2010 Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Of the 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, 12 have been invited to participate in the league tournament which begins on Tuesday night. The first round will take place at campus sites of the higher seeds.

While a few of the A-10 squads figure to earn NCAA Tournament bids regardless of the outcome of this event, every squad would love to capture the crown and earn the automatic bid to the "Big Dance". Temple, the two-time defending champ of this event, has earned the top seed this year, and it figures to face the stiffest competition from second-seeded Xavier and third-seeded Richmond, teams that have been nationally ranked at one point this season. Fourth-seeded Saint Louis has hit its stride over the last month and will undoubtedly carry a great deal of confidence into the event. Those four teams have earned byes to the quarterfinal round, which begins on Friday, March 12th in Atlantic City.

The first round kicks off on Tuesday, and all games will be played on the home court of the higher-seeded team. Fifth-seeded Rhode Island suffered a pair of painful losses at the end of the regular season, and it will need to get back on track in a hurry. Sixth-seeded Charlotte, seventh-seeded Dayton and eighth- seeded St. Bonaventure all have talented performers, especially the Flyers, who were the preseason favorite to win the league title. Rounding out the tournament's participants are ninth-seeded Duquesne, 10th-seeded George Washington, 11th-seeded Massachusetts and 12th-seeded Saint Joseph's, none of which are considered serious threats to reach the semifinals, let alone win the tournament.

The first of four first-round games pits the eighth-seeded St. Bonaventure Bonnies against the ninth-seeded Duquesne Dukes. The Bonnies have never won this tournament and are 12-26 all-time in the event. As for the Dukes, they captured their lone title back in 1977, and the 19-30 record in A-10 Tournament games is far from impressive. St. Bonaventure is led by Andrew Nicholson, a standout sophomore, who is eighth in the conference in scoring (16.2 ppg) and 10th in rebounding (7.1 rpg). Damian Sanders leads Duquesne with 14.9 ppg, and he is tied for the conference rebounding lead with 11.4 rpg. The fact that Sanders leads the league in both blocks (3.1 bpg) and steals (2.8 spg) is proof of his tremendous versatility.

The fifth-seeded Rhode Island Rams just missed out on a top-four seed that would have given them a first-round bye, but they now must face 12th-seeded Saint Joseph's on Tuesday. URI won this tournament back in 1999 and is still in search of its second title. The Hawks have two conference tournament championships to their credit, but the most recent came back in 1997, so there has been a long stretch since coach Phil Martelli's program last claimed the prize. Rhode Island is second in the A-10 in scoring (77.1 ppg), but the team is dead last in field goal percentage defense (.472). SJU ranks 11th in the league in scoring (68.8 ppg) and 12th in scoring defense (74.8 ppg), as this has been a season to forget. The Hawks are also the worst rebounding team in the conference.

The seventh-seeded Dayton Flyers and the 10th-seeded George Washington Colonials will meet in the first round, and while Dayton's lone title came back in 2003, the Colonials have won the tournament twice, most recently in 2007. Chris Wright (14.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has been the best player for Dayton, which leads the league in rebounding margin (+6.6 rpg) but is next-to-last in blocked shots. GW doesn't have a player ranked among the top 15 in the league in scoring, and the fact that the Colonials are ranked in the middle of the pack in most statistical categories speaks to the mediocrity of the squad.

In the final first-round pairing, sixth-seeded Charlotte will attempt to treat the home crowd to a victory over 11th-seeded Massachusetts. Charlotte is a relative newcomer to the conference, and the team owns a 2-4 record in this event. As for the Minutemen, they have won five A-10 Tournament titles, but it has been 14 years since the last one. The 49ers are led by Shamari Spears, a Boston College transfer, who ranks seventh in the league in scoring with 16.3 ppg. Charlotte is the best free throw shooting team in the conference, and that could come in handy in this tournament. As for UMass, it ranks 13th out of 14 A-10 teams in scoring defense (75.4 ppg), but the club is tied for the conference lead in three-pointers made per game (7.1).

The winner of the Duquesne/St. Bonaventure game will move on to face top- seeded Temple on Friday in the quarterfinals. Temple has won eight A-10 Tournament championships, the most of any league member, and the Owls are a stellar 49-19 all-time in the event. Last season, they knocked off Duquesne by a 69-64 final in the championship game, and they beat Saint Joseph's in 2008's title game by the same score. Temple has a few steady leaders in the fold, as Ryan Brooks (14.5 ppg) and Lavoy Allen (10.8 rpg) can be counted on by coach Fran Dunphy to put forth maximum effort every time out. The Owls lead the conference in scoring defense (56.8 ppg), overshadowing the fact that they are the third-worst scoring team in the league (65.4 ppg).

The fourth-seeded Saint Louis Billikens will take on either Rhode Island on Saint Joseph's in the quarterfinals. Saint Louis has only played seven A-10 Tournament games since joining the conference and is 3-4 in those affairs. Obviously, the program is still in search of its first title. Like Temple, SLU relies heavily on its defense to win games. In fact, the Billikens are the lowest-scoring offensive team in the conference (63.8 ppg), but they rank second in scoring defense (59.7 ppg). Kwamain Mitchell paces the club with 16.1 ppg, and he is clearly the go-to guy at the offensive end. Willie Reed is a solid contributor at the defensive end for Saint Louis, as he ranks third in the conference in blocked shots.

Second-seeded Xavier is slated to take on either Dayton or George Washington on Friday, and the Musketeers are gunning for their fifth A-10 Tournament title. They last won this event in 2006 and own a 22-10 record in the tourney all-time. Xavier leads the conference in scoring offense (79.9) and scoring margin (+11.7 ppg). The Musketeers are shooting 47 percent from the field, best in the A-10, and is certainly helps to have the league's leading scorer in the fold. Jordan Crawford is racking up 19.7 ppg as a sophomore, tied with UMass senior Ricky Harris for the top output in the conference. Players such as Jason Love (8.6 rpg) and Terrell Holloway (4.0 apg) help to take pressure off Crawford.

Finally, Richmond will begin tournament play on Friday evening against either Charlotte or UMass. The Spiders are one of the six active members of the A-10 that have never won this event, and they are 6-8 in the event over the years. The duo of Kevin Anderson and David Gonzalvez will make Richmond a tough out in this tournament. Anderson ranks fifth in the league in scoring with 17.8 rpg, and Gonzalvez provides 14.3 ppg. The Spiders are ranked second in the A-10 in field goal percentage defense (.390). On a down note, they are next to last in rebounding margin, as they are being outboarded by more than five caroms per contest.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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