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02/09/2012 - Fribourg, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An opening-round Davis Cup tie between the United States and host Switzerland will commence Friday when American Mardy Fish takes on Swiss slugger Stanislas Wawrinka.
The best-of-five affair will be staged on red clay at Forum Fribourg.
Fish-Wawrinka will be followed by a bout between Swiss great Roger Federer and 6-foot-9 American John Isner. This will mark the 16-time Grand Slam champion Federer's first World Group Davis Cup action since 2004, as he has played in only a few playoffs and zonal matchups since then.
Saturday's doubles will pit an American tandem of Mike Bryan and Ryan Harrison against a powerful Swiss pairing of Federer and Wawrinka, who were the gold medal winners at the Olympic Summer Games in Beijing in 2008. Bob Bryan made himself unavailable to play doubles for the U.S. this week after his wife gave birth to their first child last week.
Sunday's reverse singles will pit the former world No. 1 and currently third- ranked Federer against the No. 8 Fish and Wawrinka versus Isner.
The 32-time Davis Cup champion Americans will play this week without injured star Andy Roddick.
The U.S. is 2-1 all-time versus Switzerland, including a victory in the final back in 1992. The Swiss, however, are 1-0 all-time against the Americans on home soil, with the victory coming 11 years ago in Basel.
Team USA is captained former world No. 1 star Jim Courier, while Switzerland, which has never captured the Davis Cup, is led by Severin Luthi.
The USA-Switzerland winner will meet the Canada-France victor in the quarterfinals in April.
<< Caps hope to stay in first as they battle Jets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Washington Capitals will try to post
consecutive wins for the first time in over three weeks when they host the
Winnipeg Jets tonight at Verizon Center.
The Capitals posted a big win Tuesday against visitin
<< Flyers seek to halt skid vs. Maple Leafs
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Flyers will try to halt their longest
losing streak of the season when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs in
tonight's Eastern Conference clash at Wells Fargo Center.
The Flyers are in the midst of an 0-2-1
<< Canucks could be without Sedin against Wild
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks keep finding ways to win close games,
but tonight they may have to find a way to do so without former Hart Trophy
winner Henrik Sedin.
The Minnesota Wild are hoping the possible return of their captai
<< Sens welcome Fisher back to Ottawa
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators were already burned by one former
teammate this week. They hope that same thing doesn't happen this evening
against the Nashville Predators in Mike Fisher's return to Scotiabank Place.
The 31-year-old F
Big Ten showdown pits Badgers against Gophers >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A couple of teams jockeying for position in
the ultra-competitive Big Ten Conference meet in Minneapolis tonight, as
another chapter of the legendary "Border War" is added when the Minnesota
Golden Gophers pla
Gaels and Zags collide in key WCC affair >>
Spokane, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 16th-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels have the
opportunity to all but end Gonzaga's reign atop the West Coast Conference, as
the two teams meet in Spokane this evening at the McCarthey Athletic Center.
Saint Mary'
Rivals meet up in Starkville for SEC action >>
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Instate rivals collide in Starkville this
evening, as the 20th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the Ole
Miss Rebels in an SEC affair at the Humphrey Coliseum.
Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs can't af
OVC action pits Racers against Tigers >>
Murray, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Murray State Racers will once
again march out on the court to defend their perfect record as they host the
Tennessee State Tigers in an Ohio Valley Conference clash at the CFSB Center.
This will
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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