September 29, 2012

Money Bet of the Century | Week #5 | 0-4

Money Bettors-

I'm 0-3, so last week I called in a Guest Editor, Jeff Wood. A long time field correspondent, we brought Jeff in to make the call to break the snap. It didn't happen, and the MBOC is off to the worst start in it's prestigious 10 year history. To some extent, I'm wonder if we should go for a Hearts type strategy and 'Shoot the Moon'. LOL.

But think of it this way......we can still go 9-4 if we go on a FATTY run right now. There are some great games going on this weekend as we start getting out of the cupcake games and into the meat of the season. This is traditionally where the best have come anyways. If you've lost money in the first 4 weeks of the season, it's time to sit up and take notice because this is where it counts.

Looking at the schedule day, there's a lot to choose from. The Gameday matchup in East Lansing, Michigan pits Sparty vs. Ohio State. It's going to be a great game. Ohio State has an offensive weapon in Braxton Miller (not to be confused with Tony Braxton). He runs, he throws, and he can juke defensive lines with the best of them. But Sparty is a very experienced Defensive Line. Devin Smith is going to try and run the ball, along with B. Miller trying to do some pocket scrambles, and they're going to have a tough time. If Michigan State can tighten up the D, it's going to cause Ohio State to have to go to the air. If they can get it done in the air, they win this game, but it's a road game in East Lansing....not an easy place to play.

Another big game today is the Otis Kimzey special. Oregon State marches into Tucson to play the wildcats. The MBOC was not an early believe in Oregon State and they have helped deliver 2 of the 4 losses to the blog. Oregon State is looking LEGIT. They aren't running the ball or putting up a lot of points, but their D is monstrous, holding two top 25 teams to under 30 points COMBINED. Look for Oregon State to pick up this game against my beloved Zona.

This week, there were many submissions for the Linkedin Babe of the week. Final nod goes to Elizabeth Thorson over at Microsoft. Elizabeth attended Western Washington University and graduated with a degree in Marketing. She has worked at Nordstrom (plenty of babes have started their career at Nordstrom) but spends her time these days at the evil empire....er....Microsoft doing work with their digital media production. Thanks for the forward Tim S. of Seattle, WA....and Congrats Elizabeth.

Hook 'em Horns
Now for the game of the week.

In the first true test of the week, Texas hits the road to battle against Oklahoma State. In the first few weeks, Texas has offensively dominated their opponents on the field. David Ash has already thrown for 7 touchdowns and 700+ yards in the first few outings. The offensive line has done a great job protecting him against the rush only allowing 2 sacks in these first 3 outings. Their schedule is about to get a lot tougher in the coming weeks, as they face West Virginia next week, followed by Oklahoma & Baylor in the next two weeks. The mental preparation starts today against Oklahoma State. They have two primary offensive weapons in running backs Malcolm Brown & Joe Bergeron. These RB's are split pretty evenly with 3 touchdowns and 300 yards a piece in the first few weeks. Look for Texas to get it done on the ground today.

Oklahoma State is passing and scoring like no other team in the country so far this year. They put a ridiculous 84 points against Savannah State in week one. But they lost to a solid Arizona team in week #2, and beat Louisiana Lafayette in week #3. Today will be the first true test for the #1 offense in the country. J.W. Walsh will get the nod for the start and will be looking for two primary WR targets in Joseph Randle and Jeremy Smith. Both receivers have had an active opening part of the season netting 4 touchdowns a piece.
OK State girls gettin' down in Stillwater

Oklahoma State faces a tough Texas defensive squad that is 28th in the country in points allowed. Their CBs are strong and will be able to put the pressure ono both Randle and Smith in this game. The line on the game is Texas by -1.5, on the road, but Texas wins this close game by 7.

This is the week that the MBOC hits 'the turn'. You can lay a bet on it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't forget to vote in the upper right hand corner!

September 21, 2012

Money Bet of the Century - Week #4


Well MBOC is off to an stumbling start to the season at 0-3 and Dave called in one of his field corespondents to right the ship.  Jeff Wood here up in beautiful Bellingham, Washington....the so called city of subdued excitement to give MBOC the old college try. 

There are plenty of quality games on the slate this weekend including Michigan @ Notre Dame, Clemson @ Florida State, and USC hosting Cal.  But the game I am locking in on is UCLA hosting Oregon State at the Rose Bowl.  Now, the only time I have seen a game at the grand-daddy stadium in Pasadena the MBOC founder and I were in a wee bit of trouble to say the least but that is a long story for another day. 


Thanks go out this week to Ganesh Harinath of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania who brings us the LinkedIn Babe of the Week. Claudia Gneiting. Claudia owns her own CPA firm and helps people do their taxes. She also has an MBA from Westminster College. Congrats Claudia on this noble achievement. You should put it on your LinkedIn Profile....

Lets get to the game itself.  UCLA is riding high sitting at 3-0 after wins over Rice, Nebraska, and Houston.  They are led by senior Johnathan Franklin on the ground who averages a NCAA best 180.3 yards per game.  Frosh QB Brett Hundley can also throw the pigskin with precision and that gives the Bruins a dual threat that is hard to handle.  The Bruins also have a ball hawking D that came up with 5 interceptions last week against Houston.  



The Beavers are also off to a great start, having a marquee win in upsetting Wisconsin at the big burrito, Reser Stadium.  And while that win was legit, it was their only game of the year because of a postponement due to Hurricane Isaac.  While they stuffed the Badgers, OSU put up only 10 points and I feel that their offense won't be enough to hang with the firepower of UCLA.  The rust factor also won't help having this game be only the second of the year for OSU while it's UCLA's fourth time strapping it on. 

The line is Bruins -7....my MBOC prediction: UCLA 31, OSU 14.

September 14, 2012

Money Bet of the Century | Week 3 | 0-2

Money Bettors-

It's hard looking at that subject line, seeing that ominous 0-2 start for the MBOC's 2012 year. Last week the call was way off, as I was guilty of believing the hype surrounding Wisconsin. I thought that Wisconsin's ground and pound style offense would wear down the untested Oregon State Defense.  I should have consulted with field correspondent Otis Kimzey before making this call, as he had some additional insight into the Beavs' performance. The Big-10 isn't looking very Big at all..with 3 Big-Ten teams losing to Pac-10 Teams last week. The aforementioned Wisconsin, Nebraska (vs. UCLA) and Illinois took a drubbing from Arizona State (45-14). It's going to be a long year for the Big-10, with potentially Michigan State & Ohio State needing to pull weight to keep the conference respectable. A September 29th showdown between these two schools will most likely reveal who the champion of the Big-Ten will be. And then there's always Michigan.

Coming into week 3 with two losses to start the season would have some odds pickers hanging their head and wallowing in shame. But we do things differently at the Money Bet of the Century. When we are looking at a couple losses staring us in the face, we write a column called The Double Down Special issue. The Double Down special issue always rights the ship. Looking back at the Double Down special over the last 3 seasons, we are 3-0. Typically the staff will pull 80+ hour weeks pouring over all elements of the games on the board this week. Elements that were looked at this week include location of game,  the temperature at kickoff, historical performance of the two teams when they play each other, which company made the football, etc. There is nothing that wasn't covered when reviewing the games this week. The staff is just thankful it's Friday, and at time of publishing, they had all left to go home and sleep. Thanks for your hard work field correspondents!

Are LinkedIn Babe of the Week was discovered by none other than Jon Washington. Jon- we're not sure what your job entails on a daily basis, but whatever it is....you definitely squeeze time in to work on the LinkedIn Babe of the Week segment. You take your job seriously, and the readers are appreciative of your steady dedication. Congratulations go out to Alexandra Avdey of 'The Greater Los Angeles Area'. Alexandra currently spends her days over at E! Entertainment as an Executive Assistant in Digital Media and Business Development, but spent time at Ford modeling and had a short stint at Sony Pictures as an intern. She is the proud recipient of a Marketing degree from Arizona State University. Congratulations Alexandra (and thanks again Jon).

This week's game is a perennial Pac-12 showdown that has been exciting in recent years. Last year, in 2011, these two teams went into a triple overtime showdown that ended in a 56-48 point extravaganza. In 2010, the victor was decided by only two points, and in 2007---only one point. You're always guaranteed a good show when these two teams play, and this year should be no different. The billing for the game is a 7:30PM start on FOX, but Alexandra guarantees us that she is about to sign a contract so this game will be on E! next year. As everyone knows, a night time show down always adds a little extra excitement to the game.The game we are talking about is, of course, USC vs. Stanford.

The USC Song Girls at the Pool
USC comes into this game fresh off of sanction over the last few years, and is ranked #2 in the country. Matt Barkley is well on his way to being a front runner in the Heisman race, already throwing for 10 touchdowns in the first two games and 559 yards. He has two very reliable target receivers in Marquise Lee (21 catches/ 263 yards/ 4 TDs) and Robert Woods (16 catches/ 135 yards/ 4 TDs). And Silas Redd (sellout Redd as we know him here at MBOC, for transferring from Penn State) is consistent on the ground with 163 yards of rushing for one touchdown. This USC team is stacked and ready to rumble.

Reese Witherspoon went to Stanford
Stanford is no slouch coming off of a 50-13 pummeling of Duke, but had a close call with San Jose State in Week One (20-17). This will be Stanford's first true test of the season, and there are a lot of question marks surrounding offensive power. Stepfan Taylor has rushed for 185 yards and 2 touchdowns, but there is a big question mark at the receiver position. Zach Ertz and Ty Montgomery were pretty much shut down in the first two outings this season.

Stanford will be going up against a great USC defense both against the Rush and the pass, which is going to make it difficult for them to put points up on the board. Look for Barkley to go to the air with is receiving core, and Stanford's corners are going to be put to the test this weekend. Look for them to tire by the 2nd half when USC starts to open things up.



The line on this game is USC by 8.5, but look for them to handle the Cardinal by 17!

September 7, 2012

The Money Bet of the Century - Week 2 | 0-1

Well Money Betters,

I hate to say I've learned this lesson before---starting off the season betting on my alma mater has proved to not be the wisest decision in the past. I guess I had to relearn that lesson.

The Cougs looked pretty terrible actually. The defense tightened their game a little bit in the 4th quarter, but not before BYU could put 30 on them. And for an 'Air Raid' offense, they put up a paltry 6 points. The Cougs ended up rushing for -5 yards, and currently sit near the back of the country in 'Points-For (6) and Rushing Yards (-5). Let's just all hope and pray that BYU turns out to be better than everyone expected and, when we look back on it, we weren't ready to play them.

Congratulations go out to Grace Chou for making our list as LinkedIn Babe of the Week. For those of you not familiar with this new tradition, you nominate girls you know or see on LinkedIn that are....well hot and smart. Grace is a double major in Economics & Legal Studies from the University of California and is currently an Investment Banker working on M&A in the tech space...oh, and she looks hot.

If you have any recommendations, send them my way. I'll give you a shout out if I end up picking one. (Thanks go out to George Petersen, the hardest working man at finding smart/hot girls on LinkedIn). We enjoy the fruits of your labor, George...thanks.

Wisconsin Girls ---What's not to like?
Let's not beat around the bush and get straight to the game that's going to redeem this week. That game, my friends, is the Wisconsin vs. Oregon State game.

Junior QB Danny O'Brien gets the ball handed off to him this season, and is a little wet behind the ears. In his first outing, he put up 220 yards and 2 td's against a pretty shaky Northern Iowa squad. But with his sea-legs under him, and Monte Ball ready to run for another 2000 yards this year, look for Wisconsin to pull it together against a formidable opponent in Oregon State. A steady target at Wide Receiver, Jared Abbrederis, picked up 6 catches for  84 yards in the home opener & two touchdowns to boot.

Ex-Beav Sara Jean Underwood doing what she does best...
Oregon State will be looking to make a mark in their first home game of the season (if you remember, their first away game last week was cancelled against Nicholls State due to a Hurricane Isaac threat). Sean Mannion is back at the helm after a solid outing last year as a freshman. He put up 3300 yards as a freshman!...but he isn't going to have James Rodgers shaking CBs for yards this year. He does have a very reliable receiver in Markus Wheaton, (Wheaton put up almost 1000 yards last year) but he only got to dance in the endzone once all year.

The line on this game is Wisconsin by -6.5, and I'm taking this game for the Badgers because I know they will cover at least 7, maybe 10. If this game was -7, I might look elsewhere.

Wisconsin and Monte Ball put the 'Ground and Pound' on the beav (terrible pun intended) and puts up at 28 to win 28-17.

(a heart-felt apology goes out to Field Correspondent Otis Kimzey who is sure to send me a follow up bashing for picking against his beloved Oregon State Beavers).