Bruins cling to Pac-10 title hopes

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked UCLA Bruins will try to keep their Pac-10 Conference regular season title hopes alive, as they host the Oregon Ducks at Pauley Pavilion this afternoon.

The Bruins enter the day one game behind Washington for first place and a game ahead of California for second at 12-5. With a win today, UCLA would be assured of no worse than a second-place finish, but it could also earn a share of its fourth straight Pac-10 title with a Washington loss to Washington State. The Bruins have won three straight and four of the last five outings, including a 79-54 blasting of Oregon State on Thursday. The triumph was the 15th in 17 home outings, as the Bruins improved to 23-7 overall.

As for Oregon, it assured itself of a last-place finish by dropping the first 14 games of its league schedule. The Ducks ended that drought with back-to- back wins last week, but they were unable to keep things going on Thursday, falling at USC in an 80-66 final. The loss was the ninth straight on the road for the team.

The all-time series between Oregon and UCLA leans heavily in favor of the Bruins, who extended their lead to 80-25 following an 83-74 decision over the Ducks in the first meeting of the season.

The Ducks hung tough early and trailed just 36-35 at the break, but in the second half, they shot a dismal 31.3 percent from the floor in what turned out to be an 80-66 setback at USC on Thursday. Oregon was also outdone at the foul line, where it went just 13-of-20 compared to a 22-of-28 effort by USC. Tajuan Porter guided the team in the defeat with 20 points, but he also accounted for seven of the squad's 13 turnovers. Still, Porter has been one of the few consistent players for Oregon and he is averaging a team-high 15.4 ppg, while shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range and 88.5 percent at the foul line. LeKendric Longmire is the only other player on the team contributing double figures at the moment, with 10.2 ppg.

The Bruins broke an 11-11 tie by outscoring Oregon State 32-8 the rest of the half and they would coasted to the 25-point victory on Thursday. UCLA shot an electric 58.5 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from long range, and also held a 33-20 advantage on the boards. Josh Shipp was sensational in the win, as he poured in a career-high 27 points and knocked down 5-of-8 buckets from downtown. Nikola Dragovic added 13 points and eight boards, and Darren Collison had 11 caroms and eight assists. Collison was limited to just six points, but he is averaging much better and team-high 14.7 ppg on the season. He is also the engineer of the Bruin attack, dishing off 5.0 apg. Shipp checks in with 13.9 ppg, while Alfred Aboya logs 11.7 ppg and a team-best 5.9 rpg. Overall, UCLA is generating 76.5 ppg behind a nation-best 50.3 percent shooting from the floor.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.