There's more on the plate these days for football wagerers than ever before. A quick trip through any Las Vegas sports book during a football weekend will confirm as much. Many Vegas properties are now offering the en vogue "in running wagering," wherein the books will take continual action on certain games as they are progressing. Some books are even offering hand-held devices to their customers who wish to make such wagers. Halftime wagering, once mostly limited to NFL games, will now be available on all college games (even those in the Sun Belt!) at most Vegas sports books. It's all a far cry from the days not too long ago when there might be only 30 or so available games on the weekly college board, when conferences such as the MAC and WAC didn't even have their games listed, and long before the days when there even was a Conference USA, Mountain West, or Sun Belt. Or when a school such as UConn would even be dreaming about playing big-time football, and, if so, would have to wake up and apologize for envisioning winning at Notre Dame (which the Huskies did last season) or being listed as near pick 'em for a season opener at Michigan, which is the case for this Saturday's lid-lifter at Ann Arbor.
Despite these changes in the Vegas wagering landscape, however, handicappers and sports book patrons still value nuts and bolts performance and results information on all of the teams and upcoming matchups, especially in college football. And at the outset of each gridiron campaign, it's usually a good idea to make note of some of the most compelling team trends. Following are some of the more interesting of those "base" team spread angles worth reviewing as the 2010 season kicks off. Particularly intriguing trends are underlined.
Air Force... 11-4 vs. line at home since '07 under HC Troy Calhoun. Also 13-4 as chalk that span. Akron... 3-11 vs. line last 14 on board. Good luck to new HC Rob Ianello. Alabama... 17-8 vs. line last 25 on board. Arizona... 13-4 vs. spread since '07 at Tucson, and 8-2 as home dog since '05. Arizona State... 2-8 as single-digit dog since HC Dennis Erickson arrived in '07. Arkansas... Six straight covers as dog under HC Bobby Petrino. Arkansas State... No spread magic lately for Red Wolves, now 3-16 their last 19 on board. Army... 7-16 vs. line at Michie Stadium since '05 (1-4 at West Point for new HC Rich Ellerson LY). Ball State... Visiting team 10-2 vs. line in Card games LY. Boise State... Long-enduring spread success at Bronco Stadium (37-16 as blue-carpet chalk past decade). Boston College... Rugged Eagles 19-9 vs. line as host since '05 (12-5 since '07). Bowling Green... 10-4 as dog since '07. BYU... Surprising 1-8 vs. line last 9 at Provo. Central Michigan... 16-4 vs. spread as host since '05 (9-3 since '07). Cincinnati... 8-2 as dog since '07. UConn... Stellar 12-2 vs. line last 14 on board; 14-7 as dog since '07. East Carolina... 23-9 as dog past five years under since-departed HC Skip Holtz. Eastern Michigan... 2-9 vs. line at mostly-empty Rynearson Stadium since '07. Florida... 28-12 vs. number last 40 on board. Florida Atlantic... 1-14 vs. number on last 15 as visitor vs. non-Sun Belt foes. Florida State... No covers last 8 at Tallahassee. Fresno State... 3-18 vs. spread last 21 as host.
Georgia... 9-18 vs. points at home since '05. Georgia Tech... 16-8 vs. line since HC Paul Johnson arrived in '08. Houston... 7-1 vs. line last 8 as host. Idaho... 10-4 last 14 as dog. Illinois...1-7 vs. line last 8 at Champaign-Urbana. Iowa... 12-3 last 15 as dog. Kansas...1-8 last 9 vs. line under departed HC Mark Mangino. Kentucky... Visiting team 11-1 vs. line in UK games LY. La Tech... 10-3 vs. line last 13 as host. Louisville... 3-10 last 13 as dog under since-departed HC Steve Kragthorpe. LSU... 6-16 vs. number last 22 at Baton Rouge; 2-17 vs. number as SEC host under HC Les Miles! Memphis... 4-11 vs. line last 15 at Liberty Bowl. Miami-Florida... 5-12 as home chalk since '07. Miami-Ohio... 6-12 vs. line last 18 as host. Michigan... 7-17 vs. line since HC Rich Rodriguez arrived in '08. Ole Miss... 14-6 vs. line last 20 in Oxford. Missouri... 2-8 vs. number last 10 at Columbia. Nevada... 19-4 as Reno chalk since Chris Ault reassumed HC duties '04. North Carolina...11-5 as dog since '07. North Texas... 3-19 vs. line last 22 on road vs. non-Belt foes. Northern Illinois...9-2 as home dog past decade. Northwestern... Dog is 25-10 in NU games since '07. Notre Dame... 8-19 last 27 vs. line as host. Ohio... 13-6 as dog since '07. Ohio State... 18-5 as road chalk since '05. Oklahoma... 19-6 vs. points last 25 as host. Oklahoma State... 6-22 as dog since '05. Oregon State... 14-4 last 18 as dog, but 6-19 vs. line in September since '03.
Pitt... 9-4 as dog since '07. Rice... 7-2 as chalk since '07. Rutgers... 14-5 as dog since '05. San Jose State... 1-15 last 16 on board. SMU... 7-1 as dog LY. Stanford... 13-7 vs. line at home since '07. TCU... 15-4 last 19 as home chalk. Temple… 13-7 as dog since '07. Texas A&M... 1-7 vs. line last 8 away from home. Texas Tech... 4-0 as home dog since '05. Toledo...10-20 vs. line away since '05. Troy... 11-2 vs. line at home since '07. Tulane... 1-8 vs. line last 9 as host. UCF... 12-6 vs. line at home and as dog since '07. UCLA... 27-10 vs. line last 37 at Rose Bowl. Utah... 22-6 as dog past decade. Utah State... 20-9 last 29 on board. Vanderbilt... No covers last 8 as host. Virginia Tech... 26-11 vs. line away since '05. Wake Forest... 18-10 last 28 as dog. Washington State... 8-15 as DD dog since '07. West Virginia... 2-9 last 11 as chalk. Western Michigan... 11-22 vs. line since '07. Wyoming... 8-3 as dog LY.
