Bruins host Cardinal in Pac-10 opener
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/08/2010 - Pasadena, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 25th-ranked Stanford Cardinal kicks off its Pac-10 Conference slate against UCLA at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
Stanford vaulted into the national rankings following a convincing 52-17 victory over Sacramento State in the season opener. The Cardinal is looking to improve upon last year's eight-win campaign, and last week's showing is a good start. The schedule gets fairly difficult in a hurry, as Stanford will face Wake Forest next week, followed by back-to-back road contests at Notre Dame and Oregon, then it's back home to face USC.
Meanwhile, UCLA was upended by Kansas State last weekend, 31-22. The Bruins struggled on both sides of the ball, although they put together a late rally to nearly pull off the win. UCLA plays three of its next four games at home.
UCLA owns a 45-32-3 edge in the all-time series with Stanford, although the Cardinal notched a 24-16 victory last season at Stanford Stadium to end a five-game slide versus the Bruins.
There wasn't much for Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh to nitpick about from last Saturday's offensive performance. The 52 points scored marked the program's third-highest scoring total in the modern era. Stanford has reached 40 or more points six times in three-plus seasons under Harbaugh, and last year ranked 11th nationally with 35.4 ppg. If last week was any indication, Stanford should continue to put up points in bunches this season.
The offense accounted for 529 total yards against Sacramento State, including 316 yards through the air from quarterback Andrew Luck. Luck set a personal best with four touchdowns in the victory, while his 316 yards were the second- highest total of his career. Doug Baldwin hauled in four passes for a career- high 111 yards and two scores. In all, the Cardinal had five plays of 30 or more yards.
"The big plays are really encouraging," Harbaugh said. "That's something that strikes fear into a defense and lets them know you have the ability to do that. It was good to see, and it was good to see us finish drives."
Defensively, the Cardinal allowed just 167 yards of total offense, which is the fewest since 2006, when they allowed 161 total yards against Washington.
"I was pleased with the way the defense played, particularly the secondary," Harbaugh said. "They had no missed coverages, and for the opening ballgame of the season that's pretty rare."
One of Sacramento State's two touchdowns came on a punt return, and the other came after a fumble set the Hornets up with a short field at the Stanford 29. Other than that, yards were tough to come by against the Stanford D. Two Hornets quarterbacks combined to throw for 113 yards and were sacked three times, while the ground attack was stifled to a combined 1.8 yards per carry. Max Bergen paced the unit with eight tackles and a forced fumble, while Chase Thomas notched two sacks in the victory.
UCLA sophomore quarterback Kevin Prince had a day to forget in last week's opener as he completed just 9-of-26 passes for 120 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Prince had some promising moments last year as a freshman, but coach Rick Neuheisel is expecting more consistency this year from his signal-caller. He guided the Bruins on a quick scoring drive to cut the deficit to two with 1:19 to play, but he was not able to connect on a two- point attempt to try and tie the game. Senior kicker Kai Forbath is a solid weapon, having connected on 40 straight field goals from 50 yards or closer. Forbath was tops in the nation last year with 2.15 field goals per game. He went 3-for-3 in field goals against K-State, however Neuheisel is looking for more touchdowns from his offense.
UCLA has some work to do on the defensive side of the ball, particularly against the run. Kansas State running back Daniel Thomas gashed the Bruins for a career-high 234 yards and two touchdowns last week. If the Cardinal does not tighten up in a hurry they could be in for a long season in the Pac-10. The strength of the defense is in the secondary, as Stanford ranked 28th in the nation in pass defense a year ago. All-American safety Rahim Moore is the linchpin of this unit. He led the nation with 10 interceptions a year ago and is one of three starters returning in the secondary. However, as long as opponents are picking up chunks of yardage on the ground, there is little incentive to test Moore and the rest of the secondary.
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American Idol Betting Season 6 Strategies
It's that time of year folks. Betting on American Idol Season 9. And we have plenty of American Idol Season 6 strategies appearing below. With the Top 24 finalists revealed, online gambling sites will be offering betting odds on each of them, including MySportsbook.com.
No other “event” has been growing as fast as wagering on American Idol. It has turned into a huge betting event with reasonably high limits and all sorts of profit-making potential for sharp bettors. Last year, MySportsbook.com experienced unprecedented traffic as a result of the American Idol betting craze.
Every week there will be odds to win American Idol, various elimination props and contestant versus contestant match-ups at the MySportsbook.com website.
Whether a fan of America’s top-rated show or watching only because of a wife or girlfriend, here are some of basic strategies to use when betting American Idol.
Odds to Win
There are a few things to consider when looking for the right win bet. First off, remember that this bet is for the long haul. Many people make the mistake of picking the performer who sang the best the previous week. This strategy leads to an underlay situation – betting a price, which is less than what it should be.
All Idol contestants struggle at some point in the competition, so you should always look for value. In last year’s competition alone, two performers who had some of the best performances early in the series were subsequently bet down to low prices - Lisa Tucker and Ace Young. After just a few weeks, Tucker had already been eliminated, while Young quickly became a huge long shot to win America’s largest talent search.
A better strategy is to look for performers who don’t necessarily get the praise from the judges, but show flashes of the talent necessary to go the distance.
Another important thing to remember when betting any contestant to win is the demographic breakdown of the voters, the viewing public and potential future CD purchasers. Unlike sporting events, American Idol is not decided on the field of play – it’s decided by the American public under the guiding influence of the shows producers.
Understand that the great state of Alabama has a mighty edge when it comes to American Idol.
Therefore, to be successful betting on American Idol, put any personal opinions or prejudices aside and think like the majority of the voting public. Remember that the typical voter is young, female and quite often, Southern.
If a contestant cannot appeal to this demographic, no matter how much talent he or she possesses, they’ll struggle for votes. Looks, demeanor and charisma are extremely important. And it’s no coincidence that every Idol winner so far has hailed from a Southern state.
Elimination Props
Every week MySportsbook.com anticipates offering a prop on who’ll be eliminated from the show each Wednesday night. A suggestion to handicap this is to gauge an overall feel for who’s the least popular contestant left in the competition. Generally the least popular performers have recently appeared in the bottom three and will have been the target of repeated criticism from the judges.
Last year, resources included dialidol.com and votefortheworst.com. Dialidol.com measures the volume of each contestant’s voting line. While by no means a perfect science, it does give a good indication of who is generating votes and who isn’t. Meanwhile, votefortheworst.com is a site that attempts to build support for the worst competitor to keep them in the competition for ‘entertainment’ value. The site has a proven track record of keeping performers around who most feel should have been voted off a long time ago.
Contestant vs. Contestant Match-ups
The best strategy for doing well on match-ups is to assess how close either of the contestants is to being eliminated. If neither is expected to be voted off of the show in the coming weeks, the value is almost always on the underdog. If both are expecting an imminent exit in the near future, the favorite in the match-up might offer value.
Watch for American Idol betting odds on each of the contestants shortly and good luck with these American Idol betting strategies.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.