Morgan's late heroics lift U.S. past New Zealand
Soccer Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alex Morgan scored twice in the final minutes to cap a 2-1 comeback win for the U.S. women's national team against New Zealand in a friendly on Saturday.
The Americans dominated play in the first half but were kept out by some good goalkeeping from New Zealand's Jenny Bindon.
And New Zealand took a surprising lead against the run of play in the 49th minute when Kelley O'Hara's poor backpass was intercepted by Hannah Wilkinson, who lobbed her shot over the head of goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart after she entered the match at halftime in place of Hope Solo.
The U.S. went back on the attack, but after being frustrated for almost 88 minutes, finally found the breakthrough when Megan Rapinoe's cross was met by the head of Morgan at the back post, who sent the ball into the net off the woodwork.
Shannon Boxx nearly scored right after as she nodded the ball off the crossbar, but there was still time for another opportunity, and Morgan made the most of it three minutes into added time.
Abby Wambach flicked a ball into the path of Morgan and she made no mistake with a header from eight yards that sailed past Bindon to cap a furious late rally.
The next match for the U.S. women comes Feb. 29 in the Algarve Cup against Denmark.
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trae Golden had 17 points to go with seven assists as the Tennessee Volunteers earned their first true road win of the season with a 75-70 triumph over No. 8 Florida. Jeronne Maymon recorded a double-
<< UNLV holds off San Diego State
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Justin Hawkins forced a turnover with one
second remaining and UNLV preserved a 13-point second-half edge as they held
off San Diego State, 65-63, at Thomas & Mack Center.
Mike Moser led the way w
<< Thunder Moccasin strikes in Hutcheson Stakes
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Odds-on favorite Thunder Moccasin had
a successful three-year-old debut Saturday in the $150,000 Hutcheson Stakes at
Gulfstream Park. The colt covered the seven-furlongs in 1:24.16 on a track
listed
<< No. 7 Kansas dominates Oklahoma State
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Robinson had 26 points and 14 rebounds,
helping the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks dominate the Oklahoma State
Cowboys, 81-66.
Jeff Withey also had a double-double with 18 points and 19 boa
<< Lekic, Osasuna sink Barcelona
Navarra, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barcelona's title ambitions took a massive
hit on Saturday as Dejan Lekic scored a first-half brace to help Osasuna stun
the defending champions, 3-2, at the Estadio El Sadar.
Lekic provided an early b
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hymn Book, making his 2012 debut, outfought Mission Impazible down the stretch to win Saturday's $500,000 Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park. The six-year-old gelding covered the 1 1/8- miles i
Plumlees dominate as Duke routs Maryland >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miles Plumlee scored 13 points and pulled down a
career-high 22 rebounds as No. 10 Duke defeated ACC-rival Maryland, 73-55, at
Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday.
Plumlee became the first Duke player to gra
Montana's Gregorak elevated to defensive coordinator >>
Missoula, MT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Montana assistant football
coach Ty Gregorak was promoted to defensive coordinator, Grizzlies third-year
head coach Robin Pflugrad announced Saturday.
Gregorak, 33, rejoined the Montana program
Wi still leads; Tiger 4 back at Pebble Beach >>
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Charlie Wi posted a bogey-free, three-
under 69 Saturday to maintain his three-stroke lead after three rounds of the
Pebble Beach National Pro-Am.
Wi, who will go for his first PGA Tour win on Sunday, fini
No. 3 Connecticut dismantles No. 14 Georgetown >>
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis scored 23 points, as No.
3 Connecticut dismantled No. 14 Georgetown, 80-38, on Saturday.
Bria Hartley added 18 points and Tiffany Hayes had 12 for the Huskies (23-2,
11-1 Big East), w
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.
Football Betting Sportsbook Accepts Credit Cards
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.