Demon Deacons and Cavs meet in ACC affair

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2012 - Charlottesville, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wake Forest Demon Deacons will attempt to snap their four-game losing streak tonight as they head to the John Paul Jones Arena for an Atlantic Coast Conference battle against the 19th- ranked Virginia Cavaliers.

This will be the 119th meeting between Wake Forest and Virginia. The Demon Deacons hold a 69-59 advantage in the rivalry after a 76-71 victory over the Cavaliers in last season's only encounter.

Wake Forest enters tonight's game 11-12 overall and 2-7 in ACC play after its 87-76 loss to the NC State Wolfpack on Saturday. The Demon Deacons had a strong offensive performance against NC State, as they made 50 percent of their field goals and 10-of-17 from three-point range, but they allowed NC State to knock down 52.5 percent of their shots. Head coach Jeff Bzdelik's team will have to focus on the defensive end if it wants to make a run in the ACC, as it ranks last in the league with an allowed average of 70.7 ppg.

The Demon Deacons are led by the ACC's top scoring duo of C.J. Harris and Travis McKie. Harris is ranked second in the conference in scoring with 17.5 ppg and McKie is a very close behind in fifth with an average of 15.8 ppg. McKie is also leading the team in rebounding with an average of 7.2 rpg. Ty Walker, Chase Fischer, and NikitaMescheriakov combined to contribute 33 points in the recent loss to NC State.

Head coach Tony Bennett's team comes in with a 18-4 overall record and a 5-3 mark in league play after its 58-55 loss to the Florida State Seminoles on Saturday. The Cavaliers overcame a double-digit deficit before losing the bout with Florida State. Virginia's four losses have been by a combined 10 points. Virginia is an elite team defensively as it ranks second in the nation in scoring defense with an allowed average of just 51.4 ppg on 39.2 percent shooting. Only four teams have eclipsed the 60-point mark against the Cavaliers this season. Virginia's focus on the defensive end has left it with a sub par scoring average of 63.9 ppg.

Forward Mike Scott continues to lead Virginia with averages of 17.0 points and 8.5 rebounds per game. Scott is leading the ACC in field goal efficiency with a connection rate of 58.8 percent. Joe Harris complements Scott nicely from the guard slot. Harris is the team's second leading scorer with 12.7 ppg after he went 5-of-12 from the field to score 16 points against Florida State. Jontel Evans is the top distributor for the Cavaliers as he his dishing out a team- high 3.7 assists per contest.

Casinoonlinewagering NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Top-25 matchup pits Orange against Hoyas
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 12th-ranked Georgetown Hoyas will attempt to tarnish the second-ranked Syracuse Orange's perfect home record tonight as the two square off in a Big East battle at the Carrier Dome. This will be the 87th en

<< 15th-ranked Seminoles set sights on Eagles
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Florida State Seminoles look to remain in first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings tonight as they head to the Conte Forum to take on the Boston College Eagles. This will be

<< Top-10 foes collide in Big 12 showdown
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ferrell Center is the venue for a top-10 showdown for the second time in less than a month, as the sixth-ranked Baylor Bears play host to the seventh-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in a crucial Big 12 battle this evening

<< ACC heavyweights square off in Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the greatest rivalries in all of sports adds another chapter to its storied history this evening, as the 10th- ranked Duke Blue Devils and fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels square off in ACC action

<< Nebraska entertains No. 22 Michigan
Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Meeting for the first time in nearly 20 years, the 22nd-ranked Michigan Wolverines and Nebraska Cornhuskers square off in Lincoln tonight for a Big Ten Conference tussle at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Michi

Penn State comes calling on No. 11 Michigan State >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the Big Ten Conference standings meet in East Lansing this evening, as the Penn State Nittany Lions challenge the 11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans at the Breslin Center. P

Motoring: Red Wings seek 18th straight home win vs. Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings will put the NHL's longest home winning streak since the mid-1970s on the line tonight, as they welcome the Edmonton Oilers for a battle at Joe Louis Arena. It's been over three months since the Red W

Clippers continue road trip in Cleveland minus Billups >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Clippers eye a third straight win this evening, but their thoughts may be with their fallen veteran, as they continue a long road trip in Cleveland. Los Angeles will be without Chauncey Billups for the rest

Bucks and Raptors meet at ACC >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Bucks try to avoid a fourth straight loss this evening when they open a brief two-game road trip against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Bucks played hard on Tuesday to no avail, as they overcam

Skinner, Hurricanes begin trip in Anaheim >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner is starting to find his groove again after missing time with a head injury. Hopefully the club's cross country road trip won't derail his momentum. Carolina begins its three-game journey ton

Sportsbook Betting Lines

Who Makes the Sportsbook Betting Lines?

Las Vegas Sports Consultants (LVSC) is the world’s premier oddsmaking company and the most respected authority on making the lines. Mike Seba is a Senior Oddsmaker at LVSC and has been making lines for the last six years. In our extended interview, Seba explained that there are 4-5 oddsmakers assigned to make lines for each of the major sports (pro & college football and basketball; MLB, NHL, boxing, golf). Each of these oddsmakers bring unique opinions, strengths and weaknesses to the process. Oddsmakers at LVSC are professional sports junkies who love what they do and would probably do it for nothing if you asked them, but they do get paid for it. By necessity their approach is very research-oriented and concise, since with millions of dollars at risk there is little margin for error.

“You either have a passion for it or you don’t,” Seba said.

“The #1 thing for us is to make a line for each game that creates good two-way action. We do this by drawing from past experiences and applying them to current situations. People think it’s much more complicated, but it’s not. “

What are the Football Betting Lines Trying to Accomplish?

There is a common misconception that point spreads represent the oddsmakers’ prediction of how many points the favorite will win by. That is not the case at all – their intent is NOT to evenly split the ATS result between the teams; rather, their goal is to attract equal betting action on both sides. Stated another way, they want to create a line that half the people find appealing to bet one way while the other half find it appealing to bet the other way (known as ‘dividing the action’).

Divided action means the sportsbook is guaranteed a profit on the game because of the fee charged to the bettor (called juice or vig – typically $11 bet to win $10).

How the Opening Line Is Made

The opening line is the first line created by the oddsmakers, which is then sent out to sportsbooks. Of course there is an entire method to the madness on how the opening line is created. Seba explained that it all starts with each oddsmaker creating a line on each game based upon their own personal approach. This usually includes having up-to-date power ratings on each team.

Power ratings are the oddsmaker’s value of each team and are used as a guide to calculate a "preliminary" pointspread on an upcoming game. The power ratings are adjusted after each game a team plays. Examples of non-game factors that would require an adjustment to a team's power rating are key player injuries and player trades.

Once a game’s power rating based pointspread is determined, the oddsmaker will make adjustments to that line after considering each team's most recent games played and previous games played against that opponent. Also, adjustments are made after reading each team’s local newspapers to get a sense of what the coaches & players are thinking going into the game.

Since the oddsmaker’s ultimate goal is equally dividing the sports betting action, public perception and sportsbook betting patterns must be taken into account. For example, the public might have heavy betting interest week after week on a popular college football betting team such as USC. If an oddsmaker comes up with a preliminary line of USC -7, then an adjustment up to -7.5 or -8 would be made in response to the public’s expected USC bias.

The last step in the line-making process for each oddsmaker is taking one final look to determine whether or not the line "feels right." This is where common sense and past experience with how games are bet enters into the picture.

A round-table discussion among the 4-5 oddsmakers involved in making the line for each sport is then conducted and a consensus line is decided upon by the Odds Director before it is released to the sportsbooks. Of the 4-5 oddsmakers, generally the 2 most respected opinions are weighed more heavily by the Odds Director before he decides on the final line.

Why Sports Betting Lines Change

Once the opening line is released by LVSC, the individual sportsbooks decide if they want to make any adjustments before offering it to the public. Reasons for such adjustments include:

Experts working for the individual books having a strong opinion on the game

Individual books having players who consistently bet with certain tendencies (such as an extreme bias toward favorites or toward a certain popular team like USC)

The purpose of these adjustments, like all line adjustments, is to more equally divide the betting action.

Once betting begins, sportsbooks can adjust the line at any time. In doing so they attempt to make more attractive the team that is getting less action. By moving the line, sportsbooks can influence how the public bets on a particular game.

For example, if the pointspread on a game is 7 and most of the money is coming in on the underdog (taking the +7), sportsbooks will then move the number down to 6 ½ to try and attract money on the favorite.

Moving the line is the oddsmaker's effort to balance betting action, and often times such moves can have a major impact on a bettor’s decision. Oddsmakers can also change the line depending on various event-related factors such as player injuries or weather. Obviously, if the line comes out a week ahead of the event (which is the case in football), there is much that could happen during the week leading up to the event that could affect the line. Oddsmakers have to determine if any changes are necessary and send out an "adjusted line."

“The main objective is that our clients get equal action on both sides,” Seba said. “We’re not trying to pick the team that covers the spread, we’re trying to make it a coin flip, a tough decision (for the bettor). If we’ve done that, we’ve done our job.”

To visit this internet sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your sports betting needs and World Series odds.