Mountaineers pay visit to 20th-ranked Fighting Irish
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matching their longest win streak in Big East Conference play ever, the 20th-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish try to extend their run of good fortune tonight as they host the West Virginia Mountaineers at the Joyce Center in South Bend.
Not only have the Fighting Irish won eight straight games in conference play, the team has accomplished the feat by defeating half of their opponents on the road and three of the eight squads were nationally ranked, so it is not as though Notre Dame is picking on the weaker programs in the league.
Over the weekend the team was pitted against Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia and it appeared as though the team's run through the Big East was about to come to an end, but somehow the Irish pushed the game to overtime and ended up securing the 74-70 triumph. According to the school's media relation's office, the 20-point deficit that the Irish faced in the first half and subsequently erased in the second half and overtime was the largest comeback in program history.
Notre Dame, which is now tied for second in the conference standings with Marquette at 11-3, has been doing all this damage while missing Tim Abromaitis who went down with a knee injury almost right away in November.
As for the Mountaineers, they've been out of action since last Thursday when they took care of Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center, 66-48. The victory snapped a two-game slide for a WVU program which has won just twice in the last seven outings and is now stuck in the middle of the pack in the conference standings at 7-7.
As far as the all-time series is concerned, the Irish own a 26-12 edge over WVU thanks in part to a 55-51 win in Morgantown just two weeks ago. When it comes to games played in South Bend, Notre Dame has taken all but two of 18 encounters versus the Mountaineers.
Ahead by just a single point at the break last week in Pittsburgh, the Mountaineers put together strong efforts at both ends of the floor in the second half and rolled to the 18-point win against their long-time foe. Kevin Jones registered another double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds and Truck Bryant showed signs of life with 15 points off the bench for the visitors. Deniz Kilicli tacked on 14 points and Gary Browne another 12 as the team survived just 2-of-11 shooting behind the three-point line. Over the course of 27 games this season, Jones has proven himself to be one of the top performers in the conference, averaging 20.4 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest, leading the Mountaineers in both departments. Bryant brings another 16.7 ppg to the table, but his 31.3 percent shooting behind the three-point line is nothing to get excited about. In fact, the team as a whole is shooting a mere 31.4 percent on the perimeter overall and only 29.7 percent in conference games.
Jack Cooley generated his fourth straight double-double with 18 points and a game-high 13 rebounds on Saturday at Villanova as the Fighting Irish never lost hope and eventually picked up the four-point overtime win in Philadelphia. Cooley, who was named the Big East Player of the Week for the first time in his career last week, is the first Notre Dame player to have four straight double-doubles since Luke Harangody turned the trick in late March 2009. Pat Connaughton knocked down 7-of-12 shots from three-point range against the Wildcats as he finished with a team-best 21 points, followed by Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant with 17 and 10 points, respectively, the latter also handing out nine assists. Just taking into account conference games, Cooley is averaging a double-double for the program with his 14.4 points and 10.7 rebounds per contest, shooting 61.4 percent from the field and also logging 23 blocked shots as he stays close to the rim at both ends of the floor. Grant (13.0 ppg) checks in with a total of 74 assists over 14 league bouts, making his mere 34.2 percent shooting from the floor and bit more tolerable.
Las Vegas, LV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Losers of two straight and three of the last four outings, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels find themselves now ranked 21st in the country as they await the arrival of the Boise State Broncos for a Mountain West Conferen
<< Aggies seek upset of fourth-ranked Jayhawks
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the more lopsided series in
the Big 12 Conference, the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks will try to continue
their dominance over the Texas A&M Aggies when the two square off tonight at
Reed Are
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Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday
that the club has signed defender Sheanon Williams to a new contract.
The 21-year-old joined the club from Harrisburg City Islanders in August 2010
and has gone
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(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last night, the Kings found the offense they have been so
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Los Angeles looks to rebound this evening and avoid a season series sweep at
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<< Struggling Sixers invade Space City to take on Rockets
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still have a sizable lead atop the Atlantic Division standings since they're
currently mired in a season-high four-game losing streak.
The Sixers look to end their
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Losers of three in a row, the 24th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs try to regain their footing tonight as they clash with the Wyoming Cowboys in Mountain West Conference action at Viejas Arena. The Aztecs, who
Spartans and Gophers mix it up in Big Ten action >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Michigan State Spartans
will try to remain in sole possession of the Big Ten Conference's top spot as
they head to Williams Arena for a league bout with the Minnesota Golden
Gophers.
This
Indiana steps out of conference to entertain NC Central >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers host the
NC Central Eagles tonight to end their non-conference slate at Assembly Hall.
Tonight will be the third encounter between Indiana and the Eagles. The
Hoosiers hold
Rutgers faces tough task in Big East bout with No. 10 Marquette >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will try to stop
the bleeding as they head to the Bradley Center for Big East Conference action
with the 10th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles.
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Big East brawl pits Bulls against Orange >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The South Florida Bulls will take their four-
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The Bulls and Syracuse
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.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*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."
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