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02/04/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles continue their push towards the top of the Big East standings, as the begin a two-game road trip this afternoon, taking on a dangerous Notre Dame team at the Joyce Center.
Buzz Williams' Golden Eagles are soaring right now, winning seven straight games after losing back-to-back decisions to Georgetown and Syracuse in early January. The team is now sitting behind only the Orange (9-1) in the Big East standings at 8-2. Marquette's winning ways continued on Tuesday with a 66-59 win over Seton Hall.
Mike Brey's Irish have fought through some adversity this season with the loss of their top player (Tim Abromaitis), but have weathered the storm to remain in the hunt in conference play. The Irish are tied for fourth in the Big East at 6-3 and have won three straight games entering this contest, knocking off Syracuse, Seton Hall and most recently Connecticut (50-48).
The Irish hold a commanding 79-36 lead in the all-time series with the Golden Eagles, but Marquette has won six of the 10 meetings since joining the Big East in 2005.
Jae Crowder was the driving force in leading Marquette to its seventh straight win, as he tallied 20 points and 12 rebounds in the seven-point win over Seton Hall this week. Crowder, who was 6-of-11 from the floor and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line, got double-digit help from guards Vander Blue and Darius Johnson-Odom, who finished with 16 and 14 points, respectively.
One of the reasons for Marquette's win streak is its improved shooting of late. The number have improved the team's overall output, as the Golden Eagles are now averaging 76.1 ppg on a healthy .456 shooting. Johnson-Odum and Crowder are a potent one-two punch. Johnson-Odom ranks third in the Big East in scoring at 18.3 ppg. Crowder is seventh in the league at 16.6 ppg and leads Marquette in rebounding (7.6 rpg). The two present problems for the opposition out beyond the arc, combining for 95 of the team's 139 three-pointers to date. No one else is averaging double figures at this time, but Davante Gardner (9.8 ppg) and Todd Mayo (9.0 ppg) aren't far off the mark.
With Abromaitis going down early on, the Irish have had to scramble at the offensive end. There isn't a true go-to-guy now, but Brey has done a nice job getting the right players on the floor. Eric Atkins leads the team in scoring at 12.9 ppg and is actually shooting better from three-point range (.408) than overall (.400). Jerian Grant runs the offense and is both a solid scorer (12.7 ppg) and deft distributor (4.8 apg). Jack Cooley provides balance with his strong play down low. The 6-9 junior is averaging 10.7 ppg on nearly 60 percent shooting (.594) and leads the team and ranks seventh in the league in rebounding at 8.4 caroms per contest.
The Irish trailed by three points at the half against the defending national champs, but did what was needed after the break to scratch out a win in a low- scoring game. Notre Dame didn't shoot the ball particularly well at a mere .362 clip, but did knock down seven three-pointers compared to three for the Huskies. Atkins led the way with 13 points in the win. Grant finished with 11 points and six assists, with just one turnover in 38 minutes of work. Scott Martin chipped in with 10.
<< Sixth-ranked Bears battle Cowboys in Big 12 affair
Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Baylor Bears will attempt
to stay within striking distance in the Big 12 Conference, as they invade
Stillwater this afternoon for a conference matchup with the Oklahoma State
Cowboys at Gallagh
<< 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
<< 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
<< 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
Top-ranked Wildcats collide with Gamecocks in Columbia >>
Columbia, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the SEC spectrum
meet up in Columbia this evening, as the top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats take on
the South Carolina Gamecocks at the Colonial Life Center.
John Calipari's Wildcats h
OVC action features 10th-ranked Racers at Skyhawks >>
Martin, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Murray State Racers will try to
remain the only unbeaten team in Division I as they head to Skyhawk Arena for
an Ohio Valley Conference battle with the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks.
This will be the
TCU seeks upset of No. 17 San Diego State >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sharing the top spot in the Mountain West
Conference standings with 11th-ranked UNLV, the 17th-ranked San Diego State
Aztecs try to keep moving in the right direction tonight as they host the TCU
Horned Frogs at
Rebels and Pokes duke it out in Mountain West showdown >>
Laramie, WY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tied with San Diego State atop the Mountain
West Conference standings, the 11th-ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels are again out
on the road this afternoon as they tangle with the Wyoming Cowboys at Arena
Auditorium in La
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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