Buckeyes and Spartans meet in key Big Ten bout

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trying to keep within striking distance of the red-hot Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten, the fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes play host to the Michigan State Spartans in league play from Value City Arena this evening.

The Buckeyes are 5-1 in the Big Ten, following Wednesday's 59-50 victory at Northwestern. It was the team's fourth straight victory and leaves it one game behind the 6-0 Badgers in the conference standings.

The Spartans are within reach as well, sitting at 4-2 in league play. Tom Izzo's squad has also strung together four consecutive wins and enters this contest off a 70-46 pasting of Minnesota on Wednesday. The Spartans are a perfect 14-0 at home this season, but have struggled a bit in true road games, winning just once in four attempts.

The Spartans own a 59-47 edge in the all-time series with Ohio State and have actually won four straight in Value City Arena.

The Spartans abused the Golden Gophers in the paint, outscoring their foe down low 32-4. The team shot 50.9 percent from the floor and held Minnesota to a mere .311 shooting performance. In addition, MSU won the battle on the boards (38-24) and forced 15 turnovers. Raymar Morgan led the way with 14 points, followed closely by Drew Neitzel and Goran Suton, who finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. On the year, Neitzel has clearly asserted himself as the offensive leader, pacing the team with 18.2 ppg. Most of Neitzel's damage comes from long range, where he has connected on 41.1 percent of his attempts, leading the team with a whopping 62 three-pointers thus far. Morgan is the only other Spartan with a double-digit average, adding 10.8 ppg. Not a flashy offensive team by any stretch of the imagination, MSU is averaging just 68.9 ppg. The team has thrived at the defensive end though, yielding a mere 55.8 ppg, while holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.374).

The Buckeyes can win games at either end of the court, showing the ability to light up a scoreboard when needed (77.6 ppg), while also showing some real grit at the defensive end (61.3 ppg against). It took a little time, but freshman phenom Greg Oden is beginning to assert himself as the best big man in the country. The seven-foot youngster is shooting .658 from the floor and currently leads the Buckeyes in scoring (15.4 ppg), rebounding (10.1 rpg) and blocked shots (47). Daequan Cook and Ron Lewis provide perimeter balance with 13.1 and 12.2 ppg, respectively. In the nine-point win over the Wildcats this week, Oden finished with yet another double-double, posting 17 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Forward Ivan Harris also finished with double digits in terms of scoring, leading the team with 18 points. OSU really beat up Northwestern on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 39-19.

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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.