Rivals meet up in Starkville for SEC action

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2012 - Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Instate rivals collide in Starkville this evening, as the 20th-ranked Mississippi State Bulldogs play host to the Ole Miss Rebels in an SEC affair at the Humphrey Coliseum.

Rick Stansbury's Bulldogs can't afford to fall any further behind in the SEC standings, as the team comes into this contest at 5-3 in league play, currently fourth in the conference standings. MSU has won three of its last four games, including a thrilling 91-88 shootout against Auburn last weekend.

Andy Kennedy's Rebels are six games over .500 at 14-8, but are even in the SEC at 4-4. Ole Miss has lost two of its last three games, including a heart- breaking 69-67 double-overtime game at Alabama on Saturday.

Although, Mississippi State holds a 138-106 series advantage, it is Ole Miss seeking the regular-season sweep after posting a 75-68 win in Oxford on January 18th. The last time Ole Miss swept the season series was in 1998.

Nick Williams led the way with 19 points, including some key baskets down the stretch, but Ole Miss was unable to secure a win in Tuscaloosa, falling to the Crimson Tide by two points in double-overtime. Williams was joined in double figures by forwards Terrance Henry and Reginald Buckner, who finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Fellow forward Murphy Holloway added eight points and nine rebounds to the cause, but could not prevent the team from falling to 4-4 in league play.

The Rebels strong in the frontcourt with Henry, Holloway and Buckner. Henry is a player that can score both inside and out and currently leads the team in scoring at 12.2 ppg. Holloway is strong in the paint, averaging a near double-double with 10.3 points and 9.4 rebounds per game (third in the league). Buckner isn't much of a scorer (6.9 ppg) but is a force defensively, grabbing 8.5 rpg and leading the team with 51 blocks. He is the SEC's active leader in blocked shots with 210 in his career (school record). Williams (10.4 ppg) and Jarvis Summers (9.9 ppg) are backcourt complements and complete the starting five.

The Bulldogs enjoy a more balanced attack, with a dominant star down low and plenty of perimeter firepower in the backcourt. Junior forward Arnett Moultrie has been unstoppable this season and is certainly on the short list when talking about candidates for SEC Player of the Year. The 6-11 veteran is averaging a double-double, leading the team in both scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (11.1 rpg). He gets help along the frontline from fellow forward Renardo Sidney (10.2 ppg). Balance comes in the form of guards Dee Bost and Rodney Hood. Bost, a 6-2 senior, is both a prolific scorer (15.8 ppg) and deft distributor (4.7 apg). Hood, a 6-8 freshman, creates mismatches with his size and adds 11.3 ppg to the scoring deluge. Overall, MSU is averaging 73.8 ppg, doing so on a healthy .465 shooting.

Auburn put up a season-high 88 points, but the Bulldogs were more than up to the challenge, posting 91 in a thrilling victory this past weekend. Overall, MSU drained just over 60 percent of its shots in the game, as five Bulldogs finished in double figures. Moultrie was once again strong down low, leading the team with 21 points. Sidney poured in 17 and Bost fiished with 15 points and seven assists. Jalen Steele added 13 points off the bench, while Hood chipped in with 11.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.