Lions battle Zags in WCC Tournament semifinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs are the top- seeded team in the West Coast Conference Tournament, and they begin play at the event with a semifinal-round matchup against the fifth-seeded Loyola Marymount Lions.

The winner of this tilt will battle either second-seeded Saint Mary's or third-seeded Portland on Monday for the title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Loyola Marymount has three WCC tourney titles to its credit, but the most recent came way back in 1990. The Lions have certainly worked hard to reach these semifinals, as they knocked off Pepperdine by three points on Friday before defeating San Francisco in an 84-76 final in Saturday's quarterfinals. LMU is now 18-14 overall and seemingly peaking at the perfect time.

Gonzaga has won the WCC Tournament 10 times, far more than any other team in the league. The Bulldogs have won five of the last six titles and defeated Saint Mary's by 25 points in the championship game a year ago. This year's team is 25-5 overall and has been idle since Tuesday's regular-season finale, a 19-point romp over CSU Bakersfield. That victory was the fourth in a row for the Zags.

The Lions actually beat the Bulldogs by a 74-66 final on February 18th to force a regular-season split. Overall, Gonzaga owns a 53-21 advantage in the series.

In the eight-point victory over San Francisco yesterday, Loyola Marymount shot 20-of-25 from the foul line, an obvious key to the outcome. There were four double-digit scorers in the tilt for the Lions, and they got 18 points from both Drew Vinney and Vernon Teel. Ashley Hamilton added 14 points, and Jarred DuBois contributed 11 points. LMU shot 49.2 percent from the floor and finished with a 12-4 edge in fast-break points. Through 32 games, the Lions are generating 76.2 ppg, marginally better than the 75.6 ppg they are surrendering. Vinney leads the team with 16.8 ppg on the strength of his 42.9 percent shooting from three-point range, and he is pulling down 7.0 rpg. Teel adds 15.2 ppg, and he has dished out 183 assists to go along with 59 steals. Both DuBois (12.5 ppg) and Kevin Young (10.6 ppg) add balance to the lineup.

Matt Bouldin leads a balanced Gonzaga attack into this semifinal showdown, as he is netting 16.0 ppg. Elias Harris provides 14.9 ppg and 7.4 rpg, while Steven Gray adds 13.5 ppg. The fourth and final double-digit scorer on the roster is big man Robert Sacre, who is netting 10.2 ppg to go along with nearly two blocks per outing. The Bulldogs are racking up 78.1 ppg on 49.5 percent shooting from the floor, and they are holding opponents to 66.7 ppg on 40.3 percent field goal efficiency. Gonzaga is outrebounding its foes by more than five boards per outing, key to the team's 25 wins. In the easy victory over CSU Bakersfield earlier in the week, Bouldin scored 15 points to lead the way for the Zags, who shot 51.7 percent from the floor and played outstanding defense.

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Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup

September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.

Ryder Cup Odds

Europe
Tie
USA		 4-5
10-1
6-5


Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich		 9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1


Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson		 5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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