As I enter my 21st year in the sports betting business, there are not many things I KNOW FOR SURE! I do however, KNOW THIS! As sports bettors, we all tend to take for granted our lucky wins, while our BAD BEATS stay with us for a very long time!...

 

You may remember that back in school we were taught that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction! Well that's the same principle that applies here. For every BAD BEAT, there will always be a LUCKY WIN! Throughout the season on every Tuesday (college) and Wednesday (pro), I'll take a look back at the just concluded games and dig a little deeper into their outcomes, from a sports betting perspective. Here's a look back at last weekend....

 

With a light schedule in college football and the NFL not beginning its season until this weekend, last week's college football games were fairly uneventful. For those of you who had Northwestern against TCU on Thursday night though, you really had to sweat-out a dreadful performance by the Wildcats' kicker! Despite moving the ball at will (Northwestern finished with 637 total yards), Wildcat backers (+ 6) needed a Northwestern TD with just nine seconds remaining in the game, to send it to overtime! Northwestern kicker Brian Huffman, who had missed three field goals in regulation, then missed two more in overtime! The last of which actually 'saved' Northwestern backers from having to survive a third overtime period! As it was TCU won 48-45, giving Northwestern bettors the 'win'!...

 

On Friday night, if you had Washington State (-3) over New Mexico as I did, count yourself as VERY LUCKY! The Cougars couldn't move the ball at all on the ground (finished with 31 yards rushing in 31 attempts!), while New Mexico's DonTrell Moore ran for 167 yards. For the game, New Mexico outgained Washington State, 415-to-271. Early in the fourth quarter, New Mexico had a chance to go up 21-7 but they were stopped inside the Washington State five-yard line and settled for a field goal. Down 17-7 and laying three points, Washington State put together a good drive but after scoring with 9:54 left, still trailed 17-14. Then however, Washington State blocked a New Mexico punt, recovering on the four-yard line! Washington State scored on the first play and held on, for a very lucky 21-17 win and cover!...

 

Missouri hosted Arkansas St on Saturday and the Tigers opened as a 32 1/2-point favorite with the game closing at 35 1/2! Missouri jumped out to a 21-0 lead and the score stood at 49-20 entering the final quarter. There was no scoring until late in the game, when Missouri drove to the Arkansas St one-yard line and on fourth down, chose to kick a field goal with 19 seconds remaining! The final score was 52-20. A TD would have made it 56-20 and ALL Missouri bettors would have CASHED!...

 

Iowa opened its season against Kent State last Saturday and were solid 30-point favorites. The Golden Flashes were without their starting QB, Joshua Cribbs and did almost NOTHING all game. They were held to just 11 FDs and 110 total yards, including minus - 13 yards rushing. Still, Iowa backers had to sweat it out all the way. Kent State stayed within the 'number' into the fourth quarter, scoring only when they intercepted an Iowa pass and returned it 99-yards for a TD! Iowa backers finally got over the hump, when they returned the favor, scoring a 30-yard TD with just under nine minutes to go off a Kent St interception! Iowa held on for the win and cover, winning 39-7....

 

As I said earlier, all-in-all, an uneventful first week! We're just getting started though! Those BAD BEATS and LUCKY WINS are just around the corner. See you next week.