Sooners attempt to continue mastery of Aggies

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting in a logjam atop the Big 12 standings, the sixth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies return home to the friendly confines of Reed Arena, as they play host to the Oklahoma Sooners in conference action this afternoon.

The Aggies had an extended nine-game win streak halted on Wednesday, as they dropped a two-point decision at Texas Tech (70-68). The loss was the first in-conference for A&M, which is tied with three other teams for first place in the Big 12 at 4-1.

Sitting right in the middle of the league standings is Oklahoma, which fell to 3-3 in Big 12 play with Monday's 66-61 loss at rival Oklahoma State. The Sooners have now dropped four of their last seven games and will need to get hot down the stretch to get consideration for the postseason.

Oklahoma has owned this series, winning 25 of the previous 26 meetings, including a 10-1 mark in College Station.

The Sooners certainly had their opportunities in Stillwater earlier in the week, but could not get over the hump against the Cowboys. Senior forward Nate Carter continued his torrid pace since the beginning of Big 12 play, erupting for a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Michael Neal was the only other Sooner to join Carter in double figures, posting 13 points in the five-point setback. Carter is fourth on the team in scoring at 9.1 ppg, but has more than doubled that average in league affairs (18.3 ppg). Longar Longar currently leads the team in both scoring (11.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 rpg). Neal is a close second at 10.7 ppg, while both Tony Crocker (9.9 ppg) and Carter are closing in on double digits. The team as a whole is netting 69.6 ppg and has done a much better job defensively, limiting the opposition to a mere 57.4 ppg, while holding them under 40 percent shooting (.380).

The Aggies know a thing or two about defensive intensity as well. The team is yielding a meager 54.2 ppg, holding foes to just .352 shooting, including .272 from behind the arc. Offensively, the team has gotten the job done as well, shooting .512 from the floor, resulting in a healthy 76.2 ppg. Acie Law leads four players with double-digit averages, netting 16.5 ppg, while doubling as the team's primary distributor (91). Joseph Jones (13.6 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and Antanas Kavaliauskas (11.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg) complement with their inside games, while Josh Carter (11.7 ppg) is the team's top long range threat (.490 from three-point range, 47-of-96). It was a nip-and-tuck game all the way in Lubbock this week, but in the end, Texas A&M's nine-game win streak came to a close. Law did what he could to earn the victory, erupting for 26 points, on 9-of-15 shots from the floor. Dominique Kirk posted 12 points and Jones chipped in with 11, but Carter was held scoreless in the game in 30 minutes of action. Despite shooting .532 from the floor, A&M was outscored 22-13 at the free-throw line and committed 15 costly turnovers in the narrow defeat.

Wwwnasasports NCAA Basketball Betting News

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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