Player of the 3/4 Year

Golf Betting Lines

07/27/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Can you believe that the FedEx Cup Playoffs begin four weeks from Thursday?

You probably can - you understand time at this point in your life - but the regular season in golf is almost over. Do we have a legitimate Player of the Year at this point?

No folks, we do not.

We can pare the list down to six, but the bigger story is that none of those six is named after a cartoon flake pitchman.

Tiger Woods won Player of the Year in a vote of his peers 10 times. Since 1997, three guys other than Tiger have won this award. In average years, Woods still brings home the hardware.

Now he's nowhere on the radar. Amazing what one accident that's never been fully explained can do. Woods hasn't won all year and truthfully, never threatened the top of the leaderboard. His best finishes are two fourth-place ties and they were at majors. His top-fives in majors notwithstanding, Woods doesn't belong in this race.

Of course, he could get into it very quickly.

Woods has the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on tap in a few weeks and he's only won that seven times. The PGA Championship is the week after and Woods has enjoyed small doses of success in major championships.

So who does that leave?

Obviously major champions belong in the conversation, but two won't be a part of ours. Masters winner Phil Mickelson will be.

U.S. Open winner Graeme McDowell stated at the British Open that he would join the PGA Tour for the remainder of 2010. Even if we took into account his PGA Tour work as a non-member this year, he tied for sixth at the WGC-CA Championship and didn't finish inside the top 25 in five other starts in the U.S.

British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen was amazing in his epic win at St. Andrews, but he's not a member of the PGA Tour, so you could just as easily vote for Nicklaus, Palmer, Popeye, me or your uncle Hal.

The other choices are two-time winners this year on tour. That group is Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Steve Stricker and Justin Rose.

We are going to bounce Furyk and Stricker. Furyk won twice early in the season, but missed the cut in two majors and his only top 10 since mid-April was a tie for 10th at the Memorial.

It's a shame Stricker gets bounced from consideration, but he hurt his shoulder around the Masters and missed almost two months. That kind of time off hurts your overall score.

Rose is an interesting case. He's probably the hottest player in golf right now, with two wins since June, but he wasn't qualified for the Masters or U.S. Open, so I have a hard time giving Player of the 3/4 Year to a guy whose early season didn't get him into the first two majors.

Els won back-to-back starts at the CA-Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational and has a tie for 18th at Augusta. He should've won his third U.S. Open and he missed the cut at St. Andrews.

The Big Easy has made it look easy at times in 2010. Els has six top 10s on tour this year, nine top-25s and is the leader on the FedEx Cup points list.

But this vote goes to Mickelson.

Lefty won a major, so that right there gets him an extra nod. Mickelson, like Els, had a great chance at the U.S. Open, but Pebble Beach swallowed him up on Sunday.

Mickelson has missed only one cut on tour this year to Els' three, and Els' have all come in his last five starts. Els' two wins came before the calendar turned to April, but he does have a strong case.

Just not as strong as Mickelson's.

On top of the Masters win, Mickelson was the runner-up at Quail Hollow, and top five in both the U.S. Open and Memorial. But when it comes down to it, the difference is that major title.

Professional golf is defined by major championships, and always has been. A Masters victory is just as good as two very quality PGA Tour victories. With records being equal, a major is worth two tour wins and that's why the Player of the 3/4 Year is Phil Mickelson.

Subject to change in the next four weeks.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

- In case you were wondering, and you probably weren't, the reason for my column this week is that I'm on vacation next week.

- Cell phones will be allowed at the Wyndham Championship, as long as they are on silent. This won't go well.

- As I tweeted earlier in the week, Corey Pavin is meeting with Tiger at the PGA Championship about his interest in the Ryder Cup. My statement if I was Pavin would be this, "Love to have ya, bro, but if not, oh well." It's proven the Americans can win without him and if he doesn't want to be here, the message should be get yourself together and we'll see you in 2012. I've always believed that it's foolish to think a team would be better without Woods, but no sense in him coming to Wales without the right attitude.

- Movie moment - Caught a movie called "The Invention of Lying." It's written, directed by and starring Ricky Gervais, who I would laugh at even if he was reading my obituary, but this didn't work. It's a new classification of movie we'll call, "Great concept, flawed execution."

Jazzsorts Golf Betting News

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.