Vandy aims for upset of 'Bama

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/17/2007 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vanderbilt Commodores hope to thrill the Nashville crowd with an upset of the 10th-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide this evening in an SEC tilt.

Alabama opened league play with an ugly 88-61 loss to Arkansas, but the club was able to rebound for a 71-61 decision over LSU in the next outing. It has been eight days since that most recent contest, and Alabama is undoubtedly eager to improve on its outstanding 14-2 overall record. On a down note, the Tide enters tonight's clash with a 1-2 mark in true road games.

Vanderbilt, which is 8-2 at home, owns a solid 11-6 overall record, but the team has only one win in three conference games thus far. On Saturday, the Commodores dropped an 85-73 decision to Georgia on the road.

Alabama holds a 65-59 edge in the all-time series with Vanderbilt, but the Commodores have won the last eight meetings at home.

The Crimson Tide is scoring 77.9 ppg this season on 48.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 39.3 percent accuracy from three-point range. Defensively, the squad is limiting its opponents to 63.4 ppg on 37.3 percent shooting from the field. Richard Hendrix leads a balanced offensive attack with 14.9 ppg, and he is ripping down 8.8 rpg. Alonzo Gee is close behind offensively with 14.8 ppg, and Jermareo Davidson accounts for 13.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg and 3.2 bpg. Mykal Riley (12.3 ppg) and Ronald Steele (10.5 ppg) round out the team's tremendously talented group of scorers. Hendix tallied 18 points in the win over LSU, and Gee managed 15 points. Riley and Davidson posted 12 points apiece, and Davidson also secured 12 rebounds. Strong defense was undoubtedly the key to that win, as 'Bama limited the Tigers to 35.7 percent shooting from the field.

Vanderbilt connected on only 38.6 percent of its field goal attempts in the loss to Georgia, and the Commodores scored only six points from the foul line in the contest. They also suffered a 43-33 rebounding disadvantage and permitted the Bulldogs to shoot 55.2 percent from the floor. Derrick Byars led the team with 23 points in defeat, and Dan Cage pitched in 17 points for Vandy. As for Shan Foster, he was limited to 3-of-13 shooting from the floor, including an 0-of-5 effort from three-point range. Byars holds the team scoring lead with 15.1 ppg, and Foster is close behind with 14.8 ppg. Cage has been a solid offensive contributor as well, as he is netting 11.5 ppg on 43.5 percent shooting from behind the arc. The Commodores are averaging 78.6 ppg while allowing 69.5 ppg to their opponents.

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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