NFL Betting Week 14: Buccaneers vs. Jaguars

As kids, we would watch the city garbage truck noisily make its way through our neighborhood every week (not much on TV back then).

And while workers scurried back and forth, emptying and returning the dented metal pails, we asked ourselves the same question: how can they do it?

How can they fi ght past a wall of stench that would drive away an ordinary human? Ticket holders for today’s ‘game’ may be faced with a similar choice – risk asphyxiation at the stadium or just stay home and watch from afar.

From a handicapping point of view, garbageversus-garbage games this time of the year generally find the home team holding an ATS advantage (59-44 ATS since 1981 when each team is .333 or less).

Unfortunately for us, the home team today is Jacksonville, about as toothless a favorite as you’ll fi nd, going 3-11 ATS as home chalk the last four years, including 2-7 ATS versus sub .500 opposition. The bumbling Bucs are no bargains, either, as they’re currently stuck in a 1-5 SU and ATS slump.

However, the ATS archives suggest they may break out here: Tampa is 6-1 ATS in road revengers after allowing 35 or more points and pirate captain Raheem Morris owns a swashbuckling 7-1- 1 ATS mark as a visitor in the season’s final four games.

Yes, the Bucs have the numbers but the truth of the matter is the only money you’ll find us playing with in this game is found in a Monopoly box. Pass.

Sportsbooks currently have the Buccaneers listed as 2½-point favorites versus the Jaguars, while the game's total is sitting at 40.

San Francisco 49ers vs. Arizona Cardinals Week 14 Odds

If not for some earlier losses that could have easily been wins – four of the Cardinals’ seven losses have come by a total of just 11 points – Arizona could be battling the Niners for the division lead instead of being relegated to the role of spoiler.

However, recent history tells us today’s game may not be much of a fi ght: the Niners have cashed in six straight meetings and gone 6-0 ATS in their last six trips to the Grand Canyon state.

The 49ers are also a perfect 12-0 ATS away if they’re .500 or better and playing on the division road versus a foe off a home game

Impressive as that may be, San Fran clinched its fi rst playoff berth since 2002 with last week’s 26-0 whitewash of St. Louis and the resulting celebration may fi nd them a tad fat here today.

As the 5-7 Cards proved in last week’s upset of Dallas, they haven’t called it quits just yet and actually fi nd themselves on a sneaky 4-1 SU and ATS run – with the lone loss coming against this Frisco squad.

The hosts have been gold as home dogs of more than 3 points versus a foe off a SU double-digit win, going 7-0 ATS, and head coach Ken Whisenhunt owns a money-making 12-3 SU and ATS mark on this fi eld versus a foe off a SU DD win – including 4-0 SU and ATS if tangling with a division opponent.

If Arizona can pull off the upset here, winnable games against Cleveland, Cincinnati and Seattle would give the Cards a shot at fi nishing with a winning season at 9-7.

Regardless, with strong numbers on both sides of this matchup, we’ll opt to take the points and fade the hungover, division-clinching Niners.

Sportsbooks currently have the 49ers listed as 4-point favorites versus the Cardinals, while the game's total is sitting at 40½.

Who Will Win The National Rematch We Mean Title Game?

Earlier this week, the NCAA announced the 70 participants in the 35 college football betting bowl games scheduled to take place later this month. The games will take place from December 17 to January 9, concluding with a rematch of an SEC regular season game, featuring the LSU Tigers taking on the Alabama Crimson Tide. This will be the first time since the NCAA created the BCS format in the late 1990s, that two teams from the same conference face off twice in the same season. Thus many price per head fans of the NCAA are wondering if the BCS Title game should just be called the SEC Title game?

On paper, the 2011 – 12 football season bowl games will be met with criticism for years to come. Essentially, the NCAA has always prided itself on making a national title game featuring two teams from different conferences. However, as we noted earlier, that isn’t the case this season. What else is not the case, is the fact that several teams other major Bowl games will not be featuring teams with excellent records. For instance, despite finishing the season with a better record then any other school in the league, bookie software Conference USA team the Houston Cougars were snubbed all together from a BCS Bowl Game invite. Instead of having Houston v LSU for the National Title, or Houston v Michigan in the Sugar Bowl, fans are now stuck with Alabama v LSU and West Virginia v Clemson in the Orange Bowl. Thus making us wonder, is the NCAA more concerned with making revenue, as opposed to featuring the best teams in the league?

Looking ahead to the National Title Game on January 9, 2012, there are a couple of different views that fans and analysts alike can take with the game. Firstly, if you felt ripped off by the NFL defensive chess match that was LSU v Alabama during the regular season, perhaps a rematch was the best thing the NCAA could do, to determine which team truly is the best in the country this season. As you may recall, neither offense could really muster anything, as LSU and Alabama’s defenses came to play that day. LSU would win the first game on a field goal in overtime, after Alabama missed their opportunity moments earlier.

On the contrary if you are a believer in the NCAA’s AP 25 system, then you may feel distraught watching this National Title game. As we mentioned earlier, the NCAA has prided itself on giving the fans a matchup between two teams from separate conferences to determine the National Champion. For this reason, the game should have featured SEC Champion LSU and Big 12 Champion Oklahoma State. Instead, it appears as though because Alabama is a richer football program then Oklahoma State, they should play LSU. In other words, as long as you have the money and the history, you can be rewarded for losing.