It’s South Carolina vs. Southern Miss to start Bodog betting previews. Don’t worry about fantasy football as the fantasy football rankings and NFL draft guide is done.
The Gamecocks as 14-point favorites. And with this game being shown on ESPN, there will be live betting available on NCAA Football Odds
It’s hard to bet against Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier tonight. South Carolina is undefeated in season openers under Spurrier, and the Ol’ Ball Coach is 19-1 in openers in his career. The Gamecocks also have won six straight non-conference home games dating back to the 2008 season opener.
South Carolina could be a bit short-handed tonight, however. For sure suspended senior tight end Weslye Saunders will not play. Saunders was interviewed earlier this summer by NCAA investigators regarding a trip he took to Miami and whether it was funded by agents. He’s also one of at least nine South Carolina players who was living at a hotel, which has come under NCAA scrutiny. Spurrier said Saunders was suspended for violating team rules, adding that his suspension was not tied to the NCAA investigation. But the Gamecocks may sit those eight other players who are still being looked at by the NCAA, including starting safety Akeem Auguste, starting offensive tackle Jarriel King, starting offensive guard Terrence Campbell and starting defensive tackle Ladi Ajiboy.
Spurrier is back to his normal ways with quarterbacks as well. He has been riding presumed starter Stephen Garcia all summer, and while Garcia will start tonight true freshman Connor Shaw also will play. Spurrier said Shaw has outperformed Garcia, the Gamecocks’ starter last season, in team scrimmages and that both would play in the first quarter and then he’d go from there. Sophomore running back Kenny Miles will start over true freshman Marcus Lattimore, arguably the nation’s top recruit in the Class of 2010.
Meanwhile, Southern Miss is 2-0 in openers under coach Larry Fedora. The Golden Eagles have opened against an SEC team 15 times and have won just three of those – all 15 have come on the road. Southern Miss has lost eight in a row overall against SEC clubs. USM’s star is WR DeAndre Brown, who helped lead the team to the Conference USA title game last year by finishing with 785 yards receiving and nine touchdowns to lead the team. Those numbers are even more impressive considering he was slowed by recovering from a broken leg.
Be a player and bet at Bodog on whether Spurrier can win yet another season opener.
Get your NCAA Football Odds in the Bodog Sportsbook!
Now they peek at Marshall-Ohio State.
The biggest outlaw book in the southeast is “Catfish Parker”. He also is in constant contact with his colleagues from around the nation. Nobody has a better pulse on where “outlaw money” is going. At 4:03 ET he says there is big, big time local strong “local” money (not tracked by offshore or Vegas books) on the Pittsburgh-Utah national TV side.
The LateInfo Line is now another part of OffshoreInsiders. Formally part of the FreeScoreboard scorephone days, since 2001 LateInfo is 70-80 percent in each and every sport, broken down college and pro separately. LateInfo has the Panthers-Utes betting bombshell now.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are big 28-point favorites on Bodog’s NCAA odds for tonight’s season opener against Marshall, but a few factors might point to the Thundering Herd being able to cover the spread. This game will be shown on the Big Ten Network.
First off, OSU has struggled in season openers against fellow Division I teams in recent years. For example, in last year’s opener, the Buckeyes struggled with Navy’s option in a win that went down to the final minutes. In 2008, OSU beat MAC team Ohio by only a score of 26-14. And in 2007 the Buckeyes won an ugly 20-2 affair against Akron. Still, OSU is 9-0 in season openers under Coach Jim Tressel. OSU has not lost a home opener in 32 years.
Secondly, Ohio State plans to be a bit vanilla tonight because the Buckeyes have a huge date with Miami (Fla.) next weekend. Still, the Buckeyes are the preseason favorites to win the Big Ten, are ranked No. 2 in the major polls and feature one of the nation’s top quarterbacks in Terrell Pryor, who remains the Bodog betting favorite to win the 2010 Heisman.
The second-ranked are the second-highest ranked team Marshall has ever played at the FBS level. Marshall has faced 14 Top 25 opponents since moving to the FBS level in 1997 and has an overall record of 2-12 in those games. Marshall is 0-13 against BCS opponents since 2005. Tonight’s game marks the debut of new coach Doc Holliday. Returning starting QB Brian Anderson struggled with inconsistency last season. He threw for 2,646 yards and 14 touchdowns last season, but he also threw 13 interceptions. And he’ll face a Buckeye defense that was one of the best in the nation in 2009.
Ohio State and Marshall have met just once before on Sept. 11, 2004, with the Buckeyes prevailing, 24-21, on a last-second field goal. OSU has lost just once in its history to current Conference USA teams.