Top-25 Pac-10 tilt features Oregon at Washington State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 battle in the Pac-10 takes place in the Pacific Northwest this evening, as the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks take on the 20th-ranked Washington State Cougars from Friel Court in Pullman.

The Ducks are trying to salvage their trip to the state of Washington, after dropping an 89-77 decision at UW on Thursday. The loss halted a five- game win streak for Oregon, which is now 6-2 in Pac-10 play.

The Cougars are also 6-2 in league action thanks to two straight wins, including a 70-55 pasting of Oregon State on Thursday. Both teams sit just a game behind UCLA (7-1) in the league standings.

Oregon holds a solid 152-116 lead in this longstanding series and has won each of the last 11 meetings.

The Ducks played without the Pac-10's leading scorer, as Aaron Brooks sat out the game at Washington for an incident in last year's Pac-10 Tournament. The Ducks suffered a 12-point loss without their leader, despite shooting .547 from the floor and having six players finish in double figures. Bryce Taylor led the way with 19 points. Chamberlain Oguchi followed with 15 points, with Tajuan Porter (11 pts) behind him. Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Ray Schafer all tallied 10 points in the loss. Oregon lost the battle on the boards (33-22) and turned the ball over a costly 18 times. Brooks will be back in the lineup for this game and his 18.4 ppg will surely be welcome. Brooks is not the only one who cam fill up the basket on this roster, as Taylor is shooting .527 from the floor and pouring in 16.2 ppg. Hairston is next with 13.0 ppg, followed by Porter and Leunen at 12.9 and 11.7 ppg, respectively. Leunen is averaging a near double-double with a team-high 9.8 rpg. As a team, Oregon is netting just over 80 points per game (80.1), while allowing just 66.

The Cougars lack the offensive punch to win a shootout with Oregon, but WSU has relied more on gritty defensive play to amass its impressive 17-3 record thus far. Opponents have managed a mere 58.0 ppg this year, while shooting a mediocre .401 from the floor. Offensively, the team is averaging just 68.4 ppg, but a +10.4 scoring margin is certainly a recipe for success. The backcourt combination of Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver is where most of the offense is generated. Low leads the team with 14.3 ppg, followed by Weaver's 11.3 ppg. Daven Harmeling (9.6 ppg) and Ivory Clark (9.5 ppg) are closing in on double digits. In the 15-point win over Oregon State, Robbie Cowgill led the way with a double-double consisting of a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Weaver added 12 points to the cause, while Clark finished with 11. Low was just 3-of-7 from the floor, finishing with eight points.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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