12/03/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Villanova coach Andy Talley was in a contemplative mood as he considered a rematch with James Madison, following the Wildcats' 55-28 playoff victory over Colgate on Saturday.
"Very rarely in life do you get a second chance," Talley said. "Now we have a chance to maybe win a national championship."
Four teams playing in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division I Football Championships this Saturday will have the element of revenge from as they try to take another step towards a national title.
On one side of the bracket, Villanova at James Madison is a remake of an Oct. 25 Colonial Athletic Association game, while Weber State at Montana is part two of an Oct. 4 Big Sky Conference battle.
Meanwhile, Northern Iowa is meeting New Hampshire in the playoffs for the third time in four years and Appalachian State is hosting Richmond for the second straight postseason.
It isn't odd to have one rematch on a given playoff weekend, but four is unprecedented.
"We are pretty familiar with them and they are pretty familiar with us," James Madison coach Mickey Matthews said of the Villanova rematch.
There will be few tricks as all of these teams face down each other again.
Here is a breakdown of the four games:
VILLANOVA AT JAMES MADISON
You couldn't have asked for much worse weather, unless you wanted to bring in a blizzard, when the teams met the first time this year in a contest that ultimately decided the CAA title. With rain crashing down and 30 mph gusts of wind rushing through Villanova Stadium, both teams had to junk their game plans.
JMU burned Villanova a couple of times on play-action fakes and busts in the Wildcat secondary, but Villanova struck for a time-consuming 97-yard drive near the end of the first half and dominated time of possession the rest of way, hurting the Dukes on counter plays.
A six-yard pass from Chris Whitney to Phil Atkinson gave the Wildcats a 19-14 lead less than a minute into the fourth period. Villanova was one play away from the victory at 19-17 when Rodney Landers hit Bosco Williams on a 35-yard Hail Mary pass to steal a 23-19 victory.
"I think they feel like they were lucky to get out of Dodge," Talley said of the Dukes.
JMU will be helped by playing at a jammed-packed Bridgeforth Stadium, and the weather should be cold, but otherwise conducive to good football. Look for Villanova to work some passing in with its grinding running attack in an effort to exploit James Madison's defensive weaknesses. The play of quarterbacks Whitney and Antwon Young will be key here.
The No.1-ranked Dukes will hope to be more effective in the running game, after being held to just 169 yards by the Wildcats' defense the first time. A dry field should help aid JMU in that endeavor, but No. 6 Villanova has been rugged against the ground game all year. One plus is that running back Eugene Holloman seems to be healthier than he has been in awhile, adding some balance to Landers.
For JMU to score, it will have to find ways to beat a Wildcat secondary that has been vulnerable at times. But if the Dukes fall behind and are forced to pass, Landers will be at the mercy of a strong Villanova pass rush, led by defensive ends Greg Miller, Tim Kukucka and David Dalessandro.
CAA teams have faced each other three times in the past. Twice, the team that had won the regular season outing lost in the playoffs. William & Mary made a wild comeback to beat Delaware in double overtime and James Madison stopped William & Mary a week later in 2004. Massachusetts held off New Hampshire twice in the 2006 campaign on the way to the championship game, including once in the quarterfinals.
With all of those things considered, I'll take Villanova to win a close, low- scoring game.
WEBER STATE AT MONTANA
Montana fans have been hankering for a rematch between these two opponents ever since Weber State whacked out a 45-28 victory in early October on the way to the Big Sky automatic bid.
The No. 12-ranked Wildcats hadn't beaten Montana anywhere since 1998 and haven't won a game in Missoula since before Washington-Grizzly Stadium existed in 1987. Montana also knows it has only been beaten twice by one team in the same season, by Idaho in 1982 and 1988. So the No. 4-seeded Grizzlies are confident they can earn some revenge on Saturday.
But this is a Weber State squad that has been changing perceptions all season. WSU fields one of the most explosive offenses in FCS with Cameron Higgins at quarterback, two-time Big Sky rushing leader Trevyn Smith in the backfield and a host of big-play receivers that include Tim Toone, Bryant Eteuati and tight end Corey Nakamura, to go with an improving defense.
In the first meeting, Montana took a 21-10 lead midway through the second quarter as Weber State mismanaged opportunities. But the Wildcats scored three times the rest of the half to take a 31-21 advantage and never looked back.
Weber State dominated on both sides of the line in the second half, sacking Montana quarterback Cole Bergquist seven times and forcing four turnovers. The Grizzlies were also 2-of-8 on third-down conversions.
The Wildcat win snapped a streak of 25 consecutive regular-season victories and 16 Big Sky triumphs for the Grizzlies.
"It's not like we barely beat them, we beat them pretty convincingly," said safety Scotty Goodloe, who had two fumble recoveries. "We knew to give us a good chance to win, we had to force some turnovers."
Montana is obviously an improved team since suffering its only loss of the season, winning eight games in a row since then. The offense has jelled around its strong line, Bergquist's efficient results, the big-play capacity of receivers Marc Mariani and Mike Ferriter and the emergence of running back Chase Reynolds.
The Grizzly defense showed up big in a showdown victory at Eastern Washington a week later and has performed at a high level ever since. But Montana hasn't played an offense with Weber State's game-breaking capacity.
Weber State stumbled in its final regular-season game, losing to Eastern Washington, 33-26. That's why this game is being played in Missoula, instead of Ogden, UT. But the Wildcats turned things around with an impressive 49-35 road win at Cal Poly last week.
Big Sky teams haven't met in the playoffs since 1990. Four times, the teams that won the first meeting won again in the postseason and three times, the first-game loser came back to win the rematch.
This game is likely to be decided on how well Weber State adapts to the tough environment of Washington-Grizzly Stadium. If the Wildcats can avoid turnovers, they can score on almost anyone.
Montana will try to control the ball with Reynolds' running, but WSU held him to 13 carries for 30 yards in the first meeting. The Grizzlies need Reynolds to continue his recent success and to play error-free offense to keep the game close and help Bergquist have time to throw.
After watching the dominance of Weber State's offensive and defensive lines in the first game, I have a hard time thinking that Montana will win this one, even with so much history on its side.
NEW HAMPSHIRE AT NORTHERN IOWA
It hasn't seemed to matter what the circumstances have been. Whether Northern Iowa was an underdog, or a heavy favorite, the Panthers have found a way to win a pair of tight games against the Wildcats.
In 2005, UNI upset Ricky Santos and top-ranked UNH 24-21 on the road by building a 21-0 lead after 23 minutes and getting a fourth-quarter field goal from Brian Wingert, taking advantage of turnovers and big plays on defense.
Last year, Northern Iowa was 11-0 and ranked No. 1 nationally. New Hampshire was the last team chosen for the playoffs with a 7-4 mark, but the Wildcats took a 35-31 lead on Chad Kackert's 15-yard TD run with 1:11 to play. Eric Sanders drove the Panthers 71 yards and hit Montari Leonard on a 24-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds remaining to give UNI the victory, 38-35.
Northern Iowa will be at home again and a favorite as a No. 3 seed, but this time the Panthers will have to deal with R.J. Toman at quarterback, instead of Santos. UNH features its signature high-powered offense and a defense that gives up lots of yards, but forces plenty of turnovers.
The Panthers have lost Sanders to graduation, but still have a solid defense and tough running game, led by all-time leading rusher Corey Lewis. Quarterback Pat Grace has overcome a knee injury to get back into the lineup and came up huge in the passing game to spark a 40-15 thumping of Maine - the same Maine team that UNH struggled to beat, 28-24, in its regular-season finale.
New Hampshire played a suspect schedule until late in the season, but the Wildcats turned some heads by using special teams to outlast Southern Illinois 29-20 on the road last week. Winning in Carbondale is something that Northern Iowa hasn't done since 1996. The Panthers dropped a 27-24 decision there on a last-second field goal this year.
UNH has failed to get past the quarterfinals in any of its previous six playoff trips, and playing a tough opponent that has seen its proficient offense in person twice in three years doesn't help either.
Look for UNI to control the ball on the ground, keep New Hampshire in check on defense and grind out a win in a low-scoring game.
RICHMOND AT APPALACHIAN STATE
The Richmond defense is probably still prone to nightmares after enduing the play of Appalachian State quarterback Armanti Edwards in last year's 55-35 semifinal playoff loss.
Edwards had 498 yards of total offense and the second-best rushing performance in FCS playoff history with 31 carries for 313 yards. He had four touchdowns running and three more passing as he completed 14-of-16 throws for 182 yards.
Richmond has one of the top defenses in FCS, but the Spiders know that slowing down Edwards is the only way they can advance back to the semifinals. As good as Edwards was last season, he is even better now as a junior. He passed for a school-record 433 yards and four TDs last week, hitting 29-of-41 attempts in a 37-21 victory over South Carolina State.
It has become pick your poison. Edwards is still a dangerous runner, approaching his third 1,000-yard season and he is also the NCAA's passing efficiency leader. Redshirt freshmen Brian Quick and Ben Jorden have developed into dangerous receiving threats.
ASU still has one of the best linebacker groups in FCS with Pierre Banks, Jacque Roman and D.J. Smith, while free safety Mark LeGree has taken Corey Lynch's spot as a playmaker with a school-record and NCAA-leading 10 interceptions.
The three-time defending NCAA champs are deep enough that injuries to the defensive line and running back corps hasn't slowed the No. 2-seeded Mountaineers down. On top of that, expect in the neighborhood of 30,000 fans this Saturday at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Richmond has been helped by the return of defensive ends Sherman Logan and Lawrence Sidbury Jr. from injuries. Neither played in last year's semifinal game. Linebacker Eric McBride and cornerback Justin Rogers are other defensive standouts.
On offense, the Spiders are strong on the line, led by Tim Silver and Matthew McCracken and Michael Silva, who have opened plenty of holes for running back Josh Vaughan. Receiver Kevin Grayson is a game-breaker when he is healthy.
But quarterback Eric Ward will be the most important player for Richmond. He needs to have a huge game to take pressure off Vaughan and help the Spiders score enough points to stay close to Edwards and the Mountaineers.
Richmond hasn't found a way to win in games against talented teams from Villanova and James Madison this season as coach Mike London has taken over for Dave Clawson.
Appalachian State has won 41 of its last 42 games at Kidd Brewer Stadium, losing only to arch-rival Georgia Southern since 2003 at home. And it's hard to think that Richmond can score enough points to end the Mountaineers' championship reign.
<< Southern Miss accepts bid to New Orleans Bowl
Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Southern Mississippi
accepted a bid to the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles, who finished the season with a 6-6 record, will face the
Sun Belt champion -- either
<< Rays P Percival undergoes back surgery
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival
underwent back surgery this week and is expected to be ready by opening day
for the American League champions.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Watkin
<< Clemson accepts invite to Gator Bowl
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clemson accepted an invitation to the Gator
Bowl on Wednesday, having parlayed a strong end of the season into a New
Year's Day appearance.
The Tigers went 4-1 over the final five games of the season,
<< Vikings sign DT Kennedy
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after defensive tackles Pat
Williams and Kevin Williams were among six players suspended four games for a
violation of the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances,
the Min
Nash, Shaq out against Hornets >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns were without two key
components on Wednesday, as neither center Shaquille O'Neal nor point guard
Steve Nash were in uniform against the Hornets.
Nash, who missed a game last w
Avery issues apology for Tuesday's comments >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery issued an
apology Wednesday for derogatory comments made the previous day about
his ex-girlfriends dating other players in the league.
The comments led to an ind
Former Indiana guard Crawford denied waiver request >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NCAA has denied guard Jordan Crawford,
who transferred from Indiana to Xavier, the waiver request to play this
season.
Due to the decision, Crawford will not be eligible to compete at Xavier un
Tuberville era ends at Auburn >>
Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Tuberville has resigned as head football
coach at Auburn.
Tuberville guided the Tigers, who entered the season ranked 10th in the
nation, to a paltry 5-7 record. It concluded with a 36-0 drub
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. “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).
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.
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.
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
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting