Butler hosts Detroit in Horizon League tussle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/10/2009 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis is the site of today's Horizon League clash between the 21st-ranked Butler Bulldogs and the Detroit Titans.

Detroit was most recently in action against Valparaiso on Thursday, and the result of that clash was a 64-41 beating. The Titans are now a woeful 0-5 in league play and own a 4-10 overall record. They have played nine true road games so far this season, and only one of those tilts resulted in a victory.

As for Butler, it is 4-0 in Horizon League play for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. The Bulldogs have tied the best 14-game start in program history with their 13-1 overall record, and the team is 7-0 in Hinkle Fieldhouse this season. On Thursday, they rolled to a 64-48 decision over Wright State in front of the home crowd.

Butler owns a 37-27 series lead over Detroit. and the Bulldogs have won the last four meetings.

No a single player reached double figures in scoring for Detroit in the ugly loss to Valparaiso on Thursday. The Titans were grossly outplayed, as they turned the ball over 19 times and shot 36.8 percent from the floor, including 2-of-11 from three-point range. A 34-29 rebounding deficit also hurt the cause. Thomas Kennedy and Nemanja Jokic led the way in the setback with nine points apiece. Generating offense has been a glaring problem area for Detroit all season, as it is only scoring 55.6 ppg on 39.9 percent shooting from the field, including 28.7 percent from three-point range. Kennedy provides 10.6 ppg, but that average is not going to scare Butler heading into this tilt.

The Bulldogs put forth another outstanding defensive effort in their win over Wright State on Thursday, as they were able to limit the Raiders to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 26.3 percent from three-point range. Butler also earned a 34-27 rebounding advantage and a 19-11 edge in points from the foul line. Matt Howard posted 14 points in the triumph, and Gordon Hayward added 12 points and 11 rebounds. Providing extra balance to the lineup was Willie Veasley with 11 points. Through 14 games, Howard is netting 14.0 ppg to go with 6.6 rpg and a team-high 20 blocks. Hayward checks in with 12.9 ppg, and Shelvin Mack is generating 12.7 ppg. The Bulldogs are averaging 69.0 ppg while allowing only 56.6 ppg.

Socceronlinechance NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Oklahoma opens Big 12 play in Manhattan against Kansas State
Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big 12 Conference play begins today for the sixth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners and the Kansas State Wildcats, as the teams meet in Manhattan. Oklahoma opened the season with 12 consecutive victories before finally

<< Cards and 'Cats clash in Big East action
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big East Conference powers collide in Philadelphia this afternoon, as the 23rd-ranked Louisville Cardinals challenge the 18th-ranked Villanova Wildcats. Louisville opened Big East play on Wednesday with a

<< Wizards, Bobcats square off at Verizon Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Wizards will open a short two-game homestand tonight against the Charlotte Bobcats at the Verizon Center. Washington will also host the Milwaukee Bucks and is 5-13 at home this season. It has dropped its la

<< Hamburg youngster set for exit
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hamburg have allowed unsettled midfielder Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe to return to Anderlecht on a permanent basis. The 19-year-old Belgian arrived in the Bundesliga from Anderlecht 12 months ago but failed to

<< 'Wolves try to stay on track vs. Bucks
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves will try to extend their season high winning streak to five games Saturday when they resume a three-game homestand versus the Milwaukee Bucks at the Target Center. Minnesota posted its f

Longhorns lift lid on Big 12 slate against visiting Cyclones >>
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Texas Longhorns and Iowa State Cyclones get their Big 12 season underway today, as they clash at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin. The Longhorns enter the tilt on a down note, as they were upe

Ducks seek upset of 20th-ranked Sun Devils >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a thrashing of Oregon State, the 20th- ranked Arizona State Sun Devils now turn their focus to the Oregon Ducks in a Pac-10 matchup at Wells-Fargo Arena today. The Sun Devils were recently in play this

No. 2 Duke visits Florida State in ACC showdown >>
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Duke Blue Devils hit the road for an intriguing ACC showdown, as they invade the Tucker Center this afternoon to take on the Florida State Seminoles. Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils have jum

Intriguing non-conference matchups pits Jayhawks against Spartans >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eight-ranked Michigan State Spartans and Kansas Jayhawks close out their respective non-conference schedules this afternoon, as the two teams meet up in East Lansing for what looks to be an entertaining m

Hurricanes come north to challenge 17th-ranked Eagles >>
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Boston College Eagles seek some redemption this evening, as they welcome the Miami-Florida Hurricanes to Chestnut Hill for an ACC showdown. Al Skinner's Eagles were flying high following a

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.