Syracuse clinches Big East title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/02/2010 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins celebrated senior day in style, scoring 21 and 14 points, respectively, and in the process helped top-ranked Syracuse claim its first outright Big East title since 1991 with a comfortable 85-66 victory over St. John's.

The nation's top team, fresh of a dominant performance in front of a national audience Saturday night versus Villanova, again showcased the inside-out assault that has made it one of the favorite's come NCAA Tournament time.

Onuaku grabbed eight boards to go along with his team-leading point total, Rautins drained four treys, Wesley Johnson added 13 points on an economical 10 shots and Kris Joseph got to the charity stripe 12 times as part of a 13- point, six-rebound performance. Scoop Jardine chipped in 10 points off the bench for the Orange (28-2, 15-2 Big East), who have won four straight, will hold the top seed in next week's conference tournament in New York and appear locked in as a No. 1 seed come Selection Sunday.

D.J. Kennedy led St. John's (15-14, 5-12) with 19 points and Paris Horne donated 18 for the Red Storm, who are fighting a different battle at season's end, trying to stay above .500 as a viable selection for the NIT.

St. John's hung tough early, squaring the contest at 11 on a Sean Evans layup, but Rautins' mid-range jumper capped seven successive points moments later for the home team.

Another eight-point flurry as the Red Storm drew within three opened a double- digit lead. One of Rautins' signature long-distance daggers made the score 31-20 with just over six minutes remaining in the half.

The lead grew to as many as 16 in the closing minutes, and Syracuse held a 42-28 lead after 20 minutes of game action.

St. John's came within 11 early in the second half, but the margin grew to 70-51 on an Onuaku layup with just over eight minutes to play. The Red Storm were never able to put a huge dent in the deficit, and the final minutes were played as a swan song to the Syracuse departing seniors.

Game Notes

Syracuse leads the all-time series, 46-37...The Orange shot 51.7 percent from the floor despite making just 6-of-17 from beyond the arc. The three-point percentage plummeted to 2-of-8 when Rautins wasn't firing a trey...St. John's struggled from the charity stripe, making just 9-of-17.

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.