08/14/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The race for National League East supremacy seems much like a see-saw, with teams either sharing the lead or trading the top spot on several occasions.
The New York Mets are back at the top of the heap tied with the Philadelphia Phillies thanks to a recent surge, but the Florida Marlins are right on track at 1 1/2 games behind both clubs. The Mets have won two straight, five of seven and six of the last nine games following a four-game losing streak. After handing Washington a 4-3 loss in the series opener on Tuesday, the Mets answered with a 12-0 demolition of the Nats on Wednesday.
Daniel Murphy clubbed a two-run homer and ended with three RBI, while Fernando Tatis homered and drove in two runs for the Mets, who got a two-run double from Carlos Beltran in the win. New York, which is unbeaten on a seven-game road trip and 28-33 as the visitor this season, will begin a four-game series with Pittsburgh on Friday.
Mets starter John Maine, who was activated from the 15-day disabled list before the game, allowed just one hit and struck out six over five innings last night to pick up the win. Maine had been shelved with a mild strain of his right rotator cuff.
New York will send Oliver Perez to the mound against Washington tonight, and he is 8-7 with a 3.90 earned run average in 24 starts this season. Perez has won two of his last three trips to the hill and has alternated wins and losses over his previous nine decisions.
Perez was impressive in his last start on August 8 versus the Florida Marlins in a 3-0 victory at Shea Stadium. He held the Marlins to a pair of hits through seven scoreless frames, while fanning eight batters.
The lefty, who is just 4-5 in 13 away starts this season, will face Washington for the second time in 2008. Perez was handed the loss on April 24 after permitting five runs in 5 2/3 innings of his team's 10-5 loss. He is 2-3 with a 5.74 ERA in six career starts against the Nationals.
Washington will try to stop a six-game losing streak on Thursday. Lastings Milledge had one of the Nationals four hits last night and is riding a career- high 14-game hitting streak.
Nationals starter Jason Bergmann absorbed the loss after he was reached for 10 runs -- six earned -- on eight hits in just three innings. The right-hander also walked six and struck out one batter.
Washington youngster Collin Balester will pitch against the Mets for the first time in his career when he toes the rubber on Thursday. Balester has dropped two of three starts and four of his previous five decisions.
The righty was handed the loss on August 8 at Milwaukee after surrendering four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in five innings of a 5-0 defeat. He also struck out four batters and issued one walk.
Balester, who is 1-2 in three home starts this season, has lasted at least five innings in all but one of his seven starts this season.
New York has won seven of the 11 meetings with the last-place Nationals so far this season.
<< NCAA Football Preview - USC Trojans
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: The USC Trojans entered last season once again as the
team to beat in the Pac-10, and did not hesitate to flex their muscle in the
season opener, as the team pounded Idaho, 38-10. The T
<< NCAA Football Preview - UCLA Bruins
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) -
2007 SEASON IN REVIEW: Last season the Bruins opened the campaign ranked 14th
in the nation, and after victories over Stanford (45-17) and BYU (27-17) UCLA
moved up to 11th in the country, but after that the
<< Shields leads Rays against A's at McAfee Coliseum
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Shields tries for his seventh win in his last 10
outings this afternoon, as his Tampa Bay Rays close out a three-game series
with the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum.
Shields is 6-2 with an earned run
<< KC tries to plate runs in finale at Chicago
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have been unable to plate any runs
in this series with Chicago, and today face a young hurler they failed to
score against in his major-league debut.
With Lance Broadway set to take the hil
Glavine returns from DL in finale with Cubs >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Braves are expected to have Tom Glavine back on
the mound tonight, when they close out a three-game series versus the Chicago
Cubs at Turner Field.
Glavine has been on the disabled list since June 11 with a sor
Playoff hopefuls conclude set in South Beach >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have to be frustrated with the way
the red-hot Milwaukee Brewers have been playing lately. The Cardinals are four
games behind the Brewers in the NL Wild Card standings, but their Central
division riva
Penguins break ground on new arena >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins broke ground on
their new arena Thursday.
The new multi-purpose facility, which is located beside Mellon Arena, is
slated to open in time for the 2010-11 season.
Among
Blake ousts Federer from Olympics; Williams sisters out of singles >>
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Blake has finally slayed the dragon.
The eighth-seeded Blake had been 0-8 against Super Swiss Roger Federer going
into Thursday's tennis quarterfinal match at the Olympics, but the American
pulled out
Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.
Right behind the Gators are the 5th ranked UNC Tar Heels at 9-2. The Heels (21-3, 7-2) are absolutely loaded with top notch talent and are as deep as any team in the country. A concern for the Tar Heels might be inexperience. Of their top four scorers/ minute earners, three are freshmen and the other is a sophomore. The rest of the regular season, the Tar Heels play only one team that is currently ranked (Duke). Their remaining opponents do combine for an impressive 107-58 record though.
Other teams that the MySportsbook.com members seem to believe will win it all include the west coasts’ top team #2 UCLA (6-1), #3 OSU behind man-child Greg Oden (8-1), and #4 Wisconsin (10-1) behind their defense which has given up 70+ points only three times all season.
Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.
Arizona 20-1
Butler 20-1
Duke 30-1
Florida 7-2
Georgetown 30-1
Indiana 35-1
Kansas 15-1
Marquette 25-1
Maryland 40-1
Memphis 50-1
Nevada 50-1
UNC 9-2
OSU 8-1
Oregon 30-1
Pittsburgh 15-1
Texas 30-1
Texas A&M 18-1
UCLA 6-1
Wisconsin 10-1
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.
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.
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