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12/24/2006 - San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pacific Life Holiday Bowl will pit the 21st-ranked Texas A&M Aggies of the Big 12 against the 20th-ranked California Golden Bears of the Pac-10 in San Diego.
Texas A&M finished the season with a 9-3 overall record, including a 5-3 mark in the always-tough Big 12 Conference. While the Aggies have been notoriously tough to beat at home, they have played their best football away from Kyle Field this season. In fact, they are attempting to become the first Aggie squad since the 1939 national championship team to post an unblemished record away from Kyle Field, as they are currently 4-0 on the road and 1-0 in neutral site games. Texas A&M is 13-15 all-time in bowl games, and it hopes for a better finish than the 38-7 loss that it suffered in the 2005 Cotton Bowl to Tennessee.
California also enters this game with a 9-3 overall mark, and it finished 7-2 in Pac-10 play to capture a share of the league title. Considering that the Golden Bears last won a share of the title back in 1975, Jeff Tedford has clearly elevated the program to a level it normally doesn't reach. California is set to participate in a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season, the first time the program has ever accomplished that feat.
California and Texas A&M have split their only two series meetings, and the most recent matchup occurred in 1983.
Texas A&M is a formidable offensive team that is averaging 29.3 ppg and 401.4 total ypg. There is no question that the ground attack is the driving force behind the success of the unit, as the Aggies have racked up 32 rushing touchdowns while averaging 210.5 ypg on 5.0 ypc. Three players have combined to carry the ball 411 times for well over 2,000 yards, and the backfield by committee approach has kept the runners fresh and defenses off balance. Mike Goodson leads the way with 785 rushing yards and a tremendous average of 6.9 ypc. Jorvorskie Lane is the club's short-yardage back, and he has scored a staggering total of 19 rushing touchdowns. The third member of the trio is Stephen McGee, who has run for 635 yards. McGee, the team's starting quarterback, has also passed for 2,118 yards and 11 touchdowns with only two interceptions. There isn't a top-notch receiver in the fold, but McGee does a good job of spreading the ball around.
Opponents are only scoring 18.5 ppg against Texas A&M, which is yielding 309.8 total ypg to its foes. The Aggies sent a major message to the college football world, and to California in particularly, when it limited a normally-explosive Texas team to seven points in the regular season finale on November 24th. With 21 takeaways and 17 sacks, Texas A&M isn't one of the best big-play defenses participating in this bowl season, but the unit is solid against both the run and the pass. One of the most impressive stats worth mentioning is that the Aggies are permitting their opponents to make good on only 29 percent of their third down conversion attempts. Justin Warren is the leading tackler for Texas A&M, as he has made 90 total stops. Keep and eye on Chris Harrington, as he has registered 11.5 TFLs, including 7.5 sacks this year.
California is not short on offensive weapons, and the most dangerous of all is tailback Marshawn Lynch. Recently named the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Year, Lynch has rushed for 1,245 yards and has scored 13 touchdowns. He is just the second player in Cal history with two 1,000-yard seasons, and he is the fourth to go over 3,000 rushing yards in a career. DeSean Jackson steals many headlines as well, both as a receiver and a returner. Jackson has scored 13 touchdowns to tie Lynch, and he is first in the nation in punt return average and has taken four punts into the end zone. As a receiver, Jackson has made 54 grabs for 979 yards and nine scores, and he is a threat to go the distance every time he touches the ball. The man entrusted with getting the ball to Lynch and Jackson is quarterback Nate Longshore, who has completed 58.9 percent of his passes for 2,786 yards with 23 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Clearly, this California offense is loaded. The team averages 31.8 ppg and 410.6 total ypg.
While Lynch and Jackson are the stars of the offense and special teams, Daymeion Hughes is the man on defense. The senior cornerback leads the team and is tied for third nationally in interceptions with eight. He has registered 11 pass break-ups and is second on the team in tackles with 67. Desmond Bishop is another All-Pac-10 performer who has recorded 114 tackles, 47 more than anyone else on the team. He has posted 14 TFLs and picked off three passes as well. The Golden Bears are limiting opponents to 20.1 ppg on 367.7 total ypg. The run defense has been strong, yielding only 3.7 yards per carry. While Cal has registered a high total of 20 interceptions, the team is giving up 13.4 yards per pass completion, so there have been some big plays made through the air.
This game features a confident Texas A&M team coming off a win over Texas and an explosive California club which earned its first taste of the conference crown in a couple of decades. Expect this one to be close for the most part, although the Golden Bears have to get the slight edge because of the presence of Lynch and Jackson.
Sportsbook Betting Lines Predicted Outcome: California 31, Texas A&M 20
<< Nabakov, Sharks stop Flames
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evgeni Nabokov made 21 saves as the San Jose
Sharks defeated the Calgary Flames, 4-1, at HP Pavilion.
Marcel Goc, Milan Michalek, Mark Smith and Scott Hannan all scored for the
Sharks, who won their seco
<< Allen, Sonics outlast Raptors
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Allen returned from a nine-game absence and
scored 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists to lead
Seattle past Toronto, 110-97, at KeyArena.
The All-Star guard missed time with a
<< Yao fractures bone in knee, will miss 6 weeks
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Rockets center Yao Ming suffered a non-
displaced fracture in a bone under his right knee in Saturday's 98-93 loss to
the LA Clippers, an injury that Houston officials say should not require
surgery
<< Williams leads Bucks over Nets
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mo Williams posted 32 points, eight
rebounds and eight assists, as the streaking Milwaukee Bucks downed the New
Jersey Nets, 115-104, at the Bradley Center.
"I feel much better," Williams said. "
Rutgers seeks fitting end to magical season >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Rutgers Scarlet Knights are
set to make their second straight bowl appearance for the first time in
school history, as they take on the Kansas State Wildcats in the Texas Bowl
from Re
Saints' Horn out against Giants >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints wide receiver Joe
Horn was inactive for the third straight week on Sunday because of a groin
injury.
Horn missed the club's game against the Giants. He has been battling
NFL Inactives (Sunday, December 24, 2006) >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of the players
placed on the inactive squad for this week's NFL games.
TENNESSEE TITANS AT BUFFALO BILLS, 1:00 P.M. (ET)
Titans - CB Andre Woolfolk, RB Chris Brown, C/G Justin Gei
Vick becomes first QB to top 1,000 yards rushing >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick
needed only 10 yards rushing in Sunday's game against Carolina to become the
first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in a single season.
He got all of it
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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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