Wildcats and Golden Eagles square off in Big East Tourney

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams that have a history of playing close games meet in the quarterfinal round of the Big East Tournament today, as the fifth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles battle the fourth-seeded and 10th-ranked Villanova Wildcats at Madison Square Garden.

These clubs met twice this past January, with Villanova capturing a two-point victory in each clash. Those meetings came after the Wildcats claimed a thrilling 76-75 victory over the Eagles in the quarterfinals of last year's Big East Tournament. Thanks to the narrow wins, Villanova now owns a 10-6 all- time record against Marquette.

If the Wildcats are to continue their recent success against the Eagles however, they will have to play better than they did down the stretch. After winning 22 of its first 24 games, Villanova dropped four its final six to fall out of contention for a Big East title. Furthermore, the late slide dropped the team into a three-way tie for second place, earning the fourth seed after the tie-breakers were worked out. Still, the Wildcats received a double-bye for the second straight year with a 13-5 finish, and they are just one win away from a fifth semifinals appearance in the last seven years.

The Eagles meanwhile, were one of the hottest teams coming down the stretch, winning nine of their last 11 games of the regular season. Marquette, which has had a knack for playing close games, continued its run and trend of tight games with a 57-55 nipping of 13th-seeded St. John's in second-round play yesterday.

The winner of this game will move on to face the victor of the Syracuse/Georgetown pairing in the semifinals on Friday.

The Eagles blew a 14-point lead yesterday, but David Cubillan's three-pointer with 1.11 to play put them back on top for good in a 57-55 win over SJU. Lazar Hayward tacked on two free throws with 35 seconds left to provide a cushion for Marquette, which drained 10-of-18 long-range buckets on the day. Hayward finished with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Cubillan posted 11 points. A second-team all-Big East choice, Hayward led the Eagles in scoring (18.0 ppg) as well as rebounding (7.8 rpg) during the regular season. Jimmy Butler and Darius Johnson-Odom followed with 15.2 and 12.9 ppg respectively, but they combined for just 10 points yesterday.

The Wildcats are an explosive team that finished the regular-season averaging a healthy 82.8 ppg, while shooting 37.2 percent from downtown and 75.1 percent at the foul line. Scottie Reynolds is the driving force behind this attack and the first-team all-league choice leads Villanova in scoring (18.8 ppg) as well as steals (47). A 39.9 percent three-point shooter, Reynolds also dishes out 3.4 apg. Corey Fisher, who earned a spot on the all-league third-team, checks in with 13.5 ppg and he distributes a team-best 4.0 apg. Antonio Pena is the team's top option down low and he puts forth 10.8 ppg and a team-high 7.4 rpg.

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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.