Rebels and Aztecs seek MWC crown in Sin City

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shooting for their third championship in the last four years and the fourth overall, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels are into the title game of the Mountain West Conference Tournament today and will face the San Diego State Aztecs for the right to head to the NCAA Tournament.

Several bubbles burst around the nation on Friday as it became evident that the MWC would be sending no less than three programs to the NCAA Tournament, assuming the selection committee doesn't refuse admission to a pair of teams ranked in the top-15.

UNLV, the third seed in the 11th annual MWC Tournament and the host school for this year's event, gained access to the championship round on Friday night when it defeated the 14th-ranked and second-seeded BYU Cougars for the second time this season with a 70-66 triumph at the Thomas & Mack Center. The victory was the sixth in a row for UNLV, owners of a conference-record four tourney titles. The Rebels defeated sixth-seeded Utah in the quarterfinals by a score of 73-61.

As for the fourth-seeded Aztecs, it was assumed that they would be one of the last teams to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament based on their success this entire season, but now the squad can leave no doubt if it can take care of business in the desert today. Losers in last year's championship game to Utah by a score of 52-50, SDSU took care of eighth-ranked and top- seeded New Mexico on Friday with a 72-69 triumph. SDSU barely made it through the quarterfinals with a 72-71 win against Colorado State on Thursday.

With respect to the all-time series between these two schools on the hardwood, the Rebels own a 32-16 advantage over SDSU, even though it was the Aztecs who posted a 68-58 win in the most recent meeting four weeks ago at Viejas Arena when UNLV was ranked 23rd in the nation. This game also represents a rematch of the 2002 MWC Tournament title game when SDSU captured a 78-75 win over UNLV.

Billy White was the star of the show for the Aztecs in their win over New Mexico on Friday as he tallied a game-high 28 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, helping the program to shoot an impressive 51.9 percent from the floor. Even more impressive was the fact that the Aztecs hit on 10-of-16 shots beyond the arc and 8-of-9 at the free-throw line, considering the squad is one of the worst in the nation at the charity stripe. Kawhi Leonard, one of the top newcomers to the league this year, accounted for 15 points and 12 rebounds. Leonard remains the top scorer on the season for the squad with his 12.7 ppg. White is putting up 11.3 ppg for the group this season. As balanced a scoring attack as any school in the MWC, San Diego State has two other double-digit scorers in Malcolm Thomas (11.1 ppg) and D.J. Gay (10.3 ppg) as the group outscores opponents by nearly nine points per outing.

Leading by as many as 11 points in the second half yesterday, the Rebels nearly saw their chances of making it to the next round go up in smoke as that advantage dwindled to just a single point before the squad pulled out the unexpected win. Tre'Von Willis, who made a number of crucial free throws down the stretch for the hometown favorites, finished a perfect 6-of-6 at the stripe for his 18 points, while Chace Stanback tacked on 17 and Brice Massamba another 13 points and six rebounds off the bench for the victors. The defense allowed all-conference star Jimmer Fredette to come up with 30 points, but for the most part the rest of the Cougars were shut down. Willis has been the go- to guy on offense for the Rebels all season with his team-leading 17.5 ppg, thanks in large part to his 159-of-186 shooting at the free-throw line, helping the Rebels to make good on 72 percent at the stripe in 2009-10. Stanback is putting up 10.8 ppg and clearing a team-high 5.8 rpg, while it is the responsibility of Oscar Bellfield (9.1 ppg, 152 assists) to get the ball into the hands of the right people at the right time.

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Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

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"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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