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02/11/2012 - Princeton, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Harvard Crimson will look to add onto their best start in school history as they head to Jadwin Gym to take on the dangerous Princeton Tigers in Ivy League action.
This will be the first of two scheduled meetings between the Crimson and Princeton this season. The Tigers hold a 127-39 lead in the all-time series. Harvard is currently in sole possession of first place in the conference with a 7-0 league record, while Princeton is 3.5 games back with a 3-3 mark in Ivy League action.
Harvard basketball has never had the spotlight shining on it like has this season. While alum Jeremy Lin was making national headlines with a sensational performance in the NBA, Harvard continued its success on Friday as it downed the Penn Quakers 56-50 in Philadelphia to pick up their ninth win in a row. Harvard displayed its excellent defense against the Quakers, and forced Penn's star point guard Zack Rosen to go 6-of-21 from the floor. The Crimson's only two losses this season have come to Connecticut and Fordham, both on the road. Head coach Tommy Amaker led the squad to some impressive victories this season, including triumphs over Florida State, UCF, and Saint Joseph's. While scoring 65.7 ppg on the offensive end, the Harvard Crimson ranked third in the nation in scoring defense with an allowed average of just 53.6 ppg.
Corbin Miller, who averages 3.4 ppg this season, came up big off the bench for Harvard on Friday night as he scored 17 points in 18 minutes to push his team past Penn. Kyle Casey contributed 15 points in the victory while Keith Wright grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds. Laurent Rivard leads the team in scoring with 11.3 ppg, while Keith Wright carries averages of 10.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Brandyn Curry controls the offense and hands out 5.0 assists per outing.
Princeton is going to be a very difficult opponent for Harvard. The Tigers are only 12-10 overall, but they have picked up some surprising victories along the way, including road wins over Florida State and Rutgers. Head coach Mitch Henderson's squad defeated Dartmouth 59-47 on Friday night to add their second win in three tries. The Tigers carry a scoring offense average of 64.0 ppg while they allow opponents to score 61.9 ppg.
Ian Hummer is pacing the Tigers with 16.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Douglas Davis is second on the team with 13.6 ppg and has hit a team-high 59 three-pointers. Davis led the charge on Friday with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor. Brendan Connolly added 10 points in 15 minutes off the bench in the contest. Ian Hummer will need to completely bounce back after a terrible 0-of-11 shooting night against Dartmouth.
<< Staal set to return as Pens host Jets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The well-rested Pittsburgh Penguins hope a three-game
homestand and the return of Jordan Staal can get them back on track today, as
they'll try to avoid losing for the fourth time in five games when they host
the Winnipeg Jet
<< Sens try to build momentum vs. Oilers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a lengthy losing streak finally over, the Ottawa
Senators hope they can keep heading in the right direction when they host the
Edmonton Oilers today at Scotiabank Place.
The Senators went 0-6-1 from Jan. 21-Feb. 7, bu
<< Spurs take Rodeo Road Trip to New Jersey
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Antonio will resume its annual Rodeo Road Trip on
Saturday in New Jersey by welcoming back Manu Ginobili to the lineup.
Ginobili, who has missed more than a month with a broken left hand, will
likely come off the bench
<< Love meets Linsanity at Target Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's time for New York's Jeremy Lin to experience a little
"Love" when the Knicks visit the Timberwolves on Saturday.
"Linsanity" was in full force Friday in Madison Square Garden when Lin
continued his unlikely rise from
Bearcats hope to clip wings of 18th-ranked Golden Eagles >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles will
try to keep pace in the race for the Big East Conference regular-season title,
as they entertain the Cincinnati Bearcats today at the Bradley Center in
Milwaukee.
'Canes and 'Noles duke it out in ACC action >>
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle of Sunshine State foes in the ACC
takes place in Tallahassee this afternoon, as the Miami-Florida Hurricanes do
battle with the 15th-ranked Florida State Seminoles.
Miami comes in seeking its sixth
Spartans battle Buckeyes in pivotal Big Ten brawl >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As if they could squeeze any more drama out of
this evening's Big Ten Conference showdown with the 11th-ranked Michigan State
Spartans, the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will be seeking their 40th
straight hom
Racers seek turnaround against Governors >>
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Now that the ninth-ranked Murray State Racers
have finally lost their first game, they can now turn their attention to
winning their third straight Ohio Valley Conference regular season
championship, when they host
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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