Age: 69 – or closer to 50 than 90

Years in handicapping: I began handicapping professionally in 1975. Developed a love for the profession as a student in high school, where I met my beautiful wife and have been happily married since.

Achievements in handicapping: In addition to being on the faculty at SportsDataUniversity.com, Marc writes a weekly NFL column for the USA TODAY Sports Weekly, and has authored hundreds of articles on the art and science of sports handicapping. He publishes the PLAYBOOK Football Preview Guide magazine and the weekly PLAYBOOK newsletter during the football and basketball seasons. In his over 40 years as a professional sports handicapper Marc has won over 500 documented Top 10 handicapping achievement awards, more than anyone in the nation. He hosts the Marc Lawrence Against The Spread podcast. Marc won the 2005 STARDUST INVITATIONAL Football Contest and is a two-time WISE GUYS CONTEST champion. Thanks to his powerful sports database, Marc's technical approach to sports handicapping strongly adheres to the theory of 'cause and effect' that the farther back you can look the farther forward you can see. Applying these findings to statistical and fundamental matchups makes for a solid handicap, and by applying 'value' to the handicap we learn become winners. And winning, in the long run, is what handicapping all about.
 
Biggest win of the year: It would have been really difficult topping our 10* College Football Game Of The Year play on Michigan State (+16.5) over Ohio State, and our 10* NFL Game Of The Year selection on Atlanta (+7) over Carolina - both straight-up underdog winners – in 2015. But last season’s 10* Game Of The Year winning call on Auburn (+6), another straight up winner over Alabama, was special as it snapped a 34-game regular season win skein by the Crimson Tide.
 
Biggest loss of the year: As rewarding as our call on Auburn was it was difficult watch our 10* NFL Game of the Year call on the Pittsburgh Steelers either lose by a half point, or push, against New England last season. The game ended in the controversial “no-catch-call” by WR Jesse James, a rule that was subsequently changed this season by the NFL. Ouch.
 
Why you like Covers Experts: Knowing that handicapping is an accumulation of edges, I find great statistical resources provided on the site to be a huge factor when it comes to gathering pertinent data. In addition, reading articles and ‘Steamwire’ releases from other ‘Experts’ helps to put as many sound, logical edges in your favor as possible. Hands down it is a tremendous handicapping tool.
 
Favorite page to use on Covers.com: I find myself gravitating mostly to the ‘Statistics’ reports provided daily within each sport. Whether it’s statistics, stories, injuries, box scores or anything handicapping-related, I know I can find it on the site. We’re only as smart as the amount of solid information we gather.
 
Systems used for handicapping: I write a weekly NFL column for the USA TODAY Sports Weekly and have authored thousands of articles, while illuminating on the fact that three primary forms of sports handicapping exist. Those are Fundamental, Statistical and Technical. To be a successful handicapper one must be a well-rounded handicapper, meaning it’s critically important to blend all three forms into the handicapping equation. I rely heavily on a powerful database that allows me to query scores, stat and results of games played since 1980 in College and Pro Football, along with College and Pro Basketball. By being able to identify and recreate identical situations, and checking them against the database, I have come to rely on similar results created by this technical ‘cause and effect’. It’s like Winston Churchill once said, “The farther back you can look the farther forward you can see.” Applying these findings to statistical and fundamental matchups makes for a solid handicap. By applying ‘value’ to the handicap we learn to win in the long run. And winning, in the long run, is what it’s all about.
 
Game Ratings: I rate my games on a weighted star (*) basis. They include: 1* - leans, reserved primarily for free or opinion plays. 3* - medium premium selection plays, 4* - strong premium selection plays, 5* - very strong selection plays, 7* Top Key Plays, and 10* - extremely strong Top Most Valuable Plays (MVP). Please play accordingly... and good luck, as always.