The top football handicap betting experts are studying the college football picks matchups. Meanwhile Bodog takes a look at how off-field problems could affect the FSU Seminoles.

Could bad news for Florida State’s athletic department actually turn into a positive for the 2009 Seminole football team? I would argue yes.

But let’s backtrack a minute. I’m speaking of a letter from the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions that was released Thursday. It defended its original penalties imposed on the school’s athletic program, which includes vacating up to 14 victories from the football team.

Losing those 14 wins would be crushing to coach Bobby Bowden as he continues to jockey with Penn State’s Joe Paterno for the all-time wins record in college football – Paterno currently leads 383-382.

Obviously if that lead suddenly was 15 wins for JoePa, that’s not going to be a total that Bowden is going to make up in the limited time he has left on the sideline. It’s not like the Nittany Lions are going to go winless in a season any time soon.

The vacation of wins (in nine other sports too) is the only penalty Florida State is appealing as a result of a widespread cheating scandal involving an online music course in 2006 and 2007, seasons in which FSU won 14 total games in football. School officials know what the record means to Bowden. A final decision isn’t likely to come until August, with FSU still having to respond to the letter and oral arguments heard from both sides by the Infractions Appeal Committee.

“Joe would not want to win this thing the way they [NCAA] are doing this,” Bowden told reporters.

You might be asking how this could possibly affect FSU from a betting standpoint – the ‘Noles are 20/1 on Bodog to win this season’s BCS National Championship. But let’s say that this penalty is enforced. That would probably ensure that 2009 will be the final season that Bowden would coach. In January he signed just a one-year extension for this year, though he has an option for a second season. Bowden turns 80 in November and has said he has a date in mind as to when it he will hang it up.

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Wouldn’t playing on Bowden’s final team be quite a bit of motivation for those FSU players? Shoot, the coach might even use it to fire his guys up at times. And it’s not like the 2009 Seminoles don’t have a shot to run the table. It’s a long shot, especially with that season finale at Florida. But FSU could be a favorite in every other game, with the biggest tests likely coming in the season opener against Miami and games at BYU, North Carolina and Clemson.

It would be too bad for Bowden’s possible final season to start with this hanging over the program, but maybe Bowden can perform one last bit of coaching magic and use it to his advantage. Even if the coach is too proud to use his swan song to motivate his kids, you can be sure the other coaches on the staff would harp and it and that the players would want to send Bowden out in style. Sounds like a rallying point to me.

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Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The White Sox play host to the Rays, the Red Sox take on the Rangers, and the Cubs continue their series in Philadelphia.

Sports headlines….

A pervert used a peephole to videotape ESPN bombshell Erin Andrews without her knowledge. The predator allegedly has tried to sell the Erin Andrews peephole pictures. A video link was grainy and posted on the Internet…Andrea McNulty of Nevada has alleged that Pittsburgh Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger sexually assaulted her. Even though the alleged incident occurred a year ago, a criminal case was never filed, only a civil suit demanding money…The Tour de France stage 16 is underway.

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Josh Beckett (11-3, 3.35 ERA) will be looking for his 12^th win of the season on Tuesday night when his Red Sox continue their road series against the Rangers and Tommy Hunter (1-1, 2.35 ERA). Righthander Beckett has picked up the win in each of his last two starts, and Boston is 8-2 over his last 10 trips to the mound. Righthander Hunter had to settle for a no-decision versus the Mariners in his most recent start despite throwing six scoreless innings and allowing four hits.

Also on the American League schedule for Tuesday: Seattle at Detroit, Baltimore at the Yankees, Cleveland at Toronto, the Angels at Kansas City, Minnesota at Oakland, and Tampa Bay at the White Sox. Rays starter Jeff Niemann (8-4, 3.73 ERA) is coming off a stellar outing against the A’s in which he tossed a complete-game shutout. Clayton Richard (3-3, 5.42 ERA) gets the ball for Chicago on Tuesday night; Richard has given up 10 earned runs over his last 4 2-3 innings.

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It’ll be Rich Harden (6-6, 5.06 ERA) taking on Joe Blanton (6-4, 4.44 ERA) on Tuesday night as the Cubs and Phillies continue their series in Philadelphia. Righthander Harden got back into the win column last time out, holding the Nationals to one unearned run on three hits over six innings of work. Righthander Blanton has come up big in each of his last two starts, allowing only one earned run on eight hits over 14 2-3 innings in those games against the Pirates and Mets.

Rounding out the National League slate for Tuesday: the Mets at Washington, Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, San Francisco at Atlanta, St. Louis at Houston, Florida at San Diego, Cincinnati at the Dodgers, and Arizona at Colorado. Max Scherzer (5-6, 3.64 ERA) will get the ball for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday, while the Rockies counter with Aaron Cook (9-3, 3.85 ERA). Righthander Cook gave up just one earned run on eight hits over six innings versus the Padres last time out.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the WNBA offers up just one game on Tuesday night, with Indiana at Washington. The Fever saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday as they fell 67-61 to Connecticut. Indiana is now 11-3 straight-up and 9-5 against-the-spread on the season. The Mystics are coming off a slim 68-67 win over New York on Saturday, with Lindsey Harding providing a game-high 23 points. Washington is now 7-6 SU and 7-5-1 ATS through 13 games this season.