2011 Senior Bowl Picks and predictions

Question

It is usually hard to predict the Senior Bowl football matches. I would like to know, has any one made any worthwhile betting predictions about upcoming Senior Bowl football matches.

Answer 1

The Senior Bowl is often a hard game to predict, but recent trends suggest that there is value to be had. Continue reading for odds, picks and trends on the 2011 Senior Bowl, which is today at 4:00PM ET.

View Current Senior Bowl Odds

According to oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL.com, the North is a 1-point favorite over the South, while the over/under for Saturday’s Senior Bowl is 45 points.

Game Preview: All eyes will be on Washington quarterback Jake Locker, who needs to have a solid performance in the Senior Bowl to up his draft stock after struggling this season. Most pundits agree that he would have been a top 5 selection had he come out his junior year, but after struggling as a senior, his stock is down.

In fact, scouts have taken a strong liking to Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick, who has great size and athleticism. He has wowed scouts with his arm strength and accuracy this week and could be a fast riser on draft day if he plays well on Saturday.

One injury to note for the North is Oregon State defensive lineman Stephen Paea, who suffered a knee injury during practice and won’t play. That’s a huge blow when you consider Paea was the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Year this season.

For the South, Alabama quarterback Greg McElory will likely start, while TCU’s Andy Dalton and Florida State’s Christian Ponder will receive looks as well.

Defensively, Texas A&M linebacker Von Miller, who won the d**k Butkus Award this season, leads the South. Linemen Pernell McPhee of Mississippi State and Phil Taylor of Baylor are also two names to keep an eye on.

Senior Bowl Free Pick: The North seems to have more explosiveness offensively than the South does, although the South is better defensively at all levels. Since 2002, the average margin of victory between the two teams has been 15.6, but in the last 10 games, each team has won five times. So there’s seemingly not a ton of value in the side. That said, the total points have exceeded 38 just three times in the last eight years, so the under looks like the best bet today. We as little as a week to prepare and with as much rotating that comes on in this game, there’s usually very little scoring. Keep in mind that players are trying to put their best foot forward, so nerves usually set in right away, and that’s not good for both offenses. Our pick is the under 45 in this contest.