Badgers take top-ranking into East Lansing

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The now top-ranked Wisconsin Badgers have made the trip to East Lansing for tonight's Big Ten Conference clash with the Michigan State Spartans.

Five consecutive wins have enabled Wisconsin to move to 26-2 overall and 12-1 in conference, and the Badgers remain tied with the Ohio State Buckeyes atop the Big Ten standings. The most recent of the five victories occurred on Saturday for Wisconsin, as it cruised to a 75-49 decision over Penn State. The Badgers' 26 wins are the most in the nation and the most in one season in program history. The team has reached the top of the national poll for the first-time ever.

Michigan State hasn't been quite as successful as its counterpart today, as the Spartans have split their 12 Big Ten games. They are on a bit of a roll, however, as they have won two straight by double figures, including an 81-49 thrashing of Iowa on Saturday. Michigan State is now 16-1 at home, an obvious reason for confidence tonight.

The Spartans hold a 65-54 series advantage over the Badgers, and Michigan State has won two of the last three meetings.

If anyone is going to steal National Player of the Year honors away from Texas freshman Kevin Durant, it figures to be Wisconsin standout Alando Tucker. The outstanding forward has scored at least 20 points in seven consecutive outings, including a 22-point effort against Penn State on Saturday. Kammron Taylor pitched in 18 points for the Badgers, who got 11 points from Jason Bohannon off the bench. Wisconsin connected on 51.9 percent of its field goal attempts in that clash, including a stellar 12-of-23 showing from behind the arc. Tucker is averaging 20.4 ppg this season, and he can get his own shot at any time. Taylor checks in with 13.1 ppg on 42.1 percent shooting from three-point range for the Badgers, who are limiting opponents to 57.8 ppg on 40.3 percent shooting from the field.

Drew Neitzel is the leading scorer for Michigan State, as he is netting 18.1 ppg on 40.4 percent shooting from three-point range and 90.4 percent accuracy from the foul line. Also, Neitzel has dished out 118 assists against only 59 turnovers. Raymar Morgan is the only other double-digit scorer in the lineup, as he is posting 11.1 ppg. Strong defense is clearly the key to success for the Spartans, as they are holding foes to 56.0 ppg on 37.9 percent shooting from the field. Neitzel scored 17 points in the blowout victory over Iowa last time out. Morgan pitched in 16 points for Michigan State, which connected on 57.9 percent of its field goal attempts and limited Iowa to 34.1 percent efficiency from the floor.

Gemcasino NCAA Basketball Betting News

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

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Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.