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
03/12/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - De'Sean Butler's closely-contested three- pointer off the glass as time expired advanced his seventh-ranked Mountaineers and ended Cincinnati's improbable march through the conference gauntlet, as West Virginia survived an upset-riddled quarterfinal round at the Big East Tournament, 54-51.
The game appeared destined for overtime after going through a wild chain of events in the final 6.4 seconds. First, Dion Dixon lost control of the basketball along the left sideline, and the ball eventually caromed off his knee and out of bounds. The Mountaineers (25-6) took advantage, with Butler catching the ball out near the top of the arc, rising and firing over Cincinnati freshman star Lance Stephenson for the game-winner.
Several Bearcats (18-15) fell to the floor at the horn. Stephenson had the best look at Butler's basket that downed his club despite his 19-point, seven- rebound stat line.
Kevin Jones scored 17, Butler added 15 and Devin Ebanks totaled 10 for the Mountaineers, who are the only top-four seed left at Madison Square Garden. They will face Notre Dame in the second semifinal, with Georgetown and Marquette taking the court first on Friday.
A struggle marked in equal parts solid defense and offensive ineptitude shifted over the final three-plus minutes. Trailing 47-42, Cincinnati turned to its season-long shaky perimeter shooting to get back into the game. First, Deonta Vaughn's trey cut the deficit to two then Darnell Wilks crashed the offensive glass for a game-tying putback with just under three minutes to play.
Jones drained a jumper then Stephenson made 1-of-2 from the foul line. Jones was in the right place at the right time moments later, finding a scoring chance off a loose-ball scrum for a 51-48 lead with 1:07 to play. Again, the Bearcats stepped out beyond their comfort zone, as Stephenson -- a 27-percent three-point shooter on the conference's worst, and the nation's 277th-best, long-distance shooting team, -- buried a right-wing trey for a 51-51 stalemate with 42.1 seconds remaining.
An Ebanks missed opportunity resulted in a dead ball with just 6.4 seconds left. After a Cincinnati timeout, Dixon lost control of a left-handed dribble for a turnover. West Virginia then found Butler out top, he worked his way to the top of the arc, and connected on a difficult shot over Stephenson's outstretched arms.
After holding a 26-23 lead at the half, the Mountaineers first stretched their lead to seven at 30-23 then to eight at 33-25 on a free throw by Cam Thoroughman. The margin grew to nine at 45-36 on a Jones layup with just under seven minutes to go, but the Bearcats refused to go away, scoring seven in a row moments later for a 47-45 deficit.
Game Notes
West Virginia won both meetings this season, including a 74-68 decision back on February 27th...Cincinnati, however, still leads the all-time series, 10-8...Vaughn totaled nine points for the Bearcats...Cincinnati made 5-of-14 threes, but shot just 33.3 percent from the floor...One night after dominating Louisville on the glass, both teams got their fair share of offensive boards with the Bearcats grabbing 14 and West Virginia 17.
<< Stastny, Anderson shine in Avs' shutout of Panthers
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored twice in the second period
to support a 27-save performance by Craig Anderson, as the Colorado Avalanche
blanked the Florida Panthers, 3-0, at Pepsi Center.
Anderson recorded his seventh
<< Big West Conference Tournament Recaps
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - T.J. Robinson posted a game-high 18 points
while collecting eight rebounds to lead the third-seeded Long Beach State
49ers to a 79-69 victory over the sixth-seeded Cal Poly Mustangs in
quarter
<< Fredette scores 43 as BYU tops TCU in MWC QFs
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jimmer Fredette exploded for 45 points, as
the 14th-ranked BYU Cougars defeated the TCU Horned Frogs, 95-85, in
quarterfinal action of the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Thomas &
Mac
<< Carter, Magic rout short-handed Bulls; Rose injured
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vince Carter ended with 23 points and Orlando
nearly doubled-up Chicago in the first half en route to a 111-82 drubbing of
the Bulls at Amway Arena.
Most of Orlando's starters played limited minutes due to
UTEP cruises past UCF into C-USA semifinals >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeremy Williams was a perfect 9-of-9 from the
free throw line in a 17-point effort, and 25th-ranked UTEP cruised to a 76-54
win over UCF in the quarterfinals in the Conference USA Tournament.
Randy Culpeppe
Roy leads Portland rally over Warriors >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Roy scored 41 points and had eight
rebounds, as Portland locked down Golden State in the fourth quarter and
rallied for a 110-105 victory.
Andre Miller contributed 15 points and seven assist
Sharks score six times in third to beat Nashville >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Pavelski registered two goals and two
assists in the third period, as the San Jose Sharks scored six times over the
final 20 minutes to rally past the Nashville Predators, 8-5, at HP Pavilion.
Dany
Oudin knocked in first round at Indian Wells >>
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Melanie Oudin had a short stay at
the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event, dropping a three-set decision
to Roberta Vinci.
Oudin won the first set then was outplayed in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-
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.
To visit this sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
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