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Oklahoma State and Missouri battle in Big 12 brawlNCAA Basketball Betting Lines02/15/2012 - Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Missouri Tigers continue their quest for a Big 12 regular season crown, as they welcome the Oklahoma State Cowboys to Columbia this evening, for a conference showdown at Mizzou Arena. Frank Haith's debut season in Columbia has been highly successful, as the Tigers have won 23 of their first 25 games. The team is currently boasting of a five-game win streak following an impressive 72-57 win over a strong Baylor squad on Saturday. The victory improved Missouri to 14-0 at home and 10-2 in the Big 12, trailing only Kansas (11-2) in the standings. Travis Ford's Cowboys have struggled both in and out of conference. Oklahoma State is a game under .500 overall (12-13) and two games under that mark in conference play (5-7). OSU has dropped two of its last three games, including an 81-66 setback at Kansas this past weekend, falling to 2-5 in true road games this season. Missouri holds a sizeable 75-41 advantage in the all-time series with Oklahoma State, but it is the Cowboys seeking the regular-season sweep after posting a 79-72 upset of the Tigers in Stillwater on January 25th. The Cowboys dug themselves in a deep hole early on, trailing by as many as 29 points in the first half against Kansas. OSU cut the lead to 12 at one point, but settled for a 15-point setback in Lawrence. Four Cowboys reached double figures in the loss, led by Markel Brown's 21 points. Keiton Page was right behind with 19 points, while Le'Bryan Nash and Brian Williams chipped in with 11 points each. The Cowboys, who shot a mere .327 from the floor in the game, were abused on the boards, getting outrebounded 50-21. Oklahoma State's -0.2 scoring margin is the primary reason for the sub-par campaign thus far. The team has struggled to find consistency at the offensive end of the floor, averaging just 66.7 ppg on a modest .415 shooting. Page provides the veteran leadership, as the senior guard paces the team with 14.4 ppg. The 6-7 Nash is just a freshman, but has shown flashes of brilliant play, netting 13.3 ppg. Brown is a 6-3 sophomore who rounds out the top scoring threats for OSU at 10.7 ppg. There is no shortage of offensive firepower for Missouri this year, as the team ranks seventh in the nation in scoring (80.2 ppg), third in field-goal percentage (.500) and sixth in scoring margin (+16.2). Senior guard Marcus Denmon headlines the group, ranking second in the Big 12 in scoring at 18.0 ppg. Kim English adds 14.0 ppg to the perimeter assault and has combined with Denmon for 126 off the team's 200 three-pointers to date. Ricardo Ratliffe (14.0 ppg. 6.8 rpg) is the top performer in the frontcourt. Michael Dixon (12.4 ppg) is one of the best sixth-men in the country, while point guard Phil Pressey (9.7 ppg, 5.8 apg) can both score and distribute. Missouri drilled a season-high 14 three-pointers in the rather easy win over Baylor this past weekend. Phil Pressey hit four three-pointers en route to a team-high 19 points. Denmon and Dixon both added 16 points in the win and matched Pressey's performance from long range. English added 12 points for Missouri in the win.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting. "They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over." Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.) According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26. As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines). Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday. Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind. *UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007 New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results. "We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games." While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season." About MySportsbook.com Sports Casino Poker To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Master Card needs. Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence Work left to do: Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8. Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday. DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ... West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule. Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games. For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
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