Bears and Wildcats meet in Big 12 Tournament semifinals

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 - Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ninth-ranked Kansas State Wildcats and the 21st-ranked Baylor Bears are slated to collide in the semifinal round of the 2010 Big 12 Tournament from the Sprint Center in Kansas City.

Awaiting the winner of this contest is a matchup with either top-seeded Kansas or fourth-seeded Texas A&M in Saturday's championship game.

Second-seeded Baylor was dominant in yesterday's 86-67 quarterfinal romp over sixth-seeded Texas. Now, the goal is obvious, as the program has never won the Big 12 Tournament and is 9-12 all-time in the event. Scott Drew has done a phenomenal job of resurrecting a program that was in peril when he arrived, and the 2009-10 Bears own a 25-6 overall record. They carry a four-game win streak into tonight's affair.

As for Kansas State, the tournament's second seed, it crushed Oklahoma State by an 83-64 final in yesterday's quarterfinal round. The program has never won the Big 12 Tournament and is 8-13 all-time in games at the event. This year's group of Wildcats is a serious threat to capture the crown, however, as the club entered the tournament with a 24-6 overall record, including 11-5 in league action.

The Wildcats holds a slim 11-10 series advantage over Baylor after a thrilling 74-72 victory over the Bears during the regular season.

Baylor forward Ekpe Udoh is sometimes overshadowed by his teammates, but the forward has been a key to the team's success all season. He stepped to the forefront against Texas yesterday, shooting 9-of-14 from the floor en route to 25 points. Tweety Carter added 20 points for the Bears, who received 19 points from LaceDarius Dunn. Baylor connected on 53.6 percent of its field goal attempts in that clash and limited the Longhorns to 36.4 percent efficiency. Through 31 games, the Bears are scoring 77.7 ppg while allowing only 65.4 ppg on 38.1 percent shooting by foes. They are outrebounding foes by 6.9 rpg and are paced by Dunn's 19.2 ppg. Carter is generating 16.0 ppg to go along with an impressive total of 167 assists, and Udoh brings 13.8 ppg, 9.7 rpg and 124 blocks to the mix.

Kansas State was dominant in the first half against Oklahoma State yesterday, as the Wildcats shot 53.1 percent from the floor and limited the Cowboys to 33.3 percent efficiency en route to a 25-point halftime lead. For the game, K-State finished with a 43-27 rebounding advantage and racked up 20 assists. Jamar Samuels was outstanding, as he racked up 27 points and 10 rebounds off the bench in 27 minutes of action. Jacob Pullen scored 19 points on the strength of a 5-of-8 effort from three-point range, and Denis Clemente added 12 points and 10 assists. Dominique Sutton rounded out a foursome of double- digit scorers with 11 points for Kansas State, which is posting 80.2 ppg while limiting opponents to 69.2 ppg this season. Pullen continues to pace his squad with 18.9 ppg, and Clemente adds 15.9 ppg and 128 assists. Samuels contributes 12.0 ppg, and Curtis Kelly adds 11.3 ppg. The Wildcats are outrebounding opponents by 5.6 rpg, key to their success.

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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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