By Marc Lawrence The running of the Kentucky Derby each year signals MLB enters its 2nd month of play. And with it a handful of surprise teams take center stage. The key to sustaining will be success, or lack of it, from the pitching staffs. With that thought in mind, let's zero in on pitchers...

By Marc Lawrence With the top seeds having flexed their muscle in the opening round of the NBA playoffs, it's one to Round Two where a series upset or two is always in the realm of possibility. Here are four solid moneymaking angles from my powerful database that have withstood the test of time...

By Marc Lawrence Nowadays everyone is familiar with the term' Super Bowl loser'. Simply out, these are teams that made it to the NFL Super Bowl game but failed to win the trophy. The one common denominator of these teams is they have struggled, both straight up (SU) and against the spread...

By Marc Lawrence If it's June, school is out. And so too will be the NBA (we think). It's also the time of the season when MLB pitchers look to ace exams in hopes of keeping their teams in the pennant chase. To get a better feel on what to expect, let's examine their results from exams...

By Marc Lawrence With the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat set to meet in the 2011 NBA Finals, let's look at four solid Championship Round betting theories outlined below from our powerful database. (Note: all results are ATS since 1991 unless noted otherwise.) HOME ON THE ROAD Life...

By Marc Lawrence After leading the nation the previous four years with the most players selected in the first-round of the NFL Draft (30), the ACC lost a momentary grip on the position when only three players were chosen on Day One of the draft this season. Included was Florida State's Christian...

By Marc Lawrence It used to be that when you talked Big 10 Football you were talking Ohio State. After all, the Buckeyes won at least a share of the last six Big Ten Championships while compiling a 43-5 mark in conference play in that span. They’ve gone 106-22 in games over the last 10 years, winning...

By Marc Lawrence Much like the shrink-wrap used by food packagers these days, the BIG 12 shrank to 10 teams for the 2011 season with the defections of Colorado (PAC 10) and Nebraska (BIG 10) to new conferences. And with it the new BIG 10/12 takes on a whole new persona. No more of the South beating...

By Marc Lawrence Firecrackers and the MLB All-Star game signal the month of July. It also signifies the start of the 2nd half of the MLB campaign. The key to each and every team's fortune lies on the pitching staff. Can they sustain or will they fold like a deck of cards? Stay tuned. What we do...

By Marc Lawrence When Tulsa and UCF each finished in the AP Top 25 season-ending poll last year it marked the first time in 15 years that two teams from the up-and-coming CUSA managed to land in elite company. A closer examination finds this loop has sent six teams to post-season games in five...

By Marc Lawrence The world of college INDEPENDENTS expanded a whopping 25% when BYU declared its independence and joined Army, Navy and Notre Dame to form the FBS fighting four in 2011. Once again, like last year, expect the fearsome foursome to have a say on the participants involved in the 2011...

By Marc Lawrence • Entering its 65th year of gridiron competition, the MID AMERICAN CONFERENCE will once again play a balanced schedule, meaning each team will play eight conference games in 2011. Let’s hope the ledger is more balanced than its been the last two years when only two teams in the...

By Marc Lawrence Like an aging Hollywood actor, the Mountain West adds a wrinkle or two this football season. Checking out this year are BYU (Independent) and Utah (PAC 12). Checking in is Boise State. Next year's juxtaposition will find Hawaii entering the loop, while TCU heads to the BIG...

By Marc Lawrence With a $3-billion TV contract freshly inked, the original PAC 8 moves into a third phase of expansion when Colorado and Utah join the newly minted conference this season. The self-proclaimed ‘Conference of Champions’, the PAC 10 has won more NCAA National Team Championships (400...

By Marc Lawrence “They ought to just rename the system, BC SEC.” Those are the prophetic words from Dennis Dodd of CBSSports.com. After all, “the SEC is now 7-0 in BCS title games. The conference has won more than half of the 13 BCS championships games,” said Dodd. We couldn’t agree more. ...

Sure, they may be suffering from a bad case of sunspots but to a team they believe, sooner than later, a member of the Sun Belt Conference will someday be playing in a BCS bowl game. By rule, if it can, the SBC champion will earn an automatic berth in a BCS bowl game if that team is ranked in the top...

If ever there was a telling stat about a conference in decline it's this about the WAC: Of the 29 first-team all-WAC players in 2010, just five return for the 2011 season and none from the offensive side of the ball. In fact, there were 30 second-team players, and only half of them are scheduled...

With NFL 'EAST' division teams leading the charge with a combined total of 14 games played in Conference title tilts this new millennium, including a league high five championship game appearances games by squads located in the AFC EAST, it speaks to the strength of this group. So does the division's...

If you've ever wondered why it is Pittsburgh is pretty much a rival to every team in the AFC North, the answer is simple. Three of the teams have connecting histories. Cincinnati and Cleveland were founded by Paul Brown, while the Baltimore Ravens and the city of Cleveland have their own unique relationship...

By Marc Lawrence It’s unanimous. Smart handicappers alike agree on one thing – preparation is the key to success. The better prepared you are the better chance you stand at succeeding. With the 2011 College Bowl season now upon us, it’s time to get ready for the thirty-five...

By Marc Lawrence Handicapping the NFL Playoffs can be a bit tricky. The knee-jerk reaction is to back home teams. After all, they have been a solid-moneymaker, going 161-131-6 (55.1%) dating back to 1980. Today, however, that would be a mistake as the success of home teams in the playoffs...

By Marc Lawrence After expanding its playoff format to 12 teams in 1990, the NFL left the door wide open to the possibilities of a Wild Card team running the table and hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. And while a Wild Card team has done so only seven times in Super Bowl history, five such winners have...

By Marc Lawrence As we begin preparation for the 20th anniversary edition of the PLAYBOOK FOOTBALL HANDICAPPERS YEARBOOK magazine, the wild and wacky world of College Football moves to the 2012 season with plenty of changes in order. Here is your guide to what lies ahead. Aside from a highly anticipated...

By Marc Lawrence Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis kicks off February 5 when New England meets the New York with the Patriots looking to avenge losses to the Giants in Super Bowl XVII, and also a 24-20 defeat at Foxboro this season in a game which snapped a 20-game regular season home win streak...

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly Team Trends By Marc Lawrence Some say the NBA is simply an acronym for ‘Nothing But Aggravation’. Others insist it’s merely a ‘Nice Bankroll Additive’. Whatever your take, there is no better time than the present – with the NBA...