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03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 39th annual Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament will begin on Tuesday, and the Morgan State Bears will look to claim their second straight tournament title. Morgan State, which defeated Norfolk State (83-69) in last season's title game, continued its dominance over league opponents by posting a 15-1 ledger in conference action this year. The Bears have participated in the last two tournament title games, but fell to Coppin State in 2008.
Along with Morgan State, Delaware State, South Carolina State, Norfolk State and Hampton will each enjoy a bye through the opening round of action. Delaware State edged out South Carolina State for the second seed, as the Hornets finished with an 11-5 mark, while the Bulldogs posted a 10-6 ledger. As for Norfolk State, the team was just 11-18 over on the year, but still managed to collect a 9-7 record in league action. The Pirates of Hampton avoided opening round play thanks to the fifth-seed, which was collected with an 8-8 mark on the season. Surprisingly those four teams were the only schools to finish the regular season with winning records in league play. The remainder of the teams in the MEAC will collide on the hardwood in opening round competition.
Tuesday night starts the opening round when the 10th-seeded Florida A&M Rattlers take on seventh-seeded Bethune-Cookman. The Rattlers claimed the MEAC Tournament title back in 2007, but since then the team has combined for just 19 total victories over the past two seasons. Florida A&M finished with just five league wins, but was able to close the regular season with three wins in its last five games. The Wildcats earned the seventh seed in the tournament with a 7-9 ledger in league action. However, down the stretch the team struggled, losing six of its last eight matchups. These two schools closed out the regular season against each other on Florida A&M's homecourt. The Rattlers won the matchup, but earlier in the year, the Wildcats clawed their way past Florida A&M at home.
The second contest on Tuesday will have the ninth-seeded North Carolina A&T Aggies square off against the eighth-seeded Howard Bison. The Aggies have the most MEAC titles amongst the team's currently in the league with 15, but have not claimed the tournament's top prize since 1995. This year the Aggies finished 6-10 in conference action, but closed the regular season with four consecutive losses. As for the Bison, they also finished 6-10 in league play, and finished with just seven victories overall. Howard has claimed this title on three different occasions, but the last time occurred back in 1992. These two schools collided twice on the hardwood, with both matchups favoring Howard, including a 59-49 victory at home back in February.
The third and final opening round game will be played on Wednesday when the 11th-seeded Coppin State Eagles battle the sixth-seeded Maryland-Eastern Shore Hawks. The Eagles did not soar high this season, collecting just eight total wins, while finishing with a meager 3-13 ledger in conference action. Coppin State closed its year with five losses in its last six contests. In 2008 the Eagles grabbed the conference title, making it the team's fourth in the MEAC, but grabbing a fifth will be an uphill battle. As for the Hawks, they finished with an 8-8 mark in MEAC action, but dropped two of the last three regular season matchups. UMES has not enjoyed much success in this tournament, posting a meager 11-34 ledger. The season series between the two schools was dominated by the Hawks, who won both meetings in convincing fashion.
Over the past couple of seasons the Bears have been an elite team in this conference, and this year was no different, as Morgan State claimed the top seed by finishing the season with an amazing 15-1 league mark. Last year Morgan State posted a 13-3 league ledger and went on to win the tournament title a year after falling short in the championship contest. Morgan State only lost twice in its last 18 matchups, and enters this tournament as the team to beat. For Morgan State to claim its third MEAC Tournament title the team will need to continue to play at a high level offensively, as the Bears come into this event averaging an impressive 76.9 ppg.
The second seed belongs to Delaware State, which finished the regular season with an 11-5 mark against league foes. The Hornets won five of their last seven games heading into this event with a strong chance to grab their second MEAC Tournament title. The only other time Delaware State reigned supreme in this event was in 2005, but overall the team is a meager 18-37 in tournament play. The Hornets will be successful in this event if they can enforce their style of play on their opponent, as Delaware State clearly feels comfortable playing at a slower pace. The Hornets are only posting 58.3 ppg, but at the same time the team is limiting the opposition to just 58.0 ppg.
The Bulldogs of South Carolina State stumbled down the stretch this season, losing five of their last eight games, but even with the late struggles the team still finished 10-6 in conference action, which was good enough for the third seed. South Carolina State was not overwhelming at either end of the floor this season, averaging just 70.1 ppg, while allowing 70.3 ppg. The Bulldogs have won this event on five different occasions, but the last title came in 2003.
The fourth seed was claimed by Norfolk State, which is only 7-10 all-time in this tournament. The Spartans finished the regular season with a 9-7 conference mark, but it was the team's success down the stretch that vaulted Norfolk State into the quarterfinals. The Spartans won six of their last seven contests, and eight of their last 10, and that run placed the team in the fourth seed. What will likely hurt the Spartans in this event is their play defensively, as Norfolk State is surrendering 75.4 ppg.
The fifth-seeded Hampton Pirates are no stranger to raising the MEAC Tournament trophy, as the team has accomplished the feat three times in the school's history. The last time Hampton was crowned tournament champion was back in 2006. This season was a struggle for the Pirates as the team finished with 17 overall losses. However, the squad picked up its play down the stretch, winning its last five matchups, four of which were league games that pushed Hampton into the fifth slot with an 8-8 mark.
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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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