Spiders and Gaels meet in South Region's first round

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/18/2010 - Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-round action in the South Region will take place this afternoon at the Dunkin' Donuts Center when the seventh-seeded Richmond Spiders take on the 10th-seeded Saint Mary's Gaels.

The Gaels are participating in their sixth NCAA Tournament this afternoon. Saint Mary's won its first-ever tournament game back in 1959 against Idaho, but after that it has been all downhill, as the team has dropped its last five contests in the Big Dance. This season the Gaels rolled through their competition, posting a 26-5 ledger, while also claiming the West Coast Conference Tournament title against Gonzaga.

The Spiders fell just short of the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament title with a 56-52 loss to Temple in the championship game. Despite, the loss Richmond finished the season with an impressive 26-8 ledger, and the 26 victories tied a school record. That earned Richmond a spot in its eighth NCAA Tournament invitation and the team's first appearance in the Big Dance since 2004. Richmond is the only school to have posted victories in this tournament as the 12th, 13th, 14th and 15th-seed.

This will be just the second meeting between the two schools on the hardwood. The first matchup took place back in 1985 and the game was claimed by Richmond, as the Spiders defeated Saint Mary's, 75-63.

The winner in this matchup will move into the second round and will face either Robert Morris or Villanova.

The Gaels enter this tournament with four players averaging double figures, beginning with the West Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Omar Samhan. Samhan finished with 94 blocks this year, but the center was even better offensively, averaging an impressive double-double of 20.9 ppg and 11.0 rpg. Ben Allen has been a solid contributor in the post as well, and comes into this game with 10.8 ppg and 7.6 rpg. In the backcourt the Gaels will rely on the duo of Mickey McConnell and Matthew Dellavedova. McConnell is leading the team with 165 assists, but he is also a dangerous scorer, netting 13.7 ppg behind a staggering 51.5 percent clip from behind the arc. As for Dellavedova, he is contributing 12.5 ppg, but has also been able to find the open player, doling out 141 assists on the season. Overall the Gaels come into this matchup producing 79.5 ppg. Saint Mary's is connecting on 48.7 percent of its attempts from the floor, but even more impressive is the team's 41.2 percent showing from behind the arc.

The success for Richmond can be attributed to the team's tenacious efforts at the defensive end of the court, as the Spiders are limiting the opposition to just 62.2 ppg on a 39.2 percent shooting effort. Opponents have also struggled from behind the arc against the Spiders, connecting on just 29.7 percent of their attempts from long range. A big part of Richmond's game is its ability to force turnovers, as opponents are committing on average, 15.1 turnovers per contest. At the other end of the floor the team has been led by the guard duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez. Anderson, who was tabbed the A-10 Player of the Year, comes into this tournament averaging 17.8 ppg, to go along with a team-best 89 assists. As for Gonzalvez, he is contributing 14.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 79 assists, to go along with a team-best 64 steals.Taking care of business in the paint has been Justin Harper, who is posting 10.6 ppg, to go along with a team-high 5.5 rpg. As a whole however, the Spiders come into today's matchup averaging a modest 69.3 ppg.

Bigno NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Midwest Regional affair pits Panthers against Rebels
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-seeded Northern Iowa Panthers mix it up with the eighth-seeded UNLV Runnin' Rebels in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional tonight at the Ford Center. The winner of this game w

<< Upset-minded Racers open tournament play against Commodores
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first team in Division I to reach 30 wins this season, the Murray State Racers now have their sights set on number 31 as they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores in the first round of the 72nd annual NCAA Tourn

<< Cougars and Gators collide in West Regional action
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Back in the NCAA Tournament after a two- year absence, the Florida Gators open first-round play of the 72nd annual event this afternoon as they tangle with the BYU Cougars in the West Regional at the Ford Ce

<< Top-seeded Kansas opens tournament play against Lehigh
Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks begin their quest for a national title tonight, as they take on the 16th-seeded Lehigh Mountain Hawks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's Midwest Regional at the Ford C

<< Grizzlies battle Lobos in first round of 2010 NCAA Tournament
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament's East Region features a matchup between the third-seeded New Mexico Lobos and the 14th-seeded Montana Grizzlies. The winner of this tilt will battle either sixth-se

Wake Forest and Texas do battle in 2010 NCAA Tournament >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The East Region of the 2010 NCAA Tournament features a first-round matchup between the eighth-seeded Texas Longhorns and the ninth-seeded Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Awaiting the winner of this tilt is a sec

Washington and Marquette meet in first round of 2010 NCAA Tournament >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-seeded Marquette Golden Eagles and the 11th-seeded Washington Huskies will meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament's East Region. Up next for the winner of this contest is a second-round clash

Second-seeded Villanova takes on Robert Morris in first-round action >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-seeded Robert Morris Colonials will have a tough task this afternoon in the South Region, as they take on the second-seeded Villanova Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at the Dunkin' D

Bears and Bearkats collide in South Regional action >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Playing in their second NCAA Tournament in the last three seasons, the Baylor Bears will tangle with the Sam Houston State Bearkats in first round action of the South Region at New Orleans Arena this afternoon

Vols set sights on Aztecs in first-round action >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In search of their first-ever NCAA Tournament win, the 11th-seeded San Diego State Aztecs take aim at the sixth- seeded Tennessee Volunteers in the first round at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. The survivor of this

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.