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02/04/2012 - Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With the postseason rapidly approaching, a pair of Big East Conference teams hoping to improve their prospects meet in the nation's capital this morning, as the South Florida Bulls take on the 14th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas.
USF comes in at 13-9 on the year, but the Bulls have charged hard through the bulk of its conference slate, logging a solid 6-3 mark thus far. The team has won four of its last five games, including an 81-78 decision at home over Providence last Sunday. That said, the Bulls have been an entirely different team in Tampa (11-1) than they've been on the road (2-6, 2-8 when you add in a pair of neutral-site affairs). They have split their last four road bouts though, so there is some reason for optimism today.
Georgetown has won 17 of its first 21 games this season, and the team is 7-3 against Big East competition. The Hoyas have won four of their last five as well, with their most recent victory coming in a 58-44 defensive battle against visiting Connecticut on Wednesday. Like USF, Georgetown has been dominant at home, sporting an 11-1 mark to this point, and the club has won two straight in D.C. following a 68-64 setback versus Cincinnati on January 9.
Georgetown has won seven of the previous 10 meetings in the all-time series with South Florida, which includes a 61-55 decision in the Sunshine State last season.
USF had five players score in double figures in the recent win over Providence, and the Bulls needed every point they could muster. Anthony Collins and Hugh Robertson scored 15 points apiece to pace the home team, which got 14 points from Ron Anderson, Jr., 13 from Toarlyn Fitzpatrick and 11 from Augustus Gilchrist. As a team, South Florida shot 50.9 percent from the field and hit 6-of-13 three-point attempts along the way. Both teams took exceptional care of the basketball, combining for only 13 turnovers. Gilchrist (10.7 ppg) is the only active player averaging double digits in the scoring column, and he is the only current starter netting more than 8.7 ppg. As a team, the Bulls are putting up just 62.1 ppg on 44.2 percent field goal efficiency and 70.7 percent from the foul line, while at the same time allowing a mere 59.0 ppg on typical shooting outputs of 40.7 percent overall and 30.8 percent from beyond the arc. A +3.2 rebounding margin also helps the cause.
Hollis Thompson scored 18 points as one of three Hoyas to reach double figures in the recent win over UConn, as the home team made just 21 baskets in the game, but permitted the visitors a paltry 18. Thompson added nine rebounds to his solid stat line, while Henry Sims tallied 13 points despite committing seven of GU's 15 turnovers, and Jason Clark chipped in with 11 points and five boards. The Hoyas scored 11 points at the free-throw line compared to just six for the Huskies, who were simply horrific in going 2-of-20 from beyond the arc. Clark (15.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 39 steals), Thompson (14.0 ppg, 5.2 rpg) and Sims (11.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.5 apg, 34 blocks) have been the most consistent performers for Georgetown this season, but guys like Otto Porter (8.2 ppg, 6.8 rpg) and Markel Starks (8.0 ppg) have provided additional support when called upon. Like their counterpart today, and as evidenced in the recent win over UConn, the Hoyas have played exceptional defense this season in allowing just 59.2 ppg behind shooting efforts that come in at 39.4 percent overall and 27.9 percent from downtown. Offensively, the team nets 70.8 ppg in hitting 46.9 percent of its total shots and 36.2 percent of its three-point launches. Add favorable margins in both rebounding (+4.8) and turnovers (+1.4), and it's easy to see why the team is having such a successful season.
<< Sharks, Coyotes engage in the desert
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks aim to push their win streak to four
straight games this evening as they begin a tough stretch of road games with a
matchup against the Phoenix Coyotes.
The Sharks halted a three-game slide with a 1-0 w
<< Wild seek to hold off Stars in Dallas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wild are coming off one road victory over a team that
is chasing them in the Western Conference standings. Minnesota hopes for
similar results tonight, but to do that it will have to beat the Stars in
Dallas for the first
<< Blues, Preds clash in likely defensive battle
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues have an All-Star goaltender who might
not even be his club's starter come playoff time.
The Nashville Predators are likely to start a netminder this evening who is on
the longest winning streak in club
<< Lightning wrap season series with Panthers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Lightning could very well be chasing the
Florida Panthers for a playoff spot for the rest of the season, but tonight
will be the final time that they get to help their own cause in this series.
The two Southe
Tigers and Bulldogs square off Starkville >>
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Meeting in the first of two games scheduled
over the next two weeks, the Auburn Tigers and Mississippi State Bulldogs
square off at Humphrey Coliseum in Starkville this afternoon for an SEC
tussle.
Auburn i
Bluejays go in search of 12th straight win >>
Cedar Rapids, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Creighton Bluejays take
aim at their 12th straight victory, as they fly into Cedar Rapids for today's
Missouri Valley Conference showdown with the Panthers of Northern Iowa.
Creighton picke
Hoosier State rivals square off in West Lafayette >>
West Lafayette, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of in-state rivals jockeying for
position in the competitive Big Ten Conference meet at Mackey Arena in West
Lafayette this evening, as the 20th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers tangle with the
Purdue Boilerm
Waves hope to crash down on 24th-ranked Bulldogs >>
Malibu, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - West Coast Conference foes meet in Malibu
tonight, as the 24th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs pay a visit to the Pepperdine
Waves.
Gonzaga was recently re-admitted into the AP Top-25 after winning four in a
row from J
Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.
"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."
Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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