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Kansas has taken 17 of the 19 games all-time against Baylor.
Syracuse and Murray State remain the only unbeaten schools in Division I basketball.
"I chose St. John's because I think it's a perfect fit for me," said Branch in a statement from St. John's. "They have a great coaching staff who I feel can help me a lot with my game. Those guys are like teachers in a classroom, but teachers of the game. They know so much about the game. We have a really great team and I think we could compete with anyone in the future."
Branch averaged 4.2 points, 2.5 assists and 2.2 rebounds while playing 18.6 minutes during his brief stay at Texas A&M. He played against St. John's during the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in November and scored seven points with five rebounds in 24 minutes.
As for the Spartans, already 3-2 against ranked foes in 2011-12, they are coming off a loss of their own on Saturday as they bowed to Northwestern on the road in an 81-74 final. The defeat was just the third of the year for a program that had won 15 in a row since falling to top-ranked North Carolina in the season opener and then sixth-ranked Duke four days later.
Michigan State led by as many as nine points in the first half at Welsh-Ryan Arena versus Northwestern over the weekend, but in the final minutes of the period the momentum swung in favor of the Wildcats who eventually claimed the seven-point win. Keith Appling scored a team-best 17 points in 36 minutes for the visitors, but he shot just 4-of-13 from the floor and missed all five of his three-point tries. Draymond Green, accurate on 4-of-5 from three-point range, tallied 14 points and also made an impact in the paint with 14 rebounds as well. In addition to proving himself a worthy perimeter shooter at 40.7 percent, Green has forced opposing defenses to pick their poison because he is also leading the Spartans on the glass with 10.1 rpg as well. Scoring 15.8 ppg Green, who is second on the unit with 61 assists and paces MSU in both blocks (21) and steals (27), is one of only a few players in the nation who is averaging a double-double. Appling checks in with 12.9 ppg and is the only one ahead of Green in the passing department with his 69 dishes through 18 games.
Arkansas's 13-4 overall record has given it its best start since the 2007-2008 campaign as first-year head coach Mike Anderson has infused a winning attitude back into the program. The Razorbacks improved to 2-1 in SEC play with a 69-60 win over LSU on Saturday, which was their eighth win in nine outings. Not only will Arkansas be attempting to hand the Wildcats their first conference loss of the year, it is also seeking its first road victory of the year in this one. A win would have an impact on the SEC standings, as the Razorbacks are tied for third place as they trail Vanderbilt and the Wildcats by one game.
B.J. Young and Mardracus Wade will lead the upset attempt tonight. Young might be the best rookie in the conference and has been excellent as of late, averaging 18.5 ppg on 60-percent shooting from the field. Wade's ability to spread the floor with his accuracy is extremely valuable to the Razorbacks. The sophomore guard is leading the SEC with a three-point shooting percentage of 49.3, after knocking down 3-of-4 from long range on his way to 14 points his last time out. Hunter Mickelson made a huge impact on the defensive end his last time out. The freshman forward recorded his second seven-block outing of the year against LSU. Despite playing just 16.6 minutes per game, Mickelson has blocked a shot in every game this year.
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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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