OVC action pits Racers against Tigers

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - 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 be the first of two scheduled meetings between the Racers and Tennessee State this season. Murray State holds a 46-15 edge in the all-time series after winning the last eight encounters with the Tigers.

Tennessee State is going to be one of the tougher matchups for the Racers on their OVC schedule. The Tigers are 15-10 overall and 8-4 in league action after their 75-72 road victory over Southeast Missouri State on Saturday, which left them in a tie for second place in the league standings. Head coach John Cooper's team continued to play well offensively as it shot 42.4 percent from the fiend and 38.5 percent from beyond the arc in the victory over SEMO. Tennessee State is fourth in league action in the OVC with a scoring average of 72.0 ppg. The Tigers are the second hottest team in the conference, as they carry a five-game winning streak into tonight.

Robert Covington is one of the top players in the conference, as he carries averages of 17.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest. The junior forward was exceptional his last time out, as he netted 23 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help his squad push past Southeast Missouri State. Kellen Thornton came up big off the bench in the same contest with 15 points and six boards off the bench while Kenny Moore added 11 points. Patrick Miller controls the offense and is posting 11.7 points and a team-high 3.5 assists per game.

Head coach Steve Prohm is 23-0 for his career in leading the Racers to their incredible start. Murray State's road to perfection has seen recent close calls, as every OVC team is trying to make headlines with an upset. After a second-half comeback against Missouri State on Thursday of last week, the Racers outlasted Tennessee-Martin to pick up a 65-58 victory, which made them 11-0 in league action. Murray State's statistics illustrate their dominance, as it leads the OVC in both scoring offense (75.2) and scoring defense (61.3).

The Racers have been paced by their MVP candidate Isaiah Canaan. The junior guard is ranked second in the league and 24th in the nation in scoring with 19.3 ppg and is also third in the OVC in assists with 3.8 per game. Donte Poole and Ivan Aska have been steadily contributing to keep Murray State rolling. Poole has been slumping as of late, as he has gone 1-of-15 from the floor in his last two contests. Aska grabbing a team-best 5.9 boards per game. Jewuan Long stretches the defense with his 51.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc.

Gamvling NCAA Basketball Betting News


<< 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

<< 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'

<< 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

<< Illini and Hoosiers duke it out in Big Ten brawl
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Illinois Fighting Illini are hoping a win tonight at No. 23 Indiana will give them a boost as they come down the home stretch in what has been a fairly odd season thus far. Illinois is 16-7 on the year,

<< Fish will open for U.S. against Federer-led Swiss
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 aff

Habs aim to make it three straight in clash with Isles >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens will try to post their longest winning streak in over three months when they visit the New York Islanders tonight at Nassau Coliseum. The Canadiens have recorded recent home wins over Winnipeg and Pi

Rangers try to rebound against Lightning >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Rangers will try to rebound from a controversial loss when they welcome the Tampa Bay Lightning for tonight's battle at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers dropped a 1-0 regulation decision Tuesday against the

Celtics, Lakers renew rivalry in Beantown >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pro basketball's most storied rivalry resumes in Beantown on Thursday, when the streaking Boston Celtics aim to complete a perfect five- game homestand versus the despised Los Angeles Lakers. The Celtics (17) and Lake

Thunder continue road trip at Sacramento >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder have been moving along quite steadily this season and will try to keep it that way when they resume a five-game road trip tonight against the Sacramento Kings. Oklahoma City

Banged-up Nuggets try to snap skid vs. Warriors >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets are not making excuses that injuries are the main reason why they're mired in a season-high four-game losing streak. "We have a lot of young talent and a lot of players with experience. We have a long be

$12,000,000.00 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

2009 MARCH MADNESS BRACKET CONTEST

Offering $12 Million Dollars to whoever fills in the perfect March Madness Bracket. For the fifth year in a row MySportsbook.com is giving March Madness bettors a chance to never have to work another day in their lives. MySportsbook.com has been in business for 12 years and to celebrate this years March Madness they are offering $1 Million Dollars for every year they have been taking college basketball wagers along with every other sports wagering type imaginable.

The MySportsbook.com March Madness contest is simple just Sign-up for the March Madness bracket contest and come back after Selection Sunday to submit your March Madness picks. Then place $20.00 in wagers during each round of the March Madness tournament. Even if your bracket is not perfect you could potentially still win $10,000.00.

There is not an office pool on the planet that can offer this March Madness Grand Prize. Get together with your office, work as a team or keep the $12 Million and do it yourself and win the $12 Million. Also feel free to print out the Printable March Madness Brackets .

Get free 2009 March Madness Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online March Madness betting VISA Mastercard

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com