Syracuse-Vermont rematch highlights West

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and staring at an injury to starting forward Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the West Region as the Orange head into a much-anticipated first-round encounter against Vermont.

The Orange (28-4) will take on the 16th-seeded Catamounts (25-9) Friday night in Buffalo and will hope to reverse course from a shocking defeat to Vermont five years ago. The Catamounts were a No. 13 seed in 2005 when they shocked Syracuse, 60-57, in overtime in a first-round matchup.

"That was the year before I came in. I hadn't committed yet, but everyone in Syracuse was miserable after that loss," Syracuse senior guard Andy Rautins said. "It's definitely going to be a little bit of a payback game for us. We're not taking anybody lightly -- we're going to come out and have a great week of practice, get good preparation in and be well prepared for this game."

Syracuse, making its 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980. The Orange weren't placed in the East due to the fact that the regional semifinals and final are at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse fell to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, when Onuaku was hurt. He left the game early and was diagnosed with a right quadriceps injury. He's considered day-to-day.

"He has played in a lot of pain before, probably two or three months last year -- he had pain the whole year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I would not sell him short as far as being able to come out and play. If he is strong and feels strong, he may not be able to play 25 or 30 minutes, but maybe he will be able to play 15 or 20, we will have to see."

Vermont earned a spot in the field of 65 by winning the America East Tournament with an 83-70 win over Boston University on Saturday.

The rematch will be heightened thanks to brothers playing on opposite sides as Syracuse forward Kris Joseph meets his sibling Maurice, Vermont's second- leading scorer this season.

"He will probably be guarding someone like Andy," Kris Joseph said. "I wish we played man for a few possessions because I would guard him full court."

Also in Buffalo Thursday night, eighth seeded Gonzaga (26-6) faces No. 9 seed Florida State (22-9). The Bulldogs made it to the Sweet 16 last year before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. This season marks Gonzaga's 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were first-round losers last year to Wisconsin.

Kansas State (26-7) is seeded second in the bracket and will face Sun Belt winner North Texas (24-8) in the first round in Oklahoma City Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats lost three times to Big 12 rival Kansas this year, including Saturday night in the conference title game. Despite this, K-State has a school-record for victories in a season.

Looming is the matchup against the Mean Green, who will go into the first round with an 11-game winning streak. North Texas is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.

The K-State/North Texas winner will take on either seventh seed BYU (29-5) or No. 10 seed Florida (21-12). The Cougars have already posted the best record in school history and will be in the NCAA Tournament for a 25th time, but are just 11-27 all time in the event. BYU has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses, last winning such a game in 1993. As for the Gators, this is a return to the Big Dance after a two-year hiatus. Before that, Florida won back-to- back national championships.

Pittsburgh (24-8), one of eight Big East teams in the tourney, is seeded third in the region and has a Friday afternoon matchup against Oakland (26-8), the Summit League champions. The game will be played in Milwaukee. The Panthers are making a school-record ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, they reached the Elite Eight before falling to Villanova. OU is currently riding a school record 11-game winning streak.

Atlantic-10 powerhouse Xavier (24-8) is seeded sixth and will have a first- round game Friday afternoon against Minnesota (21-13), which made the Big Ten championship game before losing to Ohio State. This is the fifth straight NCAA tourney appearance for the Musketeers, who gained a share of the A-10 regular season crown. The Gophers have won seven of their last 10 games including three over top 15 ranked opponents entering the event.

Vanderbilt (24-8) is seeded fourth and Butler (28-4) fifth. Both will play Thursday in San Jose. The Commodores have a tough task against upstart Murray State. The 13th-seeded Racers (30-4) won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. Butler, the Horizon League champs, will take on Texas-El Paso (26-6), the runner-up in the Conference USA tourney. The Bulldogs enter the tournament on an incredible 20-game winning streak.

The West semifinals are set to take place in Salt Lake City on March 25 with the final two days later.

Footballventure NCAA Basketball Betting News

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MySportsbook.com: NFL draft - The NFC South


In part two of MySportsbook.com’s draft preview, we’ll take a look at a division that was extremely disappointing last season: the NFC South.  Many “experts” predicted the Panthers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl, of course they could not even make the playoffs in an extremely weak NFC.  The Saints definitely made up for the disappointing seasons of their NFC South brethren by exploding out of no where en route to the NFC Championship game.  For the avid NFL gambler, it is imperative to pay attention to the NFL draft.  Although free agency gets a ton of publicity, the successful franchises build their teams around the draft.

1. New Orleans Saints
Who would have thought this time last year that the Saints would be the favorites to win the NFC South for the 2007 campaign?  New Orleans is loaded with firepower on the offensive side of the ball but with the exodus of Joe Horn they will most likely look to draft a WR on Day 1.  Despite having the NFL’s 3rd ranked pass defense last season, the Saints will most likely upgrade their CB’s with one of their first two picks. Other possibilities for the Saints will be TE and DT.  Because of where they will be selecting (27th), the Saints could go the “best available player” route which could net a LB.

Key additions: Eric Johnson TE, Troy Evans LB, David Patten WR
Key loses: Joe Horn WR,
Team needs: CB, WR, TE, LB, DT
Possible draftees: Aaron Ross CB Texas, Darrelle Revis CB Pitt, Ted Ginn Jr. WR OSU, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Chris Houston CB Arkansas, Greg Olsen TE Miami

2. Carolina Panthers
Carolina was one of the biggest disappointments in the NFL last season.  With the signing of David Carr, expect the very first quarterback controversy to come out of Carolina if Jake Delhomme doesn’t rebound quickly from an average 2007 season. With veteran safety Mike Minter getting up there in age, they will look to draft a safety on Day 1 but probably not in the first round.  LB is another need with the loss of Chris Draft to go along with Dan Morgan’s concussion problems.  If TE Greg Olsen is still on the board, he might be too good to pass up despite their needs on the defensive side of the ball.

Key additions: David Carr QB
Key loses: Chris Draft LB
Team needs: LB, TE, S, OT
Possible draftees: Greg Olsen TE Miami, Patrick Willis LB Ole Miss, Paul Posluszny LB PSU, Levi Brown OT PSU

3. Atlanta Falcons
The Falcons were another NFC South team to have a disappointing 2007 season.  The Falcons have been plenty busy during the off season with plenty of players coming and going including a new head coach.  The Falcons were able to improve their draft position with the trade of coveted backup QB Matt Schaub.  High on the list of Day 1 needs will be a defensive end to replace Patrick Kerney and a hard hitting safety since Lawyer Milloy is nearing the end of his career.  With an additional 2nd round pick, the Falcons could attempt to trade up to acquire local product WR Calvin Johnson. 

Key additions: Joey Harrington QB, Toniu Fonoti OG, Joe Horn WR
Key loses: Justin Griffen RB, Patrick Kerney DE, Matt Lehr OG, Ashley Lelie WR, Matt Schaub QB
Team needs: DE, S, OT, WR, DT
Possible draftees: LaRon Landry S LSU, Amobi Okoye DT Louisville, Levi Brown OT PSU, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas, Alan Branch DT Michigan

4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Age really caught up to the Bucs last season.  The Bucs still have plenty of household names on defense in Ronde Barber, Simeon Rice and Derrick Brooks but the one thing those three have in common is unfortunately age.  It is imperative for the Bucs to get much younger, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Despite having bigger needs on the defensive side of the ball, WR Calvin Johnson is the most likely pick if he is still available when the Bucs pick at the four spot.  This would suit Bucs’ faithful just fine as Johnson is widely considered the top talent in the draft and it is a position of need for the Bucs.

Key additions: Jeff Garcia QB, Kevin Carter DE, Torrie Cox CB, Cato June LB
Key loses: Dewayne White DE, Sean Mahan OG
Team needs: WR, LB, DE, CB (Youth on defense!)
Possible draftees: Calvin Johnson WR Georgia Tech, Gains Adams DE Clemson, Jamaal Anderson DE Arkansas

It is never too early to start betting on the NFL. Log on to MySportsbook.com to checkout all of the NFL futures for the upcoming season.  On the clock: the NFC North

Odds to win the NFC South:
New Orleans Saints 8-5
Carolina Panthers 2-1
Atlanta Falcons 12-5
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 9-2    

Odds to win the NFC:
New Orleans Saints 13-2
Carolina Panthers 7-1
Atlanta Falcons 20-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 25-1

Odds to win the Super Bowl:
New Orleans Saints 18-1
Carolina Panthers 20-1
Atlanta Falcons 50-1
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 75-1

To visit this sportsbook get to MySportsbook.com for all your online sportsbook needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.