Edwards wins pole at Homestead, Stewart starts 15th

Autoracing Betting Lines

11/19/2011 - Homestead, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Edwards gained a huge advantage over Tony Stewart in their battle for the Sprint Cup Series championship by winning the pole for Sunday's season-ending Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Tony Stewart qualified 15th with his lap at 173.332 mph. Stewart enters the season-finale just three points behind Edwards.

Edwards, who was the second-to-last driver to make his qualifying run in the 48-car field, posted a lap at 175.467 mph for his third pole of the season and the 10th of his Sprint Cup career. He also won the pole at this track in 2005.

With the pole victory, Edwards' No.99 team claimed the first pit selection, which could play in favor for Edwards during his pit stops.

"That's huge," Edwards said. "That's just one lap, but that's a great start for us. We were great in practice. My guys did a great job today. That's what it's about, being able to come here and perform the best we can and not leave anything on the table. This is a great Saturday for us."

Edwards is the defending race winner at Homestead.

In the Chase for the Sprint Cup era (2004-present), three eventual champions have won the pole at Homestead. Kurt Busch did it '04, and Jimmie Johnson did so in 2007 and '09.

Stewart is attempting to win his third championship in the series. He is also trying to become the first driver/owner to win the title since Alan Kulwicki accomplished the feat first in 1992.

"The qualifying deal isn't how a race is going to play out, so this is one lap of 400 miles that we've got to go," Stewart said. "I'm glad that we spent more time on race trim than qualifying trim. We'll see how it plays out."

Martin Truex Jr. earned the outside pole after turning a lap at 174.808 mph.

Kasey Kahne, who won last weekend at Phoenix, qualified third, while Kurt Busch and his Penske Racing teammate, Brad Keselowski, rounded out the top- five.

Matt Kenseth took the sixth spot, followed by Jeff Gordon, Greg Biffle, Jimmie Johnson and Denny Hamlin.

Scott Speed, Reed Sorenson, Mike Skinner, Scott Riggs and Grant Enfinger failed to qualify.

The 400-mile race at Homestead is scheduled to start just after 3:00 p.m. (et).

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

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To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.

How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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