Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/19/2007 - Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Butler Bulldogs have lost two of their last three games, and they hope to get back on track in tonight's Horizon League clash with the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix.
Butler appeared to be running away with the Horizon League regular season crown, but a loss to Wright State on February 10th pulled the Raiders even with the Bulldogs. Since that outing, Butler has played two straight non- conference tilts, and after beating a weak Florida Gulf Coast team, the Bulldogs fell to nationally-ranked Southern Illinois on Saturday in BracketBuster action. The loss halted the Bulldogs' 22-game home winning streak, and although their resume' is still strong for the upcoming NCAA Tournament, a loss today could change things.
Wisconsin-Green Bay has recorded back-to-back wins to improve to 16-12 overall and 7-7 in league play. On Saturday, the Phoenix took a break from conference action to post an 82-76 decision over Northern Illinois.
Butler crushed Wisconsin-Green Bay in an 80-59 final back on January 20th, and the Bulldogs own a 22-13 advantage in the all-time series.
Butler's matchup with Southern Illinois was one of the most highly-anticipated games of BracketBuster weekend, and the two mid-major powers did not disappoint. The contest was close throughout, but the Bulldogs suffered a 33-24 rebounding disadvantage and a 27-19 deficit in points from the foul line in the loss. Those negatives overshadowed the fact that Butler turned the ball over only six times in 40 minutes of action. Mike Green scored 18 points for the Bulldogs, and Peter Campbell pitched in 17 points off the bench. Unfortunately, A.J. Graves finished with just five points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field. Graves is the team's leading scorer through 28 games with 17.1 ppg, but his 38.7 percent efficiency from the floor leaves much to be desired. Green adds 14.3 ppg, and he has dished out 113 assists. Butler is limiting foes to 56.8 ppg on 39.9 percent overall shooting, key to the squad's success.
Mike Schachtner scored 25 points to lead Wisconsin-Green Bay to its six-point victory over Northern Illinois last time out. Ryan Evanochko and Ryan Tillema tallied 17 points apiece in the win, while Terry Evans added 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench. The Phoenix shot 50 percent from the floor and turned the ball over six times. Also, a 25-of-29 showing from the foul line also helped the cause. Evanochko leads the team with 15.4 ppg, and he has dished out 145 assists against only 64 turnovers. Schachtner adds 15.0 ppg, and those two players clearly form one of the top duos in the Horizon League.
<< Pitt continues to build head of steam as home stretch approaches
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers
continue their quest for the Big East Conference regular season title, and
they will take another step in the right direction if they can knock off the
Seto
<< Jayhawks and Wildcats square off in pivotal Big 12 clash
Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas hopes to extend its winning streak
to five games as it battles long-time rival Kansas State in Big 12
Conference action from Manhattan.
The fourth consecutive win for KU came on
<< Flyers, Bruins look to continue good play of late
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of teams that have shown improved play in recent
weeks will get together this evening at the Wachovia Center, where the Boston
Bruins resume a long road trip with a showdown against the Philadelphia
Flyers.
<< Predators try to end recent woes against struggling Coyotes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will try to regain possession of
first place in the Central Division as they continue a homestand this evening
with a matchup against the slumping Phoenix Coyotes.
Nashville lost its grasp on
Oilers place Pisani on IR >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers placed right wing Fernando
Pisani on injured reserve on Monday.
Pisani has missed the past three games after suffering a concussion during the
team's 5-1 win over Atlanta on February 11 in
Wisconsin, Ohio State head men's hoops poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wisconsin and Ohio State, the Big Ten's best,
are also the top two teams in the latest Associated Press men's college
basketball poll.
After Florida lost to Vanderbilt on Saturday and had a 17-game wi
Zetterberg, Selanne and Sakic earn NHL weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit Red Wings left wing Henrik
Zetterberg, Anaheim Ducks right wing Teemu Selanne and Colorado Avalanche
center Joe Sakic have been named the NHL's Three Stars for the week ending
Februar
Grand Rapids' Ellis garners AHL weekly honors >>
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American Hockey League announced today
that Grand Rapids Griffins center Matt Ellis has been named the CCM Vector/AHL
Player of the Week for the period ending February 18, 2007. Ellis recorded
four goals a
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.
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting