Both Florida and Oklahoma would be favored over any other team in the country
Las Vegas, Nevada (December 8, 2008) - With the college football regular season over, the water cooler conversation about the BCS Bowls is in full swing. People are especially curious about the opinion of Las Vegas, since sportsbooks back their opinions with millions of dollars.
RJ Bell of Pregame.com has polled numerous Las Vegas and offshore sports betting professionals. Listed below are the top 8 BCS teams, ranked from a betting perspective. The number beside each is the estimated number of points that team would be underdogs to Florida (the most highly regarded team) on a neutral field.
Florida . . . (BSC 2)
Oklahoma +3 . . . (BCS 1)
USC +7 . . . (BCS 5)
Texas +8 . . . (BCS 3)
Alabama +9 . . . (BCS 4)
Penn St +13 . . . (BCS 8)
Texas Tech +13 . . . (BCS 7)
Utah +19 . . . (BCS 6)
You can compare any two teams with these rankings: the team with the higher number would be the underdog by the difference between its number and its opponent's number. For example, Oklahoma would be -4 over USC, and Texas would be -1 over Alabama. Texas Tech would be -6 over Utah.
Both Florida and Oklahoma would be favored over any other team in the country, meaning that the BCS and Las Vegas agree on the two best teams.
Note that USC gains approximately a 3-point home field advantage playing in the Rose Bowl, which affects the actual point spread on its game vs. Penn State. Also, keep in mind that these rankings are unable to account for the nuances of individual team match-ups. Such nuances can affect a point spread, but rarely by more than 1-point.
A little known fact is that Las Vegas is no longer the center of the sports betting world. Many of the sharpest professionals bet offshore. Las Vegas oddsmakers follow this action closely, but for political reasons they are often uncomfortable disclosing this fact. Pregame.com takes into account experts worldwide, providing the clearest estimate of the true sports betting market.
MEDIA NOTE: Print, radio, TV, and Internet media should feel free to quote any information above. Please attribute: RJ Bell of Pregame.com. For follow-up questions, or media appearances - email: rjbell@pregame.com
About RJ Bell of Pregame.com
RJ Bell, president of /, has been featured on CBS News with Katie Couric, ABC News with Charles Gibson, Nightline, Sportscenter, Outside the Lines (ESPN), First Take (ESPN2), ESPN.com, ESPN National Radio, Yahoo, AOL.com, CNN.com and in Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Associated Press, Sports Illustrated, LA Times, Newsweek.com, Bloomberg, Maxim, and Forbes.
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