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Dustin Ware scored 12 points to lead Georgia (10-10, 1-5) and Nemanja Djurisic had 10. The Bulldogs have lost five of their last six games overall and four of their last five against Kentucky at home.
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Florida State Seminoles are back at it tonight as they head to Lawrence Joel Coliseum for an Atlantic Coast Conference battle with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This will be the 43rd meeting in the all-time series. The Demon Deacons hold a 23-19 edge in the advantage coming into tonight despite Florida State winning the last three encounters.
Wake Forest enters tonight's game 11-8 overall and 2-3 in ACC play after its 71-56 victory over the Boston College Eagles on Saturday. The Demon Deacons interior play was impressive in the contest as they blocked 10 shots, won the rebounding battle 42-37, and outscored the Eagles, 40-24, in the paint. Head coach Jeff Bzdelik's team will have to improve on the defensive end if it wants to make a run in the ACC, as it ranks last in the league with an allowed average of 69.7 ppg.
Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Creighton Bluejays will try to win their ninth in a row as they head to the Knapp Center for a Missouri Valley Conference clash with the Drake Bulldogs. This will be the 149th meeting in the all-time series. The Bluejays hold a 90-58 edge in the rivalry after winning 16 of the last 24 encounters, including a 76-59 decision in Omaha earlier this month. Creighton shot 60 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, while Drake made 38.5 percent of its field goals and just 5-of-19 from three-point range in this year's earlier meeting.
The Bluejays are off to a 18-2 start this season after handling Indiana State 75-49 on Saturday. The Bluejays shot 43.6 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-24 attempts from long range in the contest. Head coach Greg McDermott has his team playing very well both at home and on the road this year. If the Bluejays win tonight, they will have won six-straight road games for the first time in program history since 1975. Creighton is ranked first in the nation in field goal percentage (51.4) and second in assists (19.2). The Bluejays 81.4 ppg on the offensive end is the best in the MVC this year.
The Bulldogs have won two in a row at home and 13 of their last 14 at the Knapp Center coming into tonight. However, Drake had its four-game winning streak snapped its last time out as it fell 66-52 at Northern Iowa. The Bulldogs struggled from the floor, making 38.2 percent of their field goals in the loss. Head coach Mark Phelps has led the team to a 12-8 overall record and a 5-4 mark in MVC play. Drake is tied for third in the conference coming into this one. The Bulldogs are scoring 68.3 ppg while allowing opponents to net 67.3 ppg.
The Nittany Lions come into play with heavy hearts, as the university mourns the death of Penn State Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno. Patrick Chambers' squad will be wearing black arm bands in memory of Paterno and enters Wednesday's action following a loss at nationally-ranked Indiana (73-54). The setback was the fourth in the last five games for PSU, which now sits at a dismal 2-6 in league play.
Penn State led 29-27 at the half in Bloomington, but Indiana came roaring back in the second half, hitting 65 percent from the floor in posting a 19-point win over the Nittany Lions. Tim Frazier once again led the way offensively, netting 21 points, on 7-of-18 shooting. Nick Colella added 11 points off the bench, but PSU managed a mere 22.7 percent shooting accuracy in the second half, hitting just five field goals over the final 20 minutes of action. It has been a lot of the same all season long for Penn State, which has a prolific scorer in Frazier, but little else behind him. Frazier is performing at an All-American level this season, averaging 18.0 points and 6.4 assists per game. Unfortunately, there isn't much offensive support, as Jermaine Marshall represents the next highest scorer at just 9.8 ppg.
The Buckeyes have the talent to win games at either end of the floor, evidenced by their gaudy +22.0 scoring margin. The team is shooting an impressive .494 from the floor and putting up 77.9 ppg, while holding foes just under 40 percent shooting (.398) and a mere 56.0 ppg. It certainly helps to have a dominant trio, led by perhaps the nation's best low post player in sophomore Jared Sullinger. The 6-9 Sullinger is converting nearly 60 percent from the floor and paces OSU in both scoring (17.1 ppg) and rebounding (9.1 rpg). William Buford and Deshaun Thomas provide plenty of firepower behind Sullinger at 15.2 and 15.0 ppg, respectively. The remainder of the starting five consists of savvy point guard Aaron Craft (8.0 ppg, 5.1 apg, team-high 50 steals) and Lenzelle Smith Jr. (6.2 ppg, .486 from three-point range). The Buckeyes once again made light work of the Cornhuskers, sweeping the season series by a combined 65 points. In the 34-point romp over the weekend, Buford led the way with 15 points. Sullinger and Thomas poured in 14 a piece in the victory, as OSU dominated at both ends, including forcing a whopping 27 turnovers.
Missouri owns a sizable 75-40 lead in the all-time series with Oklahoma State. Despite the overall lead, the Tigers trail in games played in Stillwater, with the Cowboys holding a 28-21 advantage.
The Cowboys would be best served to slow things down and grind it out against the Tigers. Oklahoma State has had its most success at the defensive end of the floor, holding opponents to 65.8 ppg on just .394 shooting. Problems have occurred at the offensive end, where OSU is managing just 65.9 ppg on a modest .409 shooting. Keiton Page leads the team with 14.9 ppg, but is converting under 40 percent from the floor (.398). Freshman forward Le'Bryan Nash has shown flashes off brilliant play and is the only other Cowboy currently averaging double digits at 12.5 ppg. It was once again shoddy shooting that did in the Cowboys last time out, as the team netted just 34.8 percent of its shots (16-of-46), including a miserable 1-of-16 showing from three-point range. Page led the team with 17 points, but hit just 1-of-9 from long range. Markel Brown tacked on 14 points in the loss.
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Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.
He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.
"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.
He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.
Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.
Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.
Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.
Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.
With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.
Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).
And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)
The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.
While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.
Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.
One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.
Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.
What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.
That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.
MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.
"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.
"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."
So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.
In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.
MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.
The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.
Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.
MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.
To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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. Lets 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.
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