Disappointed Bruins battle Salukis in NYC

Cbasketball Betting Lines

11/21/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A third place finish in the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer is on the line this evening, as the fourth- ranked UCLA Bruins meet the Southern Illinois Salukis at Madison Square Garden.

The Bruins were the first highly ranked team to be knocked off this season, dropping a 55-52 decision to Michigan in the semifinals of this event on Thursday. It was a shocking result for UCLA, which defeated Prairie View A&M (82-58) and Miami-Ohio (64-59) in its regional matchups. Following this game, the Bruins will return back to the West Coast to host Florida International on November 29th.

As for SIU, it was handled much easier in its semifinal round contest, falling to 10th-ranked Duke, 83-58 last night. The Salukis had earned their spot at MSG by defeating California-PA (66-52) and Massachusetts (80-73) in the regional's, but were no match for the highly-touted Blue Devils. Upon conclusion of this game, SIU will stay on the road to face Western Kentucky on Wednesday.

The Salukis and Bruins have met twice on the hardwood, with UCLA winning both of those meetings.

The Bruins turned the ball over 17 times and shot poorly at the foul line (5- of-11), as they were stunned by Michigan last night. UCLA has had its share of struggles at the charity stripe early on, hitting just 57.1 percent of its attempts on the season. The Bruins were able to keep things close last night by shooting 42.0 percent from the floor and winning the battle on the boards, 38-25, but it wasn't enough in the end. Darren Collison and Jrue Holiday each scored 13 points to pace UCLA in defeat, while Nikola Dragovic posted 11 points off the bench. On the season, Collison tops the roster in scoring with 16.0 ppg and he is also dishing out 4.0 apg to pace the team in that department as well.

The Salukis shot a dismal 35.1 percent from the field and were outscored 54-35 in the second half of their loss to Duke last night. SIU was also outscored at the foul line, 40-12, and dominated on the boards, 42-28, in the setback. On a positive note, the Salukis did manage to force 19 turnovers and they have fared very well in that department this season, generating 20.3 tpg. Carlton Fay guided SIU in the loss with 17 points and three rebounds, while Kevin Dillard posted 10 points and seven assists. On the year, Fay leads the team in scoring (12.0 ppg), as well as rebounding (6.3 rpg). Dillard checks in with 11.5 ppg.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

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.

How to Read Point Spreads

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:

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