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Badgers take top-ranking into East Lansing

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The now top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers have made the trip to East Lansing for tonight's Big Ten Conference clash with the Michigan State Spartans.

Five consecutive wins have enabled Wisconsin to move to 26-2 overall and 12-1 in conference, and the Badgers remain tied with the Ohio State Buckeyes atop the Big Ten standings. The most recent of the five victories occurred on Saturday for Wisconsin, as it cruised to a 75-49 decision over Penn State. The Badgers' 26 wins are the most in the nation and the most in one season in program history. The team has reached the top of the national poll for the first-time ever.

Michigan State hasn't been quite as successful as its counterpart today, as the Spartans have split their 12 Big Ten games. They are on a bit of a roll, however, as they have won two straight by double figures, including an 81-49 thrashing of Iowa on Saturday. Michigan State is now 16-1 at home, an obvious reason for confidence tonight.

The Spartans hold a 65-54 series advantage over the Badgers, and Michigan State has won two of the last three meetings.

If anyone is going to steal National Player of the Year honors away from Texas freshman Kevin Durant, it figures to be Wisconsin standout Alando Tucker. The outstanding forward has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive outings, including a 22-point effort against Penn State on Saturday. Kammron Taylor pitched in 18 points for the Badgers, who got 11 points from Jason Bohannon off the bench. Wisconsin connected on 51.9 percent of its field goal attempts in that clash, including a stellar 12-of-23 showing from behind the arc. Tucker is averaging 20.4 ppg this season, and he can get his own shot at any time. Taylor checks in with 13.1 ppg on 42.1 percent shooting from three-point range for the Badgers, who are limiting opponents to 57.8 ppg on 40.3 percent shooting from the field.

Drew Neitzel is the leading scorer for Michigan State, as he is netting 18.1 ppg on 40.4 percent shooting from three-point range and 90.4 percent accuracy from the foul line. Also, Neitzel has dished out 118 assists against only 59 turnovers. Raymar Morgan is the only other double-digit scorer in the lineup, as he is posting 11.1 ppg. Strong defense is clearly the key to success for the Spartans, as they are holding foes to 56.0 ppg on 37.9 percent shooting from the field. Neitzel scored 17 points in the blowout victory over Iowa last time out. Morgan pitched in 16 points for Michigan State, which connected on 57.9 percent of its field goal attempts and limited Iowa to 34.1 percent efficiency from the floor.

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Signed quarterbacks Mike McMahon and Tom Arth.

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What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

  • Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
    OR
  • Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.

  • There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.

    The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:

    Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots

    Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.

    For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically

    Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:

  • Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
    OR
  • Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score

    Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?

    Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21

    The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.

    Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.

    Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).

    Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.

    And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.

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