The Money Bet of the Century 2010 | Week One

The Money Bet of the Century is back, in it's 8th year!!! In case you are unfamiliar with The Money Bet of the Century (MBOC), our aim (and our tagline) is to "find you that one college football game each week that slipped past the odds makers in Vegas!!!" For those of you that are new to the MBOC, here's a brief recap of how it got started.

In all began in 1999, when yours truly was still just a young pup, in his final year of undergrad at Washington State. Fellow MBOC co-founder Marc Cooperstein was on a gambling losing streak of epic proportions. He couldn't pick a winner to save his life. In a desperate attempt to pull out of his losing streak, he put up the keys to his 1978 BMW, to fellow fraternity brother Cody Woodruff, in order to take a loan for 800 dollars for the big win that was going to put him on an EPIC winning streak. Before making this legendary bet, he was seen running around the fraternity screaming at the top of his lungs "THIS IS THE MONEY BET OF THE CENTURY......IF THE ODDSMAKERS ARE GIVING OUT FREE MONEY, I MIGHT AS WELL STAND IN LINE TO COLLECT....GET IN THE GAAAAAMMMMMMEEEEEE!!" Well, Marc definitely got into the game all right....and as it turned out, Marc's prediction was a little off. This Money Bet didn't turn out to be.....well....very 'money' at all.

Some time later, he regained possession (and his dignity) of the keys to his car. What team did Marc lose this legendary bet on? I can't really say for sure. But as we peeked in the window of his locked fraternity door, of which he would let no one in to taunt him on his loss, he was seen huddled over his televsion sadly shaking it in despair.

Marc went on to greater achievements, and recently graduated from UC Irvine's Merage School of Business. Marc tells me that Paul Merage, who the business school is named after, was the inventor of Hot Pockets. Here's to you, Marc! We hope that you are able to use this blog to find some winning bets while you enjoy with your lifetime supply of Hot Pockets (something I'm told every Merage School Alumni gets a certificate for at graduation).

This year, we plan on kicking off the season with a hell of an opening season win, and the game was very easy to spot upon a cursory viewing of the week one lines.

They started off the 2009 season last year looking RED HOT but shortly after fizzled. With a close victory over #18 Notre Dame (38-34) in week 2, Michigan looked like they'd be a Big 10 team to be reckoned with. In week 5, 4-0 Michigan saw their house of cards come tumbling down. An overtime loss to in-state rival Michigan State at Spartan Stadium (20-26) was a sign of bad things to come. Michigan then went on to win only one more game (Delaware State) and got nearly blanked in the Big Ten (1-7). Two close losses to Iowa and and Purdue by a combined 4 points further demoralized the team. Starting in 2008, it's been a couple rebuilding years for Big Blue. Michigan may never have enough bad seasons for me, but that's one of the reasons things are about to change.

Michigan may be one of the most underrated teams in the Big 10 this year. Tate Forcier is back again this year, after taking some lumps in his first year as a starting QB. Forcier is going to be around for a while, too, as he is only a Sophomore this year. Last year he put up some pretty decent numbers, throwing for 2000+ yards despite their crummy record. Back again is also his favorite target Roy Roundtree who was the team reception leader with 434 receiving yards. The pieces are young to this team (both Forcier and Roundtree are Sophomores)....but they gained a lot of experience last year which will be invaluable in 2010.

First up for Michigan this year is the Connecticut Huskies. Things were looking up for the team as they had an early season win over Louisville. That same night, the beginning of a long year for UCONN started when one of their football players Jasper Howard wasvstabbed to death on campus. The team used this tragedy as a rallying point, almost beating #5 Cincinnati....then handily dismissing Notre Dame, Syracuse, and winning their bowl game against South Carolina. Connecticut will have a better season this year than their 8-5 season last year. Back at QB is Senior Zach Frazer who had a mediocre season last year. Back at RB is Jordan Todman who rushed for 1188 yards and 14 touchdowns. These two pieces should help the Connecticut ground game. The team is young with just a smattering of Seniors on the Offensive/Defensive lines.

Michigan has had some early season stumblings in years past, but this is going to be the year that they come out firing on all cylinders. The line on this game is only Michigan by 3 in the big house. Michigan will come out looking to redeem their image as a once-storied program, and regain the respect they've lost in the Big 10. The Wolverines bite will prove to be much stronger than the Huskies in Week One! Big Blue by 10!