Rutgers hits road seeking upset of No. 23 Notre Dame
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/15/2012 - South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Notre Dame looks to continue its surge up the conference standings Wednesday when the 23rd-ranked Fighting Irish welcome Rutgers to the Joyce Center for a Big East Conference clash.
Notre Dame made it six straight wins Saturday by handing DePaul an 84-76 loss. The hosting Irish trailed by three coming down the stretch but used a key 10-0 run to take control for good and improve to 13-1 at home this season. Notre Dame shot 66.7 percent from the floor over the final 20 minutes and 59.6 percent overall while taking care of business at the foul line (16-of-18). Jerian Grant and Jack Cooley paced the effort with 22 points apiece, the latter adding a game-high 14 rebounds. Eric Atkins chipped in 14 points and handed out six assists as the Irish jumped to 9-3 in the Big East behind only Syracuse and Marquette -- both of whom have fell victim to ND during its current streak.
Rutgers was dealt a third consecutive loss and fifth in six games its last time out, falling 59-54 to Seton Hall at home. The Scarlet Knights suffered from poor shooting throughout, hitting at a 31.5-percent clip overall and 26.1 percent from three-point range (6-for-23). Yet the hosts found themselves in front after Dane Miller dropped in a three with a little more than three minutes remaining. Seton Hall answered right back with a triple of its own, though, and went on to score eight of the game's final 12 points. Mike Poole was high man for the Knights with 14 points off the bench while Eli Carter scored 13 as Rutgers stumbled to 4-8 in Big East action.
Notre Dame holds a 17-13 edge in the all-time series and has captured six of the last eight matchups, though the Scarlet Knights took a 65-58 decision January 16 in Piscataway. Rutgers is just 2-10 all-time on the road in this series with Notre Dame winning each of the last seven home matchups. The Irish notched a 78-69 win at the Joyce Center last season, while Rutgers' last win in South Bend came during the 1998-99 season.
The Scarlet Knights are forced to rely more on defense than offense in the talent-rich Big East. Rutgers holds opponents to 64.1 ppg and a 40.9 shooting percentage while sinking 43.1 percent of its field goals and posting 66.2 ppg -- standing ahead of only South Florida for worst in the conference. Carter and Myles Mack are charged with leading the offense, serving as the club's only double-figure scorers at 13.8 and 10.2 ppg, respectively. Both are also active from beyond the arc with the former dropping 42 threes on 34.4 percent shooting and the latter 36 on 34.6-percent accuracy. Gilvydas Biruta provides a solid 9.4 ppg and 5.4 rebounds per contest while Miller grabs a team-leading 6.2 boards per game and adds 6.9 ppg. The Scarlet Knights hold a decent 34.6-33.6 overall rebounding advantage.
The Fighting Irish have managed to find great success in arguably the country's most difficult conference thanks in large part to their defense, and timely contributions on offense. Notre Dame puts up 67.9 points per game, which in the Big East gets you slotted 13th out of 16 teams. In addition, the Irish post a rather mediocre field-goal percentage of 43.8 percent but have the league's third-best free-throw percentage (71.7 percent). Notre Dame is also among the conference's better teams in scoring margin (plus-5.6) with a defense holding the opposition to just 62.3 ppg and 40.9 percent shooting from the floor. The sophomore Grant gives the club an all-around presence with his 13.0-point average, 4.8 assists, 3.1 rebounds and 40 three-pointers on 35.7 percent shooting. Atkins backs the effort with a 12.9-point average, 3.6 assists, 3.3 boards and 36 triples on 39.6-percent accuracy. Cooley gives the Irish a third solid double-figure scorer at 11.5 ppg, leads the Big East with a 61.1 shooting percentage and secures a team-leading 8.8 rebounds per contest -- good for fifth in league play. Scott Martin adds further depth with his 9.1 ppg and 5.8 boards. Notre Dame holds down a slim edge on the glass overall (34.4-34.2).
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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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