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03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and staring at an injury to starting forward Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the West Region as the Orange head into a much-anticipated first-round encounter against Vermont.
The Orange (28-4) will take on the 16th-seeded Catamounts (25-9) Friday night in Buffalo and will hope to reverse course from a shocking defeat to Vermont five years ago. The Catamounts were a No. 13 seed in 2005 when they shocked Syracuse, 60-57, in overtime in a first-round matchup.
"That was the year before I came in. I hadn't committed yet, but everyone in Syracuse was miserable after that loss," Syracuse senior guard Andy Rautins said. "It's definitely going to be a little bit of a payback game for us. We're not taking anybody lightly -- we're going to come out and have a great week of practice, get good preparation in and be well prepared for this game."
Syracuse, making its 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980. The Orange weren't placed in the East due to the fact that the regional semifinals and final are at the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse fell to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, when Onuaku was hurt. He left the game early and was diagnosed with a right quadriceps injury. He's considered day-to-day.
"He has played in a lot of pain before, probably two or three months last year -- he had pain the whole year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I would not sell him short as far as being able to come out and play. If he is strong and feels strong, he may not be able to play 25 or 30 minutes, but maybe he will be able to play 15 or 20, we will have to see."
Vermont earned a spot in the field of 65 by winning the America East Tournament with an 83-70 win over Boston University on Saturday.
The rematch will be heightened thanks to brothers playing on opposite sides as Syracuse forward Kris Joseph meets his sibling Maurice, Vermont's second- leading scorer this season.
"He will probably be guarding someone like Andy," Kris Joseph said. "I wish we played man for a few possessions because I would guard him full court."
Also in Buffalo Thursday night, eighth seeded Gonzaga (26-6) faces No. 9 seed Florida State (22-9). The Bulldogs made it to the Sweet 16 last year before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. This season marks Gonzaga's 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were first-round losers last year to Wisconsin.
Kansas State (26-7) is seeded second in the bracket and will face Sun Belt winner North Texas (24-8) in the first round in Oklahoma City Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats lost three times to Big 12 rival Kansas this year, including Saturday night in the conference title game. Despite this, K-State has a school-record for victories in a season.
Looming is the matchup against the Mean Green, who will go into the first round with an 11-game winning streak. North Texas is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.
The K-State/North Texas winner will take on either seventh seed BYU (29-5) or No. 10 seed Florida (21-12). The Cougars have already posted the best record in school history and will be in the NCAA Tournament for a 25th time, but are just 11-27 all time in the event. BYU has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses, last winning such a game in 1993. As for the Gators, this is a return to the Big Dance after a two-year hiatus. Before that, Florida won back-to- back national championships.
Pittsburgh (24-8), one of eight Big East teams in the tourney, is seeded third in the region and has a Friday afternoon matchup against Oakland (26-8), the Summit League champions. The game will be played in Milwaukee. The Panthers are making a school-record ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, they reached the Elite Eight before falling to Villanova. OU is currently riding a school record 11-game winning streak.
Atlantic-10 powerhouse Xavier (24-8) is seeded sixth and will have a first- round game Friday afternoon against Minnesota (21-13), which made the Big Ten championship game before losing to Ohio State. This is the fifth straight NCAA tourney appearance for the Musketeers, who gained a share of the A-10 regular season crown. The Gophers have won seven of their last 10 games including three over top 15 ranked opponents entering the event.
Vanderbilt (24-8) is seeded fourth and Butler (28-4) fifth. Both will play Thursday in San Jose. The Commodores have a tough task against upstart Murray State. The 13th-seeded Racers (30-4) won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. Butler, the Horizon League champs, will take on Texas-El Paso (26-6), the runner-up in the Conference USA tourney. The Bulldogs enter the tournament on an incredible 20-game winning streak.
The West semifinals are set to take place in Salt Lake City on March 25 with the final two days later.
<< NCAA Capsules-South Regional
Durham, N.C., 29-5.Nickname: Blue Devils. Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.Conference: Atlantic Coast. Bid: ACC champion.Region: South. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 88-30, 33 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (78.4); Jon Scheyer 18.7; Kyle Singler
<< Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks
<< Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark
rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a
third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.
Wozniacki
<< Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior
forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons.
Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season
and averag
Duke, Big East highlight South >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours after winning their record 18th ACC
Tournament title on Sunday, the Duke Blue Devils were awarded the No. 1 seed
in the South Region in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Duke (29-5), backed by the triumv
Kansas looms large in the Midwest >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas Jayhawks began the 2009-10
college basketball season atop the preseason polls, and so far the voters have
been spot on, as the Big 12 champs will carry that top ranking into the NCAA
Tournam
NCAA Capsules-West Regional >>
Syracuse, N.Y., 28-4.Nickname: Orangemen. Coach: Jim Boeheim.Conference: Big East. Bid: At large.Region: West. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 50-32, 32 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (81.5); Wesley Johnson 16.0; Andy Rautins 11.7; Kris J
Indiana hoops: Hoosiers far behind state's top 3 >>
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Basketball still rules in Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers no longer rule basketball in the stateThey're not even in the top three.For the 20th time in the past three decades, at least three teams from the state of Indiana have m
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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