19th-ranked Cardinals battle Blazers at Freedom Hall

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/27/2008 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 19th-ranked Louisville Cardinals will play host to former Conference USA rival UAB this afternoon at Freedom Hall.

UAB has won its last three games to improve to 8-3 overall. The Blazers are fresh off a 76-43 romp over Florida Atlantic on Monday, and all three of their losses thus far have come by 10 or fewer points. The most impressive victory came over a strong Arizona squad by one point back in mid-November.

Louisville dropped a 70-64 decision to Minnesota last Saturday, and that setback halted a five-game win streak. The Cardinals have played a rather weak schedule thus far as the best win on their resume' came against an Ole Miss squad decimated by injury. Clearly, Rick Pitino's club will face plenty of challenges when the Big East Conference slate begins.

Louisville owns an 11-4 series lead over UAB, and the teams last met in 2005 when both were members of C-USA.

UAB, which is generating 75.1 ppg, is limiting opponents to 67.5 ppg on 40.2 percent shooting from the floor. There are three players on the roster averaging double figures in scoring, and considering that the fourth-leading scorer on the team is netting only 6.5 ppg, the importance of the standout trio can not be overlooked. Robert Vaden currently paces UAB with 19.4 ppg, and Paul Delaney III adds 16.8 ppg. As for Lawrence Kinnard, he provides 16.6 ppg to go with 9.1 rpg. In the blowout victory over Florida Atlantic, the Blazers limited the Owls to 28.6 percent shooting from the floor. Delaney III showed his all-around ability in posting 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Vaden netted 12 points, while Kinnard and Crawford pitched in 10 points. Kinnard also pulled down 12 rebounds for the Blazers.

Louisville connected on only 37.7 percent of its field goal attempts in the loss to Minnesota last weekend. The Cardinals finished with 16 turnovers and shot a disappointing 20-of-33 from the foul line. Terrence Williams scored a team-high 17 points in defeat, and the versatile forward also had six rebounds and five assists. Earl Clark pitched in with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Jerry Smith added 12 points. Samuels is just a freshman, but he is scoring 15.0 ppg on 54.8 percent shooting from the floor. Clark provides 13.6 ppg and 9.3 rpg, and Williams adds 10.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg. The rebounding ability of those three players makes Louisville tough to beat. The Cardinals are grabbing 6.8 rpg more than the opposition while outscoring foes by 18.9 ppg on average.

Wwsportszone NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Tigers and Cougars meet in catfight in Columbia
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Missouri Tigers will take on the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars in what appears to be a lopsided non-conference matchup. SIU-Edwardsville carries a six-game losing streak into this contest, and all

<< Spartans battle Grizzlies in Auburn Hills
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans and the Oakland Golden Grizzlies will meet today at the Palace of Auburn Hills, home of the NBA's Detroit Pistons. Michigan State has won its last four games to impr

<< Golden Bears and 'Canes clash in Emerald Bowl
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The California Golden Bears make the short trip to San Francisco this weekend, where they will take on the Miami- Florida Hurricanes in the 2008 Emerald Bowl at AT&T Park. The Bears showed their resil

<< Champs Sports Bowl features Seminoles and Badgers
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wisconsin Badgers and Florida State Seminoles will meet for the first-ever time on the gridiron this weekend, as they square off in the 2008 Champs Sports Bowl in Orlando. The Badgers have been up and this

<< Tar Heels tangle with Mountaineers in Meineke Car Car Bowl
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The West Virginia Mountaineers and the North Carolina Tar Heels are set to square off in the Meineke Car Care Bowl at Bank of America Stadium this weekend. The Mountaineers put together another solid regular-

Mountaineers seek upset of Buckeyes in Columbus >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes of the Big Ten and the West Virginia Mountaineers of the Big East will collide in Columbus this afternoon. West Virginia has won its last three games to improve to 9-2 overa

Blazers welcome Raptors to Rose Garden >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers resume a five-game homestand Saturday when they welcome the Toronto Raptors to the Rose Garden. The Blazers fell to 1-1 on the residency on Christmas Day when Dallas' Dirk Nowitzki scored

Spurs try to stay on track vs. Grizzlies >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Antonio Spurs shoot for their fifth consecutive victory Saturday when they welcome the Memphis Grizzlies to the Alamo City. The Spurs are coming off a thriller on Christmas Day when Roger Mason's three- pointer

Rockets host Jazz at Toyota Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Rockets will open a three-game homestand Saturday when the Utah Jazz pay a visit to the Toyota Center. Houston will also host Washington and Milwaukee and is 9-3 as the host this season. The Rockets,

Bucks, Pistons square off at Bradley Center >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The resurgent Milwaukee Bucks shoot for their fourth consecutive victory on Saturday when they welcome the Detroit Pistons to the Bradley Center. The Bucks improved to 2-0 on a three-game homestand Tuesday when M

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.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts MasterCard needs.