Big East brawl pits Bulls against Orange
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The South Florida Bulls will take their four- game winning streak into the Carrier Dome tonight as they square off with the second-ranked Syracuse Orange in a Big East Conference battle.
The Bulls and Syracuse have met nine times in the past, and the Orange hold a 8-1 lead in the all-time series. Syracuse is a perfect 5-0 against USF at the Carrier Dome.
USF comes in with a 17-10 overall record and has already set a new program record for wins in Big East action with its 10-4 league record. The Bulls extended their current winning streak to four games on Sunday in their 56-47 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers. Head coach Stan Heath had to be pleased with his team's defensive performance, as it held the Panthers to a season-low 47 points and held Pitt's stars Tray Woodall and Ashton Gibbs to two points each. USF has the lowest scoring defense in the Big East, with an allowed average of just 58.2 ppg. However, the Bulls are also ranked last in scoring offense as they net only 61.1 ppg.
Augustus Gilchrist is leading the balanced Bulls with a scoring average of 10.5 ppg. Victor Rudd, Jawanza Poland, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, and Ron Anderson Jr. are all steady contributors for USF as well. Fitzpatrick is leading the team with 6.5 rpg. Anthony Collins had a breakout performance against Pittsburgh on Sunday, as he scored a career-high 22 points and handed out six assists. The freshman guard has been a superb distributor as of late, as he has handed out six assists or more in six-straight games.
Syracuse extended its winning streak to seven games on Sunday as it escaped its road tilt versus Rutgers with a 74-64 victory. Jim Boeheim has led his team to sole possession of first place in the Big East as it has a 13-1 record in league play. Syracuse managed to hit 50 percent of its shots from the floor to power past the Scarlet Knights. The Orange's only loss this season was to Notre Dame, which they played without their center Fab Melo. Syracuse leads the league in scoring with an average of 76.8 ppg, and has held its opponents to 60.8 ppg.
The Orange have had all their success come this season through a total team effort. There is not any player on Syracuse with overwhelming statistics, but the team's play as a solidified unit has led to superb results. Kris Joseph leads Syracuse in scoring with 14.0 ppg on 44.1 percent shooting. The senior forward went 5-of-10 from the floor to score 14 points time out as he helped his team past Rutgers. Dion Waiters averages a second-best 12.0 ppg, while Brandon Triche chips in 9.4 ppg. Scoop Jardine controls the offense for the Orange and leads it with 5.0 assists per contest. Melo anchors the patented 2-3 zone with 3.0 blocks per game. C.J. Fair had a big performance off the bench against Rutgers, as he had team-highs of 21 points and grabbed eight boards.
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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.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.