Let's Blow Some Money (Working Title)

Everyone likes to gamble, whether it's paying five dollars to get in a March Madness bracket pool, playing poker for quarters and dimes in a friend's basement or actually going to Vegas. My favorite way to gamble is on sports. It's a subject I feel pretty confident in so why not put my (very little) money, where my mouth is. Every Friday I am going to bring you the best betting lines from the weekend and what I think you should do. I am not going to do cheesy locks of the weeks or anything like that, I am just bring you solid games to bet on.

The team in bold is who you should bet on.

Friday

NCAAB

Florida Gators

Syracuse Orange (-6)

There are two key factors in taking the Orange to beat the spread this weekend, one, they are playing this game at home and two, the zone play of Syracuse. The Florida Gators come into this season kind of a question mark to me and outside of their early game against Ohio State the level of competition has been low. Syracuse hasn't played anyone to the level of talent of Ohio State but I think we know what we are getting out of Syracuse with so many returning players and Jim Boeheim's commitment to the zone. From what I have seen from Syracuse so far I am confident they will beat the spread. 

NCAAF

Oregon Ducks
UCLA Bruins (+31)

If you are new to gambling I am going to explain something to you right here. That (+31) means that Oregon is picked to beat UCLA by 31 points right now. If you think that it will be less than that and you would take UCLA at (+31). If you think Oregon beats UCLA by more than 31 points you take Oregon at (-31). That's a pretty easy way of explaining that. In this game I am going to take UCLA to cover the spread and not get beat by more than 31 points. I know Oregon is the better team, they are playing at home and a win gives them a BCS bowl bid and they will win this game. But I expect UCLA to show up at this game with some passion and not get blown out by the Ducks. The head coach, Rick Neuheisel, was fired earlier this week and his players carried him off the practice field in their last practice before traveling up to Eugene. I expect this team to show up for their coach and for the opportunity of playing in the first ever Pac12 Championship game. The Bruins will cover the spread.

Sunday

NFL

Buffalo Bills (-3)

Tennessee Titans

Buffalo has been on a four game slid but last week showed up and played the New York Jets well but ultimately lost 28-24. The Titans have gone win, loss, win, loss, win over their last five games and I would expect another loss this weekend despite the Bills five game losing streak. In the two loses the Titans have lost by 13 total points. They keep games close but I expect Buffalo to get the win this weekend and cover the three points. 

Atlanta Falcons (-3)

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans are riding high on a five game winning streak but everything is not so great down in Houston. Two weeks ago they lost their starting quarterback, Matt Schaub, to a foot injury. Last weekend they lost their backup quarterback, Matt Leinart, to a shoulder injury and both Schaub and Leinart are out for the season. So the team now turns to their third-string, rookie quarterback T.J. Yates. The Texans do have a solid running game and a good defense but the Falcons will be able to drop eight guys in the box and force Yates to beat them. I don't expect that to happen. The Falcons also have a good running game and I would expect rookie mistakes by Yates to ultimately help the Falcons break this game open. I do not expect this to be close. Take the Falcons.