Kentucky garners No. 1 seed in the East

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Kentucky, which scorched the Southeastern Conference in the regular season and won the conference tourney crown in a tense overtime contest, was named as the top- seeded team in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky (32-2), survived that scare from Mississippi State on Sunday and has been selected a No. 1 seed for the 10th time in school history. The Lexington- based school will be trying for its eighth national title and first since a 1998 triumph over Utah. It will also be making its 50th entry into the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats will take on 16th-seeded East Tennessee State (20-14), which emerged as the champion of the Atlantic Sun Conference for the second straight season, on Thursday in New Orleans.

"I'm happy that we are a one-seed, but there are no easy roads," said Kentucky head coach John Calipari. "Some are easier than others, but it's still hard. You don't want to look beyond East Tennessee State, Texas and Wake Forest -- all four good teams -- in our little bracket of the world. Other than that I'm not worried about anything else. I love New Orleans, I think it's a great place to have a tournament, and you know we'll have 20,000 fans down there."

West Virginia (27-6), has won six consecutive games heading into the NCAA Tournament, including a close one with Georgetown on Saturday to take its first Big East title in school history,

The Mountaineers claimed a No. 2 seed for the first time and will face off against Morgan State (27-9) on Friday in Buffalo. The Bears had an easier time with their competition, claiming both the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season and playoff titles.

Despite a loss in the Mountain West semifinals to eventual champion San Diego State, New Mexico (29-4), picked up the third seed on the strength of a 15- game win streak down the stretch before the Aztecs put an end to their conference title hopes.

The Lobos, who have not seen the tourney since a first-round exit to Villanova in 2005, have to deal with Big Sky winner Montana (22-9) on Thursday in San Jose.

Wisconsin (23-8), which dropped a Big Ten tourney quarterfinal appearance to Illinois, still garnered enough regard to snag the four seed in the East. Its first-round opponent will be Wofford (26-8) on Friday in Jacksonville. The Terriers, who were tops in the South Division of the Southern Conference, took home the postseason title after dispatching Appalachian State and gained the first NCAA berth in school history.

Opponents in the 5-12 matchup have a degree of familiarity, as Atlantic 10 champion Temple (29-5) meets the best of the Ivy League in Cornell (27-4) on Friday in Jacksonville. Owls bench boss Fran Dunphy was the head coach at Penn while current Cornell head man Steve Donahue was one of his assistants.

"We have nice veteran leadership sprinkled in with some young talent," said Dunphy. "The only thing I'm disappointed by is that I'm playing against a guy I coached with. If you had said to me before the season that we'd share the regular-season title with Xavier then win the playoff and take a five-seed, I'd have signed those papers right away."

Temple has bowed out in the first round the last two seasons, and has not enjoyed a late March run since an Elite Eight berth in 2001. Meanwhile, Cornell is looking for its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory following five losses.

A second Wisconsin-based program in the region earned the sixth seed, as Milwaukee's own Marquette (22-11) will square off against surprise Pac-10 champion Washington (24-9) on Thursday in San Jose.

Lorenzo Romar's Huskies were felled by Purdue in the second round last season, while the Golden Eagles shocked Florida State before losing to Xavier.

"I think what makes it special for this group is that I've never been around a group like this," said Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. "We're not here because of selfish ambition, we're still playing is because of the togetherness of our unit."

The other matchups feature at-large selections with seventh-seeded Clemson (21-10) against 10th-seeded Missouri (22-10) on Friday in Buffalo, and the 8-9 matchup features Texas (24-9) and Wake Forest (19-10) dueling Thursday in New Orleans.

The East Regional semifinals are slated for Syracuse on March 25, with the finals to take place two days later.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

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

MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
The 2008 Kentucky Derby has announced a $1-million bonus for this weekend’s 134th ‘Run for the Roses’ and MySportsbook.com is doing the same.

Well, not quite $1 million, but MySportsbook.com is offering a 75% rebate for Kentucky Derby lines. Check out the exclusive horse racing bonus for all the details.

According to MySportsbook.com, the favorites for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky are: Curlin (+250); Street Sense (+500); Scat Daddy (+700); Circular Quay (+750); and Nobiz Like Shobiz (+800).

Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

''It's certainly creative, it's certainly fun and it has something for the horsemen, which we always want to embrace,'' Churchill Downs president and chief executive Robert Evans said at a news conference. ''What's really cool is it will force us to remember Barbaro.''
    
Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

For complete odds on the Kentucky Derby, visit MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.