Gaels and Zags collide in key WCC affair

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels have the opportunity to all but end Gonzaga's reign atop the West Coast Conference, as the two teams meet in Spokane this evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Saint Mary's has been a picture of consistency over the last few seasons and is one of just eight teams in the nation to record at least 25 wins in each of the last four seasons. The team is closing in on its fifth straight year, entering this contest at an impressive 22-2. Even more impressive is Saint Mary's unblemished 11-0 mark in-conference. The Gaels have won 12 straight games overall, including an 84-73 win over San Diego last week.

The Bulldogs have some work to do and will need help elsewhere to keep their streak of West Coast Conference titles moving forward. Gonzaga has won 11 straight league crowns, but currently sits at 8-2 in conference play, picking up that eighth win last week on the road at Pepperdine, 72-60.

The Bulldogs own a 53-26 lead in the all-time series with Saint Mary's but it is the Gaels seeking the regular-season sweep after routing Gonzaga in Moraga back on January 12th, 83-62.

Four Gaels notched double figures in the win over San Diego last week, led by Rob Jones and Stephen Holt's combined 51 points. Jones was 12-of-23 from the floor and led all scorers with 28 points. Holt was 6-of-10 from the floor and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line in pouring in 23 points. Matthew Dellavedova had a strong game as well, finishing with 17 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Brad Waldow chipped in with 10.

Saint Mary's has earned its national ranking with superior play at both ends of the floor, resulting in a gaudy +16.1 scoring margin. The team is shooting a healthy .481 from the floor overall and netting 77.0 ppg. Dellavedova and Jones are a lethal inside/out combination. Dellavedova leads the team in scoring at 15.5 ppg and is shooting just over 40 percent from behind the arc (53-of-132). He also finds time to lead the West Coast Conference in assists (6.4 apg). Jones is averaging a double-double with 14.8 points and a conference-best 10.7 rebounds per game. Holt contributes in a number of ways, ranking third in scoring (11.2 ppg) and second in both rebounding (4.9 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg). Jorden Page (8.3 ppg) and Waldow (8.2 ppg) round out the starting five.

Gonzaga is behind Saint Mary's in terms of offensive proficiency, but remains dangerous at that end, averaging 73.7 ppg on .462 shooting. Forward Elias Harris leads the way in the frontcourt, pacing the team in both scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg). He gets help down low from center Robert Sacre (11.7 ppg, 6.6 rpg). Freshman guard Kevin Pangos has made an immediate impact on this team, netting 13.0 ppg, while leading the team in assists (3.4 apg) and three-pointers (48).

In the 12-point win at Pepperdine, Gonzaga shot a cool 50 percent from the floor and outscored the Waves 21-6 at the free-throw line. Pangos and Sacre led the way offensively with 15 points apiece. Guy Landry Eli added 13 points while Harris chipped in nine.

Nikansports NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

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NFL Football Betting : Odds on NFL Division to Win the Super Bowl

NFL Super Bowl Betting

The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.

Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.

The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.