Baylor battles Kansas in Big 12 Tourney quarterfinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2009 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks begin play in the 2009 Big 12 Conference Tournament with a quarterfinal-round matchup against the ninth-seeded Baylor Bears.

Baylor was extremely impressive at the defensive end of the floor yesterday in a 65-49 victory over eighth-seeded Nebraska in the first round of this event. The Bears, who are now 18-13 overall this season, avenged a four-point loss to the Cornhuskers suffered in the regular season finale. Baylor is one of eight active league members that has never won this event, and the Bears are now 6-11 all-time in Big 12 tourney games.

As for Kansas, it has captured six Big 12 Tournament championships, equaling the total of the rest of the conference combined. The Jayhawks, who are the defending national champs, won this event last season and are 25-6 all-time in this tournament. They have captured the last three titles, defeating Texas in all three championship games from 2006 through 2008. Bill Self's squad is 25-6 overall this season and has won 14 of its 16 contests against league foes, remarkable considering that all five starters from last year's squad are gone.

Kansas beat Baylor in a 75-65 final on February 2nd, and the Jayhawks own a 14-1 series lead over the Bears.

There is a wealth of talent on the Baylor roster, as there are five double- digit scorers in the fold. Curtis Jerrells leads the way with 16.3 ppg, and he has started all 31 games. More than just a scorer, Jerrells also paces the squad with an impressive total of 150 assists. LaceDarius Dunn provides 15.2 ppg, while Kevin Rogers checks in with 12.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg. Tweety Carter brings 11.1 ppg to the mix, and Henry Dugat adds 10.2 ppg. In the victory over Nebraska yesterday, Jerrells led the charge with 19 points. Dunn pitched in 18 points, while Josh Lomers scored 11 points. Rogers was sensational, as he ripped down 20 rebounds to go along with 10 points. A rugged forward, Rogers outrebounded the entire Nebraska team, as the Bears finished with a 43-18 advantage on the boards. Baylor also shot 53.5 percent from the field while limiting the Huskers to 31.5 percent field goal efficiency.

Heading into this season, Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich were the only two players remaining on the roster who made contributions to Kansas' national title run of a year ago. Collins, a standout point guard, has been nothing short of sensational, as he is scoring 18.3 ppg to go along with 5.0 apg. As for Aldrich, he brings 14.8 ppg to the mix on the strength of his 60.1 percent shooting from the field, and the sophomore big man is ripping down 10.5 rpg as well. Add 77 blocks to the mix and Aldrich is invaluable to coach Self's squad. Tyshawn Taylor is the third and final double-digit scorer on the Jayhawk roster, as he provides 10.0 ppg. Kansas is limiting opponents to 65.6 ppg on 38.6 percent shooting from the floor, and strong defense has clearly been key to the squad's success. Also, the Jayhawks are scoring a solid 77.5 ppg while outrebounding opponents by 7.3 rpg.

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MySportsbook.com: NBA Championship Odds

With the playoffs about two months away, the top two teams in the Western Conference are the clear cut leaders to win the NBA Championship. The Dallas Mavericks have the best record in the NBA (44-9) and have been absolutely scorching since the second week of the season.  What makes the Mavs’ record more impressive is the fact that they dropped their first four games of the season.  Currently they have won 17 out of their last 18 and are MySportsbook.com’s favorite (2-1) to win it all.  Right behind the Mavs are the Pacific leading Phoenix Suns (39-13).  Last season, the Suns lost in the Conference Finals to non-other then the Mavericks four games to two.  Of course the Suns were without center Amare Stoudemire who has is averaging 19.9 PPG and 9.5 RPG since coming back from his knee injury.  Unlike the Mavs, the Suns have struggled a bit lately having lost their last three and four out of their last seven.  Of course the main reason for their three straight loses is due to the absence of two time MVP Steve Nash, who is out with a shoulder injury.  Heads-up, the Mavs have beaten the Suns in both of their meetings this season.

In the Eastern Conference, the Pistons (32-19) are the favorites to win it all at 6-1. The addition of Chris Webber seems to have been a good move for the Pistons.  Since coming over from the 76ers, Webber has averaged 13.1 PPG and 7.3 RPG and the Pistons are 11-4.  Even though the defending champion Heat are currently on the playoff making cusp, they are the Eastern Conference team that is getting the most action to win it all (9-1).  The fact that Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup after missing 39 games probably has something to do with this.  No doubt, Shaq makes a difference when in the lineup as their winning six out of their last seven would indicate.

Just because it is the All-Star break doesn’t mean that you can’t bet on NBA hoops this weekend.  Be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com to bet on who you think will cut down the nets this July. Also, be sure to check out all of the lines and props for All-Star weekend.  With the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry, there are plenty of ways to cash in on the NBA this weekend.

MySportsbook.com’s NBA Championship odds:

Atlanta Hawks 1000-1

Boston Celtics 5000-1

Charlotte Bobcats 5000-1

Chicago Bulls 20-1

Cleveland Cavaliers 20-1

Dallas Mavericks 2-1

Denver Nuggets 25-1

Detroit Pistons 6-1

Golden State Warriors 250-1

Houston Rockets 12-1

Indiana Pacers 60-1

Los Angeles Clippers 45-1

Memphis Grizzlies 5000-1

Miami Heat 9-1

Milwaukee Bucks 1000-1

Minnesota T-Wolves 200-1

New Jersey Nets 50-1

New Orleans Hornets 150-1

New York Knicks 150-1

Orlando Magic 75-1

Philadelphia 76ers 1000-1

Phoenix Suns 5-2

Portland TrailBlazers 1000-1

Sacramento Kings 250-1

San Antonio Spurs 9-1

Seattle Sonics 5000-1

Toronto Raptors 35-1

Utah Jazz 20-1

Washington Wizards 25-1

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SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

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