2005 San Jose State Spartans Handicapping Review

 

By Tom Wilkinson

 

San Jose State has been a streaky team against the odds over the years and a consistent on the field loser with just one winning season in the past seven campaigns. In 2000, the Spartans beat the sports betting odds in eight of their first nine games, only to fail in getting the cash the final two games of that year. The sports handicapping market correction continued into 2001 as they lost four of their first five games against the sports betting line, only to stop the bleeding with four covers in their final seven games. The upward market correction continued into 2002 as San Jose State beat the sports betting odds in five of their first six games, only to lose three straight against the line, before recovering to payoff in their last four games of the season, finishing 9-4 against the odds for the season. The 2003 season began with a sharp sports handicapping market correction as San Jose State was winless against the pointspread in their first four lined games, before they rallied to payoff in four of their final six games against the sports betting line. Overall, however, entering the 2004 season, most sports betting bloggers labeled San Jose State as a potential “go against” team for one’s list of football picks because of their perennial straight up losing records in a perceived weak conference such as the Western Athletic, (WAC).

San Jose State wasted little time in confirming the worst doubts of sports bettors by getting clobbered 3-43 at Stanford as 17.5-point dogs in their 2004 opener. Stanford was considered Pac Ten doormat material and such an ugly loss lit up the online sports betting blogs with vows to make the Spartans an “A” list candidate for “go against” football picks. In their next lined game against WAC doormat SMUJ, the Spartans were soundly beaten 13-36 as 1.5-point dogs, confirming to many sports betting bloggers their plans to oppose San Jose State were correct.

As a WAC doormat that was getting pounded by perceived weaklings, San Jose State lost all appeal to the general sports betting public, which set up a strong possibility of a sports handicapping market correction as the lines on Spartan game set by the sports betting odds makers were bound to get ridiculously high. Sure enough, with nobody wanting them on their lists of football picks, San Jose State went on a three game winning streak against the sports betting line. Still, they appealed to few gamblers, as they lost all three of those games straight up, and eventually, lost three of their final five games against the pointspread.