Butler hopes to continue winning ways in Motor City

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Butler Bulldogs continue to be the class of the Horizon League, and they hope to score yet another win in today's meeting with the Detroit Titans.

On Thursday, Butler once again showed its toughness by knocking off a solid Loyola-Chicago team on the road by a 70-66 final in overtime. The victory was the fourth in a row for the Bulldogs, who are a stellar 18-2 overall this season, including 6-1 against Horizon League foes.

With back-to-back wins, Detroit has managed to improve to 7-12 overall and 4-4 in conference. Like Butler, the Titans also recorded an overtime victory, as the 91-84 decision over Wisconsin-Milwukee featured the team's best offensive output of the season by a wide margin.

Butler holds a 33-27 edge in the all-time series with Detroit, and the teams will meet again next month.

A.J. Graves was the hero once again for Butler in the win over Loyola-Chicago just two days ago, as the standout guard nailed three shots from behind the arc in overtime. Graves finished with 26 points, and the fact that he missed two free throw attempts in the contest was surprising considering that he entered the contest as the nation's most efficient shooter from the charity stripe. Pete Campbell pitched in 12 points for the Bulldogs, who only committed seven turnovers in 45 minutes of action. Defensively, they limited Loyola to 34.3 percent shooting. All of the positives enabled the squad to overcome a 48-35 rebounding disadvantage. Graves is averaging 18.6 ppg this season and is undoubtedly a front-runner for Horizon League Player of the Year honors. Mike Green adds 13.4 ppg to the lineup for the Bulldogs, and Brandon Crone is contributing 10.6 ppg.

Prior to scoring 91 points on Thursday night, Detroit had been held to 66 or fewer points in nine consecutive outings and had not surpassed 73 points in any game. The Titans shot 50.8 percent from the floor against Wisconsin- Milwaukee, and they racked up 20 assists in the contest. A 41-22 rebounding advantage, including 17-9 on the offensive glass, certainly helped the team. Jon Goode scored a team-high 18 points off the bench to lead the way, and Ryvon Covile finished with 15 points and nine rebounds. Detroit also got 14 points apiece from Chris Hayes, Brandon Bell and Brandon Cotton. Cotton is the team's leading scorer through 19 games with 17.9 ppg, and he is netting an even more impressive 19.5 ppg against league foes. As for Covile, he is averaging 13.2 ppg and 11.3 rpg overall. The Titans are far from explosive at the offensive end, as they are only scoring 61.9 ppg this season.

Breeederscup NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Tide puts perfect home record on line
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa is the site of today's SEC battle between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Alabama Crimson Tide. Not much has gone right for Arkansas lately, as the team has lost four of it

<< Trojans attempt to slay Golden Bears in Berkeley
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an attempt to salvage something from their trip to the Bay Area, the 25th-ranked USC Trojans will take on the California Golden Bears in Pac-10 play from Haas Pavilion this evening. The Tro

<< Top-25 Pac-10 tilt features Oregon at Washington State
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 battle in the Pac-10 takes place in the Pacific Northwest this evening, as the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks take on the 20th-ranked Washington State Cougars from Friel Court in Pullman

<< Sooners attempt to continue mastery of Aggies
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting in a logjam atop the Big 12 standings, the sixth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies return home to the friendly confines of Reed Arena, as they play host to the Oklahoma Sooners in confere

<< Top-25 battle pits Tar Heels against Wildcats
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A rare non-conference treat late in the season takes place in the desert this afternoon, as the fourth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels come calling on the 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats in Tucson.

Big Ten foes meet in Bloomington >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time rivals will meet in Bloomington this afternoon, as 23rd-ranked Indiana and Michigan collide in a Big Ten Conference contest. Michigan carried a two-game win streak into Wednesday

Memphis goes in search of ninth straight win >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The premier team in Conference USA is the 11th-ranked Memphis Tigers, and they welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to town this afternoon. With back-to-back wins, Southern Miss has improve

Red Storm seek upset in Steel City >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. John's Red Storm are coming off a big-time win over a league opponent, and they will attempt to score a Big East upset on the road today against the ninth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. St.

BYU puts lengthy home winning streak on line vs. Air Force >>
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BYU Cougars put the nation's third-longest home winning streak on the line today as they battle the 16th-ranked Air Force Falcons in Mountain West Conference action from the Marriott Center. Trailin

WAC rivals lock horns in Reno >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah State Aggies take on their toughest opponent of the season tonight as they matchup against the 18th-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack in Western Athletic Conference action from the Lawlor Events

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

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.