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01/26/2007 - Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brook Lopez easily had the best game of his young career, recording a triple-double with 18 points, 11 rebounds and a school-record 12 blocks to lead Stanford to a 65-50 upset of 25th-ranked USC.
Lawrence Hill also scored 18 points while grabbing nine boards and blocking four shots for the Cardinal (13-5, 5-3), who have won five of their last six games. Anthony Goods contributed 10 points for Stanford and Mitch Johnson chipped in with eight assists.
Nick Young scored 13 points and Taj Gibson had 11 points and eight rebounds for the Trojans (15-6, 5-3), who saw their brief two-game winning streak come to a crashing halt.
Stanford was all over USC from the start, ripping off 10 straight points to grab an early 12-2 lead on Johnson's jumper. Then, after Gibson's layup brought the Trojans within 24-15 with just under seven minutes left in the first half, a Lopez layup preceded back-to-back threes by Hill and Johnson that gave the Cardinal a 32-15 advantage with 4:21 remaining.
Stanford took a 37-20 lead into the locker room and held USC at arm's length in the second half to pull off the upset. Gabriel Pruitt's layup brought the Trojans within 55-46 with just over two minutes remaining, but Lopez responded with a basket and Johnson followed with two free throws as Stanford pulled away down the stretch.
Game Notes
Legendary San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh was in attendance along with USC football coach Pete Carroll and recently hired Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh...Stanford set a school record with 19 blocks.
<< Washington upends No. 7 Oregon
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Dentmon scored 24 points and dished out
six assists as Washington toppled seventh-ranked Oregon, 89-77, at Bank of
America Arena.
Ryan Appleby donated 16 points while Spencer Hawes ended with 1
<< Sun Devils roar past Cal
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jill Noe poured in a season-best 19 points and
added seven rebounds to pace 10th-ranked Arizona State past No. 20 California,
66-54, at Wells Fargo Arena.
Emily Westerberg scored 15 points and Briann January
<< Sessions, Nevada rout Louisiana Tech
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ramon Sessions dropped in 21 points on 8-of-12
shooting to guide No. 18 Nevada past Louisiana Tech, 84-67, at Lawlor Events
Center.
Sessions also had seven rebounds and six assists while Nick Fazekas scored
<< No. 9 Stanford downs Arizona
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brooke Smith scored 20 points and grabbed 10
rebounds as ninth-ranked Stanford held on to beat Arizona, 86-76, to remain
perfect in the Pac-10 standings.
Candice Wiggins and Jayne Appel each scored 18
Gonzalez blasts Haas to reach Aussie Open final >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Gonzalez earned his first
trip to a Grand Slam final with a straight-set victory over Tommy Haas on
Friday in the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The 10th-seeded Gonzalez rolle
Black/Huber capture Aussie Open doubles crown >>
Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked women's doubles team
of Cara Black from Zimbabwe and Liezel Huber of South Africa bested the
Chinese Taipei team of Yung-Jan Chan and Chia-Jung Chuang, 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 6-1
to win
Super Bowl Winners Fared >>
How the Super Bowl winners fared in their next season:2006-Pittsburgh finished third in AFC North division with an 8-8 record.2005-New England lost to Denver 27-13 in AFC divisional playoff.2004-New England repeated and beat Philadelphia 24-21 in Su
Super Bowl Trivia Quiz >>
I - What was the name of the first ``Super Bowl''? (5 points).II - Indianapolis' Adam Vinatieri is making his fifth Super Bowl appearance. Who is the only player make six appearances? (5 points).III - The winning team receives the Vince Lombardi Tro
The AFC South and the NFC East are the favorite divisions to have the next Super Bowl champ among them in the NFL betting odds. But more down to the point, these football odds are in favor of the Indianapolis Colts, by far the strongest team in the AFC South, and the Dallas Cowboys of the NFC East.
Most sports fans would agree that these two teams top the list to win it all before the season even begins. In the BetUS Sportsbook football futures, the Colts are +800 in the odds to win the Super Bowl, while the Cowboys are sitting at +1000 and the Super Bowl XLIV champions New Orleans Saints at +900. In the AFC South, the Colts won the division for five straight years after the 2002 realignment, before the Tennessee Titans won it in 2008. But the Colts came back strong in 2009 to win the division again en route to the Super Bowl. The Cowboys are the favorite to win the NFC East, as well as to advance far into the post season. The Cowboys won the division last season before their horrendous loss in the NFC Divisional playoff to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings. But the ‘Boys will take that loss humbly and be ready for the playoffs this time around.
The NFC South is also very strong, at +600 in the NFL futures, considering that it is home to the defending Super Bowl champions. However, some predictions have the Atlanta Falcons with possibilities of claiming the divisional title this season in place of the Saints, as no team has won back-to-back division championships since the division realignment took place. Let’s not overlook the AFC North at +500. As TO goes to Cincinnati to join Chad OchoCinco and Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, this team looks to claim the division title again. And it is likely they will do so. The Bengals lost in the AFC Wild Card spot in a hard-fought battle against the New York Jets last season. Lest not forget the Pittsburgh Steelers, the XLII Super Bowl Champions… All these teams present interesting odds and matchups for the upcoming season, but the safest and surest bet seems to be with the Colts in the AFC South and the Cowboys in the NFC East. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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.
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