Those who bet on college football will always check to see who the quarterbacks are in a matchup they’re considering betting on, and in the major leagues, starting pitchers are one of the most important things to monitor.  A pair of aces will take to the hill on Thursday when Minnesota heads to Texas to wrap up a four-game set between division leaders.

Twins Rangers Betting – Thursday, August 26, 8:05 PM ET

Francisco Liriano (11-7, 3.45) was roughed up a bit in a 7-6 win at home over the White Sox, but he took a no-decision by allowing five runs on six hits over five innings, walking four and striking out five in an inconsistent performance.  Liriano has pitched a lot over the last year or so, and the Twins are worried about a workload problem as this is the second time in three starts that he’s given up four runs or more.  The 26-year-old has faced the Rangers, making three starts, and he has a 1-1 record against them with a 4.74 ERA.  Four of his appearances have come in the Ballpark, where he earned his only decisions, and has an ERA of 4.50.

The arrival of Cliff Lee (10-7, 3.09) was big enough to make those who do offshore NFL betting stand up and take notice, and it’s made the Rangers an intriguing team to face in the playoffs.  However, he’s in a bit of a slump as he was rocked for eight runs on 10 hits over 5.2 innings in an 8-6 loss in Baltimore.  Lee was taken deep four times by the Orioles after not allowing a homer in his previous five starts, and he’s now given up 14 runs in his last 13.1 innings.  The 31-year-old southpaw is a solid 8-3 with a 3.40 ERA in 18 starts against the Twins, who saw plenty of Lee when he was in Cleveland.

MLB betting odds should favor the Rangers at the Ballpark, where they were 41-23 as of Wednesday.  Neither of these pitchers have been at the top of their game lately, for different reasons: Liriano may be being overworked, while Lee has a long (and well-deserved) leash from manager Ron Washington, and he probably should have been taken earlier in his last three starts.  Lee has also been an innings horse for last few seasons, and he is 31 years old, so it’s something to watch.  But Liriano has thrown over 200 innings in the past year after his past injury problems, so they may be getting worried.  We’re betting on Lee to get his act together before Liriano as he knows that he has to round into form before the playoffs come around.

Online sports betting pick: Texas

Today’s college football preview from Bodog begins with the Michigan Wolverines (12/1 Big Ten odds). Rich Rodriguez’s defection to the Wolverines managed to screw over not only one but two teams; he left West Virginia in a lurch while winning just eight games for the Wolverines over the past two years. Now his job might be on the line.

The Michigan offense did make tremendous strides last year, finishing seventh in the country in yards per game. Quarterback isn’t settled heading into 2010, but whoever wins between Tate Forcier, Denard Robinson, and Devin Gardner should be very effective. They’ll have a pretty talented receiving corps to work with.

After struggling mightily on “D” last year, Michigan is switching to the 3-3-5. The Wolverines are desperate to find answers against the run after allowing over 170 yards per game last year. The secondary is green.

Get your NCAA Football Odds in the Bodog Sportsbook! Grandmaster Sports Handicapper Joe Duffy’s expert take: The one-time powerhouse is destined for a 7^th place finish. None of our models have them finishing higher than a 5^th place tie and some have them tied for eighth.

Bring back Lloyd Carr.

The Texas A&M Aggies aren’t favorites to win the Big 12 (16/1 odds), but they should show some improvement after a 6-7 campaign. They’re next in today’s college football preview.

The Aggies were very, very young last season—they played 18 freshmen in at least one game, the second-highest total in the country. Quarterback Jerrod Johnson should be in Heisman contention; he’s a threat to throw and run the football. The line has some holes that need plugging, however, and Johnson was sacked 29 times last year.

The defense will be transitioning to a 3-4 base scheme. There are some great toys to play with, namely senior Von Miller; he racked up 17 sacks last year and will fit nicely into a fantastic linebacking corps. The pass defense leaves much to be desired, however. The poor effort is all the more perplexing considering how strong the pass rush was.

Get your NCAA Football Odds in the Bodog Sportsbook! Grandmaster Sports Handicapper Joe Duffy’s expert take: It is one heck of a battle for No. 3 in the Big 12 South. Texas Tech and Texas A&M will battle for the right to finish behind the Big 2 Texas and Oklahoma.

We have Tech third and A&M fourth in a photo finish.

Courtesy of OddsShark.com: Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Rays continue their series against the Angels in Los Angeles, while the Reds look for a victory over the Giants out in San Francisco.

Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The American League schedule for Tuesday offers up Oakland at Cleveland, Kansas City at Detroit, the Yankees at Toronto, Seattle at Boston, Minnesota at Texas, Baltimore at the White Sox, and Tampa Bay at Los Angeles. Wade Davis (9-9, 4.45 ERA) will get the ball for the Rays on Tuesday, while the Angels counter with Ervin Santana (13-8, 3.93 ERA). Righthander Davis (sore shoulder) is expected to come off the disabled list for Tuesday’s start; he was knocked around by the Twins in his last outing on August 5, allowing six runs over six innings of work. Righthander Santana has picked up the win in each of his last three starts, holding the Red Sox to two runs on four hits over seven innings last time out. Los Angeles is 5-1 in Santana’s last six starts.

Over in the National League on Tuesday it’s then St. Louis at Pittsburgh, Houston at Philadelphia, the Cubs at Washington, Florida at the Mets, the Dodgers at Milwaukee, Atlanta at Colorado, Arizona at San Diego, and Cincinnati at San Francisco. Tim Wood (4-1, 2.51 ERA) is slated to go up against Jonathan Sanchez (9-8, 3.47 ERA) in that Reds/Giants matchup. Lefthander Wood won for the fourth straight time in his last start, surrendering just one run on four hits over 6 1-3 innings against the Diamondbacks. Lefthander Sanchez dazzled the Phillies in a win last time out, giving up just one run on two hits over his eight innings of work. Sanchez walked two and fanned seven that day.

Here are the sportsbooks odds for week 3 of preseason football

It’s an indisputable fact that the top football handicappers are at OffshoreInsiders.com, but now the secrets as to why they become the nation’s No. 1 sports handicapping website are out.

Super handicapper Matt Rivers has a free winner for Tuesday is on the Orioles +159 at BetUs against the Chicago White Sox.

Honestly, I may be getting the better team here plus a boatload. Is Chicago even a good team right now? Seriously? Sure the “good guys” had a great great 6-8 week stretch where they came back from 9 games out to claim the division lead but that is now a thing of the past as the Twins have seized control of the division and right now the ChiSox are just not very good.

Baltimore’s record may be atrocious and I’m not saying that the Orioles are good but they have been playing a lot better ball since Buck Showalter arrived and with at least a professional hurler in Jerremy Guthrie on the bump today why can’t they win another game? Gavin Floyd has been great for a few months now but this last two starts have been a disaster against the good hitting but not great hitting Twins and right now I wouldn’t consider Floyd great or am too afraid of him.

Roberts, Markakis, Wieters, Scott and Jones form a squad that is pretty dangerous. Throw these guys in a hitter’s park like US Cellular and we may see a power display for sure. I’m not saying that the O’s can’t get shut down a bit by Floyd if the righthander is on his game but at this price we have too much going for us to not give this thing a go.

The pick: Baltimore at Bodog

For more information: A rare losing day on Monday, it unfortunately happens every now and then. Now to a trio of Tuesday winners as I continue the bashing of that Crookie. My 400,000* plays have been money and have also been the most powerful play I have released over the past few months. Another one is here from Citi Field between the Marlins and Mets. Bonus 200,000* Atlanta-Colorado and 100,000* Houston-Philadelphia.  Want Matt Rivers picks? Get them now.