Georgia seeks upset of No. 20 Mississippi State
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/11/2012 - Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A good old-fashioned dog fight will take place in Starkville today, as SEC foes Georgia and Mississippi State do battle at Humphrey Coliseum.
Georgia comes in with an overall record of 11-12, and the team's 2-7 conference mark has it just a game above last-place South Carolina in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs did manage to put one in the win column the last time out, as they whipped visiting Arkansas in an 81-59 final on Wednesday night. Georgia is just 1-6 in true road games this season, and the team has lost its last four trips away from Athens.
Mississippi State comes into the weekend sporting an impressive 19-5 mark, and the team has won six of its first nine league bouts. As a result, the Bulldogs are ranked 20th in the most recent AP poll, and they'll be hoping to improve upon their near-perfect 14-1 home mark with a win today. MSU has won its last two games, the most recent being a 70-60 decision at home over bitter rival Ole Miss, and coach Rick Stansbury's squad has won four of its last five bouts overall.
Mississippi State owns a narrow 52-50 lead in the all-time series with Georgia, but it was the latter that won the last encounter, shooting the lights out in claiming an 86-64 triumph on January 22, 2011 in Athens.
Gerald Robinson went off in Georgia's recent rout of Arkansas, as he hit 10- of-13 field goal attempts in scoring a career-high 27 points. He also added six rebounds and five assists to his stat line, and the Bulldogs wound up shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and putting another three players in double figures. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained three of the team's nine three-pointers on the night as he added 18 points, Nemanja Djurisic contributed 14 points off the bench, and Marcus Thornton chipped in 10 points for a Georgia team that not only performed at the offensive end, but dialed up the defense as well in limiting the Razorbacks to 36.7 percent field goal efficiency, all while easily winning the rebounding battle, 44-21. Caldwell- Pope and Robinson are the team's only double-digit scorers on the season, and only a tenth of a point separates them at the moment (14.2 to 14.1 ppg). The last game not withstanding, the 'Dawgs have struggled to find their stroke this year, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field, while defensively allowing the opposition to net 63.0 ppg on 42.0 percent field goal efficiency.
Arnett Moultrie was his usual productive self in Mississippi State's recent win over Ole Miss, as the junior forward scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in playing a game-high 37 minutes. Moultrie wasn't alone in his pursuit of excellence, as point guard Dee Bost logged a double-double consisting of 15 points and 13 assists, Renardo Sidney added 14 points and seven boards, and Rodney Hood finished with 10 points and six rebounds. The Bulldogs won the battle on the boards, 38-33, and hit nine three-pointers to only three for the Rebels. Moultrie is one of a handful of players averaging a double-double this late in the season, as he accounts for 17.0 points and 11.0 caroms per contest, while Bost (15.8 ppg, 5.1 apg), Hood (11.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Sidney (10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) have all been consistent contributors as well. As a team, MSU is scoring a healthy 73.7 ppg in hitting 46.5 percent of its total shots and 36.8 percent of its long-range launches, while at the other end allowing foes to net 66.4 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of 43.0 percent overall and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. The team is +3.9 in rebounding margin, but -0.6 in turnover differential.
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What Is the Point Spread?
What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
How to Read Point Spreads
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
- Philly wins the actual game by any amount of points
OR
- Philly loses the game by less than 7 points.
-
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
For Those Who Like to Consider Things Mathematically
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
- Subtracting the point spread from the favorite’s score (thus the minus sign before the number) and then compare to the underdog’s score
OR
- Adding the point spread to the underdog’s score (thus the plus sign before the number) and then compare to the favorite’s score
Who Really “Won” the Super Bowl odds ?
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
MySportsbook features easy-to-use online betting software that’s the most reliable in the industry. If you’re looking to bet underdogs, then this Sportsbook is the place - we have the best betting lines in the business. MySportsbook is your one-stop shop for all your betting needs - sports betting, poker, casino, and horse betting . MySportsbook offers every bet type with lightning fast settlement of wagers. Take advantage of free statistical analysis - including against-the-spread and straight-up trends - in MySportsbook’s game previews section. With MySportsbook there are unlimited free deposits and payouts - and no transaction fees!
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