11/30/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Craig Anderson made 37 saves to record his sixth career shutout, as the Florida Panthers blanked the New York Rangers, 4-0, at Madison Square, splitting a home-and-home set.
The Rangers notched a 4-3 shootout win Friday night in Florida.
Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik both registered a goal and an assist for the Panthers, who had lost five of their last seven games. Ville Peltonen and Gregory Campbell also tallied, while Radek Dvorak collected two assists.
New York goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, who leads the league in wins with 15, was yanked in the second period after giving up three goals on 23 shots. Steve Valiquette made six saves the rest of the way for the Rangers, who had won three games in a row.
Following a fruitless opening period, the Panthers exploded for three goals in the middle stanza.
Peltonen, who was denied earlier by Lundqvist, made good on his second opportunity midway through the frame. Peltonen accepted a feed from Dvorak and caught a break when Rangers rearguard Marc Staal lost his footing in the neutral zone, which allowed him to break in alone and fire a wrister that beat the Swedish netminder on the blocker side.
Campbell lit the lamp 12 seconds after Weiss cashed in on a backhander. While driving hard to the net, Campbell tipped in a Dvorak centering feed past a stunned Lundqvist with 3:47 remaining.
Frolik gave the Cats a 4-0 lead a minute into the third period.
Game Notes
New York posted a 7-6-1 mark in November after an impressive 10-2-1 October, while Florida went 5-6-3...The Panthers snapped a three-game losing streak at MSG...The Rangers finished 0-for-5 on the power play, while Florida was 0- for-3.
<< Alabama-Florida 1-2 in AP poll heading into SEC title game
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama and Florida remained No. 1 and No. 2,
respectively, in the latest Associated Press college football poll.
The Crimson Tide (12-0), the lone unbeaten team from a BCS conference, knocked
off Auburn, 36
<< Saints RB Bush back in lineup
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush
returned to the team's lineup Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after
missing the previous four games.
Bush hadn't played since an October 19 loss to Carolina --
<< Jackson starts for Rams
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson
started Sunday's game against the Miami Dolphins.
Jackson, who had missed four of the past five games, was listed as
questionable for the game as h
<< Bills S Whitner out vs. San Fran
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills starting strong safety Donte
Whitner is inactive for Sunday's game against San Francisco with a separated
shoulder.
Whitner was hurt in the Bills' 26-17 loss to the New York Jets on Novem
Bills' Edwards leaves with groin injury >>
Orchard Park, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Bills quarterback Trent Edwards
was on the sidelines in the second half of Sunday's game against San Francisco
with a groin injury.
J.P. Losman took over under center for the second half
Stuttgart blanks Schalke in Babbel's league debut >>
Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jan Simak and Mario Gomez scored in the
last 12 minutes, Jans Lehmann saved a penalty kick and Stuttgart topped Schalke
2-0 at Mercedes-Benz Arena on Sunday in coach Markus Babbel's Bundesliga debut.
A
Colts edge Browns behind stingy defense >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Mathis' 37-yard fumble return with
9:55 remaining in the fourth quarter lifted the Indianapolis Colts to a 10-6
win over the Cleveland Browns.
Mathis finished with two sacks for the surging Co
NEC hammers Volendam >>
Nijmegen, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lasse Schone and Jhonny van Beukering
each had two goals as NEC hammered last-place Volendam, 6-1, on Sunday in the
Dutch Eredivisie.
Schone started the onslaught in the ninth minute and finished
While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.
Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.
The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.
What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.
These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.
College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.
Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.
Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.
Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.
I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.
Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.
It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.
As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.
Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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