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03/18/2010 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back in the NCAA Tournament after a two- year absence, the Florida Gators open first-round play of the 72nd annual event this afternoon as they tangle with the BYU Cougars in the West Regional at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City.
Florida is a 10 seed in the tourney, and the team kicked off the 2009-10 campaign with eight straight wins, but then hit the wall against SEC foes. The team nearly locked itself out of the NCAA Tournament with three straight losses to close out the regular season, but picked up a victory in the SEC Tournament before bowing to Mississippi State in a 75-69 final last Friday.
The Gators have made the Final Four four times in school history, with three of those coming with Billy Donovan as the head coach. In fact, it was Donovan who led Florida to back-to-back national championships in 2006 and 2007. The program is 22-7 in the tourney under his direction and 29-12 overall in 15 previous appearances.
As for the Cougars, they were named the seventh seed in the West Region as they make their 25th appearance in the tournament. BYU is in the tourney for the fourth straight year, but the team has failed to get out of the first round since 1993 when it defeated SMU in the Midwest Regional by a final of 80-71. Taking into account the squad's 90-76 setback to Kansas that year, the Cougars have dropped eight in a row in the tournament.
This season the Cougars were one of the teams to beat in the Mountain West Conference, putting together a 13-3 league mark and a 29-5 record overall, which is a new school record for wins in a single season and marks the fourth straight campaign in which the squad has reached at least 25 victories.
As far as the all-time series between these two teams is concerned, BYU has won both previous meetings, the most recent of those coming in Orlando back in 1991 by a score of 79-73. Prior to that, the first meeting was back in 1959 with the Cougars posting a 74-65 triumph.
The winner of this game will be back in action on Saturday against the survivor of the North Texas/Kansas State bout.
Thanks to some early wins over weak opponents, the Gators were able to pad their defensive stats a bit and after 33 games are showing that they are giving up just 65.4 ppg. From an offensive standpoint the squad boasts five double-digit scorers, beginning with Kenny Boynton and his 13.6 ppg, and even though he has made more three-pointers than anyone else on the roster (67), his mere 28.5 percent accuracy out on the perimeter is poor to say the least. Add to that his 37.1 percent shooting from the floor overall and it is easy to see why the squad shot a collective 44.4 percent this season. Erving Walker (12.6 ppg) was a key to getting the offense into gear with his team-best 162 assists and not so much his 34.3 percent shooting from the field. Chandler Parsons (12.1 ppg) and Alex Tyus (12.0 ppg) each shot at least 50 percent from the field and cleared 6.8 rpg, while Vernon Macklin (10.4 ppg) proved to be picky with his shot selection, resulting in his 60.1 percent effort from the floor.
Jimmer Fredette, who scored 18 points and logged four steals in the loss to Texas A&M in the first round of this tournament last year, is clearly the top threat for the Cougars again this time around. An All-MWC First-Team selection for the second time in his career, Fredette might be the most explosive offensive player the Gators will have seen all season as he became the first player in BYU history to have two 40-point games in his career, with both of them coming this season. Fredette put up 21.7 ppg over the course of his 32 appearances, shooting a staggering 89.6 percent at the free-throw line and 44.8 percent behind the three-point line, all while handing out a team-best 151 assists. Jackson Emery (12.6 ppg) and Tyler Haws (11.3 ppg) were also key starters for BYU this season, combining to average almost nine rebounds per outing as well. Bringing Jonathan Tavernari (10.3 ppg, 4.5 rpg) off the bench now means the Cougars have one of the best reserves in the MWC for a team that has outscored the opposition by almost 18 ppg this season.
<< Grizzlies battle Lobos in first round of 2010 NCAA Tournament
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament's
East Region features a matchup between the third-seeded New Mexico Lobos and
the 14th-seeded Montana Grizzlies.
The winner of this tilt will battle either sixth-se
<< No. 1 seed Kentucky opens NCAA Tournament against 16th-seeded ETSU
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats begin play
in the 2010 NCAA Tournament with first-round clash against the 16th-seeded
East Tennessee State Buccaneers in the East Region.
The winner of this clash will take
<< No. 2 seed Kansas State begins tournament play against North Texas
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Expecting big things in the 72nd NCAA
Tournament, the Kansas State Wildcats begin play in their 24th appearance in
the event as they tangle with the North Texas Mean Green at the Ford Center in
Oklahoma City
<< Hoyas and Bobcats clash in Midwest Regional
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-seeded Ohio University Bobcats are
out to continue their magical run tonight, as they lock up with the third-
seeded Georgetown Hoyas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the
Dunkin' Donuts Cen
Midwest Regional affair pits Panthers against Rebels >>
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers
mix it up with the eighth-seeded UNLV Runnin' Rebels in the first round of the
NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional tonight at the Ford Center. The winner of
this game w
Spiders and Gaels meet in South Region's first round >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-round action in the South Region will
take place this afternoon at the Dunkin' Donuts Center when the seventh-seeded
Richmond Spiders take on the 10th-seeded Saint Mary's Gaels.
The Gaels are participa
Wake Forest and Texas do battle in 2010 NCAA Tournament >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The East Region of the 2010 NCAA Tournament
features a first-round matchup between the eighth-seeded Texas Longhorns and
the ninth-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons.
Awaiting the winner of this tilt is a sec
Washington and Marquette meet in first round of 2010 NCAA Tournament >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles and
the 11th-seeded Washington Huskies will meet in the first round of the NCAA
Tournament's East Region.
Up next for the winner of this contest is a second-round clash
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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