Money Bet of the Century | Week #9

Money Bettors-

This week we are back with a Money Bet fresh in from one of our field correspondents, Jeff Wood. If you don't know Jeff, you should. He's been guest editing well over 5 years for the Money Bet, and has come up with some of the best calls in Money Bet history. When the money bet has a stumbling week, we effectively look to our bullpen to call in the Money Bet's version of Mariano Rivera. So without further delay......The Money Bet of the Century!

Jeff Wood here, field corespondent up here in Bellingham where last night I spent a chilly night on the sidelines as an assistant coach at a high school football game. In it, the Ferndale Golden Eagles took a 30-13 victory over the Mount Vernon Bulldogs to secure the #1 seed in the Northwest Conference. We will play Mercer Island in the first round of the state playoffs...there is not a player with the last name of Locker on the roster this year but don't count out an upset of the Islanders by the Wing T attack of Ferndale.

Speaking of Locker, for some odd reason known WSU alum and Coug die hard Dave Noreen took UW to cover the spread over Stanford last week. What a debacle! Money Bettor rule # 14 is never take a shitty defense on the road against the #1 pick in the NFL draft my good Noreen. So after licking his wounds from that bad call as well as a brutal backpacking trip to the Enchantment Basin, Dave called on me to Guest Edit the MBOC.

There is a decent slate of games this week including Stanford @ USC , Oklahoma @ Kansas State, and Michigan State @ Nebraska. The one that catches my eye however is Wisconsin @ Ohio State where the Badgers are giving 7.5 points. Now many of you saw the crushing way that Wisconsin lost last week on the Hail Mary by Michigan State. That is their only loss on the season however, and the Badgers have been putting up an average of 47 points a game led by Russell Wilson. I don't see OSU holding down that offense when they put up 31 on Michigan State who could have the best D in the nation. Wisconsin also has a pretty stout D themselves holding MSU to just 102 yards on the ground last week. With Ohio State not having the same type of playmakers in the past like Terrell Pryor, their Offense is not that dynamic and UW will stack the box against Buckeye running back Dan "Boom" Herron. I just don't see OSU having the firepower to stay with the Badgers however, even in Columbus. Lay the points and take Sconny....you'll be glad you did!

The Money Bet of the Century | Week #8

Money Betters!

I love writing a blog post the week following a successful DOUBLE DOWN SPECIAL. Back from another win, the MBOC has a little bit of swagger in its step as it now sits at an impressive 5-2 record. Last week was another impressive win for Oklahoma State. Brandon Weeden has put up more impressive performances this year, throwing for 218 yards and only one touchdown. Additionally, I predicted that Justin Blackmon would have a game, but he only ended up with 7 receptions for 74 yards and a touchdown. Regardless, that is one talented receiver that is going to have a great NFL career.

What made Oklahoma State go this week was their running back, Jeremy Smith, who had 7 touches for 140 yards and two touchdowns. That's right fans, he averaged 20 yards per touch against a decent Texas team that was playing on home turf. All-in-all, it didn't go as planned, but we'll take a win any day of the week.

There are a lot of exciting games this weekend. The staff was at odds with who we should go with. Michigan State is playing Wisconsin in a classic Big Ten showdown. #6 ranked Wisconsin brings a balanced attack to the field with 265 yards of passing and 257 rushing yards per game. That makes them a dual threat and it will be a tough game for #16 Michigan State. The good news for State is that they are playing at home, and playing well right now. If Kirk Cousins has a great game, Sparty might just pull it out.

Another good game will be North Carolina vs. Clemson. Clemson is playing back at home after eaking out a win last week in a close one with Maryland. The one thing our staff has determined is that Clemson is virtually unbeatable at home this season. They will easily cover the 11 point line vs. NC and maybe run the table on the season. They'll still have to get by South Carolina and, unfortunately for Clemson, it ain't a home game.

The Money Bet of the Century this week is back in the Pac-10. Were talking about the UW vs. Stanford game. The game will be played down on the farm, where weather conditions are looking to be a balmy 82 degrees. Stanford is favored in this game by 20.5, but we can't figure out why. Sure, Stanford has the dependable arm of Andrew Luck, who has a 71.3% completion percentage and has thrown for 1719 yards and 18 touchdowns. They also have a very reliable target in Coby Fleener who has 383 yards and six touchdowns.

But look at the other side of the ball, and you'll see a UW who has quietly been having a great year. You don't lose a lot with Keith Price at the helm. He has near matchable numbers with a 69.4% completion percentage and has thrown for 1466 yards and 21 touchdowns. Both QBs have been able to keep interceptions at a minimum, with Price at 4, and Luck at 3. Devin Aguilar with 330 yards and 3 touchdowns. These teams are pretty evenly matched, but it definitely will be a big road game test for UW. Playing in front of a #8 Stanford home crowd that will be amped for a 5pm start definitely means the crowd will play a factor.

The big question in this game, and the reason the line is 20.5 is Washington's secondary. They aren't that great, and Washington has been allowing opponents to score an average of 28.5 points per game....and that includes Hawaii and Eastern Washington.

I'm not going to out-and-out say UW is going to win this game, but they'll definitely keep in closer than everyone thinks. UW goes down to the farm and loses by 10, but keeps it close enough to make it THE MONEY BET. Call your bookie, places your bet, and kick your feet up on your coffee table to watch the game!

Don't forget to vote in the upper right hand corner and feel free to post comments down below!

Money Bet of the Century | Week #7

Money Bettors-

Well, we took a bit of a step back last week, but in a long season, even our seasoned squad can miss a game or two. That brings up an opportunity for us to have one of my favorite posts of the season:

THE MONEY BET OF THE CENTURY DOUBLE DOWN SPECIAL!!

We call in the double down special when we have a loss and we see another game the following week that we encourage our readers to pick up the money they lost week. Take the bet you made last week and double it, because you're going to recoup your losses from last week on this game.

I wish we could have caught this game when it first opened up, because at -5.5, Oklahoma State is a lock against struggling Texas, but the line has now moved to -7.

Oklahoma State definitely is hitting its stride. Sitting at 5-0 after a 70 point offensive smashing of Kansas, the Cowboys are looking like a very good team. One can only wait to see if both Oklahoma and Oklahoma State are undefeated near the end of the season when they play that game. When it comes to passing, Oklahoma State is the #2 team in the country, putting up an average of 431 yards per game.

Texas comes into this game after a stinging loss to Oklahoma in the Red River shootout last week (55-17). This is definitely not the Texas we remember from just a couple years ago. This Teas defense is not able to handle the high-power offense teams like Oklahoma (and Oklahoma State).

No change this week. The Cowboys shoot up 48 on Texas and win by 17!

...and don't forget to vote in the upper right hand corner on the outcome.

Money Bet of the Century | Week #6

Well Money Betters-
If you've been betting along with the blog, right about now Vegas is probably 86'ing you from their sports book. That's because the staff here at The MBOC works hard each week to find you the game that they miss. Don't be surprised if you come to the blog one day and it is shut down, because we don't miss much, and Vegas will probably send someone out to break my legs (or fingers) soon. Don't forget to vote after you are done reading----> (right hand side)

Here's an MBOC Exclusive. One that is bound to impress your friends and allow you to make up a great college football trivia list. Ever wonder where your stadium stacks up against other stadiums in the country? Try this College Football Stadium Wikipedia Link which will allow you to sort every FBS stadium in which way you choose by team name, by attendance, by conference, by oldest to newest?...the answer you ever had to any stadium question you might have lives on this page. The smallest FBS Stadium? That would be the Kibbie dome over in Idaho that holds 16,000 fans. Thanks to the folks over at Wikipedia for putting this together and giving it to us for a MBOC exclusive.

My Cougs. What can I say. Last week they marched into Colorado, and with 5 minutes left on the clock, down 10 points, they found a way to win. This is a great accomplishment for the program because I can't remember a time we were down 10 and came back in the 4th quarter.
My boy Marshall Lobbestael has been the most pleasant surprise, and really....a saving grace for the Washington State program. Paul Wulff will be able to look back at him and realize that he saved his job. With Tuel out in the first game of the season, I felt like it was going to be another season of humiliating losses, but jeez that kid has stepped up, and thank god for that.

With the exception of the fluke road win against Oregon State last year, you'd have to go back to Nov. 24th of 2007 to find another road win for our program (and that was against Washington, so it was an in state road win). Our last out of state road win before that was on October 26th 2006 vs. UCLA. One other road win in 2006 (Oct. 7th, 2006 vs Oregon State) means we've basically had 4 divisional road wins in 5 years. It just hurts to have to say that.

But through it all, the Cougar faithful have been amazing. Every Saturday morning you turn your television on, you see the Cougar flag gloriously waving amongst the game day crowd. They're legends. I've waived the flag myself and can personally attest to the fact that the crowd loves us. The flag has flown at every game day since October 4, 2003...so happy 8th birthday to the Cougar Flag, and Congratulations Washington State fans for holding firm through the dark days. General George Patton would have been proud of Cougar Nation for fighting hard, against long odds, and coming out with our pride intact. Nice work State.

We might win only a few more games this season. With that, we'd be on pace to do the best we've done since 2007. Perhaps 'The Lean Years' are behind us. I feel bad for the kids that entered school in the fall of 2008. They've seen nothing but shit. They've seen 8 wins in 40 games.....that's not a way to go through college. But something tells me most of them will be back for a 5th year....so maybe there's hope for them yet. ha ha.

This week we're going to a game that I think will give us our fourth straight lock in a row. The Arizona Wildcats have gotten off to a very surprising slow start. They are 1-4. But get this friends, they've had an incredibly difficult schedule, playing 3 top 25 teams already this season. They're definitely not a top 25 contender, but I do consider them a pretty decent team. Led by Senior Qb Nick Foles, Arizona is ranked 3rd in the country in passing yards, averaging 384 per game. Foles has already slung 14 touchdowns for almost 1900 yards this year. They're favored in this game against Oregon State by -1.5

The Beavers are having what we call 'A rebuilding year'. They haven't won a game yet this year yet, but have also played a couple of top 25 teams in Wisconsin & Arizona State. Wisconsin man-handled them to the tune of a 35-0 shutout. Oregon State is averaging 31 points scored on them per game this season.

They have not seen a passing threat like Arizona can bring, and the secondary will be tested. The secondary has proven that it isn't tough, even against teams like Sacramento State. Look for Zona to 'dip' the Beavers by 10 in Reser Stadium. You can LAY A BET ON IT!