Montana and Weber State duke it out for Big Sky title
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
03/10/2010 -
Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A trip to the NCAA Tournament is on the line
tonight, as the Weber State Wildcats and the Montana Grizzlies do battle in
the championship game of the 35th annual Big Sky Conference Tournament at the
Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.
As the top seed in this year's event and an owner of eight Big Sky Tournament
titles, Weber State had to play only one game in order to make it into the
finals and that was a 69-60 win over sixth-seeded Portland State on Tuesday
night. The victory was revenge for the regular-season finale in which the
Vikings captured an 84-79 win to snap WSU's five-game win streak.
As for fourth-seeded Montana, it began the annual event with an 81-60 thumping
of Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals on Saturday and then a 68-63 win
versus second-seeded Northern Colorado last night in the semifinals. The
Grizzlies, who won back-to-back crowns in 2005 and 2006, the former coming
against this same Weber State club, has a total of six tourney championships
to their credit.
The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning on their
home floor. As a result, Weber State remains ahead in the all-time series with
a 58-47 mark.
Anthony Johnson came up with 19 points, hitting all but one of his eight free-
throw attempts, as he guided the Grizzlies to the upset win over Northern
Colorado on Tuesday. Also scoring in double figures for Montana were Ryan
Staudacher and Will Cherry with 10 points apiece, although the former did his
damage on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and the latter just 4-of-12 accuracy.
Johnson, the leading scorer in each of the last three games and nine of the
last 10 outings, is responsible for 18.9 ppg on the strength of not only 50
percent shooting from the field, but also 46.7 percent beyond the arc and 184-
of-211 at the charity stripe. As someone who forces the action as well as
anyone in the conference, Johnson made twice as many free-throws as all but
one of his teammates even had a chance to attempt this season. Staudacher, a
45.8 percent three-point shooter himself, helped the program to make good on
40.2 percent of their threes altogether.
With Portland State's Dominic Waters in foul trouble, Damian Lillard took over
for the Wildcats last night as he tallied a game-high 23 points, grabbed five
rebounds and handed out four assists in the nine-point win at home. Franklin
Session added 13 points and eight boards in order to shake off five turnovers,
while Trevor Morris tallied 10 points in just 21 minutes off the bench for a
Weber State squad that outscored the visitors at the free-throw line, 22-6.
Lillard, the leading scorer in each of the last three games for the Wildcats,
has generated a team-best 20.7 ppg against Big Sky foes this season, shooting
an impressive 44.0 percent from three-point range in those decisions. As
someone who gets involved in all facets of the game, Lillard also led the team
in assists with 110 and has been credited with better than four rebounds per
game as well. Steve Panos (11.0 ppg) and Session (10.6 ppg) also lend a hand
at the offensive end of the floor.
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Why Sports Betting is so much fun?
Betting Sports
The most popular sports to bet on are NFL and college football along with NBA and NCAA basketball. There are multiple betting opportunities within those sports, beginning with the basic wager on a game’s outcome (also called betting the side). College Football Point spreads are used in both football and basketball in an attempt to even the attractiveness of each team in a match-up. ( See our article detailing how and why point spreads are made)
But you could also simply bet on the money line, or straight-up winner of the game. Oddsmakers use the money line so that more money must be risked on the favorite or expected winner and less money on the underdog to balance the action on both sides. While money line gambling is an attractive option for football and basketball bettors who only care about picking a winner, it is the primary option for those bettors who enjoy wagering on MLB baseball and individual sports like boxing, tennis, golf and racing events such as NASCAR. ( More details on playing the Money Line)
Points (or Runs) Scored
Another bet across all major team sports including football, basketball, baseball, and hockey involves wagering on the amount of scoring in a game, called an Over/Under total. For example, the Over/Under total on Super Bowl XXXIX was 48, which means a bettor could wager whether there would be more or less than 48 points scored by both teams combined in the game.
The final score of Super Bowl XXXIX was 24-21; the scoring of both teams added up to 45, which means the game went Under . So Under bettors won, and Over bettors lost.
Future Bets
Sports gambling doesn’t end there. Betting sides and totals are the most common wagers available everywhere, but many sportsbooks also offer future bets on big upcoming events like who will win next year’s Super Bowl and what movie will win Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
The main advantage of futures is that you can get appealing odds by betting far in advance. For example, with NFL futures you often can get much higher odds on a team by betting before the season even starts. A NFL future bet on a team to win the Super Bowl odds might be 20/1 in the preseason; but by midseason, their odds might decrease to 10/1 if they turn out to be legitimate championship contenders.
Proposition Bets (or Prop Bets)
Proposition bets , also known as prop bets, focus upon the more exotic aspects of a game and are generally reserved for events that are widely televised. Prop bets are extremely popular when it comes to wagering on the Super Bowl in Las Vegas. The Imperial Palace Casino’s sportsbook is well-known for the enormous number of prop bets offered. For example, you can bet on:
- What team will win the coin toss
- What player will score the game’s first touchdown
- What will be the exact margin of victory
Types of Bets
Straight Bet
Involves one individual wager, whether it be on your team to cover the point spread, to win the game straight-up on the money line, or to go over/under the total.
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay bet is much better odds than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher.
Standard payoffs on a two-team parlay are 13/5; while a three-teamer pays 6/1; and a four-teamer 10/1.
Parlay cards are also fairly common in sportsbooks and popular with bettors, as they are released early in the week with set odds that do not change in return for a slightly lower payoff.
Round Robin Betting
Adventurous bettors who enjoy betting parlays sometimes put together a series of parlays called a Round Robin . A three-team Round Robin consists of one three-team parlay and three two-team parlays. For example, Joe likes teams A,B,C – with a Round Robin he has a three-teamer with ABC, and two-teamers with AB, AC, and BC.
Similar to a parlay, a teaser bet is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers, but is different in that the point spread is adjusted to your advantage on each individual wager. In exchange for the points, you get less of a return on your bet compared to a parlay. For example, a 6-point teaser would move the line on a 7-point favorite from -7 to -1, meaning the team would have to cover 6 less points. Each of the individual wagers must win or the bet is a loss.
These are the main types of sports bets available today. But as sports betting continues to grow, sportsbooks will continue to develop new and creative ways to bet. We’ll continue to track these changes to the sports gambling landscape, so check back often and we’ll tell you all about it!
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.
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