Indiana steps out of conference to entertain NC Central

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 23rd-ranked Indiana Hoosiers host the NC Central Eagles tonight to end their non-conference slate at Assembly Hall.

Tonight will be the third encounter between Indiana and the Eagles. The Hoosiers hold a 2-0 lead in the series after their 72-56 victory on Nov. 23rd, 2010.

NC Central comes in with a 14-12 overall record and an 8-5 mark in MEAC play. The Eagles are coming off a 71-66 victory over North Carolina A&T on Saturday, in which they hit 48.8 percent of their field goals. NC Central has not played a ranked opponent yet this season, but it is 0-3 against BCS Conference programs (Wake Forest, NC State, and Oregon). LeVelle Moton is in his third season with the Eagles and has a 36-49 overall record with the program.

The Eagles will look to Dominique Sutton and Ray Willis to power the upset tonight. Sutton is leading the team with 16.3 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while connecting on 59.5 percent of his shots from the floor. Willis is contributing 15.8 points and 5.7 boards per game. Emanuel Chapman is a very good distributor as he is handing out 5.6 assists per contest.

Tom Crean's Hoosiers come in with a 20-7 overall record after their 78-66 setback against Iowa on Sunday. Indiana's loss snapped a three-game winning streak. The Hoosiers are 12-0 in non-conference action this season and boast an impressive 15-1 mark at Assembly Hall. Indiana's offense is very adept, as it nets 78.0 ppg, which is the 21st best average in the nation. The Hoosiers are allowing opponents to score 66.3 ppg.

Indiana's balanced attack is led by Cody Zeller, who averages team-highs of 15.6 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. Zeller is extremely efficient as he is connecting on 64.4 percent of his field goals. Christian Watford, Jordan Hulls, and Victor Oladipo are all contributing double-digit scoring averages for the Hoosiers as well. Oladipo and Zeller led the team with 15 points versus Iowa on Sunday.

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Betting Football

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Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.