Nicholls to play three FBS opponents

NCAA Football Betting Lines

02/03/2012 - Thibodaux, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nicholls State University football program is going heavy on the FBS opposition and light on the home games in a 2012 schedule announced on Friday.

The Colonels' first three games are against FBS opponents - a first in program history - and they will play only four home games at John L. Guidry Stadium.

"We are very excited about the 2012 schedule. It's very challenging, which is what we want," Nicholls third-year head coach Charlie Stubbs said. "Playing this kind of demanding schedule will make us stretch and grow to our potential as we strive to improve as a program."

Nicholls will open the season by visiting the FBS opposition, Oregon State on Sept. 1, transitioning Sun Belt Conference member South Alabama on Sept. 8 and Tulsa on Sept. 15. Stubbs is a former Tulsa assistant coach.

The Colonels will play their home opener on Sept. 22 against Evangel, which they defeated, 42-0, last season.

Their Southland Conference home games are against 2011 conference champion and FCS runner-up Sam Houston State (Oct. 13), McNeese State (Nov. 3) and Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 17).

Nicholls will go the road to face Southland opponents Central Arkansas (Oct. 6), Stephen F. Austin (Oct. 20), Northwestern State (Oct. 27) and Lamar (Nov. 10).

"I know the conference schedule will be super challenging and we will be tested early," said Stubbs, whose team finished 1-10 overall and 0-7 in the Southland this past season.

2012 Nicholls Football Schedule

Sept. 1, at Oregon State, Corvallis, Ore.

Sept. 8, at South Alabama, Mobile, Ala.

Sept. 15, at Tulsa, Tulsa, Okla.

Sept. 22, Evangel, Thibodaux, La.

Oct. 6, at Central Arkansas*, Conway, Ark.

Oct. 13, Sam Houston State*, Thibodaux, La.

Oct. 20, at Stephen F. Austin*, Nacogdoches, Texas

Oct. 27, at Northwestern State*, Natchitoches, La.

Nov. 3, McNeese State*, Thibodaux, La.

Nov. 10, at Lamar*, Beaumont, Texas

Nov. 15, Southeastern Louisiana*, Thibodaux, La.

* - Southland Conference game

Dasino NCAA Football Betting News

<< United hope to end road Blues at the Bridge
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United are not accustomed to long-standing droughts at many stadiums in England, but Stamford Bridge is certainly one of the few exceptions. The Red Devils square off against Chelsea in W

<< Rangers' Hamilton admits to another relapse
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton confirmed reports Friday that he had a relapse with his alcohol abuse earlier this week. The incident, which was first reported by the Dallas Morning News, took

<< Brewers settle with Marcum
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers avoided arbitration with Shaun Marcum, signing the right-hander to a one-year contract on Friday. Marcum made a career-high 33 starts last season, his first with the Brewers follo

<< Red Wings' Howard out with broken finger
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings announced Friday that All-Star goaltender Jimmy Howard will miss at least the next two games because of a broken finger. Howard, who leads the NHL with 32 wins, broke the index fing

<< Every day still a struggle for Hamilton
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers slugger Josh Hamilton relapsed this past week. The 2010 American League Most Valuable Player met the media on Friday to address the situation. According to Hamilton a family issue led him to

Youzhny reaches Zagreb final four >>
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny was a hard-fought quarterfinal winner Friday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis tournament. Youzhny needed 2 hours, 42 minutes to stave off eighth-seeded massive-serving

Snow threatening weekend schedule in Italy >>
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Heavy snow in Italy is threatening to wreak havoc with the 22nd round of Serie A fixtures this weekend as one match has already been postponed and others have been moved. Four midweek matches were post

Dortmund downs Nurnberg to take Bundesliga lead >>
Nurnberg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sebastian Kehl and Lucas Barrio scored in the second half as Borussia Dortmund downed Nurnberg, 2-0, on Friday to return to top of the Bundesliga. Defending champion Dortmund broke a three-way tie on poin

Report: Rays win arbitration case against Niemann >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rays have won their arbitration case with towering right-hander Jeff Niemann, the Tampa Bay Times reported Friday. The 6-foot-9 Niemann, who turns 29 later this month, will earn $2.75 million this

Youzhny, Baghdatis land in Zagreb final four >>
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny and former champion Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus were a pair of quarterfinal winners Friday at the Zagreb Indoors tennis tournament. Youzhny needed 2 hours, 42

How to bet pro football

There is little doubt that the NFL is where the sportsbooks see the most action and also make the most loot. The NFL possesses betting friendly attributes that are unlike any of the other major sports. First off, there are relatively few teams to keep track of in comparison to college football betting or college basketball. And second, these teams play only once a week which makes staying on top of the results much easier than it is in the daily leagues such as the NBA, NHL, and MLB.

These dynamics, along with the sheer excitement of watching and wagering on football, brings more square action to the table than any of the other sports. Almost every Tom, Dick and Harry in America is an NFL expert in their own mind and that is precisely what the oddsmakers prey upon.

Understanding who bets the games is just as important as understanding which teams are playing the games. The market at times will dictate price, which in the betting world means the oddsmakers cater to the public rather than reality.

Knowing the market inside and out is the basis of our NFL handicapping model. That is, our approach to NFL handicapping is of the contrarian or value seeking variety. We will at times place a higher premium on public sentiment than on the fundamentals. This strategy dictates playing dogs and/or lesser competent teams, or teams the public wants nothing to do with. Or better yet, fading the teams the oddsmakers want you to bet on.

Along these same lines, we carry a similar notion that the first week of the NFL season presents one of the ripest opportunities for the astute gambler. This conflicts with conventional wisdom and/or handicapping lore, as most would say it is better to watch a few games and assess each team before jumping in with both feet. That’s all fine and dandy, but there are some interesting trends to exploit in Week 1 and we’d be remiss to ignore them. Let us quickly explain.

Gone are the days of dynasties, where the same core players stay intact and dominate the league year after year. Free agency and player movements can completely transform teams from one season to the next. In today’s parity-driven NFL, poor teams typically don’t stay poor for all that long and excellent teams must constantly reinvent themselves to stay on top.

The temptation might be to assume prior year results are the best indicator of who is going to cover in Week 1. To Joe Public, playoff teams from the prior season, home teams, favorites, and so one, look even more enticing than usual since there is no current season performance to judge them against. But the question begs: are the oddsmakers setting a trap?

To find the answer, we culled five years worth of Week 1 NFL data. As always, all of our analysis is done from an ATS perspective. The purpose here is to share the most important angles we unearthed and try to explain the logic behind them. So strap on your helmet, throw on your shoulder pads, and follow our lead as we expose some rare holes in the oddsmakers’ line of defense.

Home vs. Away Teams

Over the past five seasons, NFL home teams in Week 1 are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). This of course implies that roadies are a 58 percent winning proposition during this time. The public at large has a tendency to overvalue home teams and this is especially true in Week 1 when there is no current season data to make predictions from. Consequently, the oddsmakers almost surely shade the home teams, by and large making road teams the choice for the value player.

Conclusion: Look long and hard at road teams first when handicapping the opening week.

Price ranges

Favorites are just 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent) in the opening week over the past five NFL seasons (Coincidentally, home teams hold the same ATS record as noted above). This means that underdogs bark at a 58 percent clip. Mid-range favorites performed the worst among our specified price ranges. In particular, favorites priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 are only 8-15 ATS (35 percent) during this time.

The same basic pattern holds true when looking at home favorites (road favorites gravitate towards a 50 percent mean). Home favorites indeed are just 21-32-3 ATS (40 percent) in the first week of NFL action since 1999. Again, mid-range favorites are similarly the poorest performers when we look at home teams. Consider that home teams priced between –3 1/2 and –6 1/2 have stumbled to a 6-13 ATS (32 percent) mark in Week 1 games the past five seasons.

Conclusion: Like home teams, favorites and particularly mid-range favorites are generally overvalued in Week 1.

Playoff teams

It might surprise you to learn that playoff teams from the prior year versus non-playoff teams from the prior year are a mere 16-23-3 (41 percent) ATS in NFL Week 1 games over the past five seasons. Home teams which made the playoffs versus teams which did not make the playoffs from the prior season drop to a meager 7-14-1 ATS (33 percent) during this time.

Why are playoff teams, and in particular those at home, such bad bets the past five openers? Just as the case with home teams and with favorites, oddsmakers intentionally overprice playoff teams in the opening week to compensate for the public’s propensity to over bet them.

This theory holds true just looking at straight-up records from the past season as well. That is, home teams with winning records from the prior season vs. road teams with losing records from the prior season are just 8-13 ATS in Week 1 NFL games since 1999.

Conclusion: Playoff teams from the prior year and in particular, home playoff teams, are overvalued in Week 1 NFL games.

Scoring defense and scoring offense

Do good defenses and for that matter good offenses from the prior season fare better against the number the following year in Week 1 games? Well, sort of. Generally speaking, teams with a solid offense or defense from the prior season tend to do well in the opening week so long as they are on the road. As a host, however, the best offenses and best defenses from the prior year tend to be overvalued in Week 1.

Consider that the top five scoring defenses (i.e. points allowed) from the prior season are a nice 8-4 ATS (66 percent) on the road in NFL openers the past five seasons. Meanwhile, the top five scoring defenses from the prior season are just 3-8-2 ATS (27 percent) as a host in Week 1 during the same time period.

There is no discernable advantage or disadvantage for teams with a top five scoring offense (i.e. points scored) in Week 1 games. However, when we look at scoring offenses from the bottom up (isolating the five worst offenses from the prior season), the results are rather interesting. In particular, teams ranked in the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are 9-4-1 ATS (69 percent) when on the road in Week 1.

The logic is simply that the public perception is a poor scoring offensive unit from the year prior will have little chance of winning on the road in Week 1. In turn, the oddsmakers compensate for this perception and these poor offensive teams from the year prior carry extra line value on the Week 1 trail.

Conclusion: Teams with top-ranked defenses from the previous season are good bets when playing on the road, but poor bets when playing at home. Also, teams ranked among the bottom five in scoring offense from the prior season are generally a good value in their Week 1 openers, provided they are playing on the road.

Scoring margin

An exceedingly straightforward way of measuring scoring offense and scoring defense together as a whole is to look at a team's “margin." Margin is simply scoring offense minus scoring defense, which is a fairly clear-cut measure of how a team does on both sides of the ball. Typically, the higher the margin, the better the team.

In this regard, it might seem counterintuitive that teams carrying the higher margin from the prior season in week one matchups are merely 31-42-7 ATS (42 percent). Furthermore, road teams with the higher margin are 14-20-6 ATS (41 percent), while home teams with the higher margin are 17-22-1 ATS (44 percent). Once again, these results line up with the theory that better teams from the prior year are overvalued come opening day of the following season.

Conclusion: “Better” teams, which often boast a higher margin than their opponent, are overvalued the following season in NFL openers.

In sum

Oddsmakers cater NFL betting lines to match public perception and also to bait the public into poor bets. The temptation to use the prior year’s success as a buy sign for how a team will perform against the spread in Week 1 of the following season is an enormous trap.

The fact is, isolating road teams, road dogs, non-playoff teams vs. playoff teams, teams with a losing record or low margin vs. playoff teams or ones with a high margin from the previous year is where the line value resides. Quite simply, taking the road less traveled is your surest path to NFL betting profits.

To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.