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03/12/2010 - Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Champions, the 17th-ranked Temple Owls, hit the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 34th annual event versus the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.
Top-seeded Temple is trying to become just the second school in A-10 history to string together three straight conference tournament titles, second only to UMass which ran off five in a row in the 1990s. The Owls have run off a seven- game win streak and part of that was the team's 73-55 rout of the Bonnies in New York back in February.
Temple has won more games (49) in this tournament over the years and has the most crowns (eight) than any other program. When taking part in the quarterfinals, the Owls have won all but two of their 26 matchups. As the top seed in the tourney, Temple has a record of 10-1, winning the championship three times.
As for the Bonnies, this year's eighth seed, they took care of ninth-seeded Duquesne in the first round on Tuesday night at home in the Reilly Center. Unfortunately, St. Bonaventure has had very little success in the event, posting a 13-26 record and failing to bring home a trophy to this point.
In terms of the all-time series between these two schools, not only has Temple won both meetings during the A-10 Tournament previously, the Owls hold a commanding 50-6 mark after capturing the regular-season meeting last month.
The winner of this matchup will be back on the hardwood tomorrow versus the winner of the Rhode Island/Saint Louis battle in the semifinals.
Andrew Nicholson is the focal point of the offense for the Bonnies with his 16.5 ppg, stemming from 58 percent shooting from the field and 76 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. In addition, Nicholson also leads the group on the glass with better than seven boards per game, although that still doesn't make up for the fact that he has but 14 assists this entire season. Jonathan Hall picks up the slack in the passing department with his 100 dishes over 27 games, adding in another 13.1 ppg and almost six rebounds per contest to make himself into a complete player. Chris Matthews checks in with 12.7 ppg, thanks in large part to his 98-of-251 effort out on the perimeter. Against the Dukes earlier this week, Matthews erupted for a game-high 28 points on 6-of-8 shooting behind the three-point line, followed by Nicholson with 25 points and seven rebounds and Hall who recorded 10 points, seven boards and five assists.
Head coach Fran Dunphy has put himself in the running for national coach of the year honors by stressing defense with the Owls this season. As a result, Temple has limited opponents to just 56.8 ppg, one of the best marks in all of college basketball. Those foes have converted only 38.1 percent from the field and a feeble 27.8 percent behind the three-point line. At the offensive end of the floor, Ryan Brooks heads the list of scorers with his 14.5 ppg, thanks in large part to being only one of two players to have started every game this season. Juan Fernandez (12.2 ppg) has stepped up to become a true perimeter threat with his 44.7 percent accuracy and at the same time has kept defenses on their heels by handing out a team-best 105 assists as well. Lavoy Allen is the one who does the dirty work in the paint with his 11.7 points and team- best 10.8 rpg, helping to provide the Owls with a rebounding advantage of nearly five per game.
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -Kansas State is one win away from getting one last shot at its archrival.Both the Wildcats and No. 1 Kansas advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday, keeping alive hopes for a Sunflower State showdown fo
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Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Mardy Fish and Spaniard Carlos
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Bears and Wildcats meet in Big 12 Tournament semifinals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats and
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the 2010 Big 12 Tournament from the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Awaiting the winner
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Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterfinal-round action of the 2010 SEC
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Terrell Owens could return for Cowboys next game
A bye week will allow Terrell Owens broken hand to recover just in time for the next game the Dallas Cowboys are slated to play, according to reports. MySportsbook.com, an football sportsbook, has posted football betting lines on TO playing.
Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger Sunday night and had a plate surgically attached to it Monday. Although Owens' hand was swollen and aching Wednesday, Dallas Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said he's optimistic the receiver will be back at work next week and catching passes a week from Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
MySportsbook.com online sportsbook listed Terrell Owens with odds of 7-2 (or $7 paid out for every $2 bet) to return back for the game against Tennessee.
"I certainly wouldn't rule it out now," Parcells said, referring to Terrell Owens immediate return. "Maybe five days from now I might, but I wouldn't rule it out now. ... I know we're looking to try to get him moving around pretty good in the next day or so. So we'll see where we are."
Owens did not speak with reporters Wednesday, but said Sunday he'd be out two to four weeks. A return against the Titans would be 13 days after the surgery. The Cowboys were listed as an early -7 1/2 favorite vs. the Tennessee Titans for Week 4 at MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.
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.
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