Bobcats battle Zips for Mid-American Conference crown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Looking to claim their second consecutive Mid-American Conference Tournament title, the third-seeded Akron Zips will take the floor this evening against the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats at the Quicken Loans Arena.

The Bobcats entered this tournament as the ninth seed, but that did not stop them from reaching the title game. Ohio began this event with an 85-77 overtime win over Ball State. The team then followed that victory with an impressive 81-64 victory over the top-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes. With their 54-42 decision over Miami-Ohio on Friday, the Bobcats will know have a shot for their fifth MAC tournament title and their first since 2005.

As for the Zips, they claimed their first-ever MAC tournament championship last year with a 65-53 victory over Buffalo. However, this will be the fourth consecutive year that Akron will partake in this event's title game. This season the Zips finished 12-4 in league action but came into the tournament as the third seed. So far the team's journey to this point has not been easy, as Akron needed double-overtime to defeat Eastern Michigan (97-89) and then needed a last second shot to get past Western Michigan, 66-64, on Friday.

The all-time series is currently tied at 30-30, but the past few years have been dominated by Akron, which has won six of the last seven meetings, including both matchups this season. The last time these two schools collided the Zips grabbed a thrilling, 91-88 double overtime victory over the Bobcats.

The Bobcats put forth a tenacious defensive effort against Miami-Ohio on Friday, as Ohio held the RedHawks to just 12 points on a meager 25.0 percent shooting effort in the first half. Overall, Ohio limited the RedHawks to just 42 points in the matchup and held them to a mere 34.0 percent shooting clip. At the other end of the floor the Bobcats were not exactly solid, but the team did enough to grab the win. Ohio shot just 38.1 percent from the field, but finished 19-of-24 from the foul line. Armon Bassett led the way with 28 points, while DeVaughn Washington added 18 points and seven rebounds. Bassett has been sensational on the season for Ohio, as the guard is netting 16.7 ppg, to go along with 106 assists. Helping in the backcourt has been D.J. Cooper, who is posting 12.8 ppg, to go along with 5.4 rpg and a team-best 199 assists.

The Zips found themselves in the championship game thanks to Chris McKnight's impressive showing against Western Michigan on Friday. The forward scored a team-best 18 points, and that includes the game-winning basket with 6.8 seconds remaining in regulation. Anthony Hitchens added 14 points for Akron, which shot a mediocre 41.4 percent from the floor. Akron, which won the battle on the glass by a 34-28 margin, also won the battle in the paint by outscoring the Broncos by a 30-18 margin. Chris McKnight is only averaging 9.2 ppg on the season, but his brother Brett McKnight is leading the team with 10.2 ppg. Akron comes into this title game averaging 70.6 ppg behind a 43.7 percent shooting effort.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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