Bonnies seek A-10 tourney upset of top-seeded Owls

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two-time defending Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Champions, the 17th-ranked Temple Owls, hit the floor at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the 34th annual event versus the Bonnies of St. Bonaventure.

Top-seeded Temple is trying to become just the second school in A-10 history to string together three straight conference tournament titles, second only to UMass which ran off five in a row in the 1990s. The Owls have run off a seven- game win streak and part of that was the team's 73-55 rout of the Bonnies in New York back in February.

Temple has won more games (49) in this tournament over the years and has the most crowns (eight) than any other program. When taking part in the quarterfinals, the Owls have won all but two of their 26 matchups. As the top seed in the tourney, Temple has a record of 10-1, winning the championship three times.

As for the Bonnies, this year's eighth seed, they took care of ninth-seeded Duquesne in the first round on Tuesday night at home in the Reilly Center. Unfortunately, St. Bonaventure has had very little success in the event, posting a 13-26 record and failing to bring home a trophy to this point.

In terms of the all-time series between these two schools, not only has Temple won both meetings during the A-10 Tournament previously, the Owls hold a commanding 50-6 mark after capturing the regular-season meeting last month.

The winner of this matchup will be back on the hardwood tomorrow versus the winner of the Rhode Island/Saint Louis battle in the semifinals.

Andrew Nicholson is the focal point of the offense for the Bonnies with his 16.5 ppg, stemming from 58 percent shooting from the field and 76 percent accuracy at the free-throw line. In addition, Nicholson also leads the group on the glass with better than seven boards per game, although that still doesn't make up for the fact that he has but 14 assists this entire season. Jonathan Hall picks up the slack in the passing department with his 100 dishes over 27 games, adding in another 13.1 ppg and almost six rebounds per contest to make himself into a complete player. Chris Matthews checks in with 12.7 ppg, thanks in large part to his 98-of-251 effort out on the perimeter. Against the Dukes earlier this week, Matthews erupted for a game-high 28 points on 6-of-8 shooting behind the three-point line, followed by Nicholson with 25 points and seven rebounds and Hall who recorded 10 points, seven boards and five assists.

Head coach Fran Dunphy has put himself in the running for national coach of the year honors by stressing defense with the Owls this season. As a result, Temple has limited opponents to just 56.8 ppg, one of the best marks in all of college basketball. Those foes have converted only 38.1 percent from the field and a feeble 27.8 percent behind the three-point line. At the offensive end of the floor, Ryan Brooks heads the list of scorers with his 14.5 ppg, thanks in large part to being only one of two players to have started every game this season. Juan Fernandez (12.2 ppg) has stepped up to become a true perimeter threat with his 44.7 percent accuracy and at the same time has kept defenses on their heels by handing out a team-best 105 assists as well. Lavoy Allen is the one who does the dirty work in the paint with his 11.7 points and team- best 10.8 rpg, helping to provide the Owls with a rebounding advantage of nearly five per game.

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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.