No. 15 Villanova opens Big East slate at Marquette
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
01/01/2009 - Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Villanova Wildcats and the Marquette Golden Eagles are set to collide in what should be a tremendous Big East Conference opener.
Villanova owns a stellar 12-1 record and has won four straight decisions since suffering its only loss to a strong Texas squad. The Wildcats are fresh off a 62-45 victory over city rival Temple on Monday, and while most of the wins thus far have come over mediocre competition, the league slate will present plenty of stiff tests.
As for Marquette, it has fallen out of the national rankings, but the team would likely regain a spot with a victory over Villanova. The Golden Eagles are currently riding a three-game win streak that includes an 84-45 romp over Presbyterian on Sunday. They are 11-2 overall, including a perfect 9-0 at home.
Villanova owns a 6-5 lead in the all-time series with Marquette, but the Golden Eagles have won the last two meetings.
Four players are averaging double figures in scoring for Villanova, which is generating 74.2 ppg. The Wildcats have played tremendous defense, limiting foes to 57.6 ppg on 37.9 percent shooting from the floor. They are outrebounding their opponents by nearly seven boards per contest and are shooting a healthy 76.4 percent from the foul line. Dante Cunningham is netting 16.9 ppg for coach Jay Wright's team while pulling down 7.5 rpg. He also leads the squad with 23 steals and 16 blocks while shooting 56.3 percent. Scottie Reynolds checks in with 14.2 ppg, but his 37.4 percent shooting is poor. On a positive note, Reynolds is dishing out 4.4 apg. Corey Stokes (11.4 ppg) and Corey Fisher (10.0 ppg) round out the foursome. Outstanding defense was key to the recent win over Temple, as 'Nova held its rival to 31.3 percent shooting from the field while earning a 36-29 rebounding advantage. Fisher was tremendous in that tilt, as he poured in 23 points off the bench on the strength of a 4-of-4 showing from three-point range.
Wesley Matthews continues to lead a balanced Marquette attack with 19.2 ppg on 50.4 percent shooting from the floor, and there are three other double-digit scorers in the fold to help carry the load. Lazar Hayward, the club's best frontcourt performer, provides 17.2 ppg and 9.5 rpg, while Jerel McNeal checks in with 17.1 ppg. As for Dominic James, he adds 10.9 ppg to go along with team highs of 68 assists and 25 steals. Marquette is posting 81.5 ppg while allowing only 67.2 ppg. Hayward was tremendous in the victory over Presbyterian on Sunday, as he scored 22 points on the strength of a 5-of-9 effort from behind the arc, and he also ripped down 11 boards. As for Matthews, he added 21 points for Marquette, which finished with 23 assists against eight turnovers. Maurice Acker played only 16 minutes off the bench but finished with 10 assists.
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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.