Michigan State Joins Nittany Lions Over State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darius Miller scored a game-high 19 points off the bench Tuesday night, and No. 1 Kentucky began its second stint as the country's top-ranked team with a 57-44 win over Georgia. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist added 14 points for the Wildcats (20-1, 6-0 SEC), who have won 12 straight games since a last-second loss at Indiana on December 10, which ended their initial two-week stay atop the AP poll.

 

Michael Snaer's buzzer beating three-pointer on Saturday snapped Duke's 45- game home winning streak and gave his team a 4-1 league record that ties for first place, and made Florida State one of the most talked about team's in the nation. The Seminoles, who knocked off North Carolina just a week earlier, have now won four straight games to bring their overall record to 13-6. Head coach Leonard Hamilton had to be pleased with his team's performance against Duke, as it shot 54 percent from the floor and held the Blue Devils under 40 percent shooting. Florida State is has outscored its opponents by an average of 6.8 ppg in league play so far.

 

Wake Forest enters tonight's game 11-8 overall and 2-3 in ACC play after its 71-56 victory over the Boston College Eagles on Saturday. The Demon Deacons interior play was impressive in the contest as they blocked 10 shots, won the rebounding battle 42-37, and outscored the Eagles, 40-24, in the paint. Head coach Jeff Bzdelik's team will have to improve on the defensive end if it wants to make a run in the ACC, as it ranks last in the league with an allowed average of 69.7 ppg.

 

Des Moines, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Creighton Bluejays will try to win their ninth in a row as they head to the Knapp Center for a Missouri Valley Conference clash with the Drake Bulldogs. This will be the 149th meeting in the all-time series. The Bluejays hold a 90-58 edge in the rivalry after winning 16 of the last 24 encounters, including a 76-59 decision in Omaha earlier this month. Creighton shot 60 percent from the field and 45.5 percent from beyond the arc, while Drake made 38.5 percent of its field goals and just 5-of-19 from three-point range in this year's earlier meeting.

 

The Bluejays are off to a 18-2 start this season after handling Indiana State 75-49 on Saturday. The Bluejays shot 43.6 percent from the floor and connected on 11-of-24 attempts from long range in the contest. Head coach Greg McDermott has his team playing very well both at home and on the road this year. If the Bluejays win tonight, they will have won six-straight road games for the first time in program history since 1975. Creighton is ranked first in the nation in field goal percentage (51.4) and second in assists (19.2). The Bluejays 81.4 ppg on the offensive end is the best in the MVC this year.

 

The Bulldogs have won two in a row at home and 13 of their last 14 at the Knapp Center coming into tonight. However, Drake had its four-game winning streak snapped its last time out as it fell 66-52 at Northern Iowa. The Bulldogs struggled from the floor, making 38.2 percent of their field goals in the loss. Head coach Mark Phelps has led the team to a 12-8 overall record and a 5-4 mark in MVC play. Drake is tied for third in the conference coming into this one. The Bulldogs are scoring 68.3 ppg while allowing opponents to net 67.3 ppg.

 

Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fourth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes continue their run through the Big Ten as they welcome the Penn State Nittany Lions to Columbus for a conference showdown at Value City Arena. Thad Matta's Buckeyes are an impressive 51-1 at home over the last three seasons, including a 14-0 mark in 2011-12. However, OSU was on the road this past weekend, blowing out Nebraska in Lincoln, 79-45. With the win, the Buckeyes moved to 5-2 in-conference.

 

Penn State led 29-27 at the half in Bloomington, but Indiana came roaring back in the second half, hitting 65 percent from the floor in posting a 19-point win over the Nittany Lions. Tim Frazier once again led the way offensively, netting 21 points, on 7-of-18 shooting. Nick Colella added 11 points off the bench, but PSU managed a mere 22.7 percent shooting accuracy in the second half, hitting just five field goals over the final 20 minutes of action. It has been a lot of the same all season long for Penn State, which has a prolific scorer in Frazier, but little else behind him. Frazier is performing at an All-American level this season, averaging 18.0 points and 6.4 assists per game. Unfortunately, there isn't much offensive support, as Jermaine Marshall represents the next highest scorer at just 9.8 ppg.

 

Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their biggest win of the season, the second-ranked Missouri Tigers close out a two-game road trip when they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Big 12 action at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater. Frank Haith's first season at the helm in Columbia has been hugely successful thus far, as the Tigers have won 18 of their first 19 games. The team had a showdown with another top-five foe this past weekend in Waco, and came out on top in a thrilling 89-88 decision over Baylor. The victory was the fourth straight for Missouri, which moved to 5-1 in conference play.

 

Travis Ford's Cowboys have certainly had their ups and downs this season and the result is a less than stellar 9-10 overall mark. Oklahoma State has really had a tough time in-conference with a mere 2-4 mark. The Cowboys enter this contest with a three-game losing streak in tow, including a 66-58 loss to Kansas State last weekend.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

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.