It's already looking like a wholly forgettable year for Temple coach Al Golden and the Owls.
AP
I generally stay away from writing about gambling-related angles, but this one was simply too juicy to pass up. Reading through this weekend's lines in USA Today on Monday, I couldn't help but notice that Temple is a 33-point underdog Saturday ... to Vanderbilt!
Now, I realize this is not the same old Vandy. We all saw Jay Cutler lead the Commodores to wins over Tennessee and Arkansas last year and take Florida to overtime. This year, they've come within a field goal of both the Razorbacks and 'Bama. Still, no one's going to be confusing Vandy with Ohio State or USC anytime soon. It's just that Temple, which starts a freshman quarterback (Vaughn Charlton) and has played 18 other true freshmen (a Division I-A high), is that bad.
Following consecutive 62-0 losses to Louisville and Minnesota, the Owls, currently on a 16-game losing streak, were a 30-point underdog last week to Western Michigan. They didn't cover, losing 41-7. "I've never seen a team in the last 10 years that's been this non-competitive," said Mike Seba, senior oddsmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants, which sets college football lines for many Vegas sports books. "It's not asking that much [for Vanderbilt] to cover 33."
Seba, who I spoke with Tuesday morning, was extremely helpful. For one thing, he took more than an hour out of his day to research the answer to one of my questions, which was: Has Vanderbilt ever been a 33-point favorite on someone? His data only went back to 1980, but the answer was: No. The only semi-close occasion was Oct. 11, 1997, when the Commodores were 22-point favorites at Northern Illinois (which was in the midst of a 23-game losing streak). Vandy won 17-7.
Seba also helped explain how he arrived at the 33-point spread. It represents the differential between the two teams' power ratings. A "dead-average" team receives a power rating of 50, with an elite team like USC closer to 70. In Seba's ratings, Vanderbilt (1-3) is a 52; Temple (0-4) is a 19.
"Vanderbilt is an underrated team; people think, 'Oh, they lost Cutler, they're not going to be any good,' but they have a very good defense," said Seba. "It's not about Vanderbilt, though, it's about Temple. They're a touchdown worse than they were last year [when the Owls went 0-11]."
Furthermore, Seba said sports books may soon be forced to take Temple's games off the board. "If they get beat bad again this week, we'd send out an alert to our clients to take lower limits on their games," he said. "And then if they get blown out again the next week [against Kent State], we'll stop putting lines on their games."
In other words, get in on the gold rush while you can.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/...sure-thing.html
I see a team filled with Bruthas according to the Colonels stats are doing well
