Buckeyes and Spartans meet in key Big Ten bout

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trying to keep within striking distance of the red-hot Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten, the fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes play host to the Michigan State Spartans in league play from Value City Arena this evening.

The Buckeyes are 5-1 in the Big Ten, following Wednesday's 59-50 victory at Northwestern. It was the team's fourth straight victory and leaves it one game behind the 6-0 Badgers in the conference standings.

The Spartans are within reach as well, sitting at 4-2 in league play. Tom Izzo's squad has also strung together four consecutive wins and enters this contest off a 70-46 pasting of Minnesota on Wednesday. The Spartans are a perfect 14-0 at home this season, but have struggled a bit in true road games, winning just once in four attempts.

The Spartans own a 59-47 edge in the all-time series with Ohio State and have actually won four straight in Value City Arena.

The Spartans abused the Golden Gophers in the paint, outscoring their foe down low 32-4. The team shot 50.9 percent from the floor and held Minnesota to a mere .311 shooting performance. In addition, MSU won the battle on the boards (38-24) and forced 15 turnovers. Raymar Morgan led the way with 14 points, followed closely by Drew Neitzel and Goran Suton, who finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. On the year, Neitzel has clearly asserted himself as the offensive leader, pacing the team with 18.2 ppg. Most of Neitzel's damage comes from long range, where he has connected on 41.1 percent of his attempts, leading the team with a whopping 62 three-pointers thus far. Morgan is the only other Spartan with a double-digit average, adding 10.8 ppg. Not a flashy offensive team by any stretch of the imagination, MSU is averaging just 68.9 ppg. The team has thrived at the defensive end though, yielding a mere 55.8 ppg, while holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.374).

The Buckeyes can win games at either end of the court, showing the ability to light up a scoreboard when needed (77.6 ppg), while also showing some real grit at the defensive end (61.3 ppg against). It took a little time, but freshman phenom Greg Oden is beginning to assert himself as the best big man in the country. The seven-foot youngster is shooting .658 from the floor and currently leads the Buckeyes in scoring (15.4 ppg), rebounding (10.1 rpg) and blocked shots (47). Daequan Cook and Ron Lewis provide perimeter balance with 13.1 and 12.2 ppg, respectively. In the nine-point win over the Wildcats this week, Oden finished with yet another double-double, posting 17 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Forward Ivan Harris also finished with double digits in terms of scoring, leading the team with 18 points. OSU really beat up Northwestern on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 39-19.

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NFL ODDSTop Football Betting Free Agents to Change Teams

NFL Betting

It’s time to see how the biggest NFL free agent signings will perform for their news teams. Some will work out and could be the difference that makes a difference in the win column.

We look at the best off-season signings and if they should influence your NFL betting this season. Julius Peppers – Peppers was the biggest prize available on the 2010 NFL free agent market and the Chicago Bears opened the bank to bring his talents to the south side.

Peppers is explosive, he can get around blockers and cause quarterbacks to lose their minds. We all remember the classic Peppers game last year against the Vikings where he hounded Brett Favre into his worst game of the season. Peppers joining the Bears could be the reason Favre retired for good Tuesday morning. In addition to Peppers, the Bears added Chester Taylor to back up Matt Forte, Forte didn’t have the same intensity in 2009 compared to 2008 and bringing in Taylor will challenge Forte to bring it every game or he’ll risk losing carries to Taylor.

Betting on the Bears is a good option this season because of Julius Peppers and to a lesser extent Taylor. Antonio Bryant and Terrell Owens – The Cincinnati Bengals signed two former number one wide receivers to line up with Chad Ocho Cinco. Antonio Bryant had a huge season in 2008 catching 83 passes for over 1200 yards but regressed last season. Playing for the Tampa Bay Bucs last season was a large part of the regression, everyone was bad in TB last season.

Bryant should have a bounce back season if he can win the number two spot from Terrell Owens. If Bryant wins the number 2 WR spot, it will open up a completely new set of problems for the Bengals. If Owens is forced to the bench in favor of Bryant, his attitude will create trouble for Carson Palmer and head coach Marv Lewis. If Owens is the number two receiver, it means Bryant can’t live up to his past numbers and the Bengals are still limited in the passing game. NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. 2010 football betting lines for this can be found at this top online sportsbook. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense.

NFL bettors should be wary of laying their money down on what could potentially be the biggest gong show in the league in 2010. Karlos Danby – The Miami Dolphins have a great running back tandem in Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, a good young QB in Chad Henne and now the Bill Parcells regime is building a solid defense. They signed away the Arizona Cardinals top linebacker Karlos Danby. In the past two seasons, Danby has totaled 228 tackles, 5 sacks, 3 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles. The Dolphins are the forgotten team of the AFC East with the second longest odds to win the division but with the addition of Karlos Danby and a trade for WR Brandon Marshall makes the Miami Dolphins legitimate contenders in the AFC East and in the NFL’s Eastern Conference.

The Dolphins will make NFL wagering fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.

NFL Wagering

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.