Bulls rout Hornets

Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Boozer scored 18 points and the Chicago Bulls barely needed Derrick Rose in an easy 90-67 win over the New Orleans Hornets on Wednesday night.

The Hornets lost their seventh game in a row and needed a three-pointer from Marco Belinelli with 0.5 seconds left to avoid a franchise-low in points scored.

Indeed, the game started and ended as a laugher: Actor and comedian Will Ferrell, in town shooting a movie, handled the intros for both teams before the game.

Rose, who left Monday's win over New Jersey with lower back spasms, played only 22 minutes and sat the entire fourth quarter. He had six points, six assists and five rebounds.

"He says he feels pretty good," Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said of the reigning MVP.

Chris Kaman had 17 points and nine rebounds off the bench to lead the Hornets and Belinelli scored 13. New Orleans fell to 4-22.

The Bulls moved to 22-6 on the season and 5-2 on a nine-game road trip that ends with visits to Charlotte and Boston. They won their fourth straight game and third in a row by 20-plus points.

The best team in the Eastern Conference had no trouble with the worst team in the Western Conference, leading by as many as 28 points in the wire-to-wire win.

"The way the ball's moving, it's not sticking anywhere," said Thibodeau. "We're getting good shots."

The Bulls shot 52.4 percent and led 23-14 after the first quarter. In the second, they went up 15 on Taj Gibson's fastbreak dunk and took a 42-27 lead on Kyle Korver's three-pointer from the left side in transition.

It was 44-31 at halftime and 70-46 going into the fourth quarter. The Bulls went ahead by a game-high 28 points on John Lucas' three-pointer in the final minutes.

Game Notes

The Bulls have won seven in a row over New Orleans and 10 of the last 12 meetings...Among Ferrell's introductions was this one: "At guard, No. 1, his favorite movie is 'The Notebook' ... Derrick Rose!"

Freesoccerchance Basketball Betting News

<< No. 22 Michigan takes care of Nebraska
Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zack Novak had 14 points to lift No. 22 Michigan to a 62-46 win over Nebraska. Stu Douglass had 13 points and Trey Burke added 12 along with five rebounds and five assists for the Wolverines (18-7,

<< Oilers become Red Wings' latest victim at Joe Louis Arena
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Detroit just cannot be beaten at home this season. Goals in the third period by Drew Miller and Henrik Zetterberg helped the Red Wings extend their home winning streak to 18 games in a 4-2 win over

<< Kansas cruises past Baylor
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Withey scored a career-high 25 points as No. 7 Kansas rolled over sixth-ranked Baylor, 68-54, to take a share of first place in the Big 12. The teams entered the game in a tie for second place wit

<< Smith leads Hawks past Pacers
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Smith had 28 points and 12 rebounds on Wednesday, leading the Hawks to a 97-87 win over the Pacers. Atlanta had lost three in a row, but got 20 points and eight assists from Joe Johnson, 17 points f

<< Boston College upsets No. 15 Florida State
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Daniels netted a game-high 21 points to go with five assists as Boston College knocked off No. 15 Florida State, 64-60, on Wednesday. Matt Humphrey finished with 15 points and Ryan Anderso

Miller, Sabres blank Bruins >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Miller made 36 saves to record his third shutout of the season and 25th of his career as the Buffalo Sabres thumped the Boston Bruins, 6-0, at First Niagara Center. Jason Pominville netted a pair of go

Duke's Austin Rivers beats buzzer, Tar Heels >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Duke trailed the entire second half until Austin Rivers hit a three-pointer from the right wing as time expired, lifting the 10th-ranked Blue Devils over No. 5 North Carolina, 85-84. Rivers finished with

Improved bench has Spurs ready to ride in watered-down West >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's tough to write an obituary for a team that wins 61 games during the NBA's regular season but that didn't stop a number of my peers from declaring the aging San Antonio Spurs dead on arrival after they we

Nowitzki leads Mavs over Nuggets >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Denver Nuggets 105-95 at Pepsi Center on Wednesday. Dallas had five players in double figures, including 17

Jokinen's hat trick leads Flames over Sharks >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Olli Jokinen capped his seventh career hat trick with the winner in the third period as the Calgary Flames took a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks. Jokinen also had an assist while Jarome Iginla added a g

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.