Syracuse-Vermont rematch highlights West

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and staring at an injury to starting forward Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the West Region as the Orange head into a much-anticipated first-round encounter against Vermont.

The Orange (28-4) will take on the 16th-seeded Catamounts (25-9) Friday night in Buffalo and will hope to reverse course from a shocking defeat to Vermont five years ago. The Catamounts were a No. 13 seed in 2005 when they shocked Syracuse, 60-57, in overtime in a first-round matchup.

"That was the year before I came in. I hadn't committed yet, but everyone in Syracuse was miserable after that loss," Syracuse senior guard Andy Rautins said. "It's definitely going to be a little bit of a payback game for us. We're not taking anybody lightly -- we're going to come out and have a great week of practice, get good preparation in and be well prepared for this game."

Syracuse, making its 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980. The Orange weren't placed in the East due to the fact that the regional semifinals and final are at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse fell to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, when Onuaku was hurt. He left the game early and was diagnosed with a right quadriceps injury. He's considered day-to-day.

"He has played in a lot of pain before, probably two or three months last year -- he had pain the whole year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I would not sell him short as far as being able to come out and play. If he is strong and feels strong, he may not be able to play 25 or 30 minutes, but maybe he will be able to play 15 or 20, we will have to see."

Vermont earned a spot in the field of 65 by winning the America East Tournament with an 83-70 win over Boston University on Saturday.

The rematch will be heightened thanks to brothers playing on opposite sides as Syracuse forward Kris Joseph meets his sibling Maurice, Vermont's second- leading scorer this season.

"He will probably be guarding someone like Andy," Kris Joseph said. "I wish we played man for a few possessions because I would guard him full court."

Also in Buffalo Thursday night, eighth seeded Gonzaga (26-6) faces No. 9 seed Florida State (22-9). The Bulldogs made it to the Sweet 16 last year before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. This season marks Gonzaga's 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were first-round losers last year to Wisconsin.

Kansas State (26-7) is seeded second in the bracket and will face Sun Belt winner North Texas (24-8) in the first round in Oklahoma City Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats lost three times to Big 12 rival Kansas this year, including Saturday night in the conference title game. Despite this, K-State has a school-record for victories in a season.

Looming is the matchup against the Mean Green, who will go into the first round with an 11-game winning streak. North Texas is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

The K-State/North Texas winner will take on either seventh seed BYU (29-5) or No. 10 seed Florida (21-12). The Cougars have already posted the best record in school history and will be in the NCAA Tournament for a 25th time, but are just 11-27 all time in the event. BYU has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses, last winning such a game in 1993. As for the Gators, this is a return to the Big Dance after a two-year hiatus. Before that, Florida won back-to- back national championships.

Pittsburgh (24-8), one of eight Big East teams in the tourney, is seeded third in the region and has a Friday afternoon matchup against Oakland (26-8), the Summit League champions. The game will be played in Milwaukee. The Panthers are making a school-record ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, they reached the Elite Eight before falling to Villanova. OU is currently riding a school record 11-game winning streak.

Atlantic-10 powerhouse Xavier (24-8) is seeded sixth and will have a first- round game Friday afternoon against Minnesota (21-13), which made the Big Ten championship game before losing to Ohio State. This is the fifth straight NCAA tourney appearance for the Musketeers, who gained a share of the A-10 regular season crown. The Gophers have won seven of their last 10 games including three over top 15 ranked opponents entering the event.

Vanderbilt (24-8) is seeded fourth and Butler (28-4) fifth. Both will play Thursday in San Jose. The Commodores have a tough task against upstart Murray State. The 13th-seeded Racers (30-4) won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. Butler, the Horizon League champs, will take on Texas-El Paso (26-6), the runner-up in the Conference USA tourney. The Bulldogs enter the tournament on an incredible 20-game winning streak.

The West semifinals are set to take place in Salt Lake City on March 25 with the final two days later.

Sportslone NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< NCAA Capsules-East Regional
Lexington, 32-2.Nickname: Wildcats. Coach: John Calipari.Conference: Southeastern. Bid: SEC champion.Region: East. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 100-45, 50 years. Last appearance: 2008.Scoring: Team (79.2); John Wall 16.9; DeMarcus Cousins 15.3; Pa

<< NCAA Capsules-South Regional
Durham, N.C., 29-5.Nickname: Blue Devils. Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.Conference: Atlantic Coast. Bid: ACC champion.Region: South. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 88-30, 33 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (78.4); Jon Scheyer 18.7; Kyle Singler

<< Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks

<< Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event. Wozniacki

<< Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons. Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season and averag

Kentucky garners No. 1 seed in the East >>
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

Duke, Big East highlight South >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours after winning their record 18th ACC Tournament title on Sunday, the Duke Blue Devils were awarded the No. 1 seed in the South Region in the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Duke (29-5), backed by the triumv

Kansas looms large in the Midwest >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas Jayhawks began the 2009-10 college basketball season atop the preseason polls, and so far the voters have been spot on, as the Big 12 champs will carry that top ranking into the NCAA Tournam

NCAA Capsules-West Regional >>
Syracuse, N.Y., 28-4.Nickname: Orangemen. Coach: Jim Boeheim.Conference: Big East. Bid: At large.Region: West. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 50-32, 32 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (81.5); Wesley Johnson 16.0; Andy Rautins 11.7; Kris J

Indiana hoops: Hoosiers far behind state's top 3 >>
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Basketball still rules in Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers no longer rule basketball in the stateThey're not even in the top three.For the 20th time in the past three decades, at least three teams from the state of Indiana have m

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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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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