Utah State and New Mexico State battle for WAC supremacy

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Utah State tries to make it back-to- back Western Athletic Conference Tournament titles tonight as the squad clashes with the New Mexico State Aggies in the 27th-annual event at the Lawlor Events Center in Reno.

On Friday night the Utah State Aggies left no doubt that they deserved a spot in the championship game as they completely dominated Louisiana Tech by a final of 85-55. It was the third straight game in which USU had scored at least 81 points and represented the program's 17th straight victory overall since opening the conference schedule with back-to-back setbacks against NMSU and LaTech, coincidentally. Utah State began its quest for a second-straight crown with an 84-60 romp over eighth-seeded Boise State on Thursday afternoon.

As for the New Mexico State Aggies, the third seed in this year's tourney, they first took care of San Jose State two nights ago with ease in a 90-69 final and continued their spirited play with an 80-79 triumph over host team Nevada in a matchup that came down to the wire last night.

USU currently owns a 37-32 edge over NMSU after crushing the visiting Aggies at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan just last week by a score of 81-63. In the conference opener back on January 2nd, NMSU posted a low-scoring 55-52 win over Utah State at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces. The teams also have a history in past WAC title games, as New Mexico State handed Utah State a 72-70 decision for the championship back in 2007.

Trailing by one with just seconds to play, Jahmar Young took control for the Aggies and put them into the win column when he sank a jumper with five seconds remaining in regulation. One of four players to score in double figures for the Aggies, Young finished with 15 points, five assists and four rebounds as he shot a mere 4-of-15 from the floor. Troy Gillenwater logged a season-high 21 points and collected eight boards off the bench, Wendell McKines posted a double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Jonathan Gibson accounted for 10 points as well. Even though the Aggies have several starters who can take control of a game and lead them to the win column this season, the player to watch tonight is Gillenwater because he's been able to bring a burst of energy off the bench since he has played in barely one-third of all the games for the program. He is averaging 14.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for a team that is putting up a whopping 78.9 ppg, but also allowing 78.3 ppg. Gibson (17.7 ppg) is the three-point specialist with his 102 conversions this season, but one can't sleep on Young (20.5 ppg) because he too has had huge success on the perimeter with his 71 treys in 2009-10.

USU allowed LaTech to take an early two-point lead in the opening moments of their meeting on Friday, but after that the Bulldogs were forced to play catch-up the rest of the way as they shot just 8-of-27 from the field in the first half and 34.5 percent for the game, compared to a staggering 58.8 percent by one of the top shooting teams in the nation. Jared Quayle posted 16 points on 4-of-6 behind the three-point line in limited minutes, while Brady Jardine came off the bench to tally 13 points. Pooh Williams accounted for 10 points before being sent to the bench in order to rest the starters once it became obvious that USU was moving on. Tai Wesley, who tallied eight points, six assists and five rebounds, remains the leading scorer (13.7 ppg) and rebounder (6.5 rpg) for the program and because of his close proximity to the glass at the offensive end of the floor he has been shooting 57.9 percent from the field this season. Quayle (12.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 140 assists) is shooting better from three-point range (.433) than he is the floor overall (.410), which is just one of the reasons why Utah State is one of the most accurate three-point shooting teams in the nation this season at 42.4 percent.

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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.

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.