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Butler battles Milwaukee in Horizon League Tournament semifinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Butler's journey to a second Horizon League Tournament title in three season begins this evening when the top- seeded Bulldogs host the fourth-seeded Milwaukee Panthers in a semifinal-round tilt at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

The Panthers opened tournament action with a 73-67 victory over Illinois- Chicago and then followed that with an 82-75 decision over Cleveland State on Friday. Overall, it was the fourth straight win for Milwaukee and the seventh in the team's last eight matchups.

As for the 12th-ranked Bulldogs, they are coming off another tremendous season in which they collected 26 wins and finished a perfect 18-0 in conference. Butler also finished with a flawless 13-0 ledger at home and under coach Brad Stevens the team is a remarkable 42-3 at the Hinkle Fieldhouse. However, the Bulldogs do have unfinished business after falling to Cleveland State in last year's tournament title tilt.

The winner of this contest will take on either Wright State or Detroit in the championship game on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs defeated the Panthers twice during the regular season and now have a commanding 29-10 edge in the all-time series.

The Panthers were sensational in their victory over Cleveland State on Friday, as Milwaukee scored 82 points against the Vikings. Milwaukee shot a sizzling 55.3 percent from the floor and finished a solid 22-of-33 from the foul line. Anthony Hill and Ja'Rob McCallum finished with 14 points apiece, while Ricky Franklin tallied 13 points, to go along with six boards and six assists. Ryan Haggerty finished with 12 points, while James Eayrs and Jason Averkamp tallied 11 and 10 points, respectively. On the season however, the Panthers have been nothing more than mediocre, averaging 70.0 ppg. Franklin is leading the team with 14.9 ppg and 3.9 apg, while Eayrs is posting 12.6 ppg, to go along with a team-best 5.9 rpg.

There is not much wrong when looking at Butler on paper, as the team simply dominated each and every foe in Horizon league action. The team was outstanding defensively, holding opponents to just 60.6 ppg, while being led by Ronald Nored who earned Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors in the conference. At the other end of the floor the Bulldogs are even tougher, as the team is being led by the likes of Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack. Hayward, who was selected as the Horizon League Player of the Year, led the team on the season with 15.8 ppg, 8.5 rpg and 24 blocks. As for Mack, a First- Team All-Horizon selection, he posted 13.9 ppg during the regular season, to go along with 95 assists. Another First-Team All-Horizon nominee, Matt Howard, contributed 12.0 ppg for Butler and pulled down 5.3 rpg as well.

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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.