NCAA Football Betting 2007 - Louisville Cardinals Ready To Soar
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The Louisville
Cardinals were so enthralled with their own momentum,
that they didn’t
even see Rutgers body slamming them back to reality.
After a loss to Rutgers all but ended their hope
for a national title bid, they managed to earn
an invitation to the 2007 Orange Bowl, where
they dispatched the Wake Forest Daemon Deacons
24-13.
Going in to this NCAA
football betting season, the Cardinals will
be without their coach Bobby Petrino, who is
coaching the Atlanta Falcons, and running back
Michael Bush, who was drafted by the Oakland
Raiders. Petrino was replaced by Tulsa’s
Steve Kragthorpe, who is an up and coming coach
at the college level. Kragthorpe is renowned
for having disciplined, mistake-free football
teams. Now he is surrounded by more talent
then he could have ever expected, so the results
should be devastating to the rest of the Big
East.
Quarterback Brian
Brohm returns to unleash the Cardinals high
flying offense. Armed with wide receiving talent
like Mario Urratia and Harry Douglas, he has
all the familiar weapons he needs to be just
as effective as his 3,049 passing yard season
last year. Urratia is a monster receiver at
6’4, and virtually impossible to match-up
against. His speedy counterpart, Douglas, caught
70 passes for a stunning 1,265 yards last season.
Having a talented
offensive line certainly helps Brohm’s
candidacy for the Heisman Trophy this season
as well. George Bussey is one of the stronger
offensive guards in the country and center
Eric Ward is constantly in the running for
the Rimington Award (given to the best center
in college football).
So even though the
talented, albeit inexperienced, duo of Anthony
Allen and George Stripling will be criticized
for only having three starts between them,
that vicious offensive line is going to make
things easy for both of them. I envision Allen,
the more talented of the two, getting the nod
as the season opens in a few shorts weeks.
Brohm attracting the majority of the defense’s
attention will open up gaps for the running game
as well.
The offense, as you’ve
read, is certainly not going to be the problem
in Louisville. The defense, however, just might
be. They lost young Amobi Okoye to the NFL
draft, and also head in to the season without
their top corners from last year. It will be
up to senior Malik Jackson to be the passionate
heart of this defense from his linebacker position.
More importantly, Kragthorpe needs to find
some new faces to fill the voids left by his
previous stars.
The highly favored
Cardinals rewarded their betting hopefuls last
year by going 8-4-1 ATS, while maintaining
a 7-6 OU record. They were a strong 5-1-1 against
the spread at home, but went 3-3 on the road.
This could prove to be another problem as their
three toughest games are on the road this season.
The smart betting investor would be wise to
keep an eye on Brohm’s
road play before laying money down during the
season.
West Virginia still
has the benefit of the doubt heading in to
the season, especially with a number three
raking in the BCS standings. Rutgers, whom
Louisville will face in the final game of the
season, is set to make a bigger impression then
they did last year. Louisville must get past
their Big East rivals if it has hopes of returning
to the BCS picture by season’s end.
The BetUS.com sportsbook
gives Louisville +1800 odds to win the BCS
national title, which could be attractive to
the betting man willing to wager his money
on Brian Brohm. While it wouldn’t
be a bad investment at all, the defense has to
show up first if this team is going to compete
at that level. For now Louisville has an outside
shot of advancing to the title game, but a BCS
bowl game appearance is certainly within striking
distance.
New coach Steve Kragthorpe has the high expectations
of Louisville on his shoulders. The young coach
has much to prove, especially with that unproven
defense, but he certainly has the offense and
quarterback to get the job done when the 2007
season kicks off.
With NCAA football just around the corner, the
BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college
football Futures betting available for those
of us who can't wait. Bet on the Heisman winner,
Conference and Divisional winners and, of course,
the 2008 BCS National Championship winner. Bet
NCAA Football Futures in our sportsbook today
in the Future / props section!
Posted on 8/22/2007 5:51:08 PM
NCAA Football Betting 2007 - Louisville Cardinals Ready To Soar
By Tim Furious
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