Harvard battles Penn in pivotal Ivy League tussle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Harvard Crimson will try to maintain their spot atop the Ivy League standings, as they head to Philadelphia to take on the Penn Quakers tonight at The Palestra.

Harvard is enjoying the best start in school history, losing just two of its first 22 games and the team sits a game up on Yale in the Ivy League standings coming into action today. An Ivy League school hasn't started out this well since Princeton began the 1997-98 season at 21-1. The Crimson have won eight games in a row, the most recent of which being a 57-52 decision over Columbia last Saturday.

Penn has been nearly as impressive of late, winning five of its last six games to move to 4-1 in the league, just a game and a half behind Harvard for first place. The Quakers defeated Brown in convincing fashion last Saturday, 65-48.

Penn holds a commanding 127-33 advantage in the all-time series with Harvard, but the Crimson has won the last five meetings.

Most of Harvard's success this season can be directly attributed to its stellar defense, which allows a mere 53.6 ppg, third-best in the nation behind only Wisconsin and Virginia. The Crimson have allowed 70 points just once, gave up 50 points or fewer in 10 games, and less than 40 points twice. It was the same old story last Saturday against Columbia, as the Lions were held to 40 percent field goal efficiency and only 52 points, as Harvard won its 25th straight home game -- the fourth longest active streak in the country. Laurent Rivard finished with a game-high 20 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor and 8-of-12 from the foul line, while Keith Wright added 15 points and six rebounds in the win. Rivard (11.3 ppg), Kyle Casey (10.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg) and Wright (10.7 ppg, 7.7 rpg) lead a capable offense for the Crimson. Though he's not much of a scorer, Brandyn Curry ranks fourth in the Ivy League in assists (5.0 apg) and second in steals (1.9 spg).

Penn has one of the few offenses in the Ivy League that could be a problem for the stout Harvard defense as it ranks second in both scoring (67.8 ppg) and field goal percentage (.446). While the Quakers' defensive effort often times under-performs (67.5 ppg), they put forth one of their best efforts of the season against Brown last Saturday, allowing the Bears to shoot just 37.7 percent from the field en route to a meager 48 points. Rob Belcore logged his second double-double of the season in the win, grabbing 10 rebounds while tying a career-high with 17 points. Zack Rosen has been one of the Ivy's top playmakers this season, ranking second in scoring (18.3 ppg) and first in assists (6.0 apg), all while shooting 47.8 percent from the field, 41.2 percent from three-point range and 88.1 percent from the charity stripe. Tyler Bernardini has been a admirable wingman for Rosen, ranking fifth in scoring (14.9 ppg) and first in three-point FG percentage (.432). Miles Cartwright rounds out Penn's double-digit scorers with 10.2 ppg.

Wwwldell NCAA Basketball Betting News

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

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According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

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Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets

With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship.  Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92.  After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points.  Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1.  Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years.  With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed.  UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern.  Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier.  OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak.  Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.  It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta.  But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.

Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props.  Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000.  Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.

MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:

EAST National Championship Region
Arkansas 300-1 50-1
Belmont 1000-1
Boston College 100-1 40-1
Eastern KY 1000-1
George Washington 75-1
Georgetown 10-1 3-2
Marquette 100-1 40-1
Michigan State 100-1 25-1
New Mexico St. 500-1 200-1
UNC 6-1 6-5
Oral Roberts  500-1
Texas 15-1 5-1
Texas Tech 200-1 5-1
USC 75-1 20-1
Vanderbilt 100-1 30-1
Washington State 40-1 15-1
WEST
Duke 50-1 10-1
Florida A&M 1000-1
Gonzaga 200-1  40-1
Holy Cross 300-1
Illinois 300-1 60-1
Indiana 75-1 40-1
Kansas 5-1 13-10
Kentucky 100-1 40-1
Niagara 1000-1
Pittsburgh 40-1 8-1
Southern Ill. 50-1 12-1
UCLA 10-1 3-2
VCU 500-1 100-1
Villanova 100-1 40-1
VA Tech 50-1 15-1
Weber St 1000-1
Wright St 1000-1 300-1
MIDWEST
Arizona 50-1 30-1
Butler 40-1 30-1
Davidson 300-1
Florida 4-1 4-5
Georgia Tech 75-1 25-1
Jackson State 1000-1
Maryland 30-1 6-1
Miami-OH 300-1
Notre Dame 100-1 20-1
ODU 500-1 100-1
Oregon 40-1 6-1
Purdue 300-1 60-1
Texas A&M CC 1000-1
UNLV 100-1 30-1
Winthrop 500-1 100-1
Wisconsin 15-1 7-2
SOUTH
Albany 200-1
BYU 200-1 40-1
Central CT St. 1000-1
Creighton 100-1 35-1
Long Beach St. 500-1 200-1
Louisville 40-1 10-1
Memphis 30-1 4-1
Nevada 75-1 35-1
North Texas 500-1
Ohio State 7-1 6-5
Penn 500-1
Stanford 200-1 50-1
Tennessee 100-1 20-1
Texas A&M 12-1 11-5
Virginia 75-1 18-1
Xavier 100-1 40-1

Field                                              100-1

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