Huskies and Mountaineers duke it out in Sweet 16
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
03/25/2010 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers have reached the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 as expected, and they will attempt to avoid an upset tonight against the red-hot Washington Huskies, the East Region's 11th seed.
Up next for the winner of this contest is an Elite Eight matchup with either top-seeded Kentucky or 12th-seeded Cornell.
Washington carries a nine-game win streak into tonight's game, including a successful run through the Pac-10 Tournament and the first two rounds of this NCAA Tournament. The Huskies, who are 26-9 overall this season, defeated sixth-seeded Marquette by an 80-78 final in the first round before knocking off third-seeded New Mexico rather easily, 82-64. Washington is making its third Sweet 16 appearance during the Lorenzo Romar era, and the program is 17-15 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies will tie a program record with their 36th game played tonight, a mark previously set by the 1938 squad.
West Virginia has won its last eight games to move to 29-6 overall, and head coach Bob Huggins thought his team was worthy of a No. 1 seed, especially after winning the Big East Conference Tournament. The Mountaineers may be using the perceived snub as motivation, as they crushed 15th-seeded Morgan State in the first round before knocking off 10th-seeded Missouri by a 68-59 final in the second round. That victory enabled WVU to even its all-time NCAA Tournament record at 22-22. The Mountaineers finished sixth in the final regular-season poll, the best finish for the program since placing fifth in 1960.
The Huskies won their only previous meeting with the Mountaineers back in 1973.
Quincy Pondexter was the hero for Washington in the first round against Marquette, as he hit the game-winning shot at the end of regulation. Pondexter leads the squad with 19.7 ppg, and he is shooting 53.2 percent from the floor while pulling down 7.5 rpg. Isaiah Thomas is the only other double-digit scorer on the roster, as he checks in with 17.1 ppg and 3.1 apg. The Huskies are netting 79.9 ppg while limiting foes to 70.0 ppg. In the 18-point romp over New Mexico, Pondexter scored 18 points, while Thomas added 15 points and seven assists. Matt Bryan-Amaning, the club's best frontcourt performer, posted 15 points and nine rebounds, while Elston Turner tallied 10 points. The Huskies played strong defense in that tilt, holding the Lobos to 39.4 percent shooting from the field. Washington finished the game with 21 assists against five turnovers and drained eight three-pointers.
West Virginia is generating 72.9 ppg while limiting opponents to 63.3 ppg on 41.7 percent shooting from the field. The Mountaineers are led by Da'Sean Butler, who is scoring 17.5 ppg to go along with 6.3 rpg and 114 assists. Kevin Jones, who has started all 35 games alongside Butler, checks in with 13.6 ppg and 7.2 rpg, while Devin Ebanks rounds out a solid trio with 12.0 ppg and 8.3 rpg. The Mountaineers are strong on the boards, outrebounding foes by nearly seven caroms per contest. In the nine-point win over Missouri on Sunday, Butler scored 28 points on the strength of a 12-of-13 effort from the foul line. Ebanks tallied 14 points, and Jones netted 13 points to go along with nine rebounds. Strong defense was key to the triumph, as WVU limited Missouri to 32.8 percent shooting from the field. A 25-12 edge in points from the foul line helped the cause as well. There is some bad news to report for the Mountaineers, as starting point guard Darryl Bryant broke his foot in practice on Tuesday and will miss the remainder of the tournament. Bryant is averaging 9.3 ppg to go along with his 108 assists, and he will be missed.
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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.