NCAA Football Preview - Washington Huskies

NCAA Football Betting Lines

08/21/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - 2006 SEASON IN REVIEW: In his second season at Washington, coach Tyrone Willingham brought the Huskies to the next level, going from two wins in his first year to five victories a year ago. The 2006 campaign started off on the right foot with Washington winning four of its first five games, including three in a row against Fresno State (21-20), UCLA (29-19) and Arizona (21-10). However, that would be the end of the celebrating as the team went on an atrocious six-game slide. The downward spiral was due in large part to the horrible season-ending injury suffered by quarterback Isaiah Stanback. During the long turbulent stretch, the team fought hard especially against USC, as the Huskies lost by only six points. The team also suffered back-to-back overtime heartbreakers to Cal (31-24) and Arizona State (26-23). At 4-7, it was clear Washington was not going to make a bowl game, but the team still had enough pride to close out the regular season with a thrilling 35-32 victory over rival Washington State. Despite the losing mark, the Huskies showed some progress and that is all that can be expected from a team that has not been to a bowl since 2002.

2007 ANALYSIS:

OFFENSE: The offense for the 2007 Huskies will rest on the shoulders of an unproven sophomore signal-caller in Jake Locker. At 6-3, Locker has ability to beat you with his big arm or his impressive speed. There is plenty riding on this kid to put all that potential on the field. Anthony Russo is back to give Locker a solid target at the WR position, but the most intriguing receiver is Marcel Reece. The 6-3 Reece was a juco transfer last season and struggled for the most part, but eventually picked it up down the stretch, giving the coaching staff and UW fans everywhere hope for a big senior year. The biggest issue for the Huskies last year was their ground game which averaged just 3.8 ypc. Luis Rankin will once again be the feature back and if he can handle the short-yardage situations he could become the first 1,000-year rusher for Washington in a decade.

DEFENSE: While there are a lot of new faces for the offensive unit, there is also a lot of promise. However, the same can not be said for the Huskies' defensive squad, which lost five of its top six tacklers from a season ago. The heart and soul of this unit looks to be the defensive front, which returns three starters. If defensive ends Daniel Te'o-Nesheim and Greyson Gunheim can put consistent pressure on the quarterback, it should take some pressure off of the inexperienced back seven. There is a lot of talent in the linebacking corps, but not much experience. Dan Howell is the only returning starter, while sophomores Donald Butler and Chris Stevens will likely start in the middle and on the weak side, respectively. The biggest concern for Willingham is his defensive backfield which is extremely thin. Roy Lewis and Jason Wells are the only starters back. Mesphin Forrester will make the move from corner to safety and senior Jordan Murchison will start on the outside.

SPECIAL TEAMS: Another headache for Willingham will be replacing his entire special teams unit. Freshman Erik Folk will probably handle the kicking duties for the Huskies, while juco transfer Jared Ballman will take over as the team's punter. Ballman will have large shoes to fill as the previous punter, Sean Douglass, left as the school's all-time leader in average per punt. The return game is also a mess with Willingham looking for either Byron Davenport or Corey Williams to step into the role.

OUTLOOK: Willingham has the Huskies going in the right direction, however, it is unclear what the schedule makers have against Washington as the club has possibly the toughest five games to start the season. Willingham's troops will have to battle Syracuse, Boise State, Ohio State, UCLA and USC in the first five weeks. If Locker can handle the pressure of being "the man", and if the defensive unit can gel quickly then the Huskies might have an outside shot at reaching the postseason.

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The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)

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Points (or Runs) Scored

Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.

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Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:

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Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.

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Betting Teasers

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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