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12/28/2011 - Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Baylor Bears and the 15th- ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs will meet at American Airlines Arena in Dallas for a highly-anticipated non-conference showdown.
MSU has won its last 11 games to move to 12-1 on the season, and the lone loss came to Akron back in early November. The Bulldogs were most recently in action last Thursday when they knocked off Northwestern State as expected by an 82-67 final. They have played three neutral-site affairs to date and all three have resulted in wins.
Baylor is one of six undefeated teams left in the nation, and the 12-0 start matches the best in program history previously accomplished by the 2000-01 team. Obviously, this current group of Bears are aware that the record can be theirs alone with a win tonight. The club was pushed to the limit by West Virginia last Friday, but managed to escape with an 83-81 victory in overtime.
Mississippi State has won all five of its previous meetings with Baylor, but the programs haven't squared off since 1990.
Dee Bost was widely considered one of the top guards in the SEC last season, so the fact that he is averaging 17.2 ppg and more than four assists per contest for Mississippi State through the first 13 games of this year comes as no surprise. Teammate Arnette Moultrie has exceeded expectations, however, as he is pouring in 17.8 ppg on 57.5 percent shooting from the field while ranking among the national leaders with 11.7 rpg. Rodney Hood adds 12.4 ppg to the mix, and Renardo Sidney provides 10.2 ppg. MSU is generating 77.2 ppg while allowing 63.7 ppg to opponents on 40.9 percent field goal efficiency. In the 15-point victory over Northwestern State last time out, Mississippi State earned a 45-35 rebounding advantage and a 16-8 edge in points from the foul line. Moultrie posted 24 points and 14 boards in that affair, overshadowing the fact that Bost was held to eight points on just 3-of-14 shooting.
Outstanding offensive balance and strong team defense have been the most obvious keys to Baylor's impressive start. There are five double-digit scorers in the fold for the Bears, who are generating 79.6 ppg on 50.2 percent field goal efficiency, while allowing 59.3 ppg to opponents on 36.5 percent shooting. Perry Jones III leads the pack with 14.1 ppg to go along with 6.9 rpg, and Quincy Acy checks in with 12.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg and 2.5 bpg. Pierre Jackson (12.0 ppg, 4.3 apg), Brady Heslip (10.8 ppg) and Quincy Miller (10.8 ppg) round out the group. Heslip came through with 19 points against West Virginia last week, while Jackson led the squad with a 23-point effort off the bench. Acy netted 15 points for BU, which simply hit one more shot from the field than WVU in overtime.
<< Lamar faces uphill climb in clash with No. 3 Kentucky
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats aim for
their 43rd consecutive home win tonight, as the Lamar Cardinals come to Rupp
Arena for a non-conference tilt.
Lamar enters this game with an 8-4 record, but none of
<< Central Arkansas seeks upset of No. 19 UNLV
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked UNLV Runnin' Rebels will do
battle with the Central Arkansas Bears tonight in Las Vegas.
Three straight losses have dropped Central Arkansas to 5-6 overall, and the
team is just 1-5 away from
<< Huskies and Bulls collide to open Big East play
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Connecticut Huskies open up Big
East play this evening, as they take on the South Florida Bulls in conference
action at the St. Pete Times Forum.
The defending champs will be playing a true road
<< Sharks host Canucks in battle of first-place teams
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A victory for the Vancouver Canucks following the
Christmas break finally put them atop the Northwest Division, while a loss by
the San Jose Sharks kept things tight in the Pacific.
Both clubs will look to create some bre
Hoosiers and Spartans square off in Big Ten opener >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Ten Conference play gets underway for
a pair of teams that have enjoyed stellar starts to the 2011-12 campaign, as
the undefeated and 13th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers come calling on the 16th-
ranked Michigan
Seton Hall visits No. 1 Syracuse in Big East lidlifter >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surprising Seton Hall Pirates can put a
huge feather in their cap this evening, as they pay a visit to the top-ranked
Syracuse Orange in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
Seton Hall is 11-1 on
Buckeyes host Wildcats in Big Ten opener >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes begin
their 100th season of Big Ten action, as they welcome the Northwestern
Wildcats to Columbus for a showdown at Value City Arena.
The Buckeyes have certainly looked th
Bills place K Rayner on IR >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Bills placed Dave Rayner on
injured reserve Wednesday with a groin injury.
The Bills signed the journeyman kicker to fill in for Rian Lindell after he
suffered a season-ending shoulder
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.
Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).
Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.
Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).
Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.
Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.
The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.
What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.
Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.
But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.
In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.
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