No. 1 Kansas begins Big 12 Tournament play against Texas Tech

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks are the top seed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, and they are slated to do battle with the ninth-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders this afternoon in the quarterfinal round.

The winner of this game will do battle with either fourth-seeded Texas A&M or 12th-seeded Nebraska in the semifinals.

Texas Tech was impressive in yesterday's 82-67 victory over eighth-seeded Colorado, a team that beat the Red Raiders by 11 points in the regular-season finale last weekend. Tech is gunning for its first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title, and although the team did lose its final seven regular- season bouts, it appears that confidence has been restored.

Kansas has won six Big 12 Tournament titles, at least twice as many as any other active member of the league. The Jayhawks captured three consecutive crowns from 2006-2008, and they are 25-7 all-time in this event. At 29-2 overall, including 15-1 in league action, Bill Self's squad was highly impressive during the regular season.

The Jayhawks crushed the Red Raiders earlier this season in an 89-63 final, and Kansas owns a decided 18-4 advantage in the all-time series.

Through 30 games, Texas Tech was scoring and surrendering the same exact amount of points (76.4 ppg). There are three double-digit scorers in the fold for the Red Raiders, and Mike Singletary led the way with 14.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg heading into yesterday's affair. John Roberson checked in with 14.4 ppg, and he had handed out 161 assists. Nick Okorie rounded out the trio with 10.8 ppg, and he was shooting 41.5 percent from three-point range. In Wednesday's win over Colorado, Texas Tech connected on 55.6 percent of its field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes to seal the deal. Roberson posted 19 points and nine assists, Okorie had 18 points, and Brad Reese 16 points off the bench. As for Singletary, he registered 13 points for the Red Raiders, who forced 19 turnovers and earned a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

A combination of vast talent and big-game experience makes this Kansas team one of the favorites to win the national title. It all starts with senior Sherron Collins, a 5-11 point guard who is scoring 15.3 ppg to go along with 4.3 apg. Collins is an 83.9 percent shooter from the foul line, and he will undoubtedly have the ball in his hands at the end of every close game. Xavier Henry, a standout freshman, checks in with 13.9 ppg, and he leads the club with 48 steals. Marcus Morris brings 12.4 ppg to the mix on 55.9 percent shooting from the field, and he is pulling down 6.2 rpg. Finally, center Cole Aldrich is averaging 12.4 ppg and 9.7 rpg to complement his 110 blocked shots. While Aldrich has certainly been solid, he is capable of being much more dominant at the offensive end. The Jayhawks are generating 82.2 ppg while holding opponents to 63.6 ppg on 37.6 percent field goal efficiency. A positive rebounding differential of 6.8 rpg has certainly helped the cause.

Wwwebankinter NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Cowboys tangle with Wildcats in Big 12 quarterfinals
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterfinal action of the Big 12 Conference Tournament pits the ninth-ranked and second-seeded Kansas State Wildcats against the seventh-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys. Awaiting the winner of this tilt is a

<< Redskins add TE Ryan
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins agreed to terms with tight end Sean Ryan on Thursday. Details of the contract were not disclosed. Ryan appeared in 10 games, making eight starts, for Kansas City last season and ha

<< Redskins sign free-agent tight end Sean Ryan
ASHBURN, Va. (AP) -Free-agent tight end Sean Ryan has signed with the Washington Redskins.Ryan caught 14 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs last season.He has 26 catches for 240 yards and those two TDs in six NFL seas

<< Noh among four British Open qualifiers
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Less than a week after winning his first European Tour event, Seung-yul Noh was one of four qualifiers at the International Final Qualifying for the British Open, which will be contested at St.

<< Johnson carries Montana past Weber State for Big Sky title
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Johnson set a tournament record with 42 points and knocked down the game-winning jumper with 10.4 seconds left to cap a furious second-half comeback, as Montana upended Weber State, 66-65, to claim t

Falcons face tall task in Mountain West Tourney tilt with Lobos >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Less than 24 hours after picking up just their second win all-time in the Mountain West Conference Tournament, the Air Force Falcons are back on the hardwood of the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas as they

TCU seeks upset of BYU in Mountain West quarterfinals >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A rematch of the regular-season finale has 14th-ranked and second-seeded BYU taking on the seventh-seeded TCU Horned Frogs in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Mountain West Conference Tournament tonight at the Thom

Miners open C-USA Tournament play against Knights >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Winners of 14th straight games, the top-seeded and 25th-ranked Texas El Paso Miners set their sites on a C-USA Tournament championship, starting with tonight's quarterfinal-round matchup against the ninth-seeded UCF

Longhorns and Bears meet in Big 12 Tournament >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 21st-ranked Baylor Bears are seeded third in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, and they will begin action in the event tonight with a quarterfinal-round matchup against the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns.

Vols open SEC Tournament against hapless Tigers >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers are set to take on the LSU Tigers in the first round of the 2010 SEC Tournament. The winner of this contest will move on to face Ole Miss, the West Division's second seed,

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.

MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!

Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter - All you have to do is play at least 10 hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host randomly hands out free bonuses ranging from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.

"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.