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2010 Southeastern Conference Tournament PreviewNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The competition level will be through the roof in Nashville this week, as all 12 SEC teams will compete in the 51st annual conference tournament. On the line is an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, and the majority of the teams in the league are well aware that their hopes of earning a ticket to the "Big Dance" depend solely on winning this event. Kentucky has won more SEC Tournament titles than all of the other conference members combined, and the Wildcats enter this year's field as the top seed from the East Division. The Wildcats will attempt to capture their first crown since 2004, but they figure to be a top seed in the NCAA Tournament regardless of their finish in this event. The East Division is considerably stronger than the West, as it can be argued that the best four teams in the SEC all come from the East. Vanderbilt (E-2), Tennessee (E-3) and Florida (E-4) are all capable of knocking off Kentucky and winning this tournament. Vanderbilt and Tennessee have the necessary records to reach the NCAA Tournament without winning this league tourney. In regard to the West, even top-seeded Mississippi State has a shaky resume' and needs to cut down the nets in Nashville. The lone team in the field that has never won the SEC Tournament is South Carolina. The first round of this event begins on Thursday, as the third through sixth seeds in both divisions will be in action. The top two seeds in both divisions will open play on Friday, March 12th, in the quarterfinal round, and after semifinal action on Saturday, the championship game will be played on "Selection Sunday". The first of four first-round games pits the Alabama Crimson Tide (W-4) against the South Carolina Gamecocks (E-5). Alabama has won this tournament six times, the second most in the league, but the last crown was captured way back in 1991. Still, the Tide is 57-43 in this event. South Carolina, as mentioned, is still in search of its first title, and the Gamecocks are 16-18 in SEC Tournament affairs. Alabama beat South Carolina by nine points in the only regular-season meeting between the teams. The Crimson Tide depend heavily on their defense to win games, as they are second in the conference in scoring defense (64.6 ppg). Mikhail Torrance (15.4 ppg, 5.3 apg) and JaMychal Green (14.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg) are clearly the two best players on the roster for 'Bama. As for South Carolina, it possess the league's leading scorer in Devan Downey (22.6 ppg), and the senior is also handing out 3.5 apg. Unfortunately, the Gamecocks are last in the league in free-throw percentage, assists and rebounding margin. Tennessee (E-3) and LSU (W-6) are slated to do battle on Thursday afternoon in what may be the most lopsided matchup of the first round. The Vols have won the SEC Tournament four times, but it has been 31 years since their last title. Last season, Tennessee reached the championship game, only to fall to Mississippi State in a 64-61 final. As for LSU, it captured its lone SEC crown back in 1980, so it can certainly relate to Tennessee's long wait for a championship. The Vols and Tigers played just once during the regular season, and Tennessee escaped Baton Rouge with a five-point win. The Vols own the second-best scoring margin in the SEC (+9.8 ppg), surprising considering the fact that they don't possess a single player ranked in the top 20 in the league in scoring. Tennessee is the top team in the conference when it comes to defending the three-point shot. As for LSU, it finished 2-14 versus SEC opponents during the regular season, but the team did close out the campaign with a victory and may enter this tournament with some confidence. Unfortunately, the Tigers completely lack depth and are the lowest-scoring team in the SEC (61.9 ppg) despite boasting two of the league's top 13 scorers, including Tasmin Mitchell (17.0 ppg, 9.5 rpg). The Florida Gators (E-4), will do battle with Auburn (W-5) in the first round. A 20-win season used to assure teams from major conferences a berth in the NCAA Tournament, but teams are playing more games than ever, so Florida needs to play well in this event to punch its ticket to the "Big Dance". The Gators own a 32-41 all-time record in this event, but they captured three straight titles from 2005 through 2007, so the majority of their success has been recent. As for Auburn, it has struggled in the SEC Tournament, posting a 27-46 record, and the program's lone championship came back in 1985. The Gators beat the Tigers by eight points in the only meeting between the teams during the regular season. The fact that Florida is able to field a starting lineup with five double-digit scorers is impressive. The Gators are last in the league in blocked shots but tops in assist/turnover ratio. Auburn is the worst defensive team in the SEC, allowing 74.0 ppg on 45.5 percent shooting by opponents. The Tigers possess the sixth and seventh ranked scorers in the league in DeWayne Reed (16.1 ppg) and Tay Waller (15.9 ppg). Rounding out the pairings in the first round will be the Arkansas Razorbacks (W-3) and the Georgia Bulldogs (E-6). Arkansas is 20-17 all-time in this event and won its lone title back in 2000. As for Georgia, it has two championships to its credit, the most recent of which was earned in 2008. The Razorbacks beat the Bulldogs by four points on the road in the only regular-season meeting between the clubs. Arkansas is ranked 11th out of 12 SEC teams in scoring defense, and the team is last in three-point percentage defense. Rotnei Clarke leads the Razorbacks with 15.5 ppg, and Marshawn Powell is close behind with 15.1 ppg. Georgia's top performer is Trey Thompkins (17.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg), who ranks second in the SEC in scoring and fourth in rebounding. His Bulldogs are 11th in scoring margin among conference teams, however, and they are last in turnover margin. The winner of the South Carolina/Alabama matchup will advance to the quarterfinal round to face Kentucky. The Wildcats have won this event 25 times and own a 111-22 record in SEC Tournament games. Still, they haven't cut down the nets since 2004 and haven't reached the title game since 2005. Kentucky leads the conference in many statistical categories, including scoring offense (79.9 ppg), scoring margin (+14.4 ppg), field goal percentage (.478), field goal percentage defense (.382), rebounding margin (+9.1 rpg) and assists (14.9 apg). Freshman sensation John Wall is averaging 17.0 ppg to go along with a league-best 6.2 apg, and fellow rookie star DeMarcus Cousins checks in with 15.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg and 1.8 bpg. Don't forget about Patrick Patterson and his 15.0 ppg and 7.6 rpg. The second quarterfinal game to be played on Friday pits the Ole Miss Rebels (W-2) against either LSU or Tennessee. Ole Miss won its only SEC championship in 1981, and the team's 23-46 conference record is far from impressive. Rebels' standout guard Chris Warren ranks third in the SEC in scoring with 17.2 ppg and ninth in assists (3.4 apg). Ole Miss is second in the league in scoring with 78.4 ppg, and the team shoots the ball efficiently from three- point range. The Rebels are second in assist/turnover ratio and have the talent in place to make a run in this event. Mississippi State (W-1) awaits the winner of the Auburn/Florida matchup, and that quarterfinal matchup figures to be competitive regardless of the pairing. MSU is the defending champion of this event as mentioned, and the program has three titles to its credit. Still, its 25-46 record at this event all-time is poor. The man to watch for the Bulldogs is star forward/center Jarvis Varnado, who recently became the NCAA's all-time leader in blocked shots. In addition to his 4.8 rejections per outing, Varnado also paces the conference in rebounding (10.6 ppg) and is scoring 13.5 ppg as well. Mississippi State is the best defensive team in the league in regard to scoring defense (64.4 ppg), and the club is limiting opponents to 38.4 percent shooting from the field. Dee Bost is a tremendous distributor at point guard who ranks second in the SEC in assists (5.4 apg). The Vanderbilt Commodores (W-2) will play either Georgia or Arkansas in the quarterfinals. Vandy's lone SEC Tournament title was earned way back in 1951, by far the longest drought of any of the teams that have won the crown. The Commodores are 29-47 in the event, but this year's team is one of the best in recent memory. Vanderbilt is the best free-throw shooting team in the conference, and that asset could certainly prove critical in close tournament games. While the Commodores do lack the type of player capable of taking a game over at the offensive end, there are three double-digit scorers in the fold. Jermaine Beal (14.7 ppg), A.J. Ogilvy (13.9 ppg) and Jeffery Taylor (13.9 ppg) provide plenty of balance to the lineup.
<< 2010 Mountain West Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It is the usual suspects that are destined to do the most damage in Las Vegas this week, as the members of the Mountain West Conference descend on the Thomas & Mack Center for the 11th annual conference t
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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana Should be in: Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it? Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel. Work left to do: Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third. Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim. Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either. Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim. For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting. "They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over." Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.) According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26. As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines). Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday. Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind. *UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007 New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results. "We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games." While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season." About MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Master Card needs. |
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