Spiders and Gaels meet in South Region's first round

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-round action in the South Region will take place this afternoon at the Dunkin' Donuts Center when the seventh-seeded Richmond Spiders take on the 10th-seeded Saint Mary's Gaels.

The Gaels are participating in their sixth NCAA Tournament this afternoon. Saint Mary's won its first-ever tournament game back in 1959 against Idaho, but after that it has been all downhill, as the team has dropped its last five contests in the Big Dance. This season the Gaels rolled through their competition, posting a 26-5 ledger, while also claiming the West Coast Conference Tournament title against Gonzaga.

The Spiders fell just short of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament title with a 56-52 loss to Temple in the championship game. Despite, the loss Richmond finished the season with an impressive 26-8 ledger, and the 26 victories tied a school record. That earned Richmond a spot in its eighth NCAA Tournament invitation and the team's first appearance in the Big Dance since 2004. Richmond is the only school to have posted victories in this tournament as the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th-seed.

This will be just the second meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. The first matchup took place back in 1985 and the game was claimed by Richmond, as the Spiders defeated Saint Mary's, 75-63.

The winner in this matchup will move into the second round and will face either Robert Morris or Villanova.

The Gaels enter this tournament with four players averaging double figures, beginning with the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Omar Samhan. Samhan finished with 94 blocks this year, but the center was even better offensively, averaging an impressive double-double of 20.9 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Ben Allen has been a solid contributor in the post as well, and comes into this game with 10.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg. In the backcourt the Gaels will rely on the duo of Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova. McConnell is leading the team with 165 assists, but he is also a dangerous scorer, netting 13.7 ppg behind a staggering 51.5 percent clip from behind the arc. As for Dellavedova, he is contributing 12.5 ppg, but has also been able to find the open player, doling out 141 assists on the season. Overall the Gaels come into this matchup producing 79.5 ppg. Saint Mary's is connecting on 48.7 percent of its attempts from the floor, but even more impressive is the team's 41.2 percent showing from behind the arc.

The success for Richmond can be attributed to the team's tenacious efforts at the defensive end of the court, as the Spiders are limiting the opposition to just 62.2 ppg on a 39.2 percent shooting effort. Opponents have also struggled from behind the arc against the Spiders, connecting on just 29.7 percent of their attempts from long range. A big part of Richmond's game is its ability to force turnovers, as opponents are committing on average, 15.1 turnovers per contest. At the other end of the floor the team has been led by the guard duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez. Anderson, who was tabbed the A-10 Player of the Year, comes into this tournament averaging 17.8 ppg, to go along with a team-best 89 assists. As for Gonzalvez, he is contributing 14.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 79 assists, to go along with a team-best 64 steals.Taking care of business in the paint has been Justin Harper, who is posting 10.6 ppg, to go along with a team-high 5.5 rpg. As a whole however, the Spiders come into today's matchup averaging a modest 69.3 ppg.

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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.

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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 sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.