Memphis goes in search of ninth straight win

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The premier team in Conference USA is the 11th-ranked Memphis Tigers, and they welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to town this afternoon.

With back-to-back wins, Southern Miss has improved to 13-5 overall, including a 3-2 mark against C-USA foes. On Wednesday, the Golden Eagles put forth one of their best offensive efforts of the season in an 83-72 triumph over East Carolina.

Memphis has won eight straight games, a streak that began back on December 23rd. The current run has enabled the Tigers to move to 16-3 overall, including a 6-0 mark in league play. All eight wins during the streak have come by double figures, including a 72-59 triumph over Tulsa on Wednesday.

Memphis holds a 51-23 advantage in the all-time series with Southern Miss, and the Tigers won both meetings last season by a wide margin.

Four players scored in double figures for Southern Miss in the 11-point victory over East Carolina on Thursday. The Golden Eagles got 19 points apiece from Sai'Quon Stone and Craig Craft, and 17 of Stone's points came from the foul line. In fact, Southern Miss earned a 27-7 edge in points from the charity stripe, the most obvious contributing factor in the win. Jeremy Wise pitched in 15 points and six assists, while Courtney Beasley tallied 12 points. Wise is the top scorer for Southern miss this season, as he is netting 15.8 ppg. Unfortunately, there is not another double- digit scorer in the lineup. On a positive note, the Golden Eagles are a tremendous defensive team, limiting opponents to 59.6 ppg on 38.6 percent shooting from the field while also outrebounding foes by well over eight boards per contest.

Memphis did not have the services of Chris Douglas-Roberts against Tulsa, as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain. In the absence of the standout, the Tigers connected on only 39.7 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 4-of-16 showing from three-point range. Fortunately, they were able to force 18 turnovers and limit the Golden Hurricane to 33.9 percent shooting from the field. Leading the way in the win was Joey Dorsey with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Robert Dozier came through with 12 points and eight boards, and Jeremy Hunt tallied 11 points. Douglas-Roberts is averaging 14.8 ppg, and his status for today's game is uncertain. Hunt checks in with 13.5 ppg, and Dozier is contributing 11.5 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

Iwonvegas NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Horse Betting

(This is an update of a sportsbook for the May 4th issue of ESPN The Magazine).

The Kentucky Derby's post-position draw happened on Wednesday. And, as is always the case, shortly afterwards, a buzz raced around Churchill Downs. It was a low rumble at first, nothing that the squares in the mint julep crowd pick up right away. But by the time the sun set over the twin spires, the chatter was impossible to ignore. Everyone -- sharps, trainers, owners -- was talking about one thing: the wise guy horse, the pre-draw long shot us mopes didn't have on our radar until it was too late.

"You think you're hearing the scoop," says handicapper Lane Gold. "Then you get to the window, the odds are short, and you missed it."

Recognizing a wise-guy horse early is as hard as picking a Derby bonnet. That's because handicappers don't like hype (see ya, I Want Revenge). They want Thoroughbreds who look good losing prep races like the Santa Anita Derby. They eye horses who ate up the field after starting wide or made an easy transition from synthetic tracks to dirt. They look for ponies who showed muscle gain race to race and those who ran hard after several weeks' rest.

"A wise guy," says John Avello, a bookmaker at Wynn Las Vegas, "looks for a horse who can improve."

When I first wrote Horse Betting for The Mag, which I turned in a three weeks before Wednesday's draw, I predicted these three horses had wise guy potential:

CHOCOLATE CANDY (15-1 in mid-April, currently 20-1 according to Avello): His second-place finish at Santa Anita, following a seven-week layoff, proved two things: He can run after resting, and -- by losing a high-profile prep race -- he wouldn't be overhyped.

DESERT PARTY (15-1; 15-1): He was upset in the UAE Derby by a horse he had beaten twice. The public remembers his loss, but the wise guys his wins.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (8-1; 4-1): The big favorite at Santa Anita struggled to win, so he initially got less hype than Quality Road and I Want Revenge.

You may have noticed that the odds on Pioneerof the Nile have been cut in half, from 8-1 to 4-1. Which means the wise guys took a shine to him long before the post-position draw. But, to be honest, this is one of those years with four elite horses getting everyone's attention, squares and sharps alike.

"You're not gonna get a lot of chatter about a horse that isn't in that group, which includes Pioneer, I Want Revenge, Dunkirk and Friesan Fire," Avello told me Wednesday. "We don't have a group of horses behind those top four who look like real legit contenders."

Come Derby week, the final two elements in picking a wise guy horse are how he's working out and what gate he's coming out of.

(By the way, picking a Preakness favorite is a whole different bale of hay, partially based on how horses finish in the Derby. You can see my analysis of who has the best shot at Pimlico on Insider Sunday morning.)

Well, early in the week I Want Revenge, Pioneerof the Nile and Friesan Fire were working out better than anyone. Some thought Friesan Fire, currently 6-1, might have run too fast, burning a five-furlong run in :57 4/5. "When you are running that fast you have the sense that it took something out of him," says Gold. "The Derby is longer than any horse has run, and if they need that extra surge you worry they won't have it because they burned it in the workout."

But, Gold points out, Friesan Fire's trainer is Larry Jones, Two years ago his horse Hard Spun did a five-eighths workout in :57 3/5 and then went on to finish second, behind Street Sense, in the Derby. "Every trainer has different methods," says Gold. "And clearly he knows what he's doing."

Now, as for starting position, Gold says to remember this: Churchill Downs traditionally has 14 starting gates. For the Derby, it brings out auxiliary gates and between the original 14th gate and the new 15th gate, there is a little more space than there is between gates 1-14. "That 15 position will give you a precious second or two to sort out what's happening to your inside," says Gold. "Sixteen is also okay because you can follow the horse in front of you."

Dunkirk, one of the race favorites, is coming out of gate 15. In 16 is Baffert's Pioneerof the Nile. I Want Revenge drew 13, where Smarty Jones won from in 2004, and Friesan Fire picked the sixth position. "He doesn't have a lot of speed to the inside of him," says Gold. "So he will get a clear shot to be near the front."

All the jibber-jabber means this: Pioneerof the Nile has leapfrogged from 8-1 to being the second favorite, along with Dunkirk, behind I Want Revenge. Meanwhile, Friesan Fire, with a good trainer, a strong week of training and a decent post position, is still at 6-1. "By Saturday, it's possible he could go from fourth to the favorite," says Gold.

In other words, meet Friesan Fire, your 2009 wise guy horse.

"Now," says Avello, "it's time for action."

To visit this horse betting site go to MySportsbook.com for all your horse racing betting needs.