Sam Houston State to play Baylor, Texas A&M
NCAA Football Betting Lines
02/15/2012 - Huntsville, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sam Houston State won't take the easy way as it tries to return to the FCS national championship game.
The Bearkats, who finished 14-1 as the national runner-up this past season, will make trips to two in-state FBS schools in 2012, on Sept. 15 against Baylor in Waco and Nov. 17 against Texas A&M in College Station.
It will be Sam Houston State's third trip to Baylor in the last nine years and its first to Texas A&M since 1997.
The entire schedule has yet to be finalized, but Sam Houston State will play only three home games as a result of the Southland Conference losing Texas State and UTSA to the Western Athletic Conference.
Coach Willie Fritz's squad will play twice in Houston, Sept. 29 against Texas Southern at the new BBVA Compass Stadium and Oct. 6 versus Southland rival Stephen F. Austin in the annual Battle of the Piney Woods game at Reliant Stadium.
Storrs, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of Connecticut men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun will miss at least three more games as he receives treatment for spinal stenosis, the school announced Wednesday. Calhoun was
<< Gunners humiliated in Milan
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan put Arsenal to the sword in
convincing fashion at the San Siro, cruising to a 4-0 win over the English
side in the first leg of the Champions League knockout round on Wednesday.
The Ital
<< Florida A&M will take on the Sooners
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Florida A&M will visit the University of
Oklahoma and play four home games as part of its 2012 football schedule
announced Wednesday.
The Rattlers will open their season on Sept. 1 against Tennessee Sta
<< Hollendorfer has two for El Camino Real Derby
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - California Derby winner Russian Greek heads a
field of 10 three-year-olds for Saturday's $200,000 El Camino Real Derby at
Golden Gate Fields. The 1 1/8-mile El Camino Real is the final local prep
leading
<< Juve held to scoreless draw in Parma
Parma, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus missed out on a chance to return to
the Serie A summit on Wednesday as the club was held to a 0-0 draw at Parma.
Juve's weekend match with Bologna was postponed because of poor weather, which
allowe
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milo Hamilton, who has been the voice of the Houston Astros since 1985, announced on Wednesday that he intends to retire following the upcoming season. Hamilton will close the books on a career which s
Georgia DB Commings suspended 2 games >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Georgia cornerback Sanders Commings has been
suspended two games, the university announced on Wednesday.
The suspension stems from the senior's arrest for domestic violence on January
21.
He will miss th
Argonauts keep LB Pottinger >>
Mississauga, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Argonauts re-signed free agent
linebacker Jason Pottinger on Wednesday, keeping him with the club through the
2013 season.
"We are happy to be able to keep Jason in his hometown of Toron
Dolphins sign RB Messam >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins signed running back Jerome
Messam on Wednesday.
The Toronto, Ontario native, spent the last two years playing in the
Canadian Football League, where he recorded just 93 yards on 2
No. 18 Indiana takes care of Northwestern >>
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Zeller scored 23 points and grabbed
seven rebounds, as 18th-ranked Indiana avoided a fourth consecutive loss to
visiting Northwestern with a 71-66 victory at Assembly Hall.
Victor Oladipo and Ch
What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
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.
How to Read Point Spreads
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:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
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.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
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.