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03/01/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ohio Valley Conference Tournament will begin this Tuesday when the top eight teams from the regular season will tangle for the right to be named champions of the OVC and more importantly earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Morehead State, which claimed the tournament title last season, finished with an impressive 15-3 mark in conference action, but that was only good enough for the second seed. The top seed belongs to Murray State, which earned that honor by posting an outstanding 17-1 mark against league foes. However, claiming the regular-season title is nothing new for the Racers, who now have accomplished the feat 21 times. After Murray State and Morehead State there is a large drop off in production, as Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky all finished with 11-7 marks on the season and will play as the third, fourth and fifth seeds in the tournament, respectively. The final three seeds belong to Tennessee Tech (8-10), Jacksonville State (7-11) and Tennessee State (6-12), all of which finished below .500 in conference action.
Since the Racers claimed the top spot during the regular-season the team will now have the luxury of hosting the eighth-seeded Tennessee State Tigers. The Racers completely dominating the Tigers in both meetings this season, winning each game by more than 20 points apiece. However, that should not be surprising since the Racers led the conference at both ends of the floor. Murray State finished the regular season on top of the conference with 78.5 ppg, and also held the opposition to a league best 61.4 ppg. Five different players are posting double figures for the Racers, but none of those players are producing more than 11.0 ppg. B.J. Jenkins is leading the team with 10.7 ppg, to go along with 105 assists, while Danero Thomas and Ivan Aska are posting 10.6 and 10.5 ppg, respectively.
There is no doubt that the Tigers will have their hands full in this first round matchup, as the team will likely need to play a perfect game to corral a victory. Tennessee State, which finished just 9-22 on the season, and 6-12 in league play, comes into this matchup struggling at the offensive end of the court. With Josh Sain out, the Tigers have relied on Jacquan Nobles to pace the squad, but the guard is netting just 11.4 ppg. TSU is producing only 67.8 ppg on the season, but the team's play defensively is what has hurt the Tigers, as they are currently surrendering 73.9 ppg.
The Eagles will take their first steps towards repeating as tournament champions Tuesday night when they host the Jacksonville Gamecocks, who will be playing as the seventh-seed. The Eagles finished regular-season action with a 15-3 conference mark, and usually a ledger of that nature would be good enough for the top seed. However, Morehead State will have to roll as the second seed in the tournament. Morehead State closed out its regular season with six wins in its last eight games, and that includes an impressive 70-65 victory over Murray State back on February 25th. Morehead State is currently holding opponents to just 63.4 ppg, and at the other end of the floor the team is being paced by Kenneth Faried, who is one of the best players in the conference. Faried averaged a double-double on the year with 16.8 ppg and 13.0 rpg, while Maze Stallworth has helped out with 12.6 ppg.
The Gamecocks will have a tall mountain to climb Tuesday, especially since the team closed out its regular season with seven losses in its last eight games, and that includes a five-game skid. Jacksonville State has been nothing more than mediocre offensively and comes into this first round matchup producing 70.1 ppg. Trenton Marshall is leading the team with 17.7 ppg, while Nick Murphy is posting 14.4 ppg, to go along with a team-high 7.2 rpg.
After Murray State and Morehead State, the Governors were the next best thing in the Ohio Valley, finishing with an 11-7 mark, which earned them the third seed in the tournament. Due to their mild success, the Govs will now get to host the sixth-seeded Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Tuesday night on their home floor. Austin Peay closed out its regular-season in thrilling fashion by defeating Southeast Missouri State, 71-68, in overtime. It was the seventh win in the last 11 games for Austin Peay, which heads into this matchup averaging 72.7 ppg. Wes Channels is currently leading the team with 17.0 ppg, and has also dished out 93 assists on the season.
As for the Golden Eagles, they were soaring through the season, but hit a wall in the month of February, dropping six of their last eight games. However, the team was able to close out its regular-season schedule with a 72-62 victory over Jacksonville State. Thanks to Kevin Murphy (15.6 ppg) and Frank Davis (14.0 ppg) the Golden Eagles finished second in the conference with 75.3 ppg. However, what has hurt TTU has been its inability to stop the opposition from scoring, as teams are currently averaging 77.8 ppg against the Golden Eagles, which places them last in the conference.
The final game of the first round will pit the fourth-seeded Eastern Illinois Panthers against the fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky Colonels. Both teams finished 11-7 on the season in league play, and Eastern Illinois and Eastern Kentucky defended their respective home courts with a victory against one another. EKU finished the year with 20 total wins, but down the stretch the team lost three of its last five games, including an 88-74 loss to Murray State in its season finale. The Colonels have played tough offensively and are being paced by Justin Stommes, who is netting 14.3 ppg, to go along with a team-best 111 assists.
The Panthers on the other hand could be one of the hottest teams in the OVC tournament, as the team heads into this game riding a seven-game winning streak. Eastern Illinois has relied heavily on its play defensively, as the team is holding opponents to just 65.8 ppg. At the other end of the court the team is being paced by Tyler Laser, who is netting 14.1 ppg. Jeremy Granger, who is leading EIU with 96 assists, is also posting 10.3 ppg for the Panthers.
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In terms of sports wagering, the NFL is "the most popular game in town." The explanation behind that is easy.
It is called the "pointspread."
Many years ago, NFL games, as well as the more popular college games, used straight odds as a vehicle for betting. For example, if the Bears were playing the Giants, and it shaped up as a competitive contest, the Bears might be, say, a 7/5 favorite. If they were playing an also-ran, it might be 10/1. Well, there is a point where a line becomes prohibitive, as far as betting the favorite. And who would waste money betting an underdog that has virtually no chance? Such a setup did not contribute to promoting betting action.
But in modern sports betting, a "pointspread" is used.
A NFL pointspreads are exactly that, a pre-established point difference between the two sides that will, for all intents and purposes, create a handicap that evens things out, and in doing so, produces comparable wagering activity on both sides of that proposition. So in lieu of a odds figure in which to bet the team to win outright, the Bears might be a three-point favorite over the New York Giants, and a 17-point favorite over the also-ran. Now that the team that is the underdog can "get" points, there can be equal action on both sides.
In sportsbooks, this is usually done with efficiency by charging the losing bettors 10% extra - in effect, bettors are laying 11/10 on those games. So they are actually betting $110 to win $100. If they lose, they pay the "vig." If they win, they simply collect.
The establishment of the pointspread as the corner stone around which team sports like football can be wagered upon was truly what brought gridiron betting into the stratosphere for online football betting .
Don't believe it? Just take a look at what happens around the Super Bowl.
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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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