Buckeyes and Spartans meet in key Big Ten bout

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trying to keep within striking distance of the red-hot Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten, the fifth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes play host to the Michigan State Spartans in league play from Value City Arena this evening.

The Buckeyes are 5-1 in the Big Ten, following Wednesday's 59-50 victory at Northwestern. It was the team's fourth straight victory and leaves it one game behind the 6-0 Badgers in the conference standings.

The Spartans are within reach as well, sitting at 4-2 in league play. Tom Izzo's squad has also strung together four consecutive wins and enters this contest off a 70-46 pasting of Minnesota on Wednesday. The Spartans are a perfect 14-0 at home this season, but have struggled a bit in true road games, winning just once in four attempts.

The Spartans own a 59-47 edge in the all-time series with Ohio State and have actually won four straight in Value City Arena.

The Spartans abused the Golden Gophers in the paint, outscoring their foe down low 32-4. The team shot 50.9 percent from the floor and held Minnesota to a mere .311 shooting performance. In addition, MSU won the battle on the boards (38-24) and forced 15 turnovers. Raymar Morgan led the way with 14 points, followed closely by Drew Neitzel and Goran Suton, who finished with 13 and 10 points, respectively. On the year, Neitzel has clearly asserted himself as the offensive leader, pacing the team with 18.2 ppg. Most of Neitzel's damage comes from long range, where he has connected on 41.1 percent of his attempts, leading the team with a whopping 62 three-pointers thus far. Morgan is the only other Spartan with a double-digit average, adding 10.8 ppg. Not a flashy offensive team by any stretch of the imagination, MSU is averaging just 68.9 ppg. The team has thrived at the defensive end though, yielding a mere 55.8 ppg, while holding foes under 40 percent shooting (.374).

The Buckeyes can win games at either end of the court, showing the ability to light up a scoreboard when needed (77.6 ppg), while also showing some real grit at the defensive end (61.3 ppg against). It took a little time, but freshman phenom Greg Oden is beginning to assert himself as the best big man in the country. The seven-foot youngster is shooting .658 from the floor and currently leads the Buckeyes in scoring (15.4 ppg), rebounding (10.1 rpg) and blocked shots (47). Daequan Cook and Ron Lewis provide perimeter balance with 13.1 and 12.2 ppg, respectively. In the nine-point win over the Wildcats this week, Oden finished with yet another double-double, posting 17 points and a season-high 17 rebounds. Forward Ivan Harris also finished with double digits in terms of scoring, leading the team with 18 points. OSU really beat up Northwestern on the glass, outrebounding the Wildcats, 39-19.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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