Big East brawl pits Bulls against Orange

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The South Florida Bulls will take their four- game winning streak into the Carrier Dome tonight as they square off with the second-ranked Syracuse Orange in a Big East Conference battle.

The Bulls and Syracuse have met nine times in the past, and the Orange hold a 8-1 lead in the all-time series. Syracuse is a perfect 5-0 against USF at the Carrier Dome.

USF comes in with a 17-10 overall record and has already set a new program record for wins in Big East action with its 10-4 league record. The Bulls extended their current winning streak to four games on Sunday in their 56-47 victory over the Pittsburgh Panthers. Head coach Stan Heath had to be pleased with his team's defensive performance, as it held the Panthers to a season-low 47 points and held Pitt's stars Tray Woodall and Ashton Gibbs to two points each. USF has the lowest scoring defense in the Big East, with an allowed average of just 58.2 ppg. However, the Bulls are also ranked last in scoring offense as they net only 61.1 ppg.

Augustus Gilchrist is leading the balanced Bulls with a scoring average of 10.5 ppg. Victor Rudd, Jawanza Poland, Toarlyn Fitzpatrick, and Ron Anderson Jr. are all steady contributors for USF as well. Fitzpatrick is leading the team with 6.5 rpg. Anthony Collins had a breakout performance against Pittsburgh on Sunday, as he scored a career-high 22 points and handed out six assists. The freshman guard has been a superb distributor as of late, as he has handed out six assists or more in six-straight games.

Syracuse extended its winning streak to seven games on Sunday as it escaped its road tilt versus Rutgers with a 74-64 victory. Jim Boeheim has led his team to sole possession of first place in the Big East as it has a 13-1 record in league play. Syracuse managed to hit 50 percent of its shots from the floor to power past the Scarlet Knights. The Orange's only loss this season was to Notre Dame, which they played without their center Fab Melo. Syracuse leads the league in scoring with an average of 76.8 ppg, and has held its opponents to 60.8 ppg.

The Orange have had all their success come this season through a total team effort. There is not any player on Syracuse with overwhelming statistics, but the team's play as a solidified unit has led to superb results. Kris Joseph leads Syracuse in scoring with 14.0 ppg on 44.1 percent shooting. The senior forward went 5-of-10 from the floor to score 14 points time out as he helped his team past Rutgers. Dion Waiters averages a second-best 12.0 ppg, while Brandon Triche chips in 9.4 ppg. Scoop Jardine controls the offense for the Orange and leads it with 5.0 assists per contest. Melo anchors the patented 2-3 zone with 3.0 blocks per game. C.J. Fair had a big performance off the bench against Rutgers, as he had team-highs of 21 points and grabbed eight boards.

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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.