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09/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danny Rocco has yet to picket outside NCAA headquarters in Indianapolis, but if the third Sunday in November goes like the last three years, don't doubt that he and the rest of the Liberty football team will start getting the signs ready.
Rocco and the Flames have felt snubbed on Selection Sunday when his Big South champions of the last three seasons have not gained at-large bids to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. They are 26-8 over the last three seasons, including 10-2 overall and 5-0 in the conference in 2008.
This year, the Flames won't have to keep their fingers crossed if they win the Big South title. As the FCS playoffs increase from 16 to 20 teams this season - the first expansion since the field grew from 12 to 16 teams in 1987 - the Big South champion will automatically qualify for the first time.
Liberty, led by quarterback and Big South Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Mike Brown, is favored to win the Big South title. Rocco, for one, says his Flames feel pressure to meet all the lofty expectations surrounding their team.
A lot will happen for Liberty before the field is selected and announced on Nov. 21, beginning with its season opener against St. Francis (Pa.) on Saturday in Lynchburg, Va.
In Five-a-Side - In the Huddle's monthly feature of "five questions, five answers" with an influential person in the FCS - Rocco looks forward to the season ahead and discusses the Big South's new automatic playoff bid.
Let's kick off:
TSN: Were there any questions that your team answered in the preseason that were particularly important?
DR: I think a number of things. One, we came into camp with our two most veteran offensive linemen (left tackle Justin Vargas and right guard Alex Stadler) out. They did not practice in the spring, they were both nursing injuries and surgeries and we were very hopeful that they would be able to get into camp and have productive camps, and they both have.
I'd say secondly the running back position is starting to solidify itself. It's definitely going to be a two- or three-man-job-by-committee with Korrey Davis and SirChauncey Holloway handling the majority of the work, and Chase Barnett certainly had an opportunity to show us what he could do.
Defensively, I'd probably just say our linebacking corps is pretty solid and two-deep, and we were hoping that we'd be able to feel that way as we got ready for the start of the season.
TSN: Conversely, what aspects of your team are you still trying to solidify?
DR: I would say that the thing that I'm still looking for is just a little more consistency on both sides of the ball. Most specifically offensively we are very explosive, but not as efficient in the passing game that I'd like to see us be. But we are very explosive.
Defensively, (there is) still the mindset of we've given up a few too many big chunks of yardage in the summer. That's a function of being able to defend the deep ball and keeping everything in front of us.
TSN: With the Big South getting an automatic playoff bid this year, what does that do to the competitiveness of conference teams?
DR: Yeah, I think it's going to do a lot. I mean, everybody has a definitive prize at the end in terms of what they're playing for, and they have control over that. I know in the past we've been fortunate enough to have won this championship three years in a row. Even the year we were 10-2 and ranked 14th in the country (2008), we weren't invited to a 16-team tournament. So that was a little frustrating. But here we are now this year knowing that the conference champ has an automatic berth. I think it's going to make each and every Saturday afternoon all that much more competitive. I think even when you're looking at games (involving) teams that have a chance to get in versus teams that don't have a chance to get in, those teams that don't have a chance to get in really have a lot to play for in terms of making a statement and maybe ruining the opportunity for those teams that are fighting for that automatic bid."
TSN: Can you break down the Big South race?
DR: I can. I think it's tricky for me to position teams in this league. I think, though, that there are a number of teams that have reasonable reason to believe that they will be competing for a conference championship. Obviously, Stony Brook beat Liberty last year. Last year, Charleston Southern beat Stony Brook and Coastal (Carolina) and played Liberty to a really close game. Coastal's got a lot of guys coming back and a lot of talent. And three years ago they kind of had their run in this league. Gardner-Webb has an awful lot of defensive talent back and skill on offense - they're just breaking in a new quarterback. VMI has an entire defense that's back, and they were good on defense as the year went on last year. They're breaking in a brand new system of offense, which could bear fruit for them and keep them in this hunt. And then Presbyterian's the one team that's kind of on the outside looking in, looking for their first win. They did not get a win last year, but they also know that they've been very competitive in almost all the games and will have a definite opportunity to play spoiler as we get into competition and then to conference play.
TSN: Considering how close your team has come to the playoffs in recent years, would anything less than making the playoffs this year be unsatisfactory to you?
DR: I would say that it's probably a fair thing for you to say. I don't know if I'll say that. But what I think that I have done and that I will continue to do is, as you look at goals for your program I don't care what level you're at - the National Football League, the SEC, the ACC, the Big South - I think the first goal always has to be to win your conference championship. We all have aspirations to be a nationally prominent program and compete for a national championship and do all those things. But first and foremost you have to win your conference championship.
I've been very consistent since the first year that I got here in saying that my primary goal is to win the Big South Conference championship. So in theory I don't need to change my rhetoric, I don't need to change my philosophy or my line of thinking here because the automatic bid's in place. All I need to do is continue doing what we've been doing and focus on that conference championship.
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Iowa C Koeppel to miss opener after crash >>
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Dale Carlson wi
The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.
Thursday, August 21
NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37
NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road
In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.
Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):
* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games
Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.
Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.
Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.
That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.
Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.
CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)
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