Houston steals NCAA bid with upset of UTEP in C-USA final

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kelvin Lewis stepped up with 28 points and drained six three-pointers, as the Houston Cougars claimed their first Conference USA Tournament title and a return trip to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992 with an 81-73 victory over No. 25 UTEP.

Aubrey Coleman, the nation's leading scorer, struggled with a 4-for-20 showing from the field to end with 13 points. Lewis, though, hit 11-of-15 shots and 6- of-10 three-point attempts, while Zamal Nixon chipped in 13 points.

The seventh-seeded Cougars (19-15) shot 12-of-25 from beyond the arc to book a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since winning the Southwest Conference in 1992. They were subsequently knocked out in the first round of the NCAAs by Georgia Tech.

Randy Culpepper had 20 points and Derrick Caracter provided 18 with nine rebounds for UTEP (26-6), which had run off 16 straight wins since a loss to Houston back on January 13.

The top-seeded Miners self-destructed down the stretch with turnovers on three of four possessions going into the final minute, handing the Cougars a six- point lead on a pair of fast-break buckets on the last two.

Wwwifriends NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Rangers 2B Kinsler has sprained ankle
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler will be sidelined at least a week with a high right ankle sprain. Kinsler suffered the injury in pre-game warmups on Friday and did not play in the proceeding exhibit

<< Bobcats sign G Hughes; Wallace's MRI negative
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -The Charlotte Bobcats have signed veteran guard Larry Hughes to help with depth in the backcourt as they attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time.Meanwhile, an MRI on forward Gerald Wallace's left ankle on Saturday reve

<< Twins sign OF Span to five-year contract
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins announced the signing of outfielder Denard Span to a five-year, $16.5 million contract on Saturday. The deal also includes a $9 million club option for the 2015 season. Span hit .311 i

<< Bobcats sign Larry Hughes
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats have signed guard Larry Hughes. Hughes appeared in 31 games for the Knicks this season, then was dealt to Sacramento at the trading deadline and subsequently waived without playin

<< Berkman sidelined 2-4 weeks after knee surgery
Kissimmee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Astros first baseman Lance Berkman underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Saturday morning. The Astros said the procedure involved removing loose cartilage debris from the knee. There w

Tottenham reaffirms CL ambitions >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tottenham took another step towards a top- four finish on Saturday as the club downed Blackburn, 3-1, at White Hart Lane behind two goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko. Jermain Defoe put Spurs in front righ

Vermont takes America East title with win over BU >>
Burlington, VT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marqus Blakely scored 24 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and handed out five assists, leading Vermont back to the NCAA Tournament with an 83-70 victory over Boston University in the championship game of

Dortmund moves into top four >>
Bochum, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of late goals from Lucas Barrios helped Borussia Dortmund claim a 4-1 win at Bochum on Saturday, helping the team move into the top four in the Bundesliga table. An own goal from Bochum's Mar

Qualifying at Sao Paulo postponed >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Poor track conditions forced Indy Racing League officials to postpone qualifying for the IZOD IndyCar Series season- opener on the streets of Sao Paulo until Sunday morning. Officials made the decis

Temple crushes Rhode Island in A-10 semis >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Brooks scored 16 points as 17th- ranked Temple cruised past Rhode Island, 57-44, in an Atlantic 10 semifinal. Juan Fernandez added 14 points and dished out seven assists while Lavoy Allen had n

Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.