Falcons swoop into Salt Lake City

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/16/2007 - Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The victories are becoming a little tighter, but they still keep coming as the 13th-ranked Air Force Falcons hit the road to take on the Utah Runnin' Utes at the Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City tonight.

On Saturday, the Falcons needed a late basket to make it by the Wyoming Cowboys, 58-56, on the road. The squad made it happen and has now won 13 straight games since falling to perennial powerhouse Duke by a score of 71-56 in late November. The current overall win streak has the Falcons tied with both New Mexico State and Wisconsin for the longest active streak in the nation, while the team's 25 straight at home are tied for the second longest in the nation behind Gonzaga.

Meanwhile, the Utes continue to go spiraling out of control with their sixth consecutive setback on Saturday in an 86-82 overtime decision versus New Mexico on the road. Utah, which is 0-4 in conference play, has now lost all three overtime games it has played this season.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, Utah holds a commanding 42-11 advantage, dating back to a 108-57 thrashing in the first-ever meeting back in 1965. But the most recent meeting went to Air Force by a final of 52-51 a season ago.

Jacob Burtschi scored 18 points, but none were more important than the final two which came at the buzzer in the victory over Wyoming on Saturday. Burtschi finished the afternoon shooting 3-of-5 behind the three-point line and added six rebounds in the narrow win. Dan Nwaelele chipped in 13 points and three assists, while Tim Anderson accounted for 10 points, six boards and three dishes as well. Down by two points at the break, Air Force had a dismal first half shooting just 26.7 percent from the field, but then bounced back in the second frame to make 14-of-23 from the floor. Nwaelele continues to be the top scorer for the program with his 15.1 ppg, shooting a sizzling 51.2 percent from three-point range to rank among the best in the nation. Burtschi adds 13.9 ppg and is good for a team-high 5.8 rpg, in addition to having 48 assists against only 14 turnovers. Discipline has always been key to the program's success and this year is no different with the squad averaging a mere 10 turnovers per contest, while posting about 16 assists per game.

A three-point play by Curtis Eatmon with 41 seconds to play pushed the game into overtime against New Mexico, but in the extra frame the Utes never led and allowed a winnable game to slip away over the weekend. Eatmon finished with 11 points, five assists and five rebounds off the bench for Utah, while Johnnie Bryant and Shaun Green accounted for 19 and 14 points, respectively. Green cleared a team-high seven rebounds and handed out three assists, knocking down 4-of-7 chances beyond the arc before fouling out. Bryant, the leading scorer the last three games, is still second on the unit overall with his 15.8 ppg, trailing Luke Nevill who is accounting for 17.2 ppg and a team-high 8.1 rpg. Bryant, who leads the team in assists with 44, is shooting an impressive 43.7 percent from beyond the arc, but that still doesn't come close to Green (12.5 ppg) who has converted an amazing 56.8 percent out on the perimeter. Considering the Utes have such accuracy behind the three-point line one would think they'd have more than a mere five wins to this point in the season.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

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