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02/26/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Xavier Musketeers are trying to hold on to first place in the Atlantic 10 Conference standings, and they will take on the Saint Joseph's Hawks tonight at The Palestra in Philadelphia.
Xavier is 10-3 in A-10 play, but it is trailed closely by Temple and Dayton, which both entered the week with three league losses as well. The Musketeers have lost three of their last five outings to lose what was a firm grip on first place, although last Sunday's clash with George Washington did result in a 71-53 triumph.
Saint Joseph's has also struggled recently, as the club has suffered four consecutive losses to crush its conference title hopes. The Hawks are 14-12 overall and 7-5 in league play, mediocre records for a mediocre team. The four losses during the current slide have come by a total of 12 points, including a 70-69 setback against UMass on Sunday.
Saint Joseph's owns a 21-15 series advantage over Xavier, and the Hawks bounced the Musketeers out of the A-10 Tournament last year.
Despite its success this season, Xavier does not possess a star-caliber player who is capable of consistently taking over a game at the offensive end of the floor. Derrick Brown leads the club with 13.7 ppg, and B.J. Raymond provides 13.6 ppg. C.J. Anderson is the third and final double-digit scorer for the team, as he checks in with 10.5 ppg. All three of those players have started every game this season, and the same can be said of Jason Love (7.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg). Xavier depends heavily on strong defense to win games, and the club is holding opponents to 63.0 ppg on 38.6 percent field goal efficiency. In the 18-point victory over George Washington on Sunday, the Musketeers had five double-digit scorers, and Anderson led the way with 14 points. They limited the Colonials to 38.6 percent shooting from the floor and forced 17 turnovers.
Saint Joseph's missed all seven of its three-point attempts against UMass on Sunday and permitted the Minutemen to connect on 50 percent of their field goal attempts. The Hawks got 21 points and 11 rebounds from Ahmad Nivins in the setback, while Idris Hilliard and Tasheed Carr contributed 12 points apiece. Hilliard tallied 11 boards, and Carr dished out eight assists. Garrett Williamson pitched in 10 points for the Hawks, who are scoring 68.8 ppg while allowing 66.4 ppg. Nivins is posting 19.5 ppg and 11.6 rpg this season to go along with his 50 blocks. Darrin Govens provides 13.3 ppg, and Carr adds 13.0 ppg. Nivins was clearly the frontrunner for A-10 Player of the Year, but the team's recent slide may put that honor in jeopardy.
<< Boilermakers hope to keep pace in Big Ten title race
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers continue
their push toward the Big Ten Conference regular-season title, and they need
to beat the Michigan Wolverines on the road this evening.
Purdue is hot on the heels o
<< Zags to try and pad stats in clash with Broncos
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Having already claimed the West Coast
Conference regular season title for the ninth consecutive season, the 17th-
ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs will attempt to add yet another win to their already
impressive record
<< Pac-10 showdown pits Sun Devils against Huskies
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils are
riding a five-game win streak, and they are set for a Pac-10 showdown with the
21st-ranked Washington Huskies in Seattle.
Washington owns the top spot in the Pac-10
<< LeBron leads Cavs into Houston
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams riding five-game winning streaks square off
tonight in Houston, as the Rockets welcome LeBron James and the Cleveland
Cavaliers to the Toyota Center.
The Cavaliers will open a four-game road trip
Illini welcome Gophers to Champaign >>
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Still in the hunt for the Big Ten title, the
20th-ranked Illinois Fighting Illini, welcome the Minnesota Golden Gophers to
Champaign this evening, for a key conference clash at Assembly Hall.
Bruce Weber's Il
Demon Deacons and Wolfpack meet in ACC clash >>
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the oldest rivalries in the ACC
adds another chapter this evening, as the NC State Wolfpack invade Winston-
Salem to battle the 13th-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons in conference action
from the Law
Fifth-ranked Tigers put win streak on the line in Birmingham >>
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Memphis Tigers continue
their run through their Conference USA schedule, as they invade the Bartow
Arena to take on the UAB Blazers in conference action in Birmingham tonight.
The Tigers hav
Golf Tidbits: Youth is served >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I was going to be like hundreds of my
fellow golf writers and compose a column about Tiger Woods, but I'd rather not
write about his comeback mid-tournament.
Instead, I'm going to introduce you to three pl
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)
"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."
Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins
There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.
Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins
Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.
USC Trojans - 10.5 wins
A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.
Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy
Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.
"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."
Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1
The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.
Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1
If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.
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