Sports.com
Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter VI Mobile College Basketball March Mayhem Picks College Basketball March Mayhem Picks VegasInsider.com VegasInsider.com
Handicapper Bios Sports Picks Free Odds Contests Sportsbook
Sports.com
VI Home NFL NBANHLMLBNCAA FBNCAA BKGolfAutoHorsesBoxingVI More Sports
 
 
Christian Alexander - Blogs

Bio Page
NOTES FROM A LONG, HOT SUMMER - PART 1

By Christian Alexander
Posted 05/17/2007 at 05:30 PM

Now that we've hit mid-May, we're pretty much into the long, hot summer…especially down here in South Florida. Of course, the good news with that is we're only one season away from the fall and more importantly, football season. (I know, no leaves change color and really "fall" down here in Florida but stay with me)

With that in mind, its time to pull out my returning starters chart and begin to update it for the 2007 college season, which will include a mid-summer Top 25.

While I'm working on that, here is a quick rundown on five players I'm anxious to see play this year:

1) Rutgers TB Ray Rice - How will the Scarlet Knights react to the role of the favorite as opposed to the underdog, which they have been for years? More specifically, how will the ultra-talented Rice play without the help of FB Brian Leonard (2nd round pick of the St. Louis Rams) and with the national spotlight focused squarely on his back?

2) Illinois QB Juice Williams - Juice is giving fans of the Illini a reason to be excited about this year. He threw for over 300 yards in the spring game, hooking up often with stud freshman WR Arrelious Benn. Ron Zook's crew won't challenge for the Big Ten title, but this offense could be exciting.

3) Oklahoma RB DeMarco Murray - Word out of Norman is that Murray could very quickly make Sooner fans forget all about the loss of Adrian Peterson to the NFL (1st round pick of the Minnesota Vikings).

4) Southern Cal WR's Patrick Turner and Vidal Hazelton - You know the old saying, "Great programs don't rebuild, they just reload". You would think the loss of WR's Dwayne Jarrett (2nd round pick of the Carolina Panthers) and Steve Smith (2nd round pick of the N.Y. Giants) would slow down the Trojans aerial attack. However, Turner and Hazelton appear likely to be just a couple more elite receiving talents to come out of Los Angeles. QB John David Booty should find them early and often.

5) Miami DB Kenny Phillips - You've heard of Ed Reed? Sean Taylor? Brandon Meriweather? They all led nasty Hurricane defenses from the secondary and Phillips is ready to assume this role in '07.

Check back weekly as I should have more tid-bits from the world of college and pro football all the way through the summer and into the season.

In the meantime, feel free to drop me a line with anything that's on your mind:
christian@vegasinsider.com

And since I have to gamble on something - here is my free baseball play of the day:

Detroit (Durbin) +182 at Boston (Schilling) (source: Sports.com)

BLOG ARCHIVES
09/04/2009 at 11:07 PM
Week #1 Returning Starters breakdown

07/16/2009 at 04:19 PM
2009 Heisman props

06/19/2008 at 09:48 PM
2008 Thursday Night College Football Schedule

12/25/2007 at 10:22 AM
2007-08 Bowl Blog

08/31/2007 at 10:32 AM
Thursday Night rehash - Week #1

07/24/2007 at 09:51 PM
Training camps finally open

06/23/2007 at 03:09 PM
You know its a slow summer when...

06/09/2007 at 04:43 PM
Hot dogs and Dolphins

06/02/2007 at 08:31 AM
So how did Tank do his time?

05/25/2007 at 02:44 PM
Notes from a long, hot summer - Part 2

05/17/2007 at 05:30 PM
Notes from a long, hot summer - Part 1

12/28/2006 at 03:47 PM
Bowl Notebook Part II

12/19/2006 at 11:29 PM
Bowl Notebook Part 1

11/26/2006 at 09:19 PM
Looks like it will be the Trojans

11/12/2006 at 10:02 PM
No slowing down with "JUDGEMENT DAY" on deck

10/29/2006 at 12:43 PM
Texas sized rally can't cover - Trojans exposed

10/21/2006 at 10:34 PM
Saturday Night Special

10/19/2006 at 10:55 PM
Week 7 Rewind…Week 8 Fast Forward

10/11/2006 at 09:05 PM
College Football Week Six Postgame

09/20/2006 at 04:00 PM
College Football Week Two Postgame

09/20/2006 at 03:59 PM
College Football Week One Postgame

 

NFL
NFL Picks
NFL Odds
NFL Matchups
NFL Scores

NBA
NBA Picks
NBA Odds
NBA Matchups
NBA Scores

MLB
MLB Picks
MLB Odds
MLB Matchups
MLB Scores


NCAA FB
NCAA FB Picks
NCAA FB Odds
NCAA FB Matchups
NCAA FB Scores

NCAA BK
NCAA BK Picks
NCAA BK Odds
NCAA BK Matchups
NCAA BK Scores

NHL
NHL Picks
NHL Odds
NHL Matchups
NHL Scores


More Sports
Golf
Auto Racing
Horse Racing
Boxing
UFC
WNBA
Soccer

Features
Free Odds
Mobile Odds
Contests
Newsletters
VI Radio
Las Vegas Travel
Follow us on Twitter
Join us on Facebook


Sports Betting Tools
Live Odds
Parlay Calculator
Gaming Terms
TV Listings
Handicapping Records
Sportsbook Reviews

VegasInsider Info
About Us
Help Center
Privacy Policy
Terms of Use
Contact Us
User Feedback

Sportsbooks
BetOnline.com
Bodog.ca
Bovada.lv
SBG Global.com
Sportsbook.com
TopBet.com

Rotation Schedules
Hockey:
 
 
Basketball:

Jan 31 - Feb 27
Feb 28 - Apr 07
 
Jan 31 - Feb 27

Copyright © 1997-2012, VegasInsider.com Inc., The Global Leader In Sports Gaming Information. All rights reserved.
For questions or comments, please contact us at 1-800-211-4759.