Illini and Hoosiers duke it out in Big Ten brawl

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Illinois Fighting Illini are hoping a win tonight at No. 23 Indiana will give them a boost as they come down the home stretch in what has been a fairly odd season thus far.

Illinois is 16-7 on the year, but the bulk of those wins came against lesser competition during a non-conference slate that really only featured a couple of tough bouts. Since the start of Big Ten Conference play, the Illini are an even 5-5, and going back to the middle of December, they are just 6-7 in their last 13 games. Illinois dropped a 74-70 decision at home to Northwestern on Monday night, and coach Bruce Weber's club comes into this clash sporting a 2-3 record in true road tilts.

Indiana was one of the surprise stories during the first couple of months of the 2011-12 season, as coach Tom Crean's team jumped out to a 12-0 start, which included an upset of No. 1 Kentucky on December 10. Since the start of conference action however, the Hoosiers have split a dozen games, and have alternated wins and losses over the last few weeks. IU is coming off a 78-61 victory at Purdue, and the team will try to improve upon its stellar 13-1 home mark with a win tonight.

The all-time series between Illinois and Indiana is knotted at 83-83, but the Illini have won five of the last six meetings.

Illinois isn't the most explosive offensive team around, but the Illini certainly hold their own in netting 66.8 ppg on 44.9 percent field goal efficiency, which includes a 32.1 percent showing from three-point range. Defensively, the team allows just 61.3 ppg with foes converting a mere 41.0 percent of their total shots, but 35.7 percent of their long-range tries. UI boasts three double-digit scorers in the form of Brandon Paul (15.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 3.1 apg), Leonard Meyers (13.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg) and D.J. Richardson (12.2 ppg), but only Meyers, the team's starting center, is shooting at what anyone would consider an acceptable rate (.582). Paul and Meyers both hit for more than 20 points in the recent loss to Northwestern, with the latter also grabbing nine boards and blocking a pair of shots for good measure. Unfortunately for the Illini, even a 54.2 percent shooting performance couldn't offset a sizzling 60.4 percent effort put forth by the Wildcats, who scored 36 points in the paint, compared to 24 for Illinois.

Indiana is clearly the better of these two teams in terms of offensive efficiency, as the Hoosiers lead the Big Ten in scoring offense (78.5 ppg), field goal percentage (.495) and three-point FG percentage (.431). The club's defensive effort yields an average of 65.7 ppg, and opponents are hitting their field goal attempts just 41.9 percent of the time, and IU owns favorable margins in both rebounding (+3.9) and turnovers (+0.9). Freshman Cody Zeller (15.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 34 steals, 33 blocks) has been Indiana's most consistent performer this season, and he is one of four players currently averaging double digits in the scoring column. Christian Watford (12.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg), Jordan Hulls (12.1 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Victor Oladipo (10.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 37 steals) have all contributed, and Oladipo was high man for the Hoosiers in the recent win over Purdue, as he went 6-of-14 from the floor and 10-of-12 at the foul line to finish with 23 points. He also wound up with eight of the team's 53 rebounds in the game, and Zeller tallied 16 points and eight boards as well. Indiana shot just 41.8 percent from the field, but held the Boilermakers to 29.6 percent while claiming a 29-14 edge in points from the charity stripe.

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MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds

According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.

Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet.  The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.

MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC.  In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State.  Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.

Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL.  In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.


ODDS TO WIN THE BCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

Notre Dame
Ohio State
West Virginia
Texas
USC
Florida
California
Auburn
Oklahoma
Iowa
Louisville
Florida State
Michigan
Miami (FL)
LSU
Penn State
Virginia Tech
Nebraska
Tennessee
Georgia
Arizona State
Oregon
Clemson
Texas A&M
Texas Tech
Alabama
Arkansas
Boston College
Michigan State
Maryland
South Carolina
Colorado
Purdue
Georgia Tech
TCU
UCLA
Arizona
Pittsburgh
Iowa State
Wisconsin
North Carolina State
Virginia
North Carolina
Fresno State
Hawaii
Northwestern
BYU
Oregon State
UNLV
Field (Any Other Team)
5-1
7-1
8-1
8-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
18-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
20-1
25-1
40-1
40-1
50-1
60-1
60-1
60-1
70-1
70-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
100-1
150-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
200-1
250-1
250-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
300-1
400-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
500-1
1000-1
1000-1
40-1



ODDS TO WIN ACC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Miami (FL)
Florida State
Virginia Tech
Clemson
Georgia Tech
Boston College
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina State
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
2-1
2-1
3-1
7-1
15-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
30-1
50-1
500-1



ODDS TO WIN BIG 12 CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Texas
Oklahoma
Nebraska
Texas Tech
Colorado
Iowa State
Texas A&M
Kansas State
Missouri
Kansas
Baylor
Oklahoma State
7-5
9-5
9-2
12-1
14-1
15-1
15-1
30-1
30-1
35-1
100-1
100-1



ODDS TO WIN SEC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Auburn
Florida
LSU
Georgia
Tennessee
Arkansas
Alabama
Mississippi
South Carolina
Mississippi State
Kentucky
Vanderbilt
5-2
11-4
4-1
6-1
7-1
7-1
9-1
20-1
28-1
75-1
100-1
300-1

For complete NCAA football odds please visit Mysportsbook.com.