i concur that this is great thread....
I'm not sure though that we shouldn't go against this thinking somewhat
.... as background, I'm one of many who uses offseason phil steele type info to do quite well early on (not this year 50%is, but many years).... then I go into 50% or worse funk midseason (marginal win rate of 50% so year is often win)
I notice more and more over time that fade teams often start doing well ATS..... I guess it depends which type (SMU, Michigan and EMU are all different animals to me).... I like the higher profile (Oregon, FSU etc.) and long-term horrible (UNLV, EMU) fades a lot.