As we head into the weekend, here are 25 more observations from the sports and wagering worlds.

1. Sorry, but no critiques of the BCS here. Rather, the effort will be to give you some stuff you didn’t already know rather than just shoot fish in a barrel.
2. Though Peter King of Sports Illustrated apparently disagrees. Yes, he really wrote, “The BCS worked out. Ohio State-LSU is the game I want to see for all the marbles.” King frequently uncovers worthwhile NFL tidbits, but his college football thoughts couldn’t be any more laughable.
3. It is difficult not to root for the service academies so it is tough to see Paul Johnson leaving Navy.
4. But if he had to leave I’m glad he’s coming here to Atlanta to coach Georgia Tech, I’m looking forward to studying him up close. It will be fascinating to see how he implements an offense that is more pass-oriented than his Navy attack, which would often only feature 4 or 5 passes per game. Johnson is a sharp cookie and the ACC is ripe for the taking, with a lot of programs in real down cycles right now.
5. Some of the decision makers at Georgia Tech wanted to give the job to Will Muschamp, Auburn’s defensive coordinator. He’s a sharp young coach but the concern was that the Tech fan base wouldn’t accept someone who played and coached at Georgia. Worth noting that Vince Dooley was an Auburn man, while Bo Schembechler was an assistant coach at Ohio State for five years before coaching at Michigan (with Miami-Ohio in between.)
6. Muschamp may be Arkansas bound. The Hogs have been turned down by their first four choices to replace Houston Nutt, and Nutt had turned them down, as well, refusing a two-year extension.
7. How does Iowa State lose by 35 to Drake? Everyone got a lot of laughs at the Larry Eustachy Party Pix a few years back, but Eustachy’s fall devastated that basketball program, as he had the Cyclones cooking for a few years.
8. Basketball has extraordinary changes of fortune within individual games. Providence notched a 98-89 win over Boston College last weekend in which they led 62-38, allowed BC to come back with a 38-8 run, and then Providence closed the game through the overtime on a 28-13 tear.
9. The emotion of that comeback took a toll on PC, as the Friars were wiped out by Rhode Island on Tuesday night then lost as a favorite to South Carolina on Thursday.
10. Gauging a team’s emotion is always critical down the stretch in the NFL season, and this season more than ever, as the leaders of all eight divisions are up two games or more.
11. Poker pro Chip Reese, who died this week at the relatively young age of 56, was a phenomenal sports bettor as well. Sports betting is a leak for a lot of “poker pros” but it was a consistent source of income for Reese.
12. Swing..and a miss. For various reasons I liked the Suns/Raptors game under the total on Wednesday night. I lost by a mere half-a-hundred as the Suns were red-hot and uptempo in a 136-123 win.
13. Despite that humiliating loss, basketball is going really well again this year. The NBA is 60% and college is well over 60%, for a combined mark of 64%+. For rates and details on our basketball selection service call 1-770-649-1078.
14. In 84 attempts Dolphin rookie John Beck’s longest completion has been 22 yards. Beck has started three games and Miami has yet to score an offensive touchdown behind the BYU rookie.
15. Miami’s opponent this week, the Bills, haven’t exactly been tearing it up offensively themselves, with an abject refusal to throw the ball downfield. With the forecast reading “snow to ice” on Sunday in Orchard Park, is this an automatic under, or is it the kind of “obvious” play that doesn’t work?
16. Have you ever seen a team show up their coaches like Baltimore did following the Rex Ryan timeout from the sideline on Monday night? As Baltimore Sun columnist Mike Preston opines, this team “constantly complains like a bunch of babies.”
17. I’ve gotten some “what are these betting exchanges you write about?” feedback. A serviceable explanation is offered by the BBC.
18. And while I haven’t been following the race-fixing case over there at all, horse owner Miles Rodgers looks to be quite the action junkie.
19. Remember the “kid on Christmas morning” glee emanating from the nation’s capital when Joe Gibbs was hired. Seems like a long time ago, doesn’t it?
20. I don’t spend a lot of time analyzing rushing statistics in the NFL, and here’s an example why. The two best NFL teams based on net yards per rush differential are the Vikings (run for 5.6, give up 3.0, for a net differential of +2.6) and the Ravens (run for 4.0, give up 2.9, for a differential of nearly +1.2). The two best teams on the line of scrimmage are both struggling.
21. Conversely, the top four teams in net yards per pass differential are the Cowboys (pass for 8.5, give up 5.9, for +2.6), the Steelers (+2.3), the Patriots (+2.1), and the Colts (+1.9). Though we’re dealing with statistics in retrospect, this should tell us something, shouldn’t it?
22. The Steelers passing numbers are impressive, particularly their pass D (4.8 yards per attempt is best in the league), but the Men of Steel have played the easiest schedule in the league according to several power ratings, including Sagarin’s.
23. Handicappers Matty Baiungo and Erik Scheponik share a well-done and successful free selection phone. Call this 24-hour voice mail broadcast at 1-404-250-7555 for solid winning information. I’m a contributor on a similar effort at 1-770-618-8700.
24. Since the average sports fan has so little interest in horse racing, more than ever before the pro bettors are competing against each other, making it hard to make the kind of money that they used to. Not addressed in this article is how these big guns wouldn’t even be playing if it weren’t for rebates, which are more hush-hush than ever before.
25. I’m off to coach the Arizona Wildcats for the rest of the hoops season. Have a great weekend.