Big East foes meet in Milwaukee

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/19/2007 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a heart-breaking loss, the Villanova Wildcats will try to help their NCAA Tournament chances with a victory over the 12th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles in Big East Conference action.

On Saturday, Villanova hosted Georgetown, and the result was a 58-55 setback. That loss halted a four-game win streak for the Wildcats, who are an even 6-6 in league play. On a more positive note, they are 18-8 overall and have recorded several quality victories.

Marquette has hit a slump at the worst possible time, as it has lost three straight games to fall to 21-7 overall and 8-5 in conference. Like the Wildcats, the Golden Eagles lost in dramatic fashion on Saturday, as Louisville hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to claim a 61-59 victory.

Villanova recorded a 72-67 victory over Marquette last season to increase its lead to 6-3 in the all-time series.

Villanova is scoring 73.3 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 63.7 ppg on 41.8 percent shooting from the floor. An obvious key to the Wildcats' success is that they are outrebounding foes by 6.5 rpg. Also, they have forced almost 450 turnovers. Curtis Sumpter paces the club with 17.2 ppg and 6.9 rpg, while Mike Nardi is contributing 13.4 ppg to go along with 11 assists. Scottie Reynolds has dished out 110 assists, and he rounds out the trio of double-digit scorers with 12.0 ppg. Reynolds scored 18 points against Georgetown on Saturday, but the standout freshman missed a three-pointer at the end of regulation that would have forced overtime. Sumpter tallied 15 points for the Wildcats, who connected on only 34.6 percent of their field goal attempts in the clash.

Jerel McNeal scored only 18 points for Marquette in the painful loss to Louisville. Unfortunately, the Golden Eagles did not have another double-digit scorer in the contest. They earned a 30-22 rebounding advantage and held a 15-6 edge in points from the foul line. Still, Marquette lost the game because it permitted the Cardinals to connect on 53.3 percent of their field goal attempts. Dominic James is the leading scorer for the Golden Eagles with 15.1 ppg, and he has dished out 4.6 apg to go along with 55 steals. Unfortunately, he has struggled in recent weeks, dropping his shooting efficiency to 40 percent for the season. McNeal is netting 14.6 ppg, and he has logged 74 steals. Wesley Matthews adds 11.9 ppg for Marquette, which is limiting foes to just 63.1 ppg.

Luckusurf NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Albert Pujols to be This Year's Home Run Champ Says Online Sportsbook

Barry Bonds is a 50-1 long shot to be this year's home run champ odds.  The favorite to be this year's home run champ is none other than Albert Pujols, however.

Now that Barry Bonds is signed and in Giants camp, it is on to his pursuit of all of sports most prestigious records: the all-time home run mark. Bonds sits just 21 homers shy of tying Hank Aaron for the career mark at 755. Word out of Giants’ camp is that Bonds is the healthiest he has been in a few years. Bonds is just two seasons removed from his injury riddled 2005 campaign where he played in only 14 games and hit only 5 home runs. He did come back last year and had a solid season hitting .270 with 26 bombs. All eyes will be on Bonds this spring and summer not only because of his home run chase but his highly publicized steroid abuse allegations. If and when Bonds breaks the record, he surely will not get the positive attention one should for breaking a record that was once thought of as “unbreakable”. Despite Bonds decent season last year, he is just 50-1 at MySportsbook.com to lead the MLB in long balls this season.

Not surprisingly, the favorites to go deep the most times this season are Albert Pujols 5-1, Ryan Howard 6-1, David Ortiz 8-1 and Alex Rodriguez 12-1. With 49 homers, Pujols finished second in the National League behind Howard (58). Pujols is considered the favorite due to the consistent power numbers that he has posted since breaking into the league in 2001. Also one must consider the fact that he played in 16 fewer games then Howard did due to an injury. Howard smashed 58 homers in his first complete season of big league play en route to the National League MVP odds award. He silenced his critics by successfully hitting left-handed pitching. Howard also displayed the ability to use his power to the opposite field. Two attributes which should keep Howard amongst the league leaders in long balls for years to come. From the American League representatives, David Ortiz leads the field. Ortiz was second in the majors last year with 54 home runs. Except for 1999 when he only played in 10 games, Ortiz has improved on his home run numbers each year he has been in the majors (1997).

Be sure to log onto online sports betting site MySportsbook.com to check out the odds for who will lead the MLB in home runs this season. Below is just a sample of the players listed. With the highest credit card rates in the industry, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on baseball this summer.

World Series odds

Adam Dunn 15-1

Albert Pujols 5-1

Alex Rodriguez 12-1

Alfonso Soriano 15-1

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Barry Bonds 50-1

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David Ortiz 8-1

Jermaine Dye 40-1

Ken Griffey Jr. 100-1

Lance Berkman 40-1

Manny Ramirez 20-1

Richie Sexson 40-1

Ryan Howard 6-1

Travis Hafner 20-1

Vladimir Guerrero 40-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.