Alabama visits Kentucky in SEC action

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2010 - Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Alabama Crimson Tide invade Rupp Arena this evening for an SEC clash with the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

Alabama is a respectable 13-10 overall, but that record is overshadowed by a 3-6 mark versus league opponents. The Crimson Tide have suffered three consecutive defeats, including a 74-67 setback at Ole Miss on Saturday. The two previous losses to Auburn and Florida both came by one point.

Kentucky opened this season with 19 consecutive wins before finally tasting defeat against South Carolina in late January. Since that setback, the Wildcats have recorded three consecutive victories, the most recent of which came on Saturday over LSU in an 81-55 final. Coach John Calipari's club is now 7-1 in SEC action and carries a 14-0 home record into this evening's affair.

The Wildcats own a commanding 98-35 series advantage over the Crimson Tide, which includes wins in the last two meetings.

The Crimson Tide depend heavily on the duo of Mikhail Torrance and JaMychal Green to be productive at the offensive each time out. Torrance leads the club with 15.3 ppg and 128 assists. As for Green, he provides 14.7 ppg, 7.1 rpg and 47 blocks while shooting 51.2 percent from the floor. Alabama is generating 68.2 ppg while limiting opponents to 62.9 ppg on 41.5 percent field goal efficiency. In the seven-point loss to Ole Miss on Saturday, Green scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Tony Mitchell netted 16 points. Torrance finished with 12 points and seven assists for the Tide, who committed twice as many turnovers as the Rebels and were outscored 25-13 from the foul line. The negatives clearly overshadowed 50 percent shooting from the floor.

For much of this season, Kentucky freshman John Wall has been hyped as the best player on the Wildcats roster and perhaps the top performer in all of college basketball. Recently, however, fellow rookie DeMarcus Cousins has emerged as the true standout on a loaded Kentucky team. Cousins has paced the squad in both scoring and rebounding in four consecutive games and is now averaging the same amount of points as Wall (16.4 ppg). The big man is shooting 54.2 percent from the field and grabbing 10.0 rpg, while Wall, a point guard, has dished out 146 assists to complement 41 steals. Patrick Patterson provides 15.1 ppg for the Wildcats, who are generating 82.3 ppg while surrendering 65.9 ppg on 38.1 percent shooting by opponents. In the romp over LSU on Saturday, Cousins racked up 19 points and 13 rebounds. Patterson added 16 points, while Wall struggled his way to six points.

Wwwkiwicasino NCAA Basketball Betting News

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Barry Bonds Watch: Giants Slugger Says He'll Be Back

With only 21 home runs standing between him and Hank Aaron, Barry Bonds is indeed planning on coming back for more in 2007. At least, that's what his agent told the Los Angeles Times.

"Barry's going to play in 2007," Jeff Borris of Beverly Hills Sports Council told the Times on Tuesday. "I've had many discussions with Barry and he's going to play. My intentions are to see to it he's in a big-league uniform next season. Those are my marching orders."

Contract negotiations could get started as early as next week. Let's see which team has the deeper pockets. Will MLB baseball betting lines despite allegations of steroid use? Bet On It at www.MySportsbook.com .

Get all your baseball betting lines, MLB lines and MLB team props at the My Sportbook.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your baseball sportsbook needs.