This is a tried and true method for winning money betting on bowl games year in and year out, and I've used this theory successfully for almost 20 years. My theory is that you NEVER bet against SEC teams. Now I'm not advocating that you blindly bet on every SEC team (even though you would make money if you did so), but you should be betting on most of them. The lines, the motivation of the teams invovled, and other intangibles should guide your final decision making process.
The SEC has 10 teams playing in bowl games and they probably won't lose more than two of them.
Here is why I believe this strategy is successful EVERY year.
Let's start at the beginning. For the SEC, it all starts with recruiting. This year's recruiting rankings are very typical of what you see every year There are 6 SEC teams ranked in the top 9 nationally.
Now imagine if you're Mark Richt at Georgia and you have the nation's 9th best recruiting class. That sounds great until you realize that you have the 6th best recruiting class in your own conference!!! The point is the SEC has the best athletes in the country, and more of them. That is a plain and simple fact, and if you want to win money, you need to understand this.
My second point is this. If you've ever played sports, you know that when you play against top-notch competition, it pushes you to get better and play your best. SEC teams not only play against the best, they also practice everyday against the best. That creates an atmosphere that constantly pushes these great athletes to improve.
I had several people tell me this past week that Bama has not seen a defense like Florida's all year. My response was "Yes they have. They practice against one everyday in practice."
In a similar vain, SEC teams have to play much tougher competition in much tougher venues week in and week out. When teams like Florida play teams like Ohio State in bowl games, Florida has already played 5 or 6 intense, pressure-filled games in the limelight of a national tv audience. For a team like Ohio State, they usually will only play a couple of tough games a year, and even those "tough" games usually don't match the intensity of the SEC games.
So come bowl season, non-SEC teams usually cannot match the speed, and intensity of the SEC teams. On top of that, they are usually facing a much higher caliber of athlete than they are accustomed to both in practice and in the games they have played.
A perfect example of this is when the two divisional ACC champions were matched up against two middle tier SEC teams a couple of weeks ago. Georgia and South Carolina dominated both of these games. Georgia Tech and Clemson simply could not match the speed, athleticism and intensity of the middle tier SEC schools.
So do yourself a favor this bowl season, please don't fade SEC schools. In fasct, I recommend you do this. After Alabama beats and covers against Texas in the national championship game, go back and read is thread and see how accurate it was.
I will also note that now that USC is not dominating the PAC 10 anymore, the competition level within that conference has elevated considerably the last two years. Accordingly, I doubt I'll be wagering against that conference this bowl season either.
In sum, fade teams that are matched up against SEC & PAC 10 schools this bowl season, and I'm confident you'll make yourself a little extra coin this holiday season.
BOL TO ALL!!!