Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg inks deal with Big East, C-USA

NCAA Football Betting Lines

04/28/2010 - St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Beef 'O' Brady Bowl St. Petersburg signed a four-year deal on Tuesday with the Big East Conference and Conference USA through the 2013 college football season.

This season's contest will be played on December 21 at Tropicana Field.

The Big East has won both matchups in the brief two-year history of this bowl game. In 2008, South Florida downed Memphis before Rutgers defeated Central Florida this past December.

"The growth of the Beef 'O' Brady's Bowl St. Petersburg in only two years has been extremely impressive," said Big East commissioner John Marinatto. "St. Petersburg is a very attractive destination for our teams and our fans. We're happy to be able to continue our agreement."

Lasveags NCAA Football Betting News

<< Renteria, Wellemeyer lead Giants past slumping Phillies
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edgar Renteria backed Todd Wellemeyer's surprisingly solid outing by going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored, as the Giants downed the Phillies, 6-2, at AT&T Park. Wellemeyer (1-3) entered t

<< The Mayor is back: Cyclones name Hoiberg head coach
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Iowa State has named Fred Hoiberg its head men's basketball coach. Hoiberg, who starred for the Cyclones in the 1990s, will be introduced at a news conference Wednesday morning. He just finished his first

<< Butler leads the way as Mavs dump Spurs, avoid elimination
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caron Butler poured in a playoff career-best 35 points to go with 11 rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks staved off elimination with a convincing 103-81 win over the San Antonio Spurs. Butler was the offense's

<< Several Senators facing surgery
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Several members of the Ottawa Senators are slated undergo surgeries to fix a slew of injuries. The Ottawa Sun reported late Tuesday that defenseman Chris Phillips, long-time captain Daniel Alfredsson and f

<< Rockies crush D-Backs with early burst of offense
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Gonzalez went 3-for-5 with five RBI, and Colorado crushed Arizona, 12-1, in the second installment of a three-game set. Ubaldo Jimenez (5-0) remained perfect on the young season, extending his scor

Kearns drive in five as Indians blast Angels >>
AAnaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Austin Kearns homered and drove in a season- high five runs to pace the Cleveland Indians over the Angels, 9-2, in the middle contest of a three-game set at Angel Stadium. Shin-Shoo Choo added two h

Lakers pummel Thunder, take 3-2 series lead >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol poured in 25 points and pulled down 11 rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers crushed the Thunder, 111-87, to move ahead after five games of their Western Conference quarterfinal series. Kobe

Penn football player's death was suicide, mom says >>
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -The mother of a University of Pennsylvania football player found dead earlier this week says he committed suicide.Katherine Brearley says her son Owen Thomas was very self-directed but that his intensity ``spiraled out of control.

Endorsement out of Derby with injury >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunland Derby winner Endorsement has been withdrawn from the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby with an injury. The colt was injured during his final workout Wednesday morning. Owned by WinStar Far

OHL Finals Preview: Quest for the Robertson Cup >>
Toronto, Canada (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - As foretold in my column last week, the Barrie Colts will square off against the Windsor Spitfires in the upcoming Ontario Hockey League Finals, with the winner representing the OHL at the Memorial Cup, beginn

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

The 2008 NFL betting lines season is almost upon us! If you like to bet on the NFL, you are in the best possible place for online betting. The sportsbook has NFL odds up on a ton of futures, and you will also find NFL lines up for early games as well. Join sportbook today and we'll help guide you right through to Super Bowl XLIII and beyond!

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting odds .

Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

For more March Madness odds go to MySportsbook.com

For more College Basketball betting lines go to BettingExpress.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.