Football Betting

Lions visit Gaels in pivotal WCC clash

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/15/2012 - Moraga, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 21st-ranked Saint Mary's-CA Gaels put their perfect home record on the line for the final time this season, as they entertain the Lions of Loyola Marymount in a West Coast Conference clash tonight at McKeon Pavilion.

Loyola Marymount is enjoying a solid season, as the team is 16-10 overall and 9-4 in conference. The Lions, who are playing their fourth game in nine days, are coming off a 78-59 loss at Gonzaga, the setback putting an end to their recent four-game win streak. LMU is 8-3 in true road games this year, and the recent loss to the Bulldogs snapped a six-game road winning streak.

Saint Mary's is a stellar 23-3 on the year, 12-1 in WCC action, and the team's 16-0 home record is the best in school history. The only other undefeated home season was in 1958-59 (8-0). The Gaels, who are one of only eight teams nationally to have won at least 25 games in each of the previous four seasons, took out Santa Clara in their most recent outing, 82-67, rebounding from its first loss since before Christmas as it fell to league rival Gonzaga, 73-59, last Thursday.

SMC owns a 77-53 lead in the all-time series with LMU, and the Gaels have won the last 11 meetings, including a 71-64 decision in Los Angeles back on January 26.

Drew Viney scored 24 points and Anthony Ireland tallied 23, but those efforts went for naught as Loyola Marymount suffered a 19-point loss at Gonzaga last Saturday. No other Lion scored more than three points, as the team shot just 39.3 percent from the floor in scoring its fewest points since putting up a mere 58, also against Gonzaga, on January 14. LMU went just 6-of-23 from three-point range and grabbed only 24 rebounds, compared to 37 caroms for the Bulldogs, who finished the game at 51.9 percent field goal efficiency while laying claim to a 17-9 edge in points from the foul line. Viney and Ireland rank one-two on the team's scoring list for the year, netting 16.3 and 15.4 ppg, respectively. Jared DuBois and Ashley Hamilton round out the unit's double-digit scorers with 10.4 ppg apiece, with Ireland serving as the team's primary playmaker (4.7 apg) and Viney its leading rebounder (5.4 rpg). Collectively, the Lions are hitting their field goal attempts at a 42.9 percent clip, netting 70.8 ppg along the way, while permitting 67.8 ppg by holding the opposition to a mere 29.2 percent accuracy out on the perimeter.

Rob Jones logged a double-double consisting of 25 points and 12 rebounds to help push Saint Mary's past Santa Clara last Saturday. In addition to Jones' impressive effort, Matthew Dellavedova was credited with his own double-double as he tallied 16 points and 10 assists, while Stephen Holt chipped in 11 points for the Gaels, who drained 52.6 percent of their field goal attempts, hit 6-of-14 three-point tries and committed a mere eight turnovers. Dellavedova (15.7 ppg, 6.4 apg), Jones (15.0 ppg, 10.6 rpg) and Holt (10.8 ppg, 4.8 rpg) are SMC's trio of double-digit scorers on the season, and the team as a whole is generating 76.5 ppg on 47.9 percent shooting, which includes a 36.2 percent showing from beyond the arc. Defensively, the Gaels allow just 61.6 ppg on typical shooting outputs of 42.2 percent overall and 36.3 percent from three-point land. They dominate the glass to the tune of a +7.3 rebounding margin, and they are +1.0 in turnover differential as well.

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Dallas Cowboys Super Bowl Odds

Will he or won't he?  Now that the Dallas Cowboys have a new head coach in Wade Phillips, the big question will be: Does Terrell Owens stay with the team.

Jerry Jones continues to suggest that Terrell Owens will remain with the team.

"I've said that he's back, he's here, he's under contract," Jones said. "In the interviews I've just been through (to hire a new coach), it was very clear to me how highly he's thought of and how much of an impact he had on our offensive success."

Just to be sure though, Terrell Owens cleared out his locker and removed his name plate.

Terrell Owens was among the Cowboys most productive players this past season, catching 85 passes for 1,180 yards and a league-best 13 touchdowns.

But T.O. is due a $3 million roster bonus in June, then a $5 million salary this season. Cutting him before then would save a lot of money and headaches.

Aside from the questions surrounding Terrell Owens, the oddsmakers at MySportsbook.com have concerns over starting quarterback Tony Romo's state of mind and whether he will remain a starting quarterback.  It is also not known how players will adjust to new head coach, Wade Phillips.

Here are the football odds as seen at MySportsbook.com and subject to change after February 10, 2007 if not locked in prior to that date.
Arizona Cardinals 60-1


Atlanta Falcons 50-1


Baltimore Ravens 15-1


Buffalo Bills 50-1


Carolina Panthers 18-1


Chicago Bears 10-1


Cincinnati Bengals 15-1


Cleveland Browns 100-1


Dallas Cowboys 15-1


Denver Broncos 15-1


Detroit Lions 100-1


Green Bay Packers 50-1


Houston Texans 100-1


Indianapolis Colts 6-1


Jacksonville Jaguars 30-1


Kansas City Chiefs 30-1


Miami Dolphins 40-1


Minnesota Vikings 75-1


New England Patriots 10-1


New Orleans Saints 18-1


New York Giants 20-1


New York Jets 30-1


Oakland Raiders 100-1


Philadelphia Eagles 18-1


Pittsburgh Steelers 10-1


Saint Louis Rams 60-1


San Diego Chargers 6-1


San Francisco 49ers 75-1


Seattle Seahawks 20-1


Tampa Bay Buccanneers 75-1


Tennessee Titans 40-1


Washington Redskins 50-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook credit cards needs.

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.