Just five of the Sun Belt Conference's nine teams have pointspread records dating back nine years so there's not a great statistical data base for bettors. Among independents, only Navy has been a decent play versus the number since 2000. Teams are listed in predicted order of finish with 2008 records, returning starters (RS) - including kickers - and returning lettermen (RL) in parentheses:
For a great many NFL betting enthusiasts, their initial wager of the 2009 season won't be on the first game of the upcoming campaign but on the last. Future book betting on the 2010 Super Bowl, where prices are far more generous than the usual 10/11 odds gamblers readily accept on individual games, is a nice way to start the gridiron betting season.
The NFL Draft had its impact on NFL betting as 13 off the league's 32 teams had their Super Bowl future book odds adjusted at the conclusion of the personnel lottery in New York City, April 25-26.
With and the start of the NFL preseason still more than five months away, bookmakers quickly rushed to fill the wagering void by offering future book prices on which team will win Super Bowl
They still may be sweeping the streets of confetti in Pittsburgh but NFL betting fans just about everywhere else already have turned their attention to the 2009 season.
With and the start of the NFL preseason still more than five months away, bookmakers quickly rushed to fill the wagering void by offering future book prices on which team will win Super Bowl XLIV in Dolphin Stadium, in Miami, Feb. 7, 2010.
One trend, as it has in the previous six seasons, again was validated last year: Straight up (SU) losers are losers against the spread (ATS), too. In fact, of the 11 teams that had SU regular season losing records in 2008, not a single one of them had a winning record ATS:
Call it short-term memory loss if you like but NFL betting fans can get spoiled on a team's previous season's results. The notion lingers of the Patriots, Colts, Cowboys, Chargers, Packers and Giants as elite teams while the Dolphins, Raiders, Falcons, Rams and Ravens are etched in the brain as sub-standard football clubs.
New England's dream season ended in a nightmare in the Super Bowl but it's difficult to see how the Patriots won't dominate this division again, certainly straight up and probably against the spread, as well.
There's not much separating Pittsburgh and Cleveland at the top of the division this year and, come to think of it, Cincinnati and Baltimore at the bottom.
The Giants may have won Super Bowl LXII just five months ago but in a lack of NFL betting respect only the late Rodney Dangerfield could appreciate, New York isn't even favored to win its own division this season.
The continued popularity of NFL preseason betting can be linked to America's growing addiction to anything football. Bettors, particularly those in the United States who have survived a five-month hiatus from their favorite wagering sport, seem unwilling (or unable) to endure another five weeks before the NFL preseason.
Legendary oddsmaker Roxy Roxborough was fond of saying that NFL betting is part reality and part perception, a description that aptly fits this year's recently concluded NFL draft.
The teams had barely left bone-chilling Lambeau Field in Green Bay when the word arrived from up high (actually, the second floor of a building in Las Vegas)
The greatest non-sporting event in sports, the NFL Draft, should lure gridiron-starved NFL fans and, far more tellingly, savvy NFL betting fans, to their TV screens when the annual, dust-off-the-Barcalounger, grab-the-giant-Doritos-bag, telethon-like coverage begins April 26.
Most unsophisticated sports bettors hit the gridiron running, with little or no concern for whether their best chance for success rests with college football betting, nfl betting or a combination of both.
Granted, New Orleans isn't going to surprise anyone this year but with a solid cast, a new winning attitude, and only Carolina as serious division opposition, the Saints should march to another NFC South title.
The Bears have a much more difficult schedule than a year ago when they won 13 games but the NFC North is so weak that it will be difficult for Chicago not to win 10 or 11 games and capture a third straight division title.
The NFC East remains the most competitive division in the NFL, with every team capable to beating (or losing) to every other. The most consistent team will win the division.
Like the Patriots, Ravens and Colts, the Chargers are the class of their division, arguably the best team in the NFL. Unlike New England, Baltimore and Indianapolis, however, San Diego will get a stern test for the division title from rivals Denver and Kansas City.
Like most recent defending Super Bowl champions, the Colts may find it difficult to repeat, but winning another AFC South title should be no problem. Indianapolis has a wide edge over its division rivals.
The Ravens won the division by five games last season and while the margin may not be as significant this year, Baltimore should have little difficulty defending against wild card hopefuls Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
Any unbiased assessment would mark the Patriots as the clear division favorite with a good chance to challenge the Colts, Chargers and Ravens to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.
