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.

Wwhitbox NCAA Basketball Betting News

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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