We’ve waited over three months to identify the four best teams in college football. Hopefully on the final Saturday of the regular season we’ll be given that clarity we’ve sought since April. Nevertheless when the committee unveiled their field on Tuesday night the playoff outlook became clear cut for Alabama, Clemson, Michigan State, and Iowa: win and you’re in. For North Carolina, Ohio State, Stanford, and the loser of the Big Ten championship waiting will indeed be the hardest part. Teams may have to wait but oddsmakers sit idle for no one and as things stand right now there’s no true consensus among them regarding the best four teams in the country. William Hill Bookmaker Westgate Cantor Todd #1 Clemson Alabama Alabama Alabama Oklahoma (t-1) #2 Iowa Oklahoma Oklahoma Clemson Alabama (t-1) #3 Oklahoma Clemson Ohio St Oklahoma Ohio St #4 Alabama Michigan St Clemson North Carolina Clemson #5 North Carolina Ohio St Baylor (t-5) Iowa Stanford (t-5) #6 Michigan St Iowa Ole Miss (t-5) Ohio St Ole Miss (t-5) #7 Notre Dame Stanford Stanford Michigan St Baylor #8 Stanford North Carolina Notre Dame Notre Dame Oregon (t-8) #9 Florida St Notre Dame Oregon Stanford Florida St (t-8) #10 Baylor Ole Miss Florida St (t-10) Oregon Notre Dame (t-8) Michigan St (t-10) Michigan (t-10) TCU (t-10) Tennessee (t-10)   Alabama, Oklahoma, and Clemson appear to be three of the top four teams oddsmakers agree on yet that’s where consensus stops. Whose next in the pecking order? is it Iowa, Michigan St/Ohio St out of the Big Ten or should we be considering Stanford and North Carolina very much in the mix? Fortunately for Hawkeye and Spartan fans the task at hand this weekend is simple; win. For those donning Scarlet and Grey, Tarheel Blue,...

Another week of college football madness and teams are on the move in the eyes of the committee for no rhyme or reason. Oklahoma allegedly controls a game where they slip by TCU (without Boykin) by a single point despite entering as 17 point chalk…interesting. Iowa moves up the rankings while being outgained by the mighty Purdue Boilermakers, fascinating. Then there’s Notre Dame that manhandled Boston College everywhere on the stat sheet but since the final score indicated a tightly contested football game Fighting Irish stock took a solid hit. Thankfully in this crazy mixed up world we have the answer key to all of the college football community’s most pressing questions; our Vegas Top 10. William Hill Stations Westgate Cantor Bookmaker MGM Todd Clemson Clemson Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Alabama Oklahoma (t-2) Clemson Clemson Clemson Clemson Notre Dame Oklahoma Clemson (t-2) Oklahoma Oklahoma Stanford Oklahoma Oklahoma Iowa Ohio St Notre Dame Michigan St Baylor Baylor (t-4) Michigan St Notre Dame Baylor (t-5) North Carolina Notre Dame Oklahoma Ohio St (t-4) Iowa Michigan St Stanford (t-5) Iowa Iowa Notre Dame Stanford Baylor Baylor Oregon (t-7) Baylor Baylor Michigan St Notre Dame North Carolina Oklahoma St Ole Miss (t-7) Ohio St Ohio St Florida Ole Miss Michigan Ohio St Michigan (t-8) Michigan St North Carolina Michigan Michigan Stanford Michigan Notre Dame (t-8) Florida Stanford Oklahoma St Oregon After Ohio State’s ugly loss to Michigan St on Saturday, Alabama and Clemson are now share top billing among the oddsmakers in our poll. The only other team receiving votes for the second spot aside from the aforementioned Tide and Tigers is the Oklahoma Sooners via the Westgate Superbook. Once we get beyond the top three lines of the various polls the overall power profile gets...

Every Tuesday in November we’re privy to the most hotly contested debate in college sports (no, not what Mizzou administrator will get canned today); what 4 teams are deserving of inclusion in the college football playoff? Thankfully most unveilings are dress rehearsals meant to incite riots among fan bases while giving journalists plenty of fodder for their columns. The main takeaway for me every single week is how does the committee really grade the “best” teams in the land: is it win/loss record? Is it quality wins? Is it game control? Is it style points? Unfortunately the answer is YES to all of the above yet we’re devoid of a truly reliable quantitative element factored into the equation like the BCS required. In order to create an equal playing field there needs to be that math guy balancing out the process among college football blue bloods and athletic directors. Who better than an oddsmaker to share his or her take on proper valuations of the best teams in the land. To better gauge sentiment among the college football community I turned to some of the most influential football writers and oddsmakers to get their thoughts on the idea. “There is NO doubt in my mind that an oddsmaker would be a great addition to the College Football Playoff Committee, I’ve been saying that for several years. There is a bias in college football, especially with a committee whose average age is 57 after decades of being exposed to the bigger “brands” and older “styles” of football,” Peter Burns, SEC Network anchor, said. The list of current committee members reads the following: Jeff Long – Vice Chancellor and Athletic Director University of Arkansas Barray Alvarez – Director of Athletics Wisconsin (Former head football coach) Mike...

College football national title futures are on the move… After our first reshuffling of top 10 teams during week 3, the numbers on the big board look a lot different than they did back in August.  There’s still plenty of value out there in the market, especially with 1 loss teams still very much in the conversation.  Without one truly dominant team (Ohio St can be if they get it together)  the other 3 slots are entirely up for grabs providing opportunistic future bettors a chance to lock in a good price or two. 24-Aug 21-Sep Courtesy of Westgate Superbook Ohio St 5-2 7-4 TCU 5 6 Michigan St 18 8 Baylor 15 10 Ole Miss 40 10 LSU 20 12 Georgia 30 12 Alabama 6 20 Clemson 20 20 UCLA 30 20 Texas A&M 100 20 USC 15 25 Notre Dame 18 25 Florida St 30 25 Oklahoma 30 30 Oregon 30 40 Oklahoma St 100 50 Stanford 40 60 Auburn 15 80 Florida 100 100 Tennessee 60 100 Georgia Tech 100 200 Miami FL 200 200 West Virginia 300 200 Utah 300 200 California 500 200 Arizona St 200 300 Wisconsin 100 300 Missouri 200 300 Kansas St 100 300 Arizona 200 300 Iowa 500 300 Michigan 100 500 Boise St 200 500 Field 100 500 Miss St 100 1000 Virginia Tech 100 1000 South Carolina 300 1000 Washington 500 1000 BYU 500 1000 Penn St 300 1000 NC State 500 1000 Kentucky 500 1000 Minnesota 500 2000 Arkansas 40 5000 Texas 200 5000 Nebraska 100 5000 North Carolina 500 5000 Oregon St 500 5000 Louisville 300...

We’re baaaaaack!!!  Bet the Board returns for it’s second season and we’d like to thank everyone for making year 1 a tremendous success.  After intense contract negotiations with professional sports bettor Payneinsider we were able to keep the dream team together. We’re also happy to announce we’ve landed a major sponsor in Bet Online and they’re looking to offer our listeners a great deal to jump start the season.  As always feel free to use the hashtag #BetTheBoard during the week to ask any questions you may have regarding the weekly...

It’s getting closer; day by day, hour by hour…the college football season will be upon us before we know it.  In the meantime there are still plenty of betting options to discuss before teams take to the field the opening weekend of September.  Bovada unveiled their odds to make the college football playoff earlier this week offering prices on a handful of high power programs with YES/NO propositions.  Unfortunately for fans of the college football upstarts (you know who you are Vols and Razorbacks fans), the investment opportunities aren’t there yet for your programs however there’s always a chance other teams get added to the mix once the season gets rolling. The biggest takeaway for me from this short list is that there’s only one team in the entire land EXPECTED to make the college football playoff…and it should be no surprise that honor is bestowed on the defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes given they’ll be double digit favorites every time they take to the field in 2015.  As always the NO prices offer considerably more value with so many of these teams needing to avoid the injury bug, scheduling landmines, and of course the committee to get into the college football postseason. You’ll also notice 2 special bets included on the menu at Bovada regarding a potential 2 loss team’s inclusion in the playoff and the prospects of one conference sending 2 representatives.  College football games might still be a few months away but that doesn’t mean you can’t start betting on (or against) your favorite teams wherever you find that edge. COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SPECIALS 2015 Regular Season – Will a 2 Loss team make the 4 Team Playoff?        Yes                   +250     (5/2) No                    -400     (1/4)   2015 Regular Season – Will 2...

College football win totals have hit the offshore market. Well kind of…given that 5Dimes released a number on most D-1 teams but with very modest limits to start.  Either way the college football community and degenerates alike that clamor for real action now have another talking point worth discussing before we head towards summer. There’s no surprise that Ohio St has the highest posted win total of any team in the country considering the Buckeyes aren’t only favorites to repeat as national champions but they’re also the only school listed as a favorite to make the college football playoff. Traditional front runner Alabama sees their win total listed at 9.5, a far cry from what we’ve grown accustomed to with 10’s and 11’s during the Tide’s dynasty while SEC West rival LSU has an 8 next to their name. One of the most interesting numbers for me wasn’t Alabama or Ohio St though rather it was the Tide’s Iron Bowl rival Auburn.  Viewed as a national title contender by some, the Tigers total sits at 8.5; hardly a price consistent with a side currently listed as the 4th favorite to win the national championship by some high profile books.  However it’s always worth understanding a win total is a much better reflection of a team’s true expectations rather than futures which are forced to adjust on public perception as well. While contenders and blue bloods garner most of the headlines I’m alwasy fascinated by the programs expected to struggle.  As you can see it’s not exactly a murderers row of traditional powers with O/U’s listed at 2.5 wins for UNLV, UTSA, SMU, Georgia St, and the newest member of the FBS UNC Charlotte.  Although things look bleak for those 5 programs, Eastern Michigan and...

Westgate Superbook released odds to win the 2016 college football playoff earlier today.  Here’s the complete list ODDS TO WIN 2016 COLLEGE FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME UNIVERSITY OF PHOENIX STADIUM– GLENDALE, AZ MONDAY, JANUARY 11, 2016 OHIO ST 9-2 TCU 7 ALABAMA 8 USC 12 BAYLOR 12 OKLAHOMA 12 OREGON 20 MICHIGAN ST 20 CLEMSON 20 AUBURN 25 LSU 25 GEORGIA 25 OLE MISS 25 UCLA 25 STANFORD 25 NOTRE DAME 30 FLORIDA ST 30 MISSISSIPPI ST 30 ARKANSAS 40 TEXAS 40 ARIZONA ST 50 FLORIDA 60 TENNESSEE 60 WISCONSIN 60 GEORGIA TECH 60 MISSOURI 100 MICHIGAN 100 NEBRASKA 100 VIRGINIA TECH 100 KANSAS ST 100 ARIZONA 100 TEXAS A&M 100 MIAMI FL 100 OKLAHOMA ST 100 WEST VIRGINIA 100 LOUISVILLE 100 SOUTH CAROLINA 100 WASHINGTON 100 UTAH 100 BYU 100 PENN ST 100 IOWA 300 NORTH CAROLINA 300 MINNESOTA 300 BOISE ST 300 NC STATE 500 KENTUCKY 500 CALIFORNIA 500 OREGON ST 500 FIELD...

Call it a holiday gift, miracle of lights, or something of the sorts…but you guys get the best of the pod without me for the early bowls!  The rest of the crew brought their A game as they always seem to do when the stakes are the highest.  Gamblin, drinkin, banterin: what better way to spend the holidays when the family tests your patience.  Enjoy the 1st bowl installment and as our host says, let’s find some winners. Widget not appearing? Click here to listen to the call directly or follow the links below Listen below, listen on  iTunes (where you should totally subscribe and tell others to subscribe) or listen on your Android device. Wherever you listen, we hope you enjoy....

The season continues to wind down as bowl season looms.  The OTL gang decided it was time to add an additional podcast this holiday season, call it a bowl primer highlighting the biggest games along with a few of the second tier matchups we found intriguing.  Don’t worry, we’ll be back with 2 more (maybe 3) comprehensive podcasts with individual game breakdowns.  Settle in and enjoy, going to be a fun final month of the season. Widget not appearing? Click here to listen to the call directly or follow the links below Listen below, listen on  iTunes (where you should totally subscribe and tell others to subscribe) or listen on your Android device. Wherever you listen, we hope you enjoy....

Wynn was the first sportsbook in Las Vegas to open the laundry list of bowl game prices earlier this morning…here’s how the numbers looked when they hit the board aside from all of the New Year’s 6 bowl prices that were opened yesterday (listed at the bottom) New Orleans Bowl Nevada -3 vs UL Lafayette New Mexico Bowl Utah St -11 vs UTEP Las Vegas Bowl Utah -4 vs Colorado St Famous Idaho Potato Bowl Western Michigan -1.5 vs Air Force Camelia Bowl Bowling Green -1 vs South Alabama Miami Beach Bowl BYU -1 vs Memphis Boca Raton Bowl Marshall -11 vs Northern Illinois Poinsettia Bowl San Diego St -1.5 vs Navy Bahamas Bowl Western Kentucky -4.5 vs Central Michigan Hawaii Bowl Fresno St -1 vs Rice Heart of Dallas Bowl Louisiana Tech -3 vs Illinois Quick Lane Bowl North Carolina -4 vs Rutgers St Petersburg Bowl Central Florida -2.5 vs NC State Military Bowl Cincinnati -3.5 vs Virginia Tech Sun Bowl Arizona St -8.5 vs Duke Independence Bowl South Carolina -1.5 vs Miami Pinstripe Bowl Boston College -3.5 vs Penn St Holiday Bowl USC -6 vs Nebraska Liberty Bowl West Virginia vs Texas A&M (No Line) Russel Athletic Bowl Clemson vs Oklahoma (No Line) Texas Bowl Arkansas -6 vs Texas Music City Bowl LSU -8.5 vs Notre Dame Belk Bowl Georgia -7.5 vs Louisville Foster Farms San Francisco Bowl Stanford -14 vs Maryland Outback Bowl Auburn -6 vs Wisconsin Citrus Bowl Missouri -6 vs Minnesota Armed Forces Bowl Pittsburgh -3 vs Houston Taxslayer Bowl Tennessee -3.5 vs Iowa Alamo Bowl Kansas St -3.5 vs UCLA Cactus Bowl Washington -6.5 vs Oklahoma St Birmingham Bowl Florida -8.5 vs East Carolina Go Daddy.com Bowl Toledo -1.5 vs Arkansas St Chick Fil-A Bowl TCU -3 vs...

It’s a sad day on the podcast when we have to talk about conference championships.  No, not the championships themselves but because the end of the season is way too damn close.  However we kept plugging along, sans KegsNEggs, this week to break down a short yet intriguing slate of games.  Don’t look now but 4 best bet wins in a row for this guy…don’t call it a comeback just yet. Widget not appearing? Click here to listen to the call directly or follow the links below Listen below, listen on  iTunes (where you should totally subscribe and tell others to subscribe) or listen on your Android device. Wherever you listen, we hope you enjoy.  ...