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06/25/2010 - Rustenburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Captain Carlos Bocanegra did not think any United States team had ever won its group at the World Cup, and when you have to look back 80 years to the inaugural tournament to prove him wrong, it is an understandable oversight by the 31-year-old.
The U.S. claimed Group C with its memorable win over Algeria on Wednesday, and opens knockout play Saturday against Ghana, the host continent's only survivor from group play.
Bocanegra was also wrong when he said the five points the U.S. accumulated was the most for an American team, as the 1930 squad beat Belgium and Paraguay for six points that year.
The U.S. exited the 1930 World Cup with a 6-1 loss to Argentina in its opening game in the knockout round, which started in the semifinals with just 13 teams competing.
The Americans are in much better position 80 years later, but Ghana presents a challenge in the round of 16 at Royal Bafokeng Stadium. And, if the U.S. hopes to return to the semifinals, which it hasn't done since 1930, it has as good a path as it could have hoped for.
Although the U.S. can't overlook Ghana, which eliminated the Americans in the group stage four years ago, with the winner of the Uruguay and South Korea match its potential opponent in the quarterfinals, it's hard not to get hopeful.
"We want to do something special here this whole time, and I think we're on our way to doing that," U.S. right back Steve Cherundolo said.
The U.S. was lucky in its opener in South Africa, when Clint Dempsey scored on a weak shot that trickled off England goalie Robert Green's hands and into the net in a 1-1 draw.
But the Americans erased a two-goal deficit to earn a 2-2 tie against Slovenia on goals from Landon Donovan and Michael Bradley, and appeared to score in the closing seconds to win the match but had the goal called back for a foul.
The U.S. waited until stoppage time, when Donovan scored in the 91st minute, in its group finale against Algeria to seal a berth in the knockout stage, but that type of dramatic ending could be just the spark the team needed.
"This is where the fun starts," Bocanegra said.
The Americans should take pride in being able to produce late goals. Also, the fact the U.S. posted its first shutout in the World Cup since a 2-0 victory in 2002 over Mexico in the round of 16, is good sign.
"We really have to concentrate on ourselves and continue to do the little things right in the next few days and more importantly in the round of 16," Cherundolo said.
The United States proved last summer in South Africa its not how well you play in the group stage. The Americans were lucky to advance in the Confederations Cup last year, but surprised Spain in the semifinals with a 2-0 win.
The U.S. is now in position to challenge for its first World Cup title, and it just needs four straight wins to accomplish the unthinkable. Based on its will to survive in the knockout stage, and relatively easy path, the U.S. needs to remain grounded against Ghana.
"We understand there's a lot of work to do but we're on the right path," U.S. striker Jozy Altidore said.
Ghana's most impressive performance of the group stage was its 1-0 loss in its last match to Germany. Ghana defeated Serbia 1-0 in its first match and tied Australia 1-1 in its second, but both of its scores were penalties by Asamoah Gyan.
Ghana showed much more life against Germany, but failed to score and finished second in the group.
Black Stars boss Milovan Rajevac admitted after the Germany defeat he was "not thinking about the USA yet, we want to celebrate today's achievement." Rajevac has to feel good about his club's chances, though, as all of South Africa will be in their corner.
Considering Ghana is without star midfielder Michael Essien because of injury, and fellow midfielder Sulley Muntari has played just 39 minutes, Rajevac's team should just improve with every match.
Ghana should also feel like a trip to the semifinals is within reach, so a win this weekend is even more important for both sides. The Black Stars won 2-1 in Germany four years ago, but this American team is a little more dynamic and is a much tougher challenge.
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While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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