Big 12 sets record with 7 NCAA bids

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/16/2010 -

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -The Big 12's coaches spent an entire season, even some time before it, telling anyone who'd listen this was the conference's strongest year ever.

Turns out, they were right.

The Big 12 earned a conference-record seven NCAA tournament bids Sunday, including the No. 1 overall seed and two more in the top three, validating what its coaches have been saying all along.

``The more the merrier,'' Oklahoma coach Travis Ford said Monday. ``I know our coaches are always pleased when they see people value the product that the Big 12 schools are putting out there. To get over half your teams into the NCAA tournament is a very, very nice compliment.''

Football has been the calling card for the Big 12 since it formed in 1996, the perception being that Kansas and Oklahoma State were the only teams playing real basketball.

The league has gradually changed its acumen over the past few years as Texas, Oklahoma and Missouri joined the Jayhawks in making deep runs in the NCAA tournament.

Still, six NCAA berths was the best the Big 12 could do - seven times, including the past two seasons - feeding an inferiority complex, as if the basketball power conferences were a big brother who wouldn't let them win at anything.

Now that Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas are in, this relatively new conference has moved up to a level usually reserved for older powerhouses like the Big East and ACC.

``As far as us getting seven in this year, my response is: It's about time,'' Kansas State coach Frank Martin said.

Kansas, no surprise, earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The Jayhawks start Thursday in Oklahoma City, against Lehigh.

A monumental mismatch? Probably. But after that, the road gets tougher.

The Midwest regional is considered the toughest in the tournament, one potential land mine after another awaiting the top-ranked Jayhawks.

Get by Lehigh and the second round, Kansas could face Michigan State or Maryland in the regional semifinals, then could face Georgetown or one of the two teams that gave the Jayhawks their two losses, Oklahoma State or Tennessee.

Even for a team that's as deep as any in the country, one that spent all but four weeks at No. 1, that's a tough gauntlet.

``I do believe this is a very, very difficult region,'' Kansas coach Bill Self said. ``But, from my standpoint, to get to where you want to go, you should have to beat good people. I'm sure no matter who gets to Indianapolis they're going to have a tough road.''

Kansas State set a school record for wins and has its highest seeding ever, No. 2 in the West. The seventh-ranked Wildcats open the NCAA tournament against North Texas in Oklahoma City on Thursday.

Baylor, No. 3 in the South and 19th in the nation, also starts on Thursday, against Sam Houston State in New Orleans. No. 23 Texas A&M gets Utah State in Spokane, Wash., as the fifth seed in the South, and Oklahoma State faces a tough first-round matchup against Georgia Tech as the seventh seed in Milwaukee. The Aggies and Cowboys both play Friday.

The other Big 12 teams in the NCAA tournament need to make quick turnarounds.

Missouri closed out the season by losing three of its final four games, including to last-place Nebraska in the conference tournament. The Tigers open Friday in Buffalo, N.Y., against Clemson in what's likely to be the fastest game of the tournament.

Then there's Texas.

The former No. 1 team in the nation, the Longhorns followed a 17-0 start with a crash, going 9-7 during the Big 12 regular season. Texas is the eighth seed in the East regional and opens against Wake Forest on Thursday in New Orleans, hoping to get one potentially momentum-changing win.

``One game, it can swing quickly,'' Texas coach Rick Barnes said. ``We see it all the time, teams come into that have been down and out, and they catch it and kind of ride the wave with it ... This time of year, one game here or there, one play here or there can really swing it.''

After playing in the rugged Big 12, the Longhorns should be ready for it.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.

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College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.