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03/12/2010 -
LOS ANGELES (AP) -Arizona's streak of 25 consecutive NCAA tournament appearances is all but over.
The Wildcats lost to UCLA 75-69 in the Pac-10 tournament on Thursday night, dropping their record to 16-15, a number that almost certainly won't be good enough for the NCAA selection committee this time.
The record is still good enough for the NIT, but not for Arizona freshman Lamont Jones, who came to Arizona fully aware of the streak.
``That's what everybody talks about,'' he said. ``That's the history of the program and the culture of the program, and we just have to understand that. Unfortunately, we're not going to make it this year, but I guarantee we're going to get back there next year.''
The Wildcats salvaged NCAA tournament appearances the last two years, extending their streak thanks mostly to the prestige built by the Pac-10. With a roster dominated by underclassmen, their chances of making it again seemed unlikely.
``Everybody knew from the beginning of the season that it would be tough. We barely made it last year, so it would be even tougher this year,'' said Nic Wise, who led the Wildcats with 16 points. ``It's just been a great accomplishment, and it's tough to have it end this year.''
Derrick Williams added 14 for Arizona, which lost in the Pac-10 quarterfinals for the third consecutive year.
Arizona's NCAA tourney streak began in 1985 under Lute Olson, and ended with first-year coach Sean Miller, who noted he was 16 and ``just learning how to drive'' when the run began.
``Any coach that comes to Arizona is going to find he's a paranoid coach,'' said Miller, who arrived in Tucson in April to find Wise on the fence about returning for his senior season. ``The reason I came to Arizona is to rebuild our program. We have a possibility to get a NIT bid. It's a terrific tournament. I feel very, very good about what we've been able to accomplish.''
Reeves Nelson returned for the Bruins Thursday afternoon, scoring 19 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in UCLA's quarterfinal win. The Bruins will face top-seeded California, which dispatched Oregon 90-74 later Thursday night.
The Bruins (14-17) have also fallen on hard times. Unless they can win the tournament, the Bruins likely aren't going anywhere except back to Westwood to contemplate how losing so much of their best talent to the NBA draft did them in.
Kevin Love would have been a junior this season, but he jumped to the NBA. Nelson is no Love, but he is the Bruins' only solid inside presence offensively.
``He has great strength,'' coach Ben Howland said. ``When he has the ball, it's very hard to wedge it from him.''
Michael Roll and Nikola Dragovic added 18 points each, extending their careers for at least another game.
``As I was telling the guys, 'I'm just really not ready to go home,''' Roll said. ``Being out there is fun.''
Arizona played catch-up the entire game, but got to 58-55 with 7:52 remaining on two free throws by Solomon Hill. But the Bruins kept making free throws - they hit 77 percent in the second half - and Malcolm Lee hit a big 3-pointer to push their lead to 64-57 with 5 1/2 minutes left.
``We're not a good defensive team,'' Miller said. ``We'll be better in the future.''
And hope is all Miller has to sustain him as he follows in the Hall-of-Fame footsteps of Olson.
``That's my only choice,'' he said.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< Three of top 4 seeds bumped in Big East quarters
NEW YORK (AP) -It was a bad day to be a favorite at the Big East tournament.Three of the conference's top four teams were beaten in the quarterfinals Thursday at Madison Square Garden, jumbling the league's NCAA picture and setting up a pair of surp
<< Fish, Moya highlight first-round winners at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Mardy Fish and Spaniard Carlos
Moya were among Thursday's first-round winners at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas
Open, an ATP World Tour Masters event.
Fish, the runner-up here in 2008, rallied f
<< Oudin knocked in first round at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - American Melanie Oudin had a short stay at
the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event, dropping a three-set decision
to Roberta Vinci.
Oudin won the first set then was outplayed in a 3-6, 6-3, 6-
<< Sharks score six times in third to beat Nashville
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Joe Pavelski registered two goals and two
assists in the third period, as the San Jose Sharks scored six times over the
final 20 minutes to rally past the Nashville Predators, 8-5, at HP Pavilion.
Dany
Bonnies seek A-10 tourney upset of top-seeded Owls >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The two-time defending Atlantic 10
Conference Tournament Champions, the 17th-ranked Temple Owls, hit the floor at
Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City this afternoon in the quarterfinals of the
34th annual event
Alabama challenges Kentucky in SEC Tournament quarterfinals >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Kentucky Wildcats begin
play in the 2010 SEC Tournament with a quarterfinal-round matchup against the
Alabama Crimson Tide.
The winner of this game will move on to Saturday's semifinals to
Bears and Wildcats meet in Big 12 Tournament semifinals >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats and
the 21st-ranked Baylor Bears are slated to collide in the semifinal round of
the 2010 Big 12 Tournament from the Sprint Center in Kansas City.
Awaiting the winner
Aztecs and Lobos mix it up in Mountain West semis >>
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Continuing to build on one of the best
seasons in program history, the eighth-ranked New Mexico Lobos find themselves
in the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament tonight and will
be facing the a
Eastern Conference Playoff Betting Trends
We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS. Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned. For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go. As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190). Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”. By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet. For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction. On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later. Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick. Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com
New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors
Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
New Jersey has covered four games in a row while Toronto has failed to cover their last four games.
When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season.
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls
Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
Away from home, Chicago is just 16-25 ATS this season.
At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times.
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons
Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season.
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers
In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
Since 1996, Washington is 28-16 ATS versus Cleveland including 11-5 over the last 3 seasons.
In their last 7 road games, Washington is 6-1 ATS.
Versus Eastern Conference teams at home, Washington is just 6-18-2 ATS.
For even more betting trends for not just the NBA but for all of the major sports, log on to Sportsbook.com and click on “Trends”. With only two months left in the NBA betting season it is important to be as well informed as possible in order to maximize your profit. Also for all of you poker players, check out MySportsbook.com’s “WSOP Low Bid Auction”. You could be on your way to Vegas to play against the world’s best poker players for under a buck.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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