Ultra Sports Bet » illinois

Bowling for Dollars – Rose Bowl

Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:53:43 +0000

This is part of our Bowling for Dollars contest. You can start participating at any time. Check out the announcement here.

USC (-14) vs. Illinois (Tuesday, Jan. 1, 5:00 p.m. ET) – USC should be the favorite here, but I think this line is inflated by public love. Illinois finished strong, and I think that they will be at the top of their game to prove that they belong in the BCS and that Ron Zook truly has the program turned around. The dynamic Illinois offense could surprise some teams if it keeps up the form it had at the end of the season. USC has clearly looked vulnerable at times this year, and the game could be closer than the public seems to think it will be. Pick: Illinois.

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Two more for Saturday

Sat, 03 Nov 2007 16:00:56 +0000

Illinois (-12) at Minnesota – My wife’s favorite team is Minnesota – she loves the concept of a gopher as a mascot. I may be a bad husband because I love picking against Minnesota. That’s mostly not because of her, though. It’s because they haven’t won since week two, and have struggled to cover against good teams. Illinois is a pretty good team, they should be able to break it wide open on offense, and I don’t see how Minnesota keeps up. Pick: Illinois.

Arizona State (+7) at Oregon - Arizona State is a great story, and Dennis Erickson has proven without a doubt that he is a brilliant coach. I think that the fun ends here, though. Oregon is too explosive on offense, they can stop the run cold, and they are incredibly hungry. This would be a different story if it were in Tempe (though I would still like Oregon), but Autzen Stadium will be absolutely out of control, and Oregon will be lifted by that. Pick: Oregon.

UPDATE: I was just barely breaking even during the college season before this week. There’s no better way to remedy that than to go 4-0 today and 5-0 on the week. It’s took a bit of a miracle by Texas to pull it off, but I’m not proud so I’ll take it. The rest of the games weren’t even remotely close.

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Three games for week 7 of college football

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 14:44:40 +0000

Just three college games stick out this week. Some weeks just don’t have the potential that others do, though that obviously varies by who is looking at them:

Illinois (-3.5) at Iowa – When I was first looking at this game on the schedule this week, I had Illinois favored by 6.5 (and still attractive at that price). Since I get the extra field goal here this one is a no-brainer. Illinois is a team playing with passion, and passion is something that Iowa hasn’t had for well over a year. Pick: Illinois.

Tennessee (-7) at Mississippi State – Tennessee has been on a roll the last two weeks and I expect that to continue here. I don’t consider Auburn to be an elite team, so Mississippi State has played two elite SEC teams – South Carolina and LSU – and they haven’t been competitive with either here. I expect more of the same. Pick: Tennessee.

South Carolina (-6) at North Carolina – It is amazing to me that these two teams have never played before. I suspect that North Carolina will hope after this game that they never play again. The Gamecocks have won by more than seven against better opponents the last two weeks. They are an excellent 4-1 against the spread. North Carolina had a shocking win over Miami last week, but that should set them up for a letdown, and Miami is considerably more flawed than SC. Pick: South Carolina.

UPDATE: Over the course of the season there are inevitable periods of frustration. This is one of them. I can’t seem to get any traction the last couple of weeks Tennessee did as I hoped, but Illinois really didn’t, and South Carolina managed only the bare minimum.. That leaves me at 1-1-1 this week, and very hungry for success after two off weeks. Surviving periods like this with a solid attitude is what makes a sports bettor successful.

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