, or college football annuals, this is the time of year we put our research to the test and rank the field. I know people will take umbrage with a few teams that I’ve ranked abnormally high (Florida) compared to popular consensus however that’s the nature of the exercise.  Rankings elicit strong emotions across college football fan bases so have at it and tell me how crazy I truly am for my preseason seeding. 1 Alabama 2 USC 3 LSU 4 Oregon 5 Florida St 6 Georgia 7 Oklahoma 8 Florida 9 Wisconsin 10 Ohio St 11 Arkansas 12 Texas 13 South Carolina 14 Nebraska 15 Michigan 16 West Virginia 17 Oklahoma St 18 Michigan St 19 Notre Dame 20 Virginia Tech 21 TCU 22 Stanford 23 Clemson 24 Auburn 25...

The ultimate college football podcast attacking the SEC and all things gambling for this fall   Follow all your contributors on twitter: Host Drew Collins Bleacher Report Lead Writer: Adam Kramer SB Nation Lead Gaming Columnist: Bud Elliott...

Written by Chris Copeland (follow him on twitter @trackthebet) The public has clamored and yelled about blowing up the BCS for quite a while and we have our playoff. Well, we finally got our wish but with this new 4 team format, are we really going to have fewer questions and more answers? I’m still not quite sure college football got it right. Lets start with what we do know about this playoff system: 1) There will be a committee that determines the “most deserving” teams. However, what the hell does most deserving mean? I’m not sure I understand what that ambiguous terminology means and I’m willing to bet most of the committee members don’t either. 2) We know there will be a selection committee but who exactly is on this panel that determines the fate of an entire college football season? Names thrown around are primarily those of former coaches, AD’s, and journalists but color me skeptical. To say people with conference affiliations and ties to major universities won’t have bias is ludicrous. 3) There will be an overall strength of schedule component and conference champions will be given added consideration. Again, what does it mean when you consider last year UCLA was an upset (albeit monumental in stature) away from winning a power conference. It seems that it’s up to the committee’s discretion to weigh parts they deem fit when determining teams for the playoff, which ends up in a subjective discourse no different than scoring a boxing match or Olympic gymnastics. Taking a look at recent history, the top 4 “most deserving” teams is pretty gray and might stir an even greater debate than naming the 2 national title participants would have the past few years. 2011 One would assume the committee would have selected the #5 ranked Pac-12...

This time of year we’re all itching to get our football fix in any capacity. Whether its searching for an angle on draft props, anticipating situational spots based on the NFL schedule release, or mulling copious future book options every gambler is getting involved. With the recent release of a few high profile college football win totals at an offshore book, it only made sense for me to try and break down my thought process when it comes to setting an opening number. Every bookmaker handle’s this process differently but for my purposes I try to rate each game 0 to 10 with a 10 meaning a virtual lock and 0 implying it will take a Stanford over USC type upset to grab the win.  At the end of the process, I’ll add up my total and attach appropriate juice based on intangibles, public perception, and overall gut feel. Let’s use the upcoming schedule for USC to illustrate my process since the Men of Troy have already been crowned by some as de facto national champions before the season even starts. For ease of reading, my probability of winning each game is bolded to the right of every opponent. 2012 USC FOOTBALL SCHEDULE Sept. 1 — Hawaii (10) Sept. 8 — vs. Syracuse (@ E. Rutherford, N.J.) (9) Sept. 15 — at Stanford (8) Sept. 22 — California (10) Oct. 4 (Th.) — at Utah (8) Oct. 13 — at Washington (7) Oct. 20 — Colorado (10) Oct. 27 — at Arizona (9) Nov. 3 — Oregon (5) Nov. 10 — Arizona State (10) Nov. 17 — at UCLA (9) Nov. 24 — Notre Dame (8) The total in bold adds up to an overall rating of 103, or in simper terms 10.3 wins...

written by Matt Lindeman [ twitter @lindetrain ] As we embark upon another college football postseason and make our best determination as to who will be studs and who will be duds in the coming weeks, there are three key factors we must keep in mind to effectively cap the bowls: Coaching There’s no greater factor when trying to determine a team’s mental state than the man in charge, as coaching becomes all the more significant in the postseason. Take a look back and you’ll find some of the biggest bowl head-scratchers over the past five years have come when an inept coach leads the favorite—and conversely, some of the most impressive performances have been the result of a distinct coaching advantage.  Before coming to the conclusion your team will or won’t come to play, make sure you have a clear understanding of that team’s tendencies under the current head honcho.  Nothing is more agonizing than laying double digits with a Tommy Bowden-led Clemson team who inevitably gets smoked by bowl newbie Kentucky, or fading Chris Petersen and Boise while watching them steamroll an inferior Utah bunch. While there are exceptions (even Petersen and Nick Saban have fallen victim to bowl upsets over the past few years), having a capable leader on your side will be a significant advantage from a motivational standpoint. Bowl History & Location Highly underutilized in the effort to cap bowl motivation is a team’s recent bowl history.  What better indicator of how a team will approach an upcoming matchup then recent performances in the postseason?  While one team might be hungry to avenge a poor showing in their previous bowl appearance, another may be complacent after cruising the last time out. Just as recent successes or disappointment can fuel...