 |
 Basketball Betting |
 |
||||
|
 |
||||
|
||||
Aubameyang's hat trick topples LorientSoccer Betting Lines02/22/2012 - Saint Etienne, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored a second-half hat trick to help St Etienne to a 4-2 win over Lorient at the Geoffrey-Guichard Stadium on Wednesday. The match came to life after a scoreless first half as Lorient's Arnold Mvuemba gave his team the lead from the penalty spot in the first five minutes of the second half. Aubameyang equalized shortly before the hour mark and added a second goal in the 68th minute to put the hosts in front. Mathias Autret responded 15 minutes from time to level the match for Lorient, but a pair of late goals propelled St Etienne to all three points. An own goal in the 88th minute from Bruno Ecuele Manga put Lorient behind, and Aubameyang finished off his hat trick a few minutes later by volleying home a pass from Max Gradel. St Etienne has claimed four wins from its last five games to take hold of fourth place in Ligue 1, while Lorient's struggles continued on Wednesday as the club remains in the bottom half of the league having gone winless in nine games. Lille 1, Sochaux 0 Montbeliard, France - Lille edged closer to the leaders on Wednesday after securing a 1-0 win at Sochaux courtesy of Nolan Roux's 76th-minute goal. The win lifts Lille to within six points of leaders PSG having won three of its last four games, with Sochaux rooted to the bottom of the league and winless in 11 games. Lille's performance was far from convincing and goalkeeper Mickael Landreau needed to push a free kick from Sochaux's Marvin Martin off the post in the first half. The visitors eventually took the lead when Roux headed home a corner kick 15 minutes from time. But the points weren't safe until the end as Sochaux's Cedric Bakambu beat Landreau with a shot in the final minutes that came back off the post. Caen 2, Auxerre 1 Caen, France - Caen rallied for a 2-1 win over Auxerre on Wednesday with two goals in the final 20 minutes to move six points above the drop zone. Auxerre's Roy Contout gave his team the lead on the hour mark but saw Kandia Traore and Livio Nabab combine on the equalizer as Traore took the return pass from Nabab and beat goalkeeper Olivier Sorin. Caen seized the lead in the 77th minute when Nabab decided to go for goal from 22 yards and found the bottom corner, dooming Auxerre to a third defeat in five games.
<< Royal Delta set for Sabin
Hallandale Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion filly Royal Delta is ready to make her 2012 debut in Saturday's $100,000 Sabin Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The four-year-old will face four challengers in the 1 1/6-mile race. Royal Delta,
<< Report: Temple in talks to join Big East
<< Ivy power Penn to play two CAA teams
<< Tsonga wins Marseille opener
<< Detriot Tigers
This Week in Auto Racing February 23 - 26 >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Get ready for what is expected to be a wild four days of racing at Daytona International Speedway, culminating with Sunday's Daytona 500. NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500 - Daytona International
Hurricanes, Ruutu agree to 4-year extension >>
Company sues Marlins based on auction bid >>
Gatorade Duels: Who's in and who's not in the Daytona 500? >>
Pack 'em in for the Daytona 500 >>
How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later. While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better. For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory. 1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season. 2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped. How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number. Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules. Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically. How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games). Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition. Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets. To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on college football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards. |
|
