Marc Lawrence Sports Handicapping News

College Football Teaser Preview -

The 2008 College Football season will be here before you know it. We are busy at the moment compiling the 2008 PLAYBOOK Football Handicapper Yearbook magazine (on sale at newsstands nationwide July 8th).  Each week from now until the magazine debuts we will share with you a team preview excerpt , extracted directly from the magazine. Enjoy...

EAST CAROLINA
Team Theme – A PIRATES BOUNTY 
When is it that a team has the makings of a dynamo, you ask?  Try one that features a roster with more than 50% upper classmen (24 seniors; 29 juniors) that tied or broke 39 individual records the previous season.  Utilizing a 2-headed quarterback system, head coach Skip Holtz wholeheartedly welcomes the return of signal callers Rob Kass and Patrick Pinkney.  Together they put more points and touchdowns on the scoreboard in one season than any other team in ECU history. Losing Chris Johnson, the nation's all-purpose yardage leader last year, certainly hurts as will opening the season in Charlotte against ACC Champ Virginia Tech and following that with a home game against Big East boss West Virginia.  After the dust settles, though, a bounty awaits when Pirates set sail against a winnable slate of opposition. Ships ahoy.
PLAY ON: vs. Virginia Tech (8/30)

College Football Teaser Preview -

The 2008 College Football season will be here before you know it. We are busy at the moment compiling the 2008 PLAYBOOK Football Handicapper Yearbook magazine (on sale at newsstands nationwide July 8th).  Each week from now until the magazine debuts we will share with you a team preview excerpt , extracted directly from the magazine. Enjoy...

DUKE
Team Theme –THE CUT(CLIFF)ING EDGE
The Roof (Phil) collapsed in Durham and a new repairman has been brought in to fix the damage.  His name is David Cutcliffe and his resume as a handyman is extensive.  He mentored Super Bowl ring owners Peyton and Eli Manning at Tennessee and Ole Miss respectively. Amazingly, in his tenure as a head coach with the Rebels, he coached Ole Miss in five bowl games, all of which were wins and pointspread covers!  This year’s Blue Devils lose five starters from last year’s squad, the fewest in the ACC.  JR QB Thaddeus Lewis keys the offense while the defense returns 10 starters from a unit that ranked 24th in the nation in tackles for a loss last season.  A strong start is imperative considering they open with four straight home games. Look for them to nail down an early win or two.
PLAY ON: as a dog vs. Virginia (9/27)

College Football Teaser Preview - Clemson

The 2008 College Football season will be here before you know it. We are busy at the moment compiling the 2008 PLAYBOOK Football Handicapper Yearbook magazine (on sale at newsstands nationwide July 8th).  Each week from now until the magazine debuts we will share with you a team preview excerpt , extracted directly from the magazine. Enjoy...

CLEMSON
Team Theme – WEATHER RELATED
Weather forecasts in and around Clemson this fall will be filled with "Thunder and Lightning" prognostications as James Davis and C. J. Spiller return to form the nation's best RB tandem. But, it's the AIR that will cause the most excitement. QB Cullen Harper set 22 single season school marks while leading the ACC in passing efficiency (65%), while throwing 27 TD passes against only six interceptions.  And that’s not to mention a well-fortified Top 10 ranked defense that appears stronger than ever.  If it sounds like we’ve been down this path before with Tommy Bowden’s Tigers, it’s because we have.  It’s the M.O. that accompanies Bowden each year.  It’s also what you learn to expect when your team has been bowl-eligible all nine years under your command.  The forecast for 2008: hot and humid with partly cloudy skies.

PLAY AGAINST: vs. Florida State (11/8)

College Football Teaser Preview - Boise State

The 2008 PLAYBOOK Football Handicapper Yearbook magazine will be on sale at newsstands nationwide July 8th.  Each week from now until the magazine debuts we will share with you a team preview excerpt , extracted directly from the magazine.  Enjoy...

BOISE STATE
Team Theme – SAME OLD, SAME OLD
The accolades are many - Winningest program this decade (86-16);  Best record the last ten years (102-24); Best home record the last five years (32-1);  43 consecutive regular season home victories; Best conference record since 2002 (46-2).  Despite it all the Broncos still don’t get the credit they have earned. Much of that lack of respect, we’re sure, is due to the strength of the conference in which they reside.  The WAC in not only a non-BCS league, it is laced with a bevy of cupcakes, rivaled only by the Sun Belt Conference.  Still, behind star back Ian Johnson (nation’s top returning RB in four categories, including rushing yards) Boise will claim another conference crown, beg for a BCS bowl bid (just 4-17 vs. BCS opposition since 1996) and likely remain the best team nobody knows. Sometimes, the more things change the more they stay the same.
PLAY ON: vs. Hawaii (10/17)