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02/01/2012 - Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of ranked foes in the Big Ten Conference square off in Ann Arbor this evening, as No. 20 Indiana comes calling on No. 23 Michigan.
Indiana started the season impressively, jumping out to a 12-0 record before suffering its first defeat at Michigan State in the conference opener on December 28. The Hoosiers bounced back to win their next three, but after that coach Tom Crean's club lost 4-of-5. IU is coming off a 103-89 victory over Iowa in its last outing, and while the Hoosiers are 17-5 on the year, they are just 3-4 in true road games.
Michigan too got off to a sensational start to the 2011-12 campaign, streaking out to a 12-2 mark before crashing back to Earth with a 4-4 mark since. The Wolverines are fresh off a demoralizing 64-49 loss at Ohio State on Sunday, and this bout is the second in a three-game stretch the team will play against Top-25 competition -- at No. 9 Michigan State this Sunday being the last. The Maize and Blue are a perfect 12-0 at home this season, and coach John Beilein's club has won 13 straight at Crisler Arena overall.
Indiana owns a commanding 101-55 lead in the all-time series with Michigan, but things have been pretty even of late as the teams have split the last eight meetings. The Hoosiers won the most recent encounter, taking a 73-71 decision at home on January 5 of this year.
Indiana is one of the more potent offensive teams in the Big Ten, as it averages 79.5 ppg in hitting 50.1 percent of its field goal attempts, which includes a 43.8 percent showing from three-point range. The Hoosiers are also 73.8 percent accurate at the charity stripe, and they own favorable margins in both rebounding (+3.1) and turnovers (+1.7) as well. Defensively, the team yields 65.8 ppg, with the opposition hitting their field goals 42.4 percent of the time, which includes a 32.7 percent showing from beyond the arc. Cody Zeller (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is IU's leading scorer and rebounder, while Christian Watford (12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Jordan Hulls (11.9 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Victor Oladipo (10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) round out the unit's double-digit scorers. In the 103-point outburst against Iowa, Zeller scored a career-high 26 points to lead six Hoosiers in double figures, and Indiana shot 55.2 percent from the field while converting 25-of-31 free throws. IU won the rebounding battle, 37-22, handed out 20 assists, and scored 21 points off 17 Hawkeye turnovers.
Michigan isn't quite the offensive juggernaut its counterpart tonight is, but the team is shooting 45.9 percent from the field, and has made good on 34.3 percent of its three-point tries. The Wolverines boast just double-digit scorers in the form of Tim Hardaway, Jr. (15.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Trey Burke (14.1 ppg, 5.0 apg), although Zack Novak (9.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Evan Smotrycz (8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) are close to joining the ranks thanks to both hitting better than 40 percent of their three-point attempts. From a defensive standpoint, UM is allowing just 61.1 ppg on typical shooting outputs of 42.1 percent overall and 35.4 percent from downtown, and the team comes into this contest with positive differentials in both rebounding (+1.8) and turnovers (+1.4) as well. Michigan scored a season-low 49 points in its recent outing at Ohio State, as Hardaway, Jr. and Burke tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively, as the only Wolverines to reach double figures in the loss. The team shot just 35.8 percent from the field, while the Buckeyes claimed a 15-3 edge in points from the foul line and a 38-29 advantage on the glass.
<< Georgia Tech hits road to tangle with No. 21 Florida State
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the ACC
standings meet in Tallahassee tonight, as the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
challenge the 21st-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
Georgia Tech's first season under head coac
<< Jayhawks host Sooners in Big 12 affair
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their first Big 12 loss of the
season, the eighth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks return to the friendly confines of
the Allen Fieldhouse for a league bout with the Oklahoma Sooners.
Bill Self's Jayhawks had
<< Sixth-ranked Bears battle Aggies in Big 12 action
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Baylor Bears continue
their quest for a Big 12 title, as they invade College Station this evening
for a conference matchup with the Texas A&M Aggies at Reed Arena.
Scott Drew's Bear
<< Streaking Heat take on Bucks at Bradley Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James and the streaking Miami Heat will take a five-
game winning streak on the road to Milwaukee tonight.
The Heat weren't all that impressive on Monday but James finished two assists
shy of a triple-double with 22
Broncos battle 17th-ranked Aztecs >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trying to win their first conference game as
a member of the Mountain West, the Boise State Broncos face one of their
toughest tests yet as they tangle with 17th-ranked San Diego State at Viejas
Arena tonight.
Rams and Rebels duke it out in Sin City >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Off to their best start since the 1991-92
campaign, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels find themselves ranked 11th in the nation
and tied for the top spot in the Mountain West Conference as they prepare for
the arrival of
Nets pick up G Bogans >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seeking to bolster its defensive
performance, the New Jersey Nets signed 6-foot-5 free agent guard Keith Bogans
on Wednesday.
Per team policy, contract terms were not disclosed.
"Keith will
Hannover's Pogatetz hit with three-match ban >>
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hannover defender Emanuel Pogatetz has
been handed a three-match ban by the German Football Federation (DFB) for
punching Nurnberg's Philipp Wollscheid.
The incident occurred in last Friday's 1-
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
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