Boilermakers visit Spartans in clash of ranked Big Ten foes

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2009 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game that was supposed to be for the Big Ten title, the 19th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers battle the eighth-ranked Michigan State Spartans in a less meaningful matchup at the Breslin Center today. This game was designed for the top two teams in the conference to clash for the regular season championship, but it didn't work out that way. Instead, Purdue dropped a couple of games down the stretch and MSU used a four-game winning streak to win the outright title.

The Boilermakers meanwhile, still have something to play for, as they are trying to lock up sole possession of second place with a win today. Purdue could have accomplished that feat on Wednesday, but was instead knocked off by Northwestern, 64-61. Despite the loss, Purdue is already assured a first-round bye in the upcoming league tourney and that is certainly a positive.

As for MSU, it defeated Indiana, 64-59, on Tuesday to secure its fifth regular-season Big Ten Championship under head coach Tom Izzo and its firs outright title since 1999. The Spartans are a healthy 24-5 overall and 14-3 within the conference and are making a strong push towards a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

MSU and Purdue are meeting for the 106th time today, with the Boilermakers holding a 62-43 lead in the rivalry. The Boilermakers knocked off MSU, 72-54, earlier this season, but the Spartans have won the last eight meetings between the schools at the Breslin Center.

The Boilermakers made just 40.8 percent of their attempts from the floor compared to a 49.1 percent shooting performance by Northwestern, as they were upended on Wednesday. Purdue, which was outscored 36-26 in the second half, received 14 points from both E'Twaun Moore and Keaton Grant in the setback. JaJuan Johnson contributed 11 points, and Robbie Hummel had eight and six boards in the loss. On the season, Moore leads Purdue in scoring at 14.0 ppg and he is also grabbing 4.9 rpg and dishing out 2.9 apg. Johnson turns in 13.2 ppg and 5.9 rpg, while Hummel adds 12.4 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg to the lineup. As a whole, Purdue has thrived on defense, holding opponents to a mere 58.9 ppg and just 38.9 percent shooting from the field.

The Spartans knocked down 51.2 percent of their field goal tries and 5-of-11 three-point chances, as they clinched the outright title with a win over Indiana on Tuesday. MSU also went 15-of-22 at the foul line, in addition to holding a 29-22 edge on the glass. Kalin Lucas led the charge with 15 points and five assists, while Raymar Morgan had 14 points and seven rebounds. On the season, Lucas paces the Spartans in scoring at 14.6 ppg and he has also been in charge of setting up his teammates, handing out a team-best 4.6 apg. Morgan checks in with 11.4 ppg and 5.8 rpg for MSU, which is outrebounding foes by a healthy 9.8 rpg on the season.

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American Idol Betting Odds: Season 6  

The online gambling websites are in the process of deciphering each American Idol contestant and his or her chances of winning Season 6 to come up with the early American Idol betting lines.

Tim Dalton of MySportsbook.com has been locked away in a soundproof room coming up with all the latest tallies, we are told. "American Idol has become one of the most significant betting events of the year," claims Jack Black of MySportsbook.com.  "Last year, millions were bet during the season across the globe, not just in America.

It's tough early on since we really do not have a glimpse as to how well each of these individuals will perform solo on a week-to-week basis.  It's like Week 1 of the NFL.  Pre-season means nada!

We do know the 24 finalists however.

Sanjaya Malakar is the young man whose sister failed to make it into the Top 24.  He's very low key but - unless he totally flubs - will probably win over the young girlie vote for a few weeks anyway.  He's too young to go all the way, according to Payton O'Brien. 

Brandon Rogers - Who?

Phil Stacy is the military guy who missed his daughter's birth because of the Memphis audition.  He should go a good distance.

Chris Sligh - He's got the humor and in many ways he's the Anti-American Idol much like last year's winner Taylor Hicks was.  And this is why he'll probably get pretty far in this competition.  He's chubby, white with a big curly afro....but more importantly, a great voice!  People love "real", not "real cute" to go all the way. 

"Blake Lewis should go far because of his uniqueness and looks.  He's the boy next store with a twist - he beat boxes.  But on top of this, he's a great singer, and I adore him," Payton O'Brien relayed.

A talented beat-boxer Blake Lewis was a hit during the group sing in Hollywood but Simon explained that this is a singing contest just before he told him he was “in.”

Paul Kim has caught our own roving reporter, Jenny Woo's eyes. 

"I love the fact that there is a Korean American on the show and he is bound to get more Asians tuning into the show," Woo said from her Miami Beach estate.  "There has never been a major presence of Asian-Americans on American Idol in the past.  He's a hottie with a nice voice so that should help to take him far.  Expect heavy betting action from the Asian community."

Sundance Head - He's not perfect, but he's got the personality that will take him through a few weeks, plus he's got the lineage (son of Roy Head - whose 1965 single, "Treat Her Right," hit No. 5 in the charts) 

And the others:

Rudy Cardinas
AJ Tabaldo - the 5th time is the charm
Nicolas Pedro
Chris Richardson
Jared Cotter

The girls

"Melinda Doolittle has one of the best voices," says MySportsbook.com Reporter and an acclaimed dancer in her own right, Destiney Lewis.  "It is great to see a back up singer step out like she has.  The girl needs to gain more confidence but that can also be a positive.  I think she will go far."

Alena Alexander - Those tears (she never seems to stop bawling) should get her far.

"Single mom Lakisha Jones I suspect will be a pretty big favorite entering Week 1 of the competition," says Destiny Williams.  Jones is an excellent singer and down to earth.  "She'll have a wide appeal," echoed O'Brien.

Nicole Trellis - Seems to exert confidence.

Amy Krebs - a powerful singer.

Antonella Barba
Gina Glocksen
Hailey Scanardo
Jordan Sparks
Stephanie Edwards
Leslie Hunt
Sabrina Sloan

MySportsbook.com is offering a 20% signup bonus with an initial deposit (i.e. open your American Idol betting account with $300, receive another $60 in which to bet with). 

Last two contestants will be?

1 Male/1 Female +100 (a $10 bet pays $10 plus your initial $10)

2 Males +170 (a $10 bet pays $17 plus your initial $17)

2 Females +130 (a $10 bet pays $13 plus your initial $10)

MySportsbook.com is an online sportsbook accepts Visa Credit Cards and online sportsbook accepts Mastercard Credit Cards for easy American Idol betting lines

What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.