No. 1 Kansas begins Big 12 Tournament play against Texas Tech

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks are the top seed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, and they are slated to do battle with the ninth-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders this afternoon in the quarterfinal round.

The winner of this game will do battle with either fourth-seeded Texas A&M or 12th-seeded Nebraska in the semifinals.

Texas Tech was impressive in yesterday's 82-67 victory over eighth-seeded Colorado, a team that beat the Red Raiders by 11 points in the regular-season finale last weekend. Tech is gunning for its first-ever Big 12 Conference Tournament title, and although the team did lose its final seven regular- season bouts, it appears that confidence has been restored.

Kansas has won six Big 12 Tournament titles, at least twice as many as any other active member of the league. The Jayhawks captured three consecutive crowns from 2006-2008, and they are 25-7 all-time in this event. At 29-2 overall, including 15-1 in league action, Bill Self's squad was highly impressive during the regular season.

The Jayhawks crushed the Red Raiders earlier this season in an 89-63 final, and Kansas owns a decided 18-4 advantage in the all-time series.

Through 30 games, Texas Tech was scoring and surrendering the same exact amount of points (76.4 ppg). There are three double-digit scorers in the fold for the Red Raiders, and Mike Singletary led the way with 14.9 ppg and 6.8 rpg heading into yesterday's affair. John Roberson checked in with 14.4 ppg, and he had handed out 161 assists. Nick Okorie rounded out the trio with 10.8 ppg, and he was shooting 41.5 percent from three-point range. In Wednesday's win over Colorado, Texas Tech connected on 55.6 percent of its field goal attempts over the final 20 minutes to seal the deal. Roberson posted 19 points and nine assists, Okorie had 18 points, and Brad Reese 16 points off the bench. As for Singletary, he registered 13 points for the Red Raiders, who forced 19 turnovers and earned a 39-29 rebounding advantage.

A combination of vast talent and big-game experience makes this Kansas team one of the favorites to win the national title. It all starts with senior Sherron Collins, a 5-11 point guard who is scoring 15.3 ppg to go along with 4.3 apg. Collins is an 83.9 percent shooter from the foul line, and he will undoubtedly have the ball in his hands at the end of every close game. Xavier Henry, a standout freshman, checks in with 13.9 ppg, and he leads the club with 48 steals. Marcus Morris brings 12.4 ppg to the mix on 55.9 percent shooting from the field, and he is pulling down 6.2 rpg. Finally, center Cole Aldrich is averaging 12.4 ppg and 9.7 rpg to complement his 110 blocked shots. While Aldrich has certainly been solid, he is capable of being much more dominant at the offensive end. The Jayhawks are generating 82.2 ppg while holding opponents to 63.6 ppg on 37.6 percent field goal efficiency. A positive rebounding differential of 6.8 rpg has certainly helped the cause.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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