Week 1 Odds
Saturday, February 8th
Seattle Dragons @ DC Defenders -7.5
Los Angeles Wildcats @ Houston Roughnecks -5.5
Sunday, February 9th
-2.5 Tampa Bay Vipers @ New York Guardians
St Louis BattleHawks @ Dallas Renegades -8.5
Odds to Win XFL Championship
+300 Dallas Renegades
+350 DC Defenders
+350 Tampa Bay Vipers
+550 Houston Roughnecks
+700 Los Angeles Wildcats
+800 New York Guardians
+900 St Louis BattleHawks
+1200 Seattle Dragons
Five Major Rules To Know
1. You CAN throw a forward pass twice on the same play. The hangup is the first throw must still be behind the original line of scrimmage.
2. Replay will be used but it will be modeled after the NCAA football rules.
3. If the game goes to overtime there are no ties and no coin toss.
4. In overtime, each team will get five, one play possessions from the five yard line. Each successful conversion is worth 2 points. The defense cannot score. If the game is still tied after the 5th round, the overtime is decided by single round attempts with an eventual winner.
5. The point after touchdown can result in 3 different amounts of points. If you choose to take the ball at the 2 yard line that is worth 1 point. If you take the ball at the 5 yard line that is worth 2 points and if you try from the 10 yard line that will be worth 3 points if you are successful. No kicking at all and if defense returns the ball for a score they will be awarded the exact amount of points for the try that had happened.
Teams and Head Coach + Team News/Players
Dallas Renegades
Head Coach Bob Stoops
Stoops is a legend in college football with 10 Big 12 titles and a national championship to his credit at Oklahoma. Offensive guru Hal Mumme will have ex-Oklahoma Sooner and Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Landry Jones at the helm for the Renegades. Jones was recruited by Stoops and had 123 touchdowns and only 52 picks as a Sooner. Jones who is named after Cowboys legendary coach Tom Landry is probably the most experienced QB in this league (he played 3 years for the Steelers with 8 career TDs, 7 INTs). Jones may miss the opening of the season and his backup is Syracuse’s Eric Dungey who finished his career with many Orange QB records.
DC Defenders
Head Coach Pep Hamilton
The Defenders have ex-Ohio State Buckeye quarterback Cardale Jones as their starter. Jones who is 6’6 started only 11 games in Columbus and played on the Buffalo Bills in 2016.
Houston Roughnecks
Head Coach June Jones
Jones is an offensive guy who has had big time offensive teams in college with Hawaii and in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons.
Los Angeles Wildcats
Head Coach Winston Moss
The Wildcats have big named coordinators on both side of the ball. Norm Chow of USC and Tennessee Titans fame is the offensive coordinator and ex-New York Giants linebacker Pepper Johnson leads the defense.
New York Guardians
Head Coach Kevin Gilbride
Gilbride’s defensive back coach Chris Dishman played for him with Gilbride was coaching the Houston Oilers. The Guardians quarterback is Matt McGloin who put up solid numbers in college at Penn State.
St Louis BattleHawks
Head Coach Jonathan Hayes
St Louis has Chuck Long as their offensive coordinator. Long has a fantastic career as the Iowa Hawkeyes quarterback and had some productive seasons in the NFL. Their receiver coach Az-Zahir Hakim was a member of the St Louis Rams, “Greatest Show on Turf” teams from the early 2000’s.
Seattle Dragons
Head Coach Jim Zorn
Zorn used to sling the ball for the Seattle Seahawks and now will attempt to produce a winner in the XFL. The Dragons will be led by running back from Texas A & M, Trey Williams. Williams had 18 total touchdowns while he was playing at College Station, TX.
Tampa Bay Vipers
Head Coach Marc Trestman
Jerry Glanville is the Vipers defensive coordinator. This will mark seven decades of coaching football for Glanville. The Vipers quarterback Quinton Flowers put up big numbers while at South Florida. In 43 total games Flowers had 71 passing td’s and 41 rushing tds, while only throwing 23 interceptions. He is the South Florida all-time touchdown leader.
No More Football??
So when people say they are bummed and going through withdrawal because there is no more football, you can tell them that isn’t exactly true. With these interesting rule differences compared to the NFL we all can at least give this league a shot. In fact, week 1 is this weekend and the lines just came out so football and gambling is alive even after the Super Bowl.
No Picks Yet !
I have no picks yet for the XFL folks, hey you wouldn't want me to light your money on fire would you ? I will be back to you after week 1 or 2 once I have a chance to gauge play, until then I would just say there will be scoring so if you must, then BET THE UNDERDOGS!