Virginia Cavaliers Handicapping Review

 

By Tom Wilkinson

 

The 2004 Virginia Cavaliers were being touted as a serious Atlantic Coast Conference contender as they were coming off winning bowl seasons of 9-5 in 2002, and 8-5 in 2003. Beyond that head coach Al Groh was being celebrated for consistently top notch recruiting classes that were being counted on to fully blossom for the 2004 season. Virginia closed strong in 2003 with five wins against the odds in their final seven games. With the high expectations both from the media and by many sports betting bloggers Virginia’s sports handicapping value was likely to decrease and veteran sports bettors were cautious.

To begin the 2004 season, the Cavaliers appeared to pick up right where they left off in 2003 with three consecutive wins both straight up and against the odds. All three of the wins were blowouts by scores of 44-14 at Temple, 56-24 home against North Carolina, and 51-0 at home against Akron. Virginia was now a top 10-ranked team and becoming a public favorite as many online sports betting blogs featured posts touting their greatness, which of course spelled trouble.

Sure enough, in their fourth game, as 26-point home chalks against struggling Syracuse, Virginia won 31-10. They then rallied in their next game with a 30-10 win over Clemson as 16-point home chalks. The Cavaliers were now 5-0 straight up and 4-1 against the odds and a popular part of many sports bettors’ list of weekly football picks.

Virginia’s next game was a “prove it” game at Florida State. Many online sports betting blog posts proclaimed the Cavaliers as the team to take in this nationally televised affair. Still, many veterans at sports handicapping knew that it was dangerous to automatically assume that a team like Virginia, as well as they were playing, but still not proven as a true power, could just waltz into a place like Florida State against a proven power and win. While the general sports betting public and many tout services were on Virginia, the sharp money was on the proven champs, who prevailed easily 36-3.

The loss at Florida State began a market correction against Virginia, who beat the sports betting odds in just two of their final seven games of 2004 while proving that they still were not ready to be considered a true and legitimate power.