Gophers put perfect record on line against Lions

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/23/2008 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Off to their best start since the 1976-77 season, the undefeated Minnesota Golden Gophers put their brand new top-25 ranking on the line this evening, as they play host to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions, from Williams Arena in Minneapolis.

In the top-25 for the first time since 2002, the 23rd-ranked Golden Gophers have certainly enjoyed some home-cooking this season, as nine of their 10 wins have come in the friendly confines of Williams Arena. The team will enjoy its stay at home for a couple more weeks, as the Gophers won't hit the road again until January 8th at Iowa. Tubby Smith's squad certainly showed that it belongs in the national polls, coming off a thrilling 70-64 victory over top-10 foe Louisville last weekend to move to 10-0 on the season.

The Lions have enjoyed a successful start to the season as well, sporting a 6-4 overall mark. Jim Yarbrough's team enters this contest with a modest two- game winning streak, topping Millsaps College (85-56) and Jackson State (70-51) in the last week.

This is just the second all-time meeting between these two teams. Minnesota edged out SE Louisiana in their 2006 matchup, 63-61.

With a dominant performance from center Patrick Sullivan, the Lions cruised to victory over Jackson State this past weekend. Sullivan recorded a double- double with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while also blocking three shots. With the effort defensively, Sullivan became the school's all-time shot-blocker, with 134. Joining Sullivan offensively were Kevyn Green and Chris Cyprian, who tallied 18 and 13 points, respectively. Warrell Span aided Sullivan on the boards, with 10 caroms to go along with an eight-point effort. The Lions are a dangerous offensive team, averaging 80.7 ppg thus far, thanks to a steady .494 shooting. Green is a big reason for the shooting acumen, as he is hitting 50.7 percent from the floor, including a sizzling .486 from behind the arc (36- of-74). The result is a team-high 20.0 ppg. Span and Sullivan provide balance with 12.0 and 11.9 ppg, respectively. Both get the job done on the boards as well, with Sullivan pacing the team with 8.2 rpg, followed closely by Span (7.3 rpg).

It was arguably the biggest win for Tubby Smith at Minnesota last weekend, as Gophers were able to top a strong Louisville program in Glendale, Arizona. Point guard Al Nolen was instrumental in the victory, as he notched 18 points, thanks to 13-of-17 from the free-throw line, including 6-of-6 down the stretch. The return of shooting guard Blake Hoffarber from injury was critical, as he hit four three-pointers and netted 15 points off the bench. Swingman Travis Busch was strong in relief as well, adding 13 points and six rebounds. The defense did the rest, as Minnesota limited the explosive Cardinals to just 37 percent shooting and a mere 64 points, 16 points below Louisville's season average. The Gophers are not an offensive juggernaut by any stretch, but the team does make the most of its trips down the floor, averaging 73.5 ppg, on a healthy .473 shooting. The defensive pressure is what fuels Minnesota, with opponents averaging a meager 61.2 ppg this year and being held under 40 percent shooting overall (.381). Lawrence Westbrook is the team's top offensive threat, averaging a modest 12.9 ppg. He is followed in double digits by Damian Johnson (10.7ppg). Hoffarber and Nolan are flirting with double figures at 9.9 and 9.2 ppg, respectively. Nolen has been superb as a distributor, averaging 6.0 apg, while turning the ball over a measly 17 times over the first 10 games.

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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.