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08/16/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Invitation Tournament announced the field for its 16-team Tip-off tournament on Monday, installing Villanova as the top seed.
Other teams in the field for the event, set to begin November 15, include Tennessee, Wake Forest and UCLA.
The Wildcats, coming off a 25-win season, will host Marist in the first round in the North Regional. The other contest will have No. 7 seed George Washington playing Boston University.
Tennessee will be seeded second and host the South Regional with a first-round game against Belmont. Sixth seed Missouri State and Arkansas State make up the other game.
Wake Forest, seeded third, will be the host team for the East Regional with a first-round encounter against Hampton. No. 5 seed Virginia Commonwealth and Winthrop will also play in the bracket.
UCLA is seeded fourth with a game against Pepperdine at Pauley Pavilion. The other first-round game in the West Regional will have No. 8 Nevada going against Pacific.
The winners of the regional rounds will advance to New York City to play the semifinals and possibly championship game at Madison Square Garden. The semifinals are set for November 26 with the title game two days later.
The remaining 12 teams will play third- and fourth-round games on the home campus sites of the three highest remaining seeds.
Duke won the tournament last year, beating Connecticut in the final. Wake Forest (2004) is the only past champion in this year's field.
<< Mets closer Rodriguez has ligament tear
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez
has a ligament tear in his right thumb, and it has been recommended that he
undergo surgery to repair the injury.
Rodriguez did not travel with the Mets to
<< Happy days are here again for Harvick
Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Harvick was enduring a miserable season
at this point in 2009, as he sat 23rd in the Sprint Cup Series point standings.
One year later, "Happy Harvick" is smiling more than ever after winning his
third race
<< Texans rookie RB Tate done for season
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans rookie running back Ben Tate
will miss the season due to a fractured ankle, head coach Gary Kubiak
announced on Monday.
Tate was carted off the field in the third quarter of Saturday
<< Rezai advances; Peer exits Rogers Cup
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sixteenth-seeded Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai
moved on, while 14th-seeded Israeli Shahar Peer went by way of an opening-
round upset Monday at the $2 million Rogers Cup, a U.S. Open tune-up.
Rezai came from behin
Saints take Meachem off PUP list >>
Metairie, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Saints activated wide
receiver Robert Meachem off the physically unable to perform list Monday.
Meachem took to the practice field for the first time since undergoing
toe surg
Lions put Dizon on IR, take Simpson off PUP list >>
Allen Park, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Lions placed linebacker Jordon
Dizon on injured reserve Monday and activated safety Ko Simpson off the
physically unable to perform list.
Dizon, primarily a special teams contributor
Cowboys owner recovering from shoulder surgery >>
OXNARD, Calif. (AP) -Cowboys owner Jerry Jones shakes so many hands and signs so many autographs that he recently had an operation to repair damage to his right shoulder.At least, that's the way Jones likes to explain it.The real story is that he hu
Dizon injury hurts Lions LB depth >>
ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) -Detroit Lions linebacker Jordon Dizon will miss the season with a knee injury while starting middle linebacker DeAndre Levy took part in some drills after missing most of training camp with a sore back.Dizon, a versatile back
The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts US credit cards
Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?
I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.
Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.
There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.
Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.
For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.
A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.
The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.
Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.
So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.
Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.
“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.
Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.
“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.
It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.
Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.
The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.
“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.
“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”
Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.
The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.
“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”
Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?
“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.
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