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Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Arkansas State assistant coach Kevin Corless begins his new duties as Western Illinois' defensive coordinator on Monday. Corless worked the last nine seasons at Arkansas State, the first seven as co- defensive coordinator and the final two as the sole coordinator who also was in charge of the linebackers and punt return units.
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The number of Football Championship Subdivision players who will participate in the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl on Saturday is rising. At least 16 FCS players will participate in the all-star game at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. (6 p.m. ET, NBC Sportsbook Betting Lines).
FCS players on the American squad are Furman offensive guard Ryan Lee and linebacker Kadarron Anderson, Liberty defensive tackle Asa Chapman, Southern wide receiver Jared Green, Eastern Washington senior quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell, Florida A&M kicker Trevor Scott, Cal Poly defensive end Matthew Singletary, Morgan State defensive end Zary Stewart, Hampton wide receiver Isaiah Thomas, Stephen F. Austin safety Ben Wells and Bucknell/Rhode Island safety Ahkiel White.
Northwestern State defensive back Jeremy Lane and Stephen F. Austin offensive lineman Georgia Bias also may play in the game.
College Park, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Maryland has named Brian Stewart as its new defensive coordinator. Stewart spent the past two seasons as defensive coordinator at the University of Houston and has also been an assistant on the NFL level, including two years running the defense for the Dallas Cowboys.
Before taking the position at Houston, Stewart had spent eight years as an assistant in the NFL. He was the Cowboys defensive coordinator from 2007-08 and joined the Philadelphia Eagles as a defensive special assistant in 2009.
Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When Cal Poly senior cornerback Asa Jackson played his final game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in November, he didn't know he would be returning this month. Jackson is the first Football Championship Subdivision player to accept an invitation to participate in the 2012 Senior Bowl. The all-star game is scheduled for Jan. 28 at Ladd-Peebles Stadium (4 p.m. ET, NFL Network).
Jackson was the first player in the history of the Great West Conference to be honored four times on the first-team defense, As a senior, he had 54 tackles (31 solo) with two interceptions, which he returned for touchdowns (52 and 100 yards), and seven pass breakups.
At the Senior Bowl, Mike Shanahan and the Washington Redskins staff will coach the South squad and Leslie Frazier and the Minnesota Vikings staff will coach the North.
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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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