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02/20/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - This is a column for all of us beleaguered college basketball fans, who have watched our favorite teams suffer through miserable seasons.
For those of us who have absolutely no hope of anything more than first-round exits in conference tournaments. For those of us who think March Madness is defined as the act of wondering why you are wasting time watching such dreadful basketball.
My alma mater, Fresno State, has had its share of exciting moments through the years. I fondly remember the Boyd Grant era of the late 1970s and on into the 1980s, when this dynamic though down-to-earth coach turned a down-on-its luck program into a winner.
We went from a 7-20 record in 1976-77 to 21-6 in 1977-78 by leading the nation in defense, and were off and running toward a decade of success that included being ranked in the top 10 nationally and reaching the Sweet 16 before losing to Patrick Ewing at Georgetown in 1982. It included a magical run to an NIT title in 1983, beating Wake Forest and DePaul at Madison Square Garden, at a time where the NIT still meant something.
We witnessed three NCAA appearances and a pair of NIT trips in five years, and sent players such as Rod Higgins, Ron Anderson, Bernard Thompson and Pete Verhoeven to the NBA. There were wins over teams like Houston, with Akeem Olajuwon, and UNLV.
Selland Arena, the local municipal facility in downtown Fresno, was jam-packed nearly every night, and was one of the loudest basketball arenas in America.
Your hair would stand on end from the electricity in the air, and you didn't even bother to try having a conversation with the person sitting next to you for most of the game. The decibel levels exceeded some of the rock concerts I watched in the same venue.
There was a renaissance under one of our favorite alums, Jerry Tarkanian, in the late 1990s and a couple of more trips to the NCAAs with players like Chris Herren, Rafer Alston, Courtney Alexander, Tito Maddux and Melvin Ely.
Tarkanian and some of his players may have been lightning rods for controversy off the court, but on it, they generated enough excitement to spark the building of an on-campus arena, the sparkling 15,596-seat Save Mart Center.
This isn't one of those glory years.
The Bulldogs were playing on national television on Thursday night, a fact that I only discovered while watching one of my new hometown teams, Villanova, beat Rutgers, 82-72. That tells you what kind of a year it's been for your team, when you find out they have a game on national TV on accident.
That's what happens when your club is in last place in the Western Athletic Conference and has a 10-17 record. With at least six games remaining, Fresno State is poised to record the most losses in school history. And that is for a program that started playing basketball in 1921.
While I was watching from my couch in Hatboro, PA, I conversed by cellular phone with my best friend and fellow basketball agonizer, Jim, who was tuned in from a snow-bound cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
For over two hours, we watched our alma mater play just well enough to give us hope of a victory, though the obvious weaknesses of blocking out on defensive rebounds, poor free-throw shooting, brutal defensive lapses and turnovers left us with the bleak realization that a loss was inevitable.
Even against an almost equally bad Hawaii club, we knew this collection of underclassmen and transfers wasn't up to the task. They left us hanging until the final minute before losing, 73-69.
The Kool-Aid being fed the alumni is that this young team is gaining valuable experience that will reap dividends in the next couple of years. But you don't have to be a seasoned basketball fan to know that this squad is a long way from the Grant and Tarkanian days.
I know there are fans at other schools with proud traditions like San Francisco (9-17), Massachusetts (9-15), Georgia (10-16), Georgia Tech (10-15), Virginia (9-13), DePaul (8-18), Valparaiso (7-20), Loyola Marymount (2-25), Oregon (6-20) and Indiana (7-20) who are in as much pain as I am this season.
For all of them, and my alma mater as well, we can only hope that in the future, March Madness will see such teams return to their glory days.
<< Marin admits Real interest
Monchengladbach, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rising Borussia Monchengladbach
star Marko Marin has admitted that he would like to try his hand in Spain in
the future, with Real Madrid his preferred destination.
The 19-year-old midfielder
<< Redskins release LB Washington
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Redskins released veteran
linebacker Marcus Washington on Friday.
The 31-year-old Washington battled through hamstring and ankle injuries last
season, appearing in just 10 games -- nine
<< Pizarro happy to wait on future with Bremen
Bremen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On-loan Werder Bremen striker Claudio
Pizarro says he is happy to wait to sort out his long-term future with the
Bundesliga club.
The 30-year-old Peru international has scored 13 goals in 21 app
<< Sevilla's Chevanton out for season with knee injury
Seville, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sevilla's Uruguayan striker Javier Chevanton
is set to miss the rest of the season as he requires surgery on his left knee.
The 28-year-old has only made a couple of starts for the Spanish club this
seas
Wolfsburg ready for first-place Hertha >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wolfsburg will try to remain unbeaten at
the Volkswagen Arena when it hosts first-place Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Wolfsburg is one of just three teams in the Bundesliga still undefeated at home
and cou
WTA levies record fine on Dubai tournament for denying visa to Peer >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The WTA Tour levied a $300,000 fine on
the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships on Friday for denying a visa to Shahar
Peer.
Peer, an Israeli, was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates and was unabl
Dodgers sign Orlando Hudson to one-year deal >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers have reportedly
signed second baseman Orlando Hudson to a one-year contract.
An MLB.com report cited baseball sources as saying the deal is for $3.4
million with an additi
With Barca looming, Lyon focused on Nancy >>
Nancy, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyon opens the knockout stage of the Champions
League on Tuesday against Barcelona, but before the French champions try to get
past the world's hottest team, their focus will be on Nancy in Ligue 1.
Although
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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