Gaming: Ride the Sun Belt train for another week

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/10/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After the first Five-Star play of the season proved victorious (Arkansas State plus the points at Auburn), let's roll with another Sun Belt Conference squad, this time against a Big East foe.

Florida International hosts Rutgers just one year after dropping a 23-15 decision to the Scarlet Knights in New Jersey. The Golden Panthers covered the spread with 15 fourth-quarter points after trailing 23-0.

Rutgers scored just one offensive touchdown the entire contest while picking up 10 of its 23 points off FIU turnovers. In addition, Tom Savage completed only 11-of-28 passes for 185 yards and the Scarlet Knights' quarterback was also sacked four times.

Fast-forward to this season and Savage is right back where he was a year ago with a 10-of-19 performance for just 148 yards in last week's matchup with Norfolk State. The sophomore signal-caller was sacked three times by the Spartans, who trailed by only six points (6-0) at the half.

The Rutgers offensive line, which features three new starters, still needs a lot of work as the ground game was non-existent in the first half with just 84 yards against the Football Championship Subdivision school. And even though FIU is one of the lower-echelon Football Bowl Subdivision clubs, the Golden Panthers have fared well in this type of situation in the past.

The Panthers are a perfect 3-0 in their FBS existence when getting two touchdowns or more at home. They also have not lost a home game by more than 10 points since the 2007 campaign, and that includes matchups with Troy and South Florida.

FIU sports a new quarterback this season as well. Wesley Carroll, who transferred from Mississippi State last year, has a bevy of top-notch receivers at his disposal, led by T.Y. Hilton, who is finally healthy after an injury- plagued 2009 season.

In order for the Scarlet Knights to gain a convincing victory, Tom Savage and the rest of the offense must show marked improvement from the previous game. And when you consider the fact the quarterback sports a 7-6 touchdown/interception ratio in his last seven games, it will be extremely difficult for the Knights to run away from the Panthers, especially in Miami.

Take FIU plus the points.

The second Five-Star play of the week is a matchup of the Mountain West versus the WAC.

San Diego State travels to New Mexico State after knocking off Nicholls State, 47-0. Defeating the Colonels by 47 isn't saying much considering Air Force crushed them by 72 last season, and the Falcons then proceeded to lose to Minnesota the following week.

Given the fact the Aztecs are 3-21 SU on the road over the last four years it is shocking they are such heavy favorites in Las Cruces.

New Mexico State began last season winning three of its first six games before dropping its final seven. The Aggies have an underrated offensive line and a running back in Seth Smith that ripped off over 1,000 yards last year. They also bring in a new quarterback, and more importantly, a new offensive coordinator to help revive the passing game.

These two teams met last season with San Diego State coming out on top, 34-17, with 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter. Since this will be New Mexico State's first game in 2010, the extra week of practice, along with the fact the game will be played at home, should help the Aggies to give the Aztecs all they can handle and then some.

Take New Mexico State plus the points.

THE LONE THREE-STAR PLAY

Texas A&M has been slowly but surely building back its program after hiring Mike Sherman as head coach prior to 2008, but the fruits of all the hard work will pay off in 2010. The Aggies opened the year with a victory over Stephen F. Austin and should easily make it 2-0 when they take on Louisiana Tech.

The Bulldogs are in the midst of a major change in offensive philosophy moving to the spread behind new head coach Sonny Dykes and offensive coordinator Tony Franklin. Unfortunately, the transition was not too smooth in week one when the offense picked up just 26 total yards in the entire second half against Grambling. In fact, the team also gained only nine yards in its final four first-half possessions.

Furthermore, the road wasn't too kind to Louisiana Tech last season with seven losses in seven games, so don't expect much improvement down in College Station where the Aggies went 4-1 ATS as favorites last season.

Take Texas A&M minus the points.

TWO-STAR PLAYS

Go with three favorites and two underdogs in week two. Take LSU (over Vanderbilt), Iowa (against Iowa State), and Kentucky (versus Western Kentucky), along with Kansas (plus the points against Georgia Tech), and Arkansas State (plus the points versus Louisiana).

ONE-STAR CHOICES

Three plays highlight the One-Star selections this week. Go with UTEP (plus the points at Houston), Oklahoma State (minus the points versus Troy), and BYU (over Air Force).

AFTER ONE WEEK

Yours truly went 6-3-2 last week for a 64% winning percentage. Breaking the totals down by the star system, the Five-Star plays are 1-0, the Three-Star selections are 2-0-1, the Two-Star picks are 2-1-1, and the One-Star choices are 1-2.

As a reminder, the Five-Star plays are those games where my key selections and my "Power Numbers" match. The Three-Star choices are my personal picks, while the Two-Star plays are the "power number" picks - games with at least a five- point differential between my line and the actual line. Finally, the One-Star plays are my personal secondary selections.

THIS WEEK'S JEFF FRANK "DIRTY DOZEN"

1) Ohio State, 101.5; 2) Boise State, 101; 3-T) Alabama and Oregon, 100.5; 5-T) Florida, Nebraska, Wisconsin and Iowa, 98; 9) Texas, 97.5; 10) Oklahoma, 97; 11) LSU, 96.5; 12) Georgia, 96

Wwhangame NCAA Football Betting News

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

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