Bulldogs battle Raiders for Horizon League crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the fifth straight season the 12th- ranked Butler Bulldogs will take part in the Horizon League Tournament Championship Game when they host the Wright State Raiders this evening at the Hinkle Fieldhouse.

The Raiders finished the regular season with a respectable 12-6 mark in league play, and that was good enough for the team to earn the second seed in the tournament and a bye to the semifinals. In the semifinal round, the Raiders defeated the seventh-seeded Detroit Titans by a 69-50 margin.

As for the Bulldogs, they were outstanding this year, posting just the fourth- ever perfect season in the Horizon League by finishing with an 18-0 ledger. Butler is also an impressive 14-0 at home and since Brad Stevens took over for the Bulldogs, the team is 43-3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The team carried that momentum into its semifinal matchup with Milwaukee, posting a 68-59 win over the Panthers on Saturday. This might be the fifth straight Horizon League tournament title match for Butler, but the team has hoisted the trophy just once during this run.

One of those losses in the championship game for Butler came in 2007 against the Raiders by a five-point margin. Despite that loss, the Bulldogs still own a 22-15 edge over Wright State in the all-time series, and that includes two victories during the regular season.

The Raiders used their tenacious defensive play to grab a victory over Detroit in their semifinal matchup. Wright State held Detroit to just 50 points in the win and limited the Titans to a meager 39.1 percent shooting effort that included an equally poor 2-of-15 clip from long range. Wright State has used its stingy defensive play throughout the season to corral victories, as the team is limiting the opposition to just 60.6 ppg. At the other end of the floor the team has been paced by Vaughn Duggins and his 14.4 ppg. Todd Brown is the only other player netting double figures on the season, and comes into this game with 13.0 ppg. Duggins posted 12 points in the win over Detroit, while Brown added 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists. The team was led by Ronnie Thomas and Troy Tabler though, as Thomas scored a team-best 18 points, while Tabler posted 16 points.

All five starters for the Bulldogs scored in double figures in Butler's victory over Milwaukee in semifinal round action. Matt Howard led the way with 18 points for Butler, which shot a respectable 47.7 percent from the floor, and also connected on 22-of-32 shots from behind the arc. Ronald Nored added 13 points and eight rebounds, while Shelvin Mack and Willie Veasley tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively. Gordon Hayward helped out as well, posting a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds. Hayward has been the main source of production throughout the season and comes into the title game averaging 15.6 ppg and 8.6 rpg. Mack is contributing 13.9 ppg on the season, while Howard is posting 12.2 ppg, to go along with 5.3 rpg. Veasley is helping out with 10.4 ppg, while Nored is pacing the team with 111 assists.

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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.