Just 3 for Me

[lostinamerica]

NCAA YTD: 34-30 (+1.20*)

I made my plays early this week when the lines I wanted looked favorable. I started working on some write-ups to go with them, but this pastime called my job took precedence. I'll probably find the time after this post to contribute some of the info I looked at on Boise State (as if they need any touting).

I've experienced enough mid-November mayhem (when the pressure builds, the desperation/redemption quotient rises, the rivalries intensify, and there is a plague of looking ahead) to have me using CAUTION this week regardless of the opportunities that may well be on the board. This week I'll take my stand with just a few teams that I feel offer real value, and even push the envelope on those plays with a full unit parlay, and the damage will be minimal if they go up in smoke. Then just for giggles, I've dumped all my action plays (Illinois, Maryland, Kansas State, Duke, Tulane, etc.) on some small time parlays.

No. 1: BOISE STATE(-25') over LaTech for 1.5*
The kids from Cajun country head north in the hopes of solving their road woes by catching a team playing with swelled heads after cracking the national rankings.

No. 2: IOWA(-10) over Minnesota for 1*
The Hawks have the right stuff.

No. 3: USC(-14) over Arizona State for 1*
The spot is not ideal and the line value has slipped away, but my best season ever in the Pac 10 was built in large part by recognizing the many disparities between the likes of these two teams.

PARLAY: Boise State(-25'); Iowa(-10); USC(-14') for 1*
Topped the plays and the parlay off with a tad more at (-28); (-11); and (-16).

GL

 

[lostinamerica]

BOISE STATE

Playing Boise State has been a profitable habit for me since the Fresno State game, but I decided I'd do some digging on the likelihood of the juggernaut being derailed this week. I checked today for updated information but found nothing as good as what I found earlier in the week.

---------- ---------- ----------


SOURCE: Idaho Statesman (11/11/02) (Edited):

Rob Vian got the good news when he arrived at the Boise State football complex at about 12:30 Sunday afternoon.

He looked at a printout of the latest USA Today/ESPN coaches? Top 25 poll ? and was transfixed.

Right in front of him, on the line marked No. 23, was the school he has called home for four-plus years: Boise State. He learned that for the first time in the school?s seven seasons at the Division I-A level, the Broncos were considered an elite team.

?I pumped my fist,? said Vian, the senior right guard. ?It?s like, ?Heck yeah, that?s awesome.? I couldn?t quit staring at it. We?ve been working at this a long time. It?s cool to get recognition.?

The Broncos soared from 27th to 23rd because they won their eighth straight game in blowout fashion Saturday, a 49-7 thrashing of Rice, and several teams ahead of them lost.

They also jumped from 30th to 26th in The Associated Press media poll.

There are 117 teams in I-A football.

Boise State?s first game as a nationally ranked I-A team is Saturday at Bronco Stadium, which fittingly is Senior Day. The Broncos (9-1 overall, 6-0 WAC) meet the defending WAC champion Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (3-6, 2-3) at 1:05 p.m.

?Now we are the hunted,? Vian said. ?It?s going to be a big test for us. La. Tech will see this as a chance to knock off a ranked team. Nevada will have the same shot (next week).? . . . . . . . .

Those who investigate BSU will find a team that leads the nation in scoring (47.9 points per game) and pass efficiency (175.61). They also will discover that senior tailback Brock Forsey has seven more touchdowns (24) than anyone else in the country.

It?s all the product of a team that mostly was recruited while the Broncos were playing in the nation?s worst football conference, the now-defunct Big West. The 19 seniors who will play their final regular-season home game Saturday have built a program that will land its third bowl berth, third conference championship and third 10-win season in a four-year span with one more victory.

Those seniors also can say that, for one week at least, they were ranked ahead of national powers Nebraska, Tennessee, UCLA, Texas A&M and the Arkansas team that?s responsible for the Broncos? only loss, a 41-14 pasting in the second week of the season.

They also are eight spots ahead of Arizona State in the coaches? poll. ASU coach Dirk Koetter was the head coach at BSU from 1998 to 2000, assembling this team along with his recruiting coordinator, Hawkins.

?I?m just glad that we?re ranked ahead of Arizona State right now,?? Vian said.

--------- ---------- ----------

SOURCE: Idaho Statesman (11/10/02) (Edited):

Ahh. Behold the power of regret.

The Boise State football team continued its Redemption Tour on Saturday at Bronco Stadium with a 49-7 destruction of Rice.

The Broncos? eighth straight blowout victory put them one win away from their third bowl berth in four years and two away from the first undefeated WAC season since BYU went 8-0 in 1996.

Last year, Rice helped knock BSU out of the bowl picture with a 45-14 win in Houston.

?I look back to the day when we met in here and we had to tell (the players) they weren?t going to play in a bowl game,? BSU coach Dan Hawkins said during a press conference in the team meeting room. ?I knew good things were in store when they basically said: ?It?s our fault. We left the door open.? Nobody blamed anyone but themselves.? . . . . . . . .

And the defense, playing brilliantly in the offense?s shadow, bottled up Rice?s ?spread option? offense. The Owls (4-6, 3-4) had season lows of 152 rushing yards and 232 total yards, and the Broncos held their third straight opponent to single-digit scoring for the first time since 1979.

?We?re probably seeing the best Boise team that?s ever been,? Hatfield said. ?They?re breaking every record in the book.?

Rice, which entered the game with the WAC?s top defense, never even slowed Boise State. The Broncos committed three turnovers, but never punted.

--------- ---------- ----------

And a few words on the team from Cajun country heading north.

For starters, Marra had a nice write-up last week in handicapping the La Tech / San Jose State game. I couldn't make a link, but the last post on that thread was at 5:18 pm on 11/11/02.


SOURCE: latechsports.com (11/05/02)
(Before last week's game)

RUSTON - Despite Louisiana Tech's 0-5 mark in road games this year, Bulldog head coach Jack Bicknell said he is not concerned about his team's struggles away from Joe Aillet Stadium.

During his weekly Tuesday press luncheon at the Charles Wyly Athletic Center, Bicknell was questioned about his team's current five-game road losing streak. However, the fourth year head coach refused to make excuses.

"It's not necessarily that much tougher on the road," Bicknell said. "I don't have an explanation or any excuses why we've struggled away from home, we just haven't got it done. You can't sit back and say, 'We'll we can't play on the road.' It doesn't matter. Other people go on the road and win; we have to go on the road and win."

In its five road losses this year, Tech has been outscored 187-87 with only one of the losses being by less than 17 points (SMU 37-34). Meanwhile, the Bulldogs have owned opponents at home this season, winning by an average score of 47-30.

"Obviously, it's nice to be at home and we seem to do better at home, but that's no excuse. We have to become a better road team. Some of it is who we play, but again it shouldn't matter whether you are playing at home or away. You still have to execute."

With its next two games on the road against San Jose State and Boise State and a shot at a post season bowl berth still within its grasp, Tech knows it must find a way to get the job done and come away with road wins.

"I think we have our swagger back," said junior quarterback Luke McCown. "I think we are a confident football team again (after the Nevada win). We're playing better football. We are definitely motivated by still having the opportunity to play in a bowl. We also want to defend our title."

---------- ---------- ----------

GL

 

[lostinamerica]

Just a hedge - waited for the commotion of the Ohio State game to pass before posting.

Boise State was good to me - Wow. Now I've got a 7/1 parlay for 1* at Infinity riding with USC(-14') and another separate play for 1* riding with USC(-14). Just a little hedge on Arizona State(+15) for 1.5 units.

IT'S GREAT TO BE A HAWKEYE!!!!!!!!

GL