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12/24/2008 - Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Damion James scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds while A.J. Abrams totaled 21 points as the ninth-ranked Texas Longhorns willed their way to a 74-69 win in hostile territory over a pesky Wisconsin Badgers squad at Kohl Center.
Gary Johnson netted 16 and snagged eight boards for Texas (10-2), which had a six-game win streak snapped in Saturday's 67-63 setback to Michigan State. Their only other loss came by one point to Notre Dame on November 25.
Trevon Hughes led the way with 18 points and Jason Bohannon added 16 for Wisconsin (9-3), which saw its perfect 6-0 mark at home fall with the loss along with a three-game win streak overall. All three of the Badgers' losses have come against ranked foes.
Wisconsin took the early lead in the second half and maintained a three-point edge, 59-56, at the midway point. The game stayed within a possession down the stretch with the lead trading hands all the way until the final minutes.
Bohannon nailed a three to give the Badgers a 68-66 lead but a pair of buckets from Dogus Balbay and James put Texas back in front with just under two minutes left. Marcus Landry evened the score with a layup on the next trip up the floor and Abrams clanked a shot off the rim. James, though, tracked down the rebound for a fresh 24 -- and with 20.1 seconds left -- Johnson banked in a long two from the top of the key for a 72-70 lead.
Hughes came back on the other end and lost the handle while driving to the hoop and James came up with the ball after getting a piece of the shot. Abrams stroked through two from the line with six seconds on the clock and Landry's desperation attempt at a late three was off the mark.
The Longhorns jumped out to an early 11-5 lead but the Badgers kept things tight and took the lead with a 13-2 run through the middle stages of the half. Back-to-back trips to the rim from Hughes put Wisconsin up two and a three- ball by Hughes capped the run for a 28-21 game.
Texas, though, used an 11-0 run to reclaim the lead by four with 3 1/2 minutes left and a layup by James in the waning moments allowed for a two-point edge, 39-37, at the half.
Game Notes
Wisconsin had won four of the five previous meetings with Texas, including a 67-66 verdict versus the Longhorns last season...Landry finished with eight points for the Badgers...Balbay hit just the one field goal but also logged five rebounds, four assists and two steals...Wisconsin's Joe Krabbenhoft chipped in with nine points...Hughes also logged four rebounds and three helpers.
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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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