Spartans can claim share of Big Ten title with win over Wolverines

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bitter Big Ten Conference rivals close out the regular season against each other this afternoon in East Lansing, as the Michigan Wolverines come calling on the 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans.

Michigan has been up and down all season long, coming in at 14-15 overall and 7-10 in conference. The Wolverines blasted Minnesota in their last outing, 83-55, putting the brakes on a three-game slide and giving the team some much- needed confidence heading into this rivalry game. UM is just 3-7 in true road games this year, which includes a 3-5 mark against conference foes.

Michigan State can claim a share of the Big Ten regular-season title with a win today, as the team comes in with an overall record of 23-7 and a league mark of 13-4. The Spartans have been virtually unbeatable at home, logging a 14-2 ledger, the only two setbacks coming against top-10 league rivals Purdue and Ohio State. MSU has won its last two games, the most recent being a 67-65 thriller over Penn State, and has claimed victory in four of its last five overall.

Michigan owns a 91-73 advantage in the all-time series with Michigan State, but the Spartans have won 17 of the last 20 meetings, including 10 straight in East Lansing. MSU slipped by UM in the first encounter this season, escaping Ann Arbor with a 57-56 victory.

Relying heavily on only players to lead the way, the Wolverines are far from an explosive offensive team. In fact, they rank 10th in the conference in scoring (65.0 ppg), and their meager .417 field goal percentage has them sitting ninth. Defensively, Michigan is yielding just 61.6 ppg to rank fourth in the league, and there are only two teams in the conference who defend the three-point shot (.315) better at the moment. Manny Harris ranks third in the Big Ten in both scoring (18.2 ppg) and steals (1.8 spg), and he sits fourth in assists (4.1 apg). He has made more free throws (134) than any of his teammates have attempted at this point. DeShawn Sims (17.1 ppg) is the club's only other double-digit scorer, and both players also work hard on the boards, coming up with a combined 13.8 rpg. Sims made the most of his final home game on Tuesday night, scoring 23 points and grabbing six rebounds to lead Michigan to its 28-point shellacking of Minnesota. Harris added 22 points and Stu Douglass chipped in with 10 for the Wolverines, who shot a sizzling 60.4 percent from the field and drained 8-of-19 three-pointers along the way. One of the more impressive stats from that game is that Michigan committed just four turnovers.

Simply put, Michigan State is a very good team that knows how to play at both ends of the floor. The Spartans, who boast four double-digit scorers at the moment, are averaging 73.1 ppg on 47.6 percent field goal accuracy, and they are giving up just 63.9 ppg on typical shooting efforts of 40.7 percent overall and 32.5 percent from three-point range. MSU leads the Big Ten in assists (17.1 apg). Rebounding has also been huge for coach Tom Izzo's club, which comes into this regular-season finale with a league-best +9.2 rebounding margin. MSU's most productive offensive performer happens to be the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year in junior guard Kalin Lucas, who is shooting 46 percent from the field and averaging 14.9 ppg. Lucas also serves as the team's primary playmaker with his 4.0 apg, and he converts nearly 80 percent of his free throws as well. Raymar Morgan (10.7 ppg, 6.0 rpg), Durrell Summers (10.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Draymond Green (10.3 ppg, 8.1 rpg, 3.1 apg) complement Lucas perfectly, and all are capable of carrying the team if its star is off his game. Lucas tallied just nine points in 28 minutes of action in the recent win over Penn State, as Morgan (16 points, eight rebounds) and Green (14 points, nine boards, four assists) took control. The Spartans watched as the Nittany Lions dropped nine three-pointers, but held strong in logging a 39-26 edge on the glass, a 36-20 advantage in points in the paint, and a staggering 26-1 margin in bench points.

Wwwldell NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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