Gaels seek redemption in WCC clash with Broncos

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Moraga, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the West Coast Conference spectrum meet in Moraga, California tonight, as the Santa Clara Broncos have come to challenge the 16th-ranked Saint Mary's-CA Gaels.

Santa Clara has had a miserable season thus far, particularly in conference play as it has yet to taste victory against WCC opponents (0-11). Overall, the Broncos have lost twice as many games as they have won (8-16), and they are 0-9 on the road. The team is currently mired in a 12-game losing streak, its last win coming against Eastern Michigan in the opening round of the Cable Car Classic back on December 29.

As for Saint Mary's, it is an impressive 22-3 on the season, and the team had won its first 11 conference bouts before taking on fellow WCC front-runner Gonzaga on Thursday night. The Gaels suffered a 73-59 defeat in that contest, but they'll try to bounce back tonight as they prepare to take on the league's worst team in front of a home crowd that has seen them win each and every time they've stepped foot on the McKeon Pavilion hardwood this season (15-0).

The two teams met on January 21, with Saint Mary's winning at Santa Clara in a 93-77 final.

Poor defense has led to Santa Clara's dreadful record this season, as the team is giving up more than 75 ppg, with foes shooting better than 45 percent from the field and 37 percent from beyond the arc. The Broncos are netting right around 70 ppg themselves, but they're hitting just 41.1 percent of their total shots and they're routinely beaten on the glass. The team's scoring chart shows three double-digit scorers in Kevin Foster, Evan Roquemore and Niyi Harrison, although Foster has been suspended indefinitely, leaving the others to pick up the slack. Raymond Cowells III and Denzel Johnson did just that in the most recent outing against San Franciso, netting 21 and 20 points, respectively, but despite shooting 51.9 percent from the floor and nailing 14- of-23 three-point attempts, the Broncos dropped an 85-69 decision to the Dons. A 15-1 deficit in points from the foul line proved costly, as did a whopping 21 turnovers. Roquemore chipped in 14 points for Santa Clara in defeat.

Simply put, Saint Mary's failed to find its groove in the recent showdown with Gonzaga, as the Gaels shot just 38.2 percent from the field, knocked down a mere 5-of-21 three-point tries and lost the battle on the boards by a 40-26 margin. Matthew Dellavedova led SMC with 20 points, but help came only in the form of 11 points from Jorden Page and 10 from Brad Waldow. About the only bright spot for the Gaels was the fact that they committed a low eight turnovers, which is nearly four less than the team is guilty of on average this year. Dellavedova (15.7 ppg, 6.3 apg) is one of three players currently averaging double digits in the scoring column for Saint Mary's, but the team's most productive all-around player is Rob Jones, who nets 14.6 ppg while pulling down 10.6 rpg. As a collective unit, the Gaels are lighting up the scoreboard to the tune of 76.3 ppg behind typical shooting efforts of 47.7 percent overall and 36.1 percent from three-point land. Defensively, the team permits just 61.4 ppg, and it owns favorable margins in both rebounding (+7.4) and turnovers (+1.0).

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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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