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03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and staring at an injury to starting forward Arinze Onuaku, Syracuse is the No. 1 seed in the West Region as the Orange head into a much-anticipated first-round encounter against Vermont.
The Orange (28-4) will take on the 16th-seeded Catamounts (25-9) Friday night in Buffalo and will hope to reverse course from a shocking defeat to Vermont five years ago. The Catamounts were a No. 13 seed in 2005 when they shocked Syracuse, 60-57, in overtime in a first-round matchup.
"That was the year before I came in. I hadn't committed yet, but everyone in Syracuse was miserable after that loss," Syracuse senior guard Andy Rautins said. "It's definitely going to be a little bit of a payback game for us. We're not taking anybody lightly -- we're going to come out and have a great week of practice, get good preparation in and be well prepared for this game."
Syracuse, making its 33rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1980. The Orange weren't placed in the East due to the fact that the regional semifinals and final are at the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse fell to Georgetown in the quarterfinals of the Big East Tournament, when Onuaku was hurt. He left the game early and was diagnosed with a right quadriceps injury. He's considered day-to-day.
"He has played in a lot of pain before, probably two or three months last year -- he had pain the whole year," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I would not sell him short as far as being able to come out and play. If he is strong and feels strong, he may not be able to play 25 or 30 minutes, but maybe he will be able to play 15 or 20, we will have to see."
Vermont earned a spot in the field of 65 by winning the America East Tournament with an 83-70 win over Boston University on Saturday.
The rematch will be heightened thanks to brothers playing on opposite sides as Syracuse forward Kris Joseph meets his sibling Maurice, Vermont's second- leading scorer this season.
"He will probably be guarding someone like Andy," Kris Joseph said. "I wish we played man for a few possessions because I would guard him full court."
Also in Buffalo Thursday night, eighth seeded Gonzaga (26-6) faces No. 9 seed Florida State (22-9). The Bulldogs made it to the Sweet 16 last year before losing to eventual champion North Carolina. This season marks Gonzaga's 12th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Seminoles were first-round losers last year to Wisconsin.
Kansas State (26-7) is seeded second in the bracket and will face Sun Belt winner North Texas (24-8) in the first round in Oklahoma City Thursday afternoon. The Wildcats lost three times to Big 12 rival Kansas this year, including Saturday night in the conference title game. Despite this, K-State has a school-record for victories in a season.
Looming is the matchup against the Mean Green, who will go into the first round with an 11-game winning streak. North Texas is making its second appearance in the NCAA Tournament in the last four years.
The K-State/North Texas winner will take on either seventh seed BYU (29-5) or No. 10 seed Florida (21-12). The Cougars have already posted the best record in school history and will be in the NCAA Tournament for a 25th time, but are just 11-27 all time in the event. BYU has eight straight NCAA Tournament losses, last winning such a game in 1993. As for the Gators, this is a return to the Big Dance after a two-year hiatus. Before that, Florida won back-to- back national championships.
Pittsburgh (24-8), one of eight Big East teams in the tourney, is seeded third in the region and has a Friday afternoon matchup against Oakland (26-8), the Summit League champions. The game will be played in Milwaukee. The Panthers are making a school-record ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance. Last year, they reached the Elite Eight before falling to Villanova. OU is currently riding a school record 11-game winning streak.
Atlantic-10 powerhouse Xavier (24-8) is seeded sixth and will have a first- round game Friday afternoon against Minnesota (21-13), which made the Big Ten championship game before losing to Ohio State. This is the fifth straight NCAA tourney appearance for the Musketeers, who gained a share of the A-10 regular season crown. The Gophers have won seven of their last 10 games including three over top 15 ranked opponents entering the event.
Vanderbilt (24-8) is seeded fourth and Butler (28-4) fifth. Both will play Thursday in San Jose. The Commodores have a tough task against upstart Murray State. The 13th-seeded Racers (30-4) won the Ohio Valley Conference regular season and tournament titles. Butler, the Horizon League champs, will take on Texas-El Paso (26-6), the runner-up in the Conference USA tourney. The Bulldogs enter the tournament on an incredible 20-game winning streak.
The West semifinals are set to take place in Salt Lake City on March 25 with the final two days later.
<< NCAA Capsules-South Regional
Durham, N.C., 29-5.Nickname: Blue Devils. Coach: Mike Krzyzewski.Conference: Atlantic Coast. Bid: ACC champion.Region: South. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 88-30, 33 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (78.4); Jon Scheyer 18.7; Kyle Singler
<< Top-ranked Jayhawks draws top overall NCAA seed
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) -Look who's lurking deep in the Midwest bracket where Kansas proudly sits as overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament.It's none other than Tennessee and Oklahoma State - the ``2'' in that glittering 32-2 record that the Jayhawks
<< Wozniacki cruises, Sharapova bows out at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark
rolled into the fourth round while former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova was a
third-round loser Sunday at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.
Wozniacki
<< Seton Hall removes Mitchell from basketball team
South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall announced it has removed junior
forward Robert Mitchell from the basketball team for unspecified reasons.
Mitchell, a transfer from Duquesne, started in 15 of the 31 games this season
and averag
Duke, Big East highlight South >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hours after winning their record 18th ACC
Tournament title on Sunday, the Duke Blue Devils were awarded the No. 1 seed
in the South Region in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.
Duke (29-5), backed by the triumv
Kansas looms large in the Midwest >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas Jayhawks began the 2009-10
college basketball season atop the preseason polls, and so far the voters have
been spot on, as the Big 12 champs will carry that top ranking into the NCAA
Tournam
NCAA Capsules-West Regional >>
Syracuse, N.Y., 28-4.Nickname: Orangemen. Coach: Jim Boeheim.Conference: Big East. Bid: At large.Region: West. Seed: No. 1.Tournament Record: 50-32, 32 years. Last appearance: 2009.Scoring: Team (81.5); Wesley Johnson 16.0; Andy Rautins 11.7; Kris J
Indiana hoops: Hoosiers far behind state's top 3 >>
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Basketball still rules in Indiana. Even if the Hoosiers no longer rule basketball in the stateThey're not even in the top three.For the 20th time in the past three decades, at least three teams from the state of Indiana have m
The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.
While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.
For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.
1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.
2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.
How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.
Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.
Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.
How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).
Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.
Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.
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