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09/01/2010 -
PARK RIDGE, Ill. (AP) -Two people familiar with the Big Ten's decision say the league has decided to put Ohio State and Michigan into separate divisions starting next season.
One person also says Michigan and Ohio State will continue to play each other each year in the regular-season finale, as they have since 1943.
According to the two people, one six-team division will include Michigan, Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota and Northwestern, while the other will have Ohio State, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue and Indiana.
They spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because the Big Ten had not announced its decision.
The breakdown was first reported by ESPN.com
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AP Sports Writers Larry Lage in Ann Arbor, Mich., and Eric Olson in Omaha, Neb., contributed to this report.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
<< In the FCS Huddle: Week 1 Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After months of anticipation, FCS football
has finally arrived. Enough of predictions and previews, camp updates and
coaches talk. Now it is time to play the games.
The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com FCS Top 2
<< Indians recall P Carrasco, two others
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Indians recalled pitcher Carlos
Carrasco from Triple-A Columbus, in time to start the team's finale of a
three-game set against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
The Indians also promo
<< Ailing Azarenka retires from U.S. Open second-rounder
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tenth-seeded Victoria Azarenka retired
from her second-round match Wednesday amid extremely hot conditions at the
2010 U.S. Open.
Argentine Gisela Dulko was pasting Azarenka 5-1 in the first set when t
<< Iowa gets things started against FCS foe Eastern Illinois
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes lift the lid
on the 2010 season this Saturday, as they play host to the Panthers of Eastern
Illinois in the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
Eastern Illinois, which pla
Americans rout Iran to remain unbeaten at Worlds >>
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Love scored 13 points and Kevin
Durant added 12 to lead a balanced attack, as the United States remained
unbeaten at the 2010 FIBA World Championship with an 88-51 rout of Iran.
Derrick R
St. Louis Rams 2010 Season Preview >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One of the toughest decisions television executives have to
make is how to effectively replace a starring character on a popular program.
More often than not, the swap leaves the presentation falling flat on its
face.
Lat
Sharks' president to step down >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose Sharks president and chief executive
officer Greg Jamison has decided to step down.
Jamison will continue to be involved with the franchise, but will step away
from the day-to-day operations of th
Red Bull defender Petke to retire following season >>
Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York defender Mike Petke will
retire after the 2010 MLS season, the Major League Soccer club announced on
Wednesday.
"After many months of contemplation, I know that this is the best choi
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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