Posted on 8/22/2007 5:51:08 PM

NCAA Football Betting 2007 – Louisville Cardinals Ready To Soar

By Tim Furious

The Louisville Cardinals were so enthralled with their own momentum, that they didn’t even see Rutgers body slamming them back to reality. After a loss to Rutgers all but ended their hope for a national title bid, they managed to earn an invitation to the 2007 Orange Bowl, where they dispatched the Wake Forest Daemon Deacons 24-13.

Going in to this NCAA football betting season, the Cardinals will be without their coach Bobby Petrino, who is coaching the Atlanta Falcons, and running back Michael Bush, who was drafted by the Oakland Raiders. Petrino was replaced by Tulsa’s Steve Kragthorpe, who is an up and coming coach at the college level. Kragthorpe is renowned for having disciplined, mistake-free football teams. Now he is surrounded by more talent then he could have ever expected, so the results should be devastating to the rest of the Big East.

Quarterback Brian Brohm returns to unleash the Cardinals high flying offense. Armed with wide receiving talent like Mario Urratia and Harry Douglas, he has all the familiar weapons he needs to be just as effective as his 3,049 passing yard season last year. Urratia is a monster receiver at 6’4, and virtually impossible to match-up against. His speedy counterpart, Douglas, caught 70 passes for a stunning 1,265 yards last season.

Having a talented offensive line certainly helps Brohm’s candidacy for the Heisman Trophy this season as well. George Bussey is one of the stronger offensive guards in the country and center Eric Ward is constantly in the running for the Rimington Award (given to the best center in college football).

So even though the talented, albeit inexperienced, duo of Anthony Allen and George Stripling will be criticized for only having three starts between them, that vicious offensive line is going to make things easy for both of them. I envision Allen, the more talented of the two, getting the nod as the season opens in a few shorts weeks. Brohm attracting the majority of the defense’s attention will open up gaps for the running game as well.

The offense, as you’ve read, is certainly not going to be the problem in Louisville. The defense, however, just might be. They lost young Amobi Okoye to the NFL draft, and also head in to the season without their top corners from last year. It will be up to senior Malik Jackson to be the passionate heart of this defense from his linebacker position. More importantly, Kragthorpe needs to find some new faces to fill the voids left by his previous stars.

The highly favored Cardinals rewarded their betting hopefuls last year by going 8-4-1 ATS, while maintaining a 7-6 OU record. They were a strong 5-1-1 against the spread at home, but went 3-3 on the road. This could prove to be another problem as their three toughest games are on the road this season. The smart betting investor would be wise to keep an eye on Brohm’s road play before laying money down during the season.

West Virginia still has the benefit of the doubt heading in to the season, especially with a number three raking in the BCS standings. Rutgers, whom Louisville will face in the final game of the season, is set to make a bigger impression then they did last year. Louisville must get past their Big East rivals if it has hopes of returning to the BCS picture by season’s end.

The BetUS.com sportsbook gives Louisville +1800 odds to win the BCS national title, which could be attractive to the betting man willing to wager his money on Brian Brohm. While it wouldn’t be a bad investment at all, the defense has to show up first if this team is going to compete at that level. For now Louisville has an outside shot of advancing to the title game, but a BCS bowl game appearance is certainly within striking distance.

New coach Steve Kragthorpe has the high expectations of Louisville on his shoulders. The young coach has much to prove, especially with that unproven defense, but he certainly has the offense and quarterback to get the job done when the 2007 season kicks off.

With NCAA football just around the corner, the BetUS sportsbook already has tons of college football Futures betting available for those of us who can't wait. Bet on the Heisman winner, Conference and Divisional winners and, of course, the 2008 BCS National Championship winner. Bet NCAA Football Futures in our sportsbook today in the Future / props section!