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03/12/2010 - Auburn, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Auburn University has dismissed its head men's basketball coach.
The school announced on Friday that Jeff Lebo, who has helmed the program for the last six seasons, will no longer be behind the Tigers' bench.
"I want to thank Coach Lebo for all that he has done for Auburn University over the past six years," said director of athletics Jay Jacobs. "He has always worked hard and has always represented Auburn with character, class and integrity."
Under Lebo's guidance, the Tigers finished 15-17 this past season, with a 6-10 mark in the SEC, only good enough for a fifth-place in the West Division with rival Alabama. Auburn fell in the SEC Tournament to Florida on Thursday to complete its schedule.
Despite a 14-17 record in his first year back in 2004-05, the school saw fit to reward Lebo with a seven-year contract. He didn't post a winning record until a 17-15 end to the 2006-07 campaign, then went 14-16 three years ago before a high-water mark of 24-12 in 2008-09.
Over six seasons, Lebo finished with a 96-93 record and a dismal 35-61 mark in the SEC.
<< Inter stunned by Catania
Catania, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Catania scored three times in the final 20
minutes of their 3-1 upset win over Inter Milan at the Angelo Massimino on
Friday.
Diego Milito scored in the 54th minute for Inter, but had his opener cance
<< Oregon RB James sentenced to probation, 10 days in jail
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oregon sophomore running back LaMichael James
was sentenced to 24 months probation and 10 days in jail after pleading guilty
to one count of physical harassment on Friday.
James agreed to a bargain that
<< Report: Woods took pain medication day before crash
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods' wife told police her husband had
not been drinking, but had taken pain medication the day before his early-
morning car accident outside their Isleworth home, according to paperwork
obtaine
<< Tisdale helps Illinois edge Wisconsin in Big Ten quarters
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Tisdale scored 21 points and grabbed
eight rebounds to lead Illinois to a much-needed 58-54 victory over No. 13
Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.
Demetri McCamey ended w
Tennessee moves on in SEC Tournament >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.P. Prince scored 17 points and Wayne Chism
added 16 and 15 rebounds, as No. 15 Tennessee dismissed the Ole Miss Rebels in
the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament with a 76-65 victory.
Cameron Tatum had fou
UTEP dispatches Tulsa to gain C-USA final >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Randy Culpepper scored 21 points and Arnett
Moultrie added 18 to pace No. 25 UTEP to a 75-61 win over Tulsa in the
semifinal round of the Conference USA Tournament at the BOK Center.
Christian Polk
Corliss Williamson takes over at Central Arkansas >>
Conway, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Central Arkansas has named
former college and NBA standout Corliss Williamson as its next men's head
basketball coach.
Williamson, who enjoyed a fruitful 12-year NBA career, played his
Bucs ink LB Alston >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced the
signing of linebacker Jon Alston on Friday.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Alston spent the last three seasons with Oakland. He recorded 23 tackles in
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.
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:
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.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
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.
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