Jeff Haney on values to be had by betting on heavy underdogs in NFL games as sports books overreact to the success favorites enjoyed last season

Friday, Sept. 15, 2006 | 7:33 a.m.

After favored teams in the NFL consistently brought home the money last year, football bettors anticipated finding some inflated point spreads in certain weeks early this season.

This is one of those weeks, Las Vegas handicapper Patrick Bartucci said.

Bartucci recommends wagers on three double-digit underdogs on Sunday's NFL slate, along with one small favorite.

He likes the Cleveland Browns plus 10 1/2 points against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Houston Texans plus 14 against the Indianapolis Colts, and the Tennessee Titans plus 12 against the San Diego Chargers. He'll also bet the Carolina Panthers laying one point against the Minnesota Vikings.

"After last year, which was an anomaly, I think those are just too many points," said Bartucci, online at patricksfreepress.com.

Backing the undeniably uglier team in the Ohio showdown, Bartucci thinks the Browns can keep the game close under second-year head coach Romeo Crennel, who made his reputation as a defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots in their Super Bowl years.

"This Browns team is not a bunch of quitters," Bartucci said. "They're going to make mistakes, but they're also going to battle for 60 minutes."

The Colts, coming off an emotional game in which Peyton and Eli Manning faced off at quarterback, are in a bad spot to lay so many points, Bartucci said. And he was less impressed than the linemakers with the Chargers' 27-0 victory Monday night at Oakland.

Bartucci sees the Panthers bouncing back after they were upended by NFC South rival Atlanta in Week 1.

"They're going to be ticked off after getting embarrassed against the Falcons," he said.

In college football, Bartucci sees value in betting "under" 51 points in Saturday's Oklahoma-Oregon game, a rematch of last December's Holiday Bowl won 17-14 by the Sooners. He expects Oklahoma to run a no-frills offense behind quarterback Paul Thompson, still settling into his starting role after Rhett Bomar was dismissed before the season for NCAA rules violations.

"And Oregon actually plays defense now," Bartucci said. "This should be a tight game."

Fight game

A heavy 4-1 favorite in their first fight, super featherweight world champ Marco Antonio Barrera is a minus-150 favorite (risk $1.50 to win $1) in a rematch against Rocky Juarez on Saturday night at the MGM Grand. Juarez, who lost a split decision to Barrera in May, is a plus-130 underdog.

More betting tickets figure to be written on Barrera, one of the most popular fighters ever in his native Mexico. Yet more total money is likely to be wagered on Juarez, as bigger bettors swoop in to grab the value in the betting line in what looks like a pick 'em fight.

Two co-features on the pay-per-view card are also competitively priced. Israel Vazquez is a minus-175 favorite against Jhonny Gonzalez in a super bantamweight title bout, according to MGM odds.

In a junior lightweight 12-rounder, Jorge Rodrigo Barrios was bet up from even money Wednesday night to minus-155 Thursday against Joan Guzman.

Contest updates

The contestants in the Leroy's Money Talks Invitational had a rough opening week, as Las Vegas handicapper Bryan Leonard advanced in the single-elimination bracket with a 2-5 record against the point spread. His first-week opponent, "Big" Al McMordie, went 1-6.

In tonight's matchup, local bettor Steve McLaughlin squares off against Florida-based handicapper Marc Lawrence from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Silverton (KSHP 1400-AM).

The contest features 16 entrants who each put up $5,000, competing for a $100,000 prize pool. Leroy's put up an additional $20,000 to juice the pot.

In the "Showdown at Leroy's" pitting Nick Bogdanovich against Fezzik (one name only, please), Bogdanovich went 3-3 against the spread to take an early lead against Fezzik (2-4). The two local professional gamblers go at it again from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. today at Fitzgerald's (KENO 1460-AM).