Montana and Weber State duke it out for Big Sky title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A trip to the NCAA Tournament is on the line tonight, as the Weber State Wildcats and the Montana Grizzlies do battle in the championship game of the 35th annual Big Sky Conference Tournament at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah.

As the top seed in this year's event and an owner of eight Big Sky Tournament titles, Weber State had to play only one game in order to make it into the finals and that was a 69-60 win over sixth-seeded Portland State on Tuesday night. The victory was revenge for the regular-season finale in which the Vikings captured an 84-79 win to snap WSU's five-game win streak.

As for fourth-seeded Montana, it began the annual event with an 81-60 thumping of Northern Arizona in the quarterfinals on Saturday and then a 68-63 win versus second-seeded Northern Colorado last night in the semifinals. The Grizzlies, who won back-to-back crowns in 2005 and 2006, the former coming against this same Weber State club, has a total of six tourney championships to their credit.

The teams split their two regular-season meetings, with each winning on their home floor. As a result, Weber State remains ahead in the all-time series with a 58-47 mark.

Anthony Johnson came up with 19 points, hitting all but one of his eight free- throw attempts, as he guided the Grizzlies to the upset win over Northern Colorado on Tuesday. Also scoring in double figures for Montana were Ryan Staudacher and Will Cherry with 10 points apiece, although the former did his damage on 4-of-5 shooting from the field and the latter just 4-of-12 accuracy. Johnson, the leading scorer in each of the last three games and nine of the last 10 outings, is responsible for 18.9 ppg on the strength of not only 50 percent shooting from the field, but also 46.7 percent beyond the arc and 184- of-211 at the charity stripe. As someone who forces the action as well as anyone in the conference, Johnson made twice as many free-throws as all but one of his teammates even had a chance to attempt this season. Staudacher, a 45.8 percent three-point shooter himself, helped the program to make good on 40.2 percent of their threes altogether.

With Portland State's Dominic Waters in foul trouble, Damian Lillard took over for the Wildcats last night as he tallied a game-high 23 points, grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists in the nine-point win at home. Franklin Session added 13 points and eight boards in order to shake off five turnovers, while Trevor Morris tallied 10 points in just 21 minutes off the bench for a Weber State squad that outscored the visitors at the free-throw line, 22-6. Lillard, the leading scorer in each of the last three games for the Wildcats, has generated a team-best 20.7 ppg against Big Sky foes this season, shooting an impressive 44.0 percent from three-point range in those decisions. As someone who gets involved in all facets of the game, Lillard also led the team in assists with 110 and has been credited with better than four rebounds per game as well. Steve Panos (11.0 ppg) and Session (10.6 ppg) also lend a hand at the offensive end of the floor.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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