Rutgers hits road seeking upset of No. 23 Notre Dame
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/15/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Notre Dame looks to continue its surge up the conference standings Wednesday when the 23rd-ranked Fighting Irish welcome Rutgers to the Joyce Center for a Big East Conference clash.
Notre Dame made it six straight wins Saturday by handing DePaul an 84-76 loss. The hosting Irish trailed by three coming down the stretch but used a key 10-0 run to take control for good and improve to 13-1 at home this season. Notre Dame shot 66.7 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes and 59.6 percent overall while taking care of business at the foul line (16-of-18). Jerian Grant and Jack Cooley paced the effort with 22 points apiece, the latter adding a game-high 14 rebounds. Eric Atkins chipped in 14 points and handed out six assists as the Irish jumped to 9-3 in the Big East behind only Syracuse and Marquette -- both of whom have fell victim to ND during its current streak.
Rutgers was dealt a third consecutive loss and fifth in six games its last time out, falling 59-54 to Seton Hall at home. The Scarlet Knights suffered from poor shooting throughout, hitting at a 31.5-percent clip overall and 26.1 percent from three-point range (6-for-23). Yet the hosts found themselves in front after Dane Miller dropped in a three with a little more than three minutes remaining. Seton Hall answered right back with a triple of its own, though, and went on to score eight of the game's final 12 points. Mike Poole was high man for the Knights with 14 points off the bench while Eli Carter scored 13 as Rutgers stumbled to 4-8 in Big East action.
Notre Dame holds a 17-13 edge in the all-time series and has captured six of the last eight matchups, though the Scarlet Knights took a 65-58 decision January 16 in Piscataway. Rutgers is just 2-10 all-time on the road in this series with Notre Dame winning each of the last seven home matchups. The Irish notched a 78-69 win at the Joyce Center last season, while Rutgers' last win in South Bend came during the 1998-99 season.
The Scarlet Knights are forced to rely more on defense than offense in the talent-rich Big East. Rutgers holds opponents to 64.1 ppg and a 40.9 shooting percentage while sinking 43.1 percent of its field goals and posting 66.2 ppg -- standing ahead of only South Florida for worst in the conference. Carter and Myles Mack are charged with leading the offense, serving as the club's only double-figure scorers at 13.8 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Both are also active from beyond the arc with the former dropping 42 threes on 34.4 percent shooting and the latter 36 on 34.6-percent accuracy. Gilvydas Biruta provides a solid 9.4 ppg and 5.4 rebounds per contest while Miller grabs a team-leading 6.2 boards per game and adds 6.9 ppg. The Scarlet Knights hold a decent 34.6-33.6 overall rebounding advantage.
The Fighting Irish have managed to find great success in arguably the country's most difficult conference thanks in large part to their defense, and timely contributions on offense. Notre Dame puts up 67.9 points per game, which in the Big East gets you slotted 13th out of 16 teams. In addition, the Irish post a rather mediocre field-goal percentage of 43.8 percent but have the league's third-best free-throw percentage (71.7 percent). Notre Dame is also among the conference's better teams in scoring margin (plus-5.6) with a defense holding the opposition to just 62.3 ppg and 40.9 percent shooting from the floor. The sophomore Grant gives the club an all-around presence with his 13.0-point average, 4.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 40 three-pointers on 35.7 percent shooting. Atkins backs the effort with a 12.9-point average, 3.6 assists, 3.3 boards and 36 triples on 39.6-percent accuracy. Cooley gives the Irish a third solid double-figure scorer at 11.5 ppg, leads the Big East with a 61.1 shooting percentage and secures a team-leading 8.8 rebounds per contest -- good for fifth in league play. Scott Martin adds further depth with his 9.1 ppg and 5.8 boards. Notre Dame holds down a slim edge on the glass overall (34.4-34.2).
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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.