2009 Sun Belt Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/03/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 33rd-annual Sun Belt Conference Tournament, which includes all 13 members, will begin at campus venues on Wednesday, before moving to Summit Arena for the final three rounds.

The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers and Arkansas-Little Rock Trojans won the East and West Divisions, respectively, with identical 15-3 records. The Hilltoppers though, swept the Trojans during the regular season and were awarded the top seed in the tournament. Troy finished slightly behind WKU and UALR at 14-4, so it received the No.3 seed. The top three seeds earn a bye in the first round, while the rest of the league must battle for the right to move on to Hot Springs for the quarterfinals.

The North Texas Mean Green claimed the fourth seed with an 11-7 finish and will host 13th-seeded Florida Atlantic, which went just 2-16 in league play. The Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders and South Alabama Jaguars both had 10-8 league records and after the tie-breaker scenario was worked out, it was the Raiders who landed the fifth seed. MT will take on 12th-seeded Arkansas State, which finished 5-13, while the sixth-seeded Jaguars will entertain the 11th- seeded New Orleans Privateers after their 6-12 showing. The UL-Monroe Warhawks also recorded a 6-12 ledger, but owned the tie-breaker with New Orleans and were given the 10th seed. The Warhawks will clash with the Denver Pioneers, who earned the seventh seed with an even 9-9 performance. The UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns and Florida International Golden Panthers both ended with 7-11 records, but tie-breaker went to the Cajuns and they get to host the Panthers in the first round.

The ninth-seeded Panthers versus the eighth-seeded Cajuns are one of five first round games on tap for Wednesday. In league games, ULL went 6-3 at home compared to 1-8 on the road, so it was important that the Cajuns won the tie- breaker with FIU in order to host this bout. ULL has had great success in this event, going 24-12 all-time and capturing five titles. FIU, on the other hand, is just 5-9 lifetime in the tourney and is in search of its first championship.

The 13th-seeded Owls bring a five-game losing streak to Denton, where they will take on the fourth-seeded Mean Green in the first round. FAU is 0-17 on the road this season, while North Texas owns an 11-4 mark at home. The Mean Green won its lone title in this tourney in 2007, and the Owls have gone 2-2 in their only two appearances.

The fifth-seeded Blue Raiders welcome the 12th-seeded Red Wolves to Murfreesboro for a first-round match up on Wednesday. MT won the lone meeting with ASU during the season and has gone 6-3 in conference home games. The Blue Raiders have posted a 10-8 mark in this tourney, including a 67-57 loss to Western Kentucky in the finals last season. ASU won its lone title in 1999, but it enters the postseason riding a lengthy nine-game slide.

After earning the top seed last season, the Jaguars had to settle for the sixth spot and a first-round home game against 11th-seeded New Orleans this year. USA is one of the most decorated teams in the SBC, as it has won the tourney title on five occasions, most recently in 2006. The Privateers claimed their second championship in 1996, but they most likely won't get past the first round this season considering their 0-9 record on the road in league games.

The seventh-seeded Pioneers and 10th-seeded Warhawks will meet in Colorado in first-round action on Wednesday as well. Denver boasts an 11-3 home ledger, while ULM sports a poor 2-11 road mark. Neither team has won a title in this event, but the Pioneers did reach the finals in 2005, losing out to ULL.

Top-seeded WKU will start off quarterfinal round play on Sunday, as it awaits the winner of the ULL/FIU matchup. The Toppers defeated MT in their finale to wrap up the SBC regular-season title, the program's 41st league championship (regular season and tournament titles). WKU won its unprecedented sixth SBC Tournament title last season as a third seed and is 34-20 all-time in this event.

Muck like WKU, second-seed UALR will be awaiting the arrival of its quarterfinal round opponent at Summit Arena on Sunday. The Trojans will face off against the survivor of the ULM/Denver contest. UALR recorded a school- record 15 SBC wins this season on its way to the program's fourth West Division title in six years. The Trojans also reached the 20-win plateau for the second straight season, a feat they hadn't accomplished since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 campaigns. UALR though, is still looking for that elusive first title despite winning 15 games in this tourney.

The quarterfinal round will conclude with third-seeded Troy taking on either New Orleans or South Alabama on Sunday. The Trojans ripped off wins in 12 of their last 13 outings, although a heart-breaking, 87-86, loss to FIU on February 19th ultimately cost them a share of the league crown. Still, the run pushed Troy to 19-11 overall, marking its best record since the 2003-04 season.

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Online Sportsbook Football Betting

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:

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.

Sports Betting Parlays

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.

Betting Teasers

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.

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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