Flood rises to top job at Rutgers

NCAA Football Betting Lines

01/31/2012 - Piscataway, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rutgers has named Kyle Flood as its new head football coach to replace Greg Schiano.

Flood was given the job on an interim basis last week when Schiano decided to take the vacancy with the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Flood has spent the past seven seasons on the Rutgers staff, including four as assistant head coach.

"It's an honor to be the head coach at Rutgers," said the 41-year-old Flood, who will be a head coach for the first time. "I'm looking forward to starting the job. The Rutgers program is going to do some great things, and I'm looking forward to being in charge."

Flood agreed to a five-year contract that will pay him $750,000 for the first year, escalating to $1.1 million by the end of the deal.

Rutgers reportedly looked elsewhere for Schiano's full-time replacement, as the New York Times on Monday said Florida International's Mario Cristobal turned down the Scarlet Knights -- in part because it was too close to Wednesday's national signing day. Cristobal was an assistant at Rutgers from 2001-03.

"This has been a couple of crazy days," said Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti. "This search was quick. It was precise. We knew what we were looking for. This job is not what it was 10 years ago."

Schiano spent the past 11 seasons at Rutgers and posted a record of 68-67 at the New Jersey school. He turned around a Scarlet Knights program that had just one bowl appearance prior to his arrival into a perennial postseason contender.

Rutgers has been to bowl games in six of the past seven seasons, including a Pinstripe Bowl win over Iowa State in December that capped a 9-4 season. The Scarlet Knights have a record of 56-33 in the past seven years, with only one losing season in that span.

"Without Greg's vision and drive, the Rutgers football program would not be what it is today," Flood said in a thankful nod to Schiano. "Rutgers is not a stop along the way anymore. It's a destination."

Flood joined the Rutgers staff in 2005 after spending three seasons as an assistant at Delaware. He was also the offensive line coach at Hofstra from 1997-2001.

Rutgers has promoted an assistant to the head coaching position for the first time since Frank Burns took over for John Bateman in 1973.

Thekiwicasino NCAA Football Betting News

<< New helmets could help prevent concussions
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Amid the fanfare and excitement of All- Star weekend a potentially groundbreaking development in the world of professional hockey earned few headlines. Concussions are an epidemic in today's N

<< Bogomolov Jr., Youzhny win Zagreb openers
Zagreb, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two of this week's top-three seeds, Russians Alex Bogomolov Jr. and Mikhail Youzhny, were among Tuesday's opening- round winners at the Zagreb Indoors tennis event. The second-seeded Bogomolov drilled

<< Kohlschreiber rolls in Montpellier opener
Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seventh seed Philipp Kohlschreiber was an easy first-round winner Tuesday at the Open Sud de France tennis tournament. The German Kohlschreiber handled scrappy Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-4 on the

<< Leverkusen snaps up Corluka on loan
Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayer Leverkusen landed Vedran Corluka from Tottenham on loan for the remainder of the season with an option to sign the defender to a longer contract, it was announced Tuesday. Corluka has only manag

<< QPR lands Cisse from Lazio
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French striker Djibril Cisse will return to the English Premier League after completing a move from Lazio to QPR on Tuesday. The London club confirmed that the former Liverpool and Sunderland forward

In the FCS Huddle: National champ NDSU restocking the talent >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The physical talent in North Dakota State's recruiting class is strong enough on its own. What the Bison gained in the last month might be the difference-maker in putting their recruits, and future classes

Inter bolsters squad with new signings >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inter Milan moved to offset the departure of midfielder Sulley Muntari with three new signings Tuesday. Colombian striker Fredy Guarin, Italian midfielder Angelo Palombo, and Brazilian defender Juan

Augsburg signs South Korean Koo from Wolfsburg >>
Augsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Augsburg signed South Korean midfielder Koo Ja-Cheol on loan for the rest of the season Tuesday from Wolfsburg. Koo, 22, joined Wolfsburg from Japanese side Jeju United last January and made 10 Bundesli

Aden sidelined for remainder of season >>
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Faisal Aden, Washington State University's second-leading scorer, will miss the remainder of the college basketball season with a left ACL tear. Aden, a senior guard, suffered the injury on January 2

Four years later, Giants' foes still feeling the rush >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was perhaps the perfect game plan at the absolute perfect time. While the New York Giants' ability to pull off what's considered one of greatest upsets in sports history, a 17-14 ousting of New England in Super Bowl XL

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

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)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .