2005 Florida Atlantic Handicapping Review

 

By Tom Wilkinson

 

Troy, since appearing on the online sports betting and casino sportsbook boards has been similar in performance to other Sun Belt Conference Teams in that they have had just one winning season straight up in their last three, but have often provided decent sports handicapping value. After going 5-3 against the odds in 2002 Troy covered three of their first four games of 2003. This prompted many sports betting bloggers began to tout them as a “sleeper” team to consider having on one’s list of football picks. A sports handicapping market correction quickly took place, however, as Troy failed to cover the sports betting odds in five of their final six games of 2003, causing skepticism and doubt among the fickle sports handicapping community and sports betting bloggers who are hesitant to get involved with Sun Belt Teams in the first place.

After a nice 17-15 upset win at Mid American Conference power Marshall as 14.5-point dogs, Troy hosted a highly touted but unproven Missouri team on the Thursday Night ESPN feature telecast game. As 10.5-point dogs, the Trojans pulled off the upset with a 24-14 win. After suffering a letdown at New Mexico State in an 18-22 loss as 9.5-point chalks, Troy beat the sports betting odds in five of their next six games. They split their final two regular season games against the odds and qualified for the Silicon Valley Bowl against Northern Illinois, which they lost 21-34 as 2-point chalks.

2004 was Florida Atlantic’s first year on the sports betting odds board. As a new lined team from the Sun Belt Conference they were lightly regarded and, thus, a tremendous value early on as they covered their first three games against the odds. This, or course, caught some attention at the online sports betting blog sites and FAU failed to cover their final four lined games in 204. They went 3-1 against the odds as dogs but 0-3 as chalks.

2004 was Florida International’s first season on the sports betting odds board and the Panthers split the four lined games that they appeared in, all as dogs.

While Troy will appear on more lists of football picks than FAU or FIU, they may prove to be the worse sports handicapping value of the three.