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Puppy Love - Tom Stryker 9/11/2009

Thereís nothing better than getting out of the gate
in week one with a straight up victory. It makes all
the hard work and effort put forth during the
offseason and the month of August worth
it.


The argument could be made that some teams have
their fate determined after their season opener. A
confidence-building win could spark a team greatly
and propel them to a string of victories. On the
other hand, a heart-breaking straight up loss could
dampen the spirits of a squad for weeks to
come.


Iím a firm believer that momentum is a valuable
tool when handicapping college football. So, I
decided to take a look at how well teams did after
they won their first game of the season. At first,
there wasnít much there. The only area that looked
profitable was taking a game two host coming off a
blowout victory of 44 points or more ñ now 44-22
ATS for 66.7 percent dating back to 1980! There
are five teams locked into that system this week:
Tennessee, Boston College, Southern Miss,
Nebraska and Florida.


After digging a little deeper, I did find one game
two set of parameters that landed right smack in
the middle of the profit zone. Take a look at this
juicy situation.


Since 1980, PLAY ON any game two
single digit road underdog provided they enter off a
straight up win and their opponent is NOT off a
straight up win.


29 Year ATS Record = 57-29 ATS for 66.2
percent!


This Weekís Play's = STANFORD & SOUTH
CAROLINA


I really like the nuts and bolts of this technical
situation. Here we have a game two short road dog
checking in off a confidence-building victory
matched up against an opponent that is either
playing their first game of the season or coming off
a straight up loss. Our ìplay onî team is on
emotional high right now and theyíll be able to use
the fact that theyíre an underdog to motivate them
again here!


There are a couple of areas where this technical
gem improves. First, with our 57-29 ATS in hand,
this system tightens up to a powerful 25-7
ATS provided our guest is battling a foe that
arrives off a blemish of six or more points. Laying
juice with a team coming off a straight up loss can
be hazardous to your wallet. Not all teams have the
ability to bounce back off a blowout loss and that
fact is proven here.


Second, with the 25-7 ATS tightener in play, this
system hits perfection at 9-0 ATS for 100
percent provided our road team is matched
up against a conference opponent. Fortunately for
us, there is one team that applies to both sets of
parameters this week: South
Carolina!


Good luck with the ìOld Ball Coachî and the
Gamecocks on Saturday. Be sure to return to this
angle next week for more potential plays! TS

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