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03/14/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Syracuse were given top seeds for the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Kansas (32-2), which was anointed the top overall seed for the tournament, will be in the Midwest Region. The Jayhawks are coming off their seventh Big 12 Tournament title. They beat Kansas State, 72-64, Saturday night for the crown. The Jayhawks were the top seed in the Midwest in 2008, the year they won the national championship.
Duke (29-5) beat Georgia Tech, 65-61, on Sunday to win the ACC Tournament for a record 18th time. The Blue Devils are the top seed in the South Region.
Kentucky (32-2) has returned to prominence in a huge way, thanks in part to another SEC Tournament title. The Wildcats needed overtime to beat Mississippi State, 75-74, on Sunday. They are a No. 1 seed for the 10th time in school history and will be in the East Region.
Syracuse (28-4) was given the top seed in the West Region. The Orange are seeded No. 1 for the first time since 1980 and gained the spot despite suffering a loss to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament.
The Final Four will be April 3 in Indianapolis with the championship game two nights later.
<< Nashville escapes Los Angeles with one-goal victory
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patric Hornqvist scored the game-winner
late in the third period, as the Nashville Predators edged the Los Angeles
Kings, 3-2, at Staples Center.
Steve Sullivan and Colin Wilson also scored for
<< Stastny scores twice as Avalanche down Stars
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Stastny scored twice and Craig Anderson
made 48 saves, as the Colorado Avalanche earned a 5-3 win over the Dallas
Stars at American Airlines Center.
Milan Hejduk and Darcy Tucker each had a go
<< Report: Browns send QB Quinn to Broncos
McLean, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Brady Quinn is on the verge of a new
beginning that has been rumored since the Browns apparently inked Jake
Delhomme on Saturday, as Cleveland reportedly traded the former first-round
pick to
<< Avery, Rangers notch crucial win over Flyers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sean Avery scored a pair of goals, as the New
York Rangers topped Philadelphia, 3-1, at Madison Square Garden.
Michal Rozsival notched the other goal, while Erik Christensen and Chris Drury
picked up two assi
Els fends off Schwartzel for second WGC crown >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a bogey-free, six-under 66 Sunday
to beat Charl Schwartzel and win the WGC - CA Championship.
Els, who earned his second WGC title, completed the event at 18-under-par 270.
He missed Phil Mickelso
Lille climbs to fourth in Ligue 1 >>
Lille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lille used an own goal from Bostjan Cesar to
follow up its Europa League win over Liverpool with a 1-0 win over Grenoble on
Sunday in Ligue 1 and climbed to fourth in the standings.
Bordeaux, Montpellier, Au
Browns send QB Quinn to Broncos >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Brady Quinn is set for a new
beginning that had been rumored as the former first-round pick was dealt from
Cleveland to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.
The move came a day after the Browns re
Report: Jets sign Tomlinson to two-year deal >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have reportedly inked
running back LaDainian Tomlinson to a two-year deal.
Financial terms were not available, according to the New York Daily News.
The likely Hall of Fame back spe
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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