 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
2010 Big South Conference Tournament PreviewNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surprising Coastal Carolina Chanticleers are the top seed in the Big South Conference Tournament for the first time since the 1990-91 campaign, and they have seemingly come out of nowhere to become the favorite to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Coastal Carolina (36-5) closed out the regular season with five straight wins, which means it is not only 15-3 versus the rest of the league, but also riding the longest win streak among the programs in the Big South. Because of the squad's efforts, the Chanticleers get to entertain eighth-seeded VMI at Kimbel Arena on Tuesday night. Good news for Coastal Carolina, which last won the tourney title in 1993 and has a total of three crowns to its credit over the years, is that it lost just a single home game this season. The Chanticleers finished the regular season second in the league in scoring with 74.5 ppg, but more importantly, had one of the best defenses in all of college basketball with just 59.0 ppg allowed. Joseph Harris and Chad Gray are the key offensive producers for the squad with 14.8 and 14.1 ppg, respectively. From a national standpoint, the team ranks in the top-10 in three-point shooting defense, allowing foes to convert a mere 27.8 percent of their chances. Coincidentally, VMI (10-18, 5-13) ranks first in the nation in three-point field goals per game with almost 12 per outing, contributing heavily to the squad's 89.8 ppg which also leads the country at the moment. However, the run- and-gun Keydets have a problem with getting back on defense as they rank dead last among the 334 programs charted by the NCAA with a hideous 96.9 ppg allowed. VMI, which has a mark of just 4-4 in this tournament over the years and lost in the title game to Radford last season and Winthrop three years ago, has Austin Kenon putting up 18.7 ppg and Keith Gabriel another 17.3 ppg. The defending tournament champion Radford Highlanders took down Winthrop on Saturday to assume the second seed in this event, and the squad is slated to host seventh-seeded Charleston Southern at the Dedmon Center. Radford heads into the post season riding a four-game win streak thanks to a 54-52 victory on Saturday. Behind Coastal Carolina, the Highlanders have the second-best scoring margin in the league at plus-3.5 ppg, but you could never tell that since they have the worst free-throw shooting in the conference at a meager 59.1 percent. Artsiom Parakhouski, the tournament MVP from a year ago, leads the league in scoring with his 21.6 ppg, but he is the main reason why the team has fumbled at the charity stripe, having made just 148-of-266 (.556). As for the Buccaneers, a team that is second only to Winthrop in tournament titles with four, they are trying to win their first crown since 1997. Charleston Southern ended up three games below .500 on the season (13-16) and was just 7-11 in conference. Led by Jamarco Warren and Kelvin Martin with 15.9 and 14.0 ppg, respectively, the Bucs have not won back-to-back games for nearly six weeks. Because of the loss to Radford on Saturday, Winthrop now assumes the third seed in the event and will host sixth-seeded Liberty at Winthrop Coliseum on Tuesday. The Eagles (16-13, 12-6), winners of nine Big South Tournament titles, are nowhere near the team they've been in the past, seeing as how they won by just two points in the season opener against Limestone. Nevertheless, being the most successful program in this tournament, with a record of 31-15 over the years, has to account for something. Registering the second-best scoring defense in the league (61.8 ppg) is certainly a plus, but by no means does that make up for the fact that Winthrop ranked among the worst in the country with 37.9 percent shooting from the field and a woeful 24.8 percent beyond the arc. Liberty (15-15, 10-8) took a huge step back when Seth Curry decided to transfer to Duke after last season, yet there was still some encouraging play from the likes of Kyle Ohman (15.1 ppg) and Evan Gordon (12.2 ppg) who both exceeded their overall scoring averages when it came to league action. The Flames were middle-of-the-road in most stats this year, but a couple of the trouble areas for Liberty lie in turnovers per game (15.8) and turnover margin (minus-2.3) as the Flames can ill-afford to make too many mistakes right out of the gate. The final quarterfinal matchup has fourth-seeded UNC Asheville settling into the Justice Center versus fifth-seeded High Point. The Bulldogs (14-15, 11-7) closed the campaign strong with four wins in five tries, with the lone loss coming in overtime against Winthrop a week ago. In terms of scoring defense, Asheville was somewhat weak in that area with 76.8 ppg allowed, but there were moments when the defense shined as they averaged better than five and a half blocked shots per contest to rank in the top-20 nationally. The squad was also first in the conference with more than 16 assists per game, but those passes also went hand-in-hand with more than 17 turnovers per contest, one of the highest averages in the nation. J.P. Primm (12.1 ppg) tried to give the team a lift in the passing department with his 158 assists. The Panthers (15-14, 10-8) had a couple of games early on against the likes of UNC Pembroke and Hampden-Sydney in which they scored a combined 204 points and that really boosted their stats, but in the end they finished fifth in the league with an average of 72.3 ppg. Nick Barbour was one of the more consistent performers for the program with his 18.6 ppg, shooting 40.5 percent behind the three-point line, but with an average of barely one assist per game if he didn't score rarely did anyone else. Eugene Harris accounted for 14.2 ppg as he made 71 three-pointers to pace the group, helping to make the team third in the conference with 35.8 percent accuracy beyond the arc.
<< 2010 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will begin this Tuesday when the top eight teams from the regular season will tangle for the right to be named champions of the OVC and more importantly earn a bid to the
<< 2010 Horizon League Tournament Preview
<< Longhorns hope to right ship in revenge game with Sooners
<< Hoyas visit Mountaineers in Big East showdown
<< Red Wings resume postseason push versus Avalanche
2010 Patriot League Tournament Preview >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The usual suspects in the Patriot League might be taking a backseat to a new crop of stars as the 20th annual conference tournament tips off this week. American University, which is the two-time defending
Surging Mavs visit Bobcats >>
Shaq-less Cavs host Knicks >>
Struggling Sixers tangle with Magic at Wachovia Center >>
Bulls kick off homestand vs. Hawks >>
MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football betting sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction. MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football wagering needs.
Sportsbooks to bet on footballRecently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it. He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games. "Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote. He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games. Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk. Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible. Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines. Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy. With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season. Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas). And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.) The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors. While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger. Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under. One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it. Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami. What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5. That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well. MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple. "The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money. "At the end of the day, we liked the home team." So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams. In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish. MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover. The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing. Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed. MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash. To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
|
