NCAA Football Betting – Razorbacks Try to Stem Crimson Tide

NCAA football betting players will have a massive matchup from the SEC on their hands on Saturday, when top-ranked Alabama heads to Arkansas to face the Razorbacks, who are out to prove that they belong in the conference-title discussion.

Alabama Arkansas Betting – Saturday, September 25th, 3:30 PM ET

The No.1 Crimson Tide (3-0) had their 62-13 rout of Duke on the road over by halftime. Actually, they were up 28-3 after the first quarter and it was pretty much on from there. The Crimson Tide racked up 626 yards of offense, including 315 yards on the ground, and those who paid the price per head to see Mark Ingram’s first game weren’t disappointed. The Heisman winner ran nine times for 151 yards and a pair of scores as the Crimson Tide averaged 9.0 yards a carry, and any team is going to be hard to stop with numbers like that. Still, the Crimson Tide had three turnovers on the day, and they gave up 146 yards on the ground, so that’s something they’ll need to work on.

The No.10 Razorbacks (3-0) got a 40-yard touchdown pass from Ryan Mallett in a 31-24 win at Georgia, and Mallett showed all the skills that should make him a Heisman candidate. Mallett was 21-of-33 for 380 yards, three touchdowns and no picks in one of the best quarterback performances of the year to date. The Razorbacks pretty much abanadoned the ground game, but when you have a great pivot, you can afford to do that. The Razorbacks gave up 392 yards of offense, but on the road, especially at a tough place to play like “between the hedges” at Georgia, that’s actually not all that bad.

Online football betting odds have the Crimson Tide as a 7-point favorite on the road, and they’ve won four of their last five meetings with the Razorbacks. They’re 2-3 at Arkansas since the turn of the century, and this is going to be their first real big test of the year as they got Penn State at home. The Arkansas defense has to figure out how to slow down the Alabama ground game, led by Ingram and Trent Richardson, but even if they do that, Greg McElroy has grown into one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the country, he just doesn’t get to show it all the time because of Alabama’s fierce ground game. Meanwhile, Mallett will have his hands full going up against an Alabama defense that isn’t as good as last year’s unit, but they’re still a top-10 defense capable of dominating a game. Arkansas will put up a fight, but the Crimson Tide will wear them down.

Online sports betting pick: Alabama -7

NFL Betting Preview: Tennessee Titans at New York Giants Odds

It almost seems as though the sports wagering sites are afraid to say it, but the New York Giants are falling apart and not responding anymore to head coach Tom Coughlin. In the Giants week two loss to the Indianapolis Colts, all-pro running back Brandon Jacobs only ran the ball four times before he was benched. Now the NFL betting experts are saying that Jacobs wants out of New York. When running back Tiki Barber retired in 2006, he caused quite a media frenzy when he spoke out against Tom Coughlin and quarterback Eli Manning. It could be that years of having a dysfunctional locker room have caught up with the Giants.

The Tennessee Titans did not look much better than the Giants when the NFL scores for week two were finalized. The Titans turned the ball over seven times, benched starting quarterback Vince Young and handed a game to the Pittsburgh Steelers in week two. Titans head coach Jeff Fisher has announced that Vince Young will start this game against the Giants. Vince Young still represents the best chance that the Titans have to win. Even with seven turnovers, the Steelers won the game by a relatively narrow margin of 19-11.

The Giants looked completely helpless against the Colts, but in the world of NFL predictions it is much different to look helpless against the 2010 Indianapolis Colts defense than it is to look helpless against the 2010 Pittsburgh Steelers defense. The Colts have two of the best defensive linemen in football in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. Both Mathis and Freeney had two sacks against the Giants which severely hampered the Giants offense.

The Titans had major problems with the Steelers defense all day long in week two. In a game that Tennessee should have won and dominated offensively, the Titans gave up four sacks and five fumbles. Pittsburgh inside linebacker Lawrence Timmons was able to rack up 12 tackles and all-pro outside linebacker James Harrison had 10 tackles. The Tennessee running game was unable to get past the Steelers front seven and, as a result, Titans running back Chris Johnson only has 34 yards on the ground.

Picking this game comes down to which team you believe can recover better from an embarrassing loss the week before. It can be said that the Titans had a bad week. It happens. Quarterback Vince Young and running back Chris Johnson are extremely talented football players that take success and failure seriously. The Titans can recover from a bad game.

The Giants have been having problems for a couple of years now. Getting dismantled by Peyton Manning is not something new for any NFL team, but the entire Colts team dominated the Giants, and New York looked almost timid in their loss.

The Giants will find that the linebackers in Tennessee, led by Will Witherspoon, offer a challenge similar to the Colts. The difference is that the Tennessee pass rush is not as dominant as the Colts. But it may be enough to stop the Giants.

Pick: Tennessee Titans 27-17

College Football Betting – Gators, Volunteers Get It On Once Again

College football betting players know all about rivalries, so they should be familiar with the “Third Saturday In September”, which is when Florida and Tennessee usually get together for a gold old-fashioned SEC showdown. The rivalry got its start on the basketball court, but it’s getting fierce on the gridiron as well.

Florida Tennessee Betting – Saturday, September 18th, 3:30 PM ET

The No.10 Gators (2-0) looked stunned in the first half against South Florida, but they pulled away for a 38-14 win in “The Swamp”, although Florida fans still won’t be encouraged by this effort. The Gators did managed to cut out a lot of mistakes, and didn’t commit a turnover, but John Brantley was 18-of-31 for 172 yards and two touchdowns, showing that this is definitely a new era in Gainesville. Jeff Demps had 11 carries for 139 yards and a score for the Gators, who also gave up 244 yards on the ground. Yes, those who bet on NFL odds are seeing a lot of last year’s Gators in the league, and there’s a lot of new faces, but Florida is going to have to improve to challenge for the SEC crown this season.

The Volunteers (1-1) got rolled in a 48-13 loss to Oregon at home, and the No.7 Ducks had their way with Tennessee, who allowed 447 yards. It was actually a 13-13 game at halftime before the Ducks stormed out with two big plays in the third quarter (a 72-yard run and a pick returned for a score), and it was a rout from there. Matt Simms was 15-of-29 for 151 yards and the aforementioned pick, while Tauren Poole added 162 yards and a score on the ground for the Volunteers, who were a miserable 2-of-15 on third down.

Online football betting odds have the Gators as a 14-point favorite against the Volunteers, who haven’t beaten Florida since 2004. The last three losses have been by an average of 24.3 points, although the Volunteers held their own in a 23-13 loss in Gainesville last year. The Tennessee program was left in shambles after Lane Kiffin bolted to USC, leaving Derek Dooley with a lot of work to do, and the Oregon game showed that it’s still a work in progress. That being said, we think the Volunteers will keep the Gators from covering the 14-point spread as the Florida offense isn’t anywhere near where they want to be, and the Tennessee defense is better than they showed against Oregon, who is a better team than Florida. School pride factors heavily into games like this, and especially as they got rolled at home last week, the Volunteers will definitely have enough in the tank to keep Florida from covering the betting spread.

Betting pick: Tennessee +14