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10/17/2007 -
It had been 11 years since Nos. 1 and 2 lost on the same day before LSU and California pulled the trick last week.
In this unpredictable college football season, would it be all that surprising to see the top two teams in the AP poll and the BCS standings go down in the same weekend again?
Top-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 South Florida both face unranked opponents. But 10 teams with top-10 rankings have already lost to unranked opponents, so what's a couple more?
The Buckeyes' (7-0, 3-0 Big Ten) first game this season as No. 1 will be at home against Michigan State and former Ohio State defensive coordinator Mark Dantonio, who in his first season as head coach has the Spartans (5-2, 1-2) well positioned for their first winning season since 2003.
Dantonio has the Spartans getting after the quarterback, they're second in the nation in sacks with 29, and running the ball well (243 yards per game).
Ohio State's rise from No. 11 to start the season includes only one victory over a team that's been ranked at any point this season.
South Florida, the feel-good story out of the Big East, faces last year's feel-good story out of the Big East. The Bulls (6-0, 1-0) visit Rutgers on Thursday night.
The Scarlet Knights (4-2, 1-1), who started the season 16th in the rankings, broke a two-game losing streak with a win over Syracuse last week. Another conference loss would put Rutgers' league title hopes in peril.
The picks:ThursdayNo. 2 South Florida (minus 2 1/2) at Rutgers
Scarlet Knights stopped late 2-point conversion to beat Bulls last season ... USF 24-23.Saturday's GamesMichigan State (plus 17) at No. 1 Ohio State
Buckeyes have won 10 of 12 against Spartans ... OHIO STATE 28-10.No. 4 Oklahoma (minus 29) at Iowa State
Cyclones have worst offense in Big 12 ... OKLAHOMA 48-14.No. 18 Auburn (plus 11) at No. 5 LSU
Auburn won last season's Tiger Fight 7-3 ... LSU 21-13.Vanderbilt (plus 13) at No. 6 South Carolina
Gamecocks coach Steve Spurrier has never lost to Vandy ... SOUTH CAROLINA 34-17.No. 7 Oregon (minus 11) at Washington
The 100th meeting between Ducks and Huskies ... OREGON 35-21.No. 14 Florida (minus 7) at No. 8 Kentucky
Gators have won 20 straight against Wildcats ... FLORIDA 34-28.Mississippi State (plus 23 1/2) at No. 9 West Virginia
Mountaineers won first meeting 42-14 last season in Starkville ... WEST VIRGINIA 41-17.No. 10 California (no line) at UCLA
Status of Cal QB Nate Longshore (ankle) questionable ... UCLA 28-24.No. 13 Southern California (minus 18) at Notre Dame
USC has won five straight vs. ND, though last trip to South Bend needed Bush Push to win ... USC 34-14.No. 15 Kansas (minus 4) at Colorado
KU QB Todd Reesing debuted vs. Buffs last season with three TDs ... KANSAS 29-17.No. 22 Texas Tech (plus 3 1/2) at No. 15 Missouri
Red Raiders are No. 1 passing team in nation; Tigers are fifth ... MISSOURI 54-43.No. 19 Texas (minus 24 1/2) at Baylor
Longhorns have scored 125 points in last two seasons against Bears ... TEXAS 50-17.No. 20 Tennessee (plus 1) at Alabama
Volunteers have won 10 of 12 in rivalry ... ALABAMA 31-28.No. 23 Cincinnati (plus 9 1/2) at Pittsburgh
How bad has it gotten for Panthers? Their coach is injured ... CINCINNATI 33-21.No. 24 Michigan (minus 2 1/2) at Illinois
Wolverines are 38-4-2 against Illini since 1959 ... ILLINOIS 28-24.No. 25 Kansas State (plus 3) at Oklahoma State
Cowboys have run for more than 200 yards in six straight games ... KANSAS STATE 34-30.
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Last week's record: 15-6 (straight); 13-7-1 (vs. points)
Season: 123-25 (straight); 67-62-2 (vs. points)Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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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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