Bulls to try and clip wings of 23rd-ranked Cardinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/07/2009 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Louisville Cardinals open the Big East portion of their schedule in Tampa tonight, as they take on the South Florida Bulls at the Sun Dome.

With disappointing losses to Western Kentucky, Minnesota and UNLV, the Cardinals find themselves on the verge of falling out of the Top 25 after entering the season with a loft No.3 ranking. The team though, showed its resiliency on Sunday, capturing a thrilling 74-71 victory over instate foe Kentucky. Now at 9-3 overall, Louisville turns its focus to the Big East, where it has opened play with a loss in each of the past four seasons. The Cardinals however, have rebounded to finish second in the league in each of the last two seasons.

As for USF, it kicked off its Big East slate on Friday, dropping a 59-54 decision to nationally-ranked Syracuse. It was a hard fought game, but an expected result, as the Bulls have now gone just 7-44 in conference play since joining the Big East. Losers of three of their last four games, USF now sits at just 5-8 on the campaign.

In regard to the all-time series, Louisville holds a 21-3 advantage over the Bulls and it has won seven straight and 10 of the last 11 meetings in the rivalry.

Edgar Sosa drained a three-pointer with 2.8 seconds remaining, lifting the Cardinals to a 74-71 victory over Kentucky on Sunday. It was a huge shot for Louisville and Sosa, who finished with a season-high 18 points. The Cardinals did a great job from long range all game long, hitting on 11-of-20 chances. Terrence Williams led the way with an all-around effort of 19 points, eight rebounds and five steals. Jerry Smith made all three of his long-range attempts for 11 points, while Earl Clark had 10 points and eight boards. Freshman Samardo Samuels, however, was limited to just four points due to foul trouble, but despite that performance, he still leads the team in scoring with 13.8 ppg on the season. Clark is second on the squad with 12.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 3.0 apg, while Williams adds 12.3 ppg and team highs of 8.8 rpg and 4.7 apg to the rotation. Louisville as a team, is scoring a solid 76.0 ppg and it has also fared well on defense, holding foes to just 38.1 percent shooting from the field.

The Bulls made only 36.7 percent of their attempts from the floor and just 4- of-23 from downtown, as they were unable to pull off the upset of Syracuse on Friday. The team also struggled a bit at the foul line, going 6-of-10, and was also dominated on the boards, 44-33. Dominique Jones guided USF in defeat with 17 points and three steals, while Mobolaji Ajayi had 15 points and seven rebounds. On the season, Jones has displayed his versatility by leading the Bulls in scoring (17.1 ppg), assists (4.0 apg) and steals (24). Jesus Verdejo has provided a solid second option at 15.5 ppg and he is shooting 37.6 percent from long range. He, however, was 0-of-10 from beyond the arc against Syracuse and is shooting a poor 59.0 percent at the foul line on the season. As a team, USF has struggled from both three-point range (.303) and at the charity stripe (.578) and that explains why it is only averaging 61.3 ppg.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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