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02/21/2007 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked Louisville Cardinals gun for their fourth straight win tonight, as they host the St. John's Red Storm in Big East play from Freedom Hall.
The Cardinals moved into the Top-25 this week thanks to an impressive two-game road trip in which they knocked off a pair of ranked teams in Pittsburgh (66-53) and most recently Marquette (61-59) on Saturday. The team has now won seven of its past nine outings en route to 19-8 overall mark and sole possession of third place in the Big East at 9-4. With a victory tonight, Louisville would notch its fourth straight 20-win campaign under head coach Rick Pitino, who has won at least 20 games on 13 occasions.
As for SJU, it enters the tilt on a down note, dropping a 71-66 decision at Providence on Saturday. The loss was the team's second in three games, as it fell to 15-12 overall and 6-8 in conference play. It was also the Red Storm's sixth loss in seven Big East games away from home.
As far as the all-time series goes, Louisville holds a 4-3 edge over SJU, including a 2-0 mark at Freedom Hall.
SJU has been at its best on defense this season, holding its opponents to just 64.0 ppg and only 41.0 percent shooting from the field. The solid defense has helped compensate for the lack of offense, as the Red Storm is netting a just 64.3 ppg. Lamont Hamilton has done a solid job all season long for SJU and he leads the team in scoring (13.6 ppg) as well as rebounding (6.7 rpg). Anthony Mason ranks second to him with 11.2 ppg and 5.7 rpg, while Avery Patterson chips in with 11.1 ppg. In the team's last game, Hamilton poured in 20 points and ripped down nine caroms, but it wasn't quite enough for the Red Storm in a five-point setback at Providence. Mason added 19 points for SJU, which went just 5-of-20 from long range and was dominated on the boards 39-24.
The Cardinals aren't a flashy team by any means, but they are certainly a sound one, averaging 70.8 ppg and giving up just 62.6 ppg. Terrence Williams has done it all for Louisville thus far and he is one of the few players who can say he leads his team in scoring (11.8 ppg), rebounding (7.1 pg) and assists (3.7 apg). Edgar Sosa chips in with 10.9 ppg and he has also been a factor on defense, recording a team-high 42 steals. In the club's previous outing, Jerry Smith played the role of hero, as he knocked down a three- pointer at the buzzer, lifting the Cardinals to a two-point win over Marquette on Saturday. Smith finished the game 3-of-4 from long range with nine points, while Sosa led the charge with 15 points and three steals. Louisville shot a solid 53.3 percent from the field, including a 7-of-17 effort from long distance.
<< Aggies meet Cowboys in Stillwater
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies have
made the trip to Stillwater for a Big 12 Conference clash with the
Oklahoma State Cowboys.
Texas A&M has won six of its last seven games to move
<< Salukis seek double-digit win streak in Terre Haute
Terre Haute, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Southern Illinois
Salukis have achieved their highest ranking in program history, and
they carry a wealth of momentum into tonight's Missouri Valley
Confere
<< Second-ranked Ohio State plays host to Penn State
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in eight days, the
second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will take on the Penn State Nittany
Lions in Big Ten Conference action.
Last Wednesday, Ohio State built a
<< Tar Heels and Wolfpack meet in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar
Heels will have revenge on their minds as they host the NC State
Wolfpack tonight in an ACC clash.
These two teams met on February 3rd, and NC Sta
Knicks visit Atlantic Division-rival Philadelphia >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers conclude their seven-game homestand
tonight when they welcome the Atlantic Division rival New York Knicks to the
Wachovia Center.
The Sixers fell to 2-4 on their stand before the All-Star break when
Cavs, Raptors meet in Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers conclude a three-game road trip
tonight when they travel to Toronto to battle the Raptors at Air Canada
Centre.
Cleveland has split the first two games of its trek so far. The Cavaliers were
downe
Nets open homestand against Hornets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Jersey Nets open up a five-game homestand this
evening when they welcome the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets to the
Continental Airlines Arena.
However, the big question for the Nets is how many of those games s
Magic, Pistons play front end of home-and-home set >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic open a home-and-
home set tonight when the two teams square off at The Palace of Auburn
Hills.
Detroit comes into the game on a winning note after holding on for an 84-83
win over t
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.
Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason
LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.
The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.
MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.
A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.
A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.
Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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