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02/11/2012 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As if they could squeeze any more drama out of this evening's Big Ten Conference showdown with the 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans, the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will be seeking their 40th straight home win as they hope to gain some additional breathing room in the race for the conference crown.
Michigan State has come roaring back from a pair of season-opening losses to North Carolina and Duke to win 19 of its last 22 games, and the Spartans currently sit just a game back of Ohio State in the Big Ten standings with an 8-3 league ledger. MSU has won its last two games, the most recent of which being a 77-57 shellacking of Penn State at home on Wednesday night. Coach Tom Izzo's club is a perfect 15-0 at home, but just 4-3 in true road bouts, and 4-5 away from East Lansing all told when you factor in the two neutral-site setbacks to kick off the campaign.
Ohio State is an even more impressive 21-3 this year, with nine of its first 11 Big Ten bouts winding up in the win column. The Buckeyes are riding a six- game win streak, with the latest victory coming in an 87-84 nail-biter versus visiting Purdue this past Tuesday. That win was OSU's 39th straight at home, the streak beginning with a 66-55 triumph over Michigan on February 27, 2010. The school record for longest home win streak is 50 games set between 1960-64.
Michigan State owns a 63-53 lead in the all-time series with Ohio State, but the Buckeyes have won the last three meetings, with the last being a 71-61 decision in Columbus on February 15, 2011.
Draymond Green logged a monster double-double with 23 points and 12 rebounds in leading Michigan State to its recent 20-point win over Penn State. Green, who also added five assists to his impressive stat line, was joined in double figures in the scoring column by Branden Dawson and Adreian Payne with 12 points apiece, and by Keith Appling who tallied 10 points to go with his game- high seven assists. As a team, the Spartans shot a pedestrian 43.4 percent from the field, but held the Nittany Lions to 38.5 percent, which included a dreadful 20.8 percent showing in the first half. As it has pretty much all season long, MSU easily won the battle on the boards (44-25), and outscored PSU both at the foul line (23-11) and in second-chance points (18-1). Green continues to play like a man possessed for the Spartans, as he is averaging a double-double consisting of 15.2 points and 10.6 caroms per contest, while also leading the team in steals (35) and tying for the club-lead with Dawson in blocks (24). Appling (11.8 ppg) is the only other double-digit scorer at the moment, but the unit has six guys in all that average at least 7.0 ppg. Michigan State owns significant margins in both scoring (+14.8) and rebounding (+10.8), but is dead even in turnover differential.
The Buckeyes and Boilermakers went toe-to-toe in Columbus earlier this week, and in the end the former prevailed to keep their lengthy home win streak in tact. William Buford scored a career-high 29 points, 21 of which came in the second half, while Jared Sullinger poured in 18 and Deshaun Thomas and Aaron Craft both chipped in 13 apiece for Ohio State, which made good on 52.0 percent of its total shots, nine of which were from three-point range, while claiming a 26-17 edge in points from the charity stripe. Purdue shot an equally efficient 51.9 percent from the field and both teams took extremely good care of the basketball, combining for a mere 11 turnovers. OSU won the rebounding battle, 32-23. Like Green for MSU, Sullinger (17.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg) excels in both scoring points and coming up with loose balls, while strong support comes from both Buford (15.5 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Thomas (14.6 ppg, 4.5 rpg). For the season, Ohio State is outscoring the opposition by a staggering 20.3 ppg, outworking them on the glass by 7.5 rpg, and taking advantage in the giveaway/takeaway game by 5.5 tpg. Additionally, the Buckeyes are shooting a stellar 49.1 percent from the floor, while holding foes to a mere 39.7 percent.
<< Bearcats hope to clip wings of 18th-ranked Golden Eagles
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles will
try to keep pace in the race for the Big East Conference regular-season title,
as they entertain the Cincinnati Bearcats today at the Bradley Center in
Milwaukee.
<< High-flying Cardinals pay visit to struggling Mountaineers
Morgantown, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 24th-ranked Louisville Cardinals take
aim at their sixth straight win today, as they pay a visit to the West
Virginia Mountaineers in Big East Conference action.
Louisville is coming off an 80-59 rout of
<< 25th-ranked Crimson set sights on Tigers
Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Harvard Crimson will look to
add onto their best start in school history as they head to Jadwin Gym to take
on the dangerous Princeton Tigers in Ivy League action.
This will be the first of tw
<< Georgia seeks upset of No. 20 Mississippi State
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A good old-fashioned dog fight will take
place in Starkville today, as SEC foes Georgia and Mississippi State do battle
at Humphrey Coliseum.
Georgia comes in with an overall record of 11-12, and the team's
Top-10 collision on tap in Columbia >>
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-10 foes square off in a crucial Big 12
affair, as the fourth-ranked Missouri Tigers welcome the sixth-ranked Baylor
Bears to Mizzou Arena this afternoon.
Frank Haith's first season in Columbia has been hig
No.1 Kentucky takes act on the road >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats put their
unblemished SEC record in harm's way this evening in Nashville, as they take
on the dangerous Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gym.
John Calipari's Wildcats are you
Blue Devils take on Terps in Durham >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their biggest win of the season, the
10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils return to Cameron Indoor Stadium, as they play
host to the Maryland Terrapins in ACC action this afternoon.
Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Dev
Kings and Suns square off in Sac-Town >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After unseating the Western Conference-best Oklahoma City
Thunder, the Sacramento Kings hope to keep the momentum going this evening
versus the Pacific Division-rival Phoenix Suns at Power Balance Pavilion.
The Kings recor
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
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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