Three of top 4 seeds bumped in Big East quarters

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/12/2010 -

NEW YORK (AP) -It was a bad day to be a favorite at the Big East tournament.

Three of the conference's top four teams were beaten in the quarterfinals Thursday at Madison Square Garden, jumbling the league's NCAA picture and setting up a pair of surprising matchups in the semifinals.

Third-seeded West Virginia was the only one to escape - and the Mountaineers needed a 3-point bank shot at the buzzer from Da'Sean Butler to beat 11th-seeded Cincinnati 54-51.

``I think that's what is great about tournaments,'' Villanova coach Jay Wright said after his 10th-ranked team lost 80-76 to Marquette. ``We've all played each other. We all know each other. I think that's what makes the games great.''

Lazar Hayward and the fifth-seeded Golden Eagles (22-10) will play in the first semifinal Friday night against No. 8 seed Georgetown. The 22nd-ranked Hoyas (22-9) were a 91-84 winner over top-seeded and third-ranked Syracuse, the league's outright regular-season champion.

West Virginia takes the court in the nightcap against seventh-seeded Notre Dame (23-10), which grinded out a 50-45 victory over 16th-ranked Pittsburgh, the No. 2 seed.

It's the fourth time in Big East tournament history that three of the top four seeds failed to reach the semifinals. Of the four teams remaining, Georgetown is the only one with a title.

All of a sudden, the Big Apple is upset city.

``So much for the double byes, huh? I do think there's some advantage to being able to play a little bit,'' Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Indeed, the double-bye format has turned into a major topic at the Big East tournament.

Last year, the first time all 16 teams participated, the top four seeds were awarded double byes straight into the quarterfinals.

Those four teams went 2-2 in their openers, with No. 2 Pittsburgh losing to rival West Virginia and third-seeded Connecticut falling short in a six-overtime epic against Syracuse.

This season, the teams with double byes were 1-3.

``I'm not a fan of the double bye, but I don't know that that had that much to do with it,'' West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said.

Despite his team's early elimination, Wright remains a fan of this format.

``If we would have won, you only have two more games to win a championship,'' he said. ``We all know the NCAA tournament is important. Your top teams aren't beat down. ... There's still a great advantage to only playing three games in a tournament and having a chance to win it all.''

Despite the surprises, the top eight finishers in the Big East regular-season standings are still expected to make the NCAA tournament. Seeding, however, could change based on this wild week in New York.

``The league is so good. The teams are so good. I think usually when you get a double bye, you think in most situations you're going to get a team that's a big difference,'' Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said. ``In this league, that's not the case.''

Georgetown and Marquette had each lost twice during the season to the teams they beat Thursday.

``It's just who you get and where they finish. It's such a long year, guys are going to be playing better in January than other teams,'' Dixon added. ``So a double bye had nothing to do with it. It's just a team that's playing well against another team that's playing very well. Probably the teams with the best records down the stretch are playing together in the quarterfinal game. And that's really what you had.

``I think we won eight of our last nine. They won their last four,'' Dixon said, referring to Notre Dame. ``Those two teams playing in the quarterfinals. It speaks to our league.''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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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Betting Football

NFL Football Betting Online

Is there such a thing as a trap game in the NFL?

I once asked that question to Pete Korner, who at the time was office manager and a senior linesmaker for Las Vegas Sports Consultants.

Korner almost ripped my head off. There is no such thing as a trap game, he loudly berated me. It’s a myth. The numbers are made using power ratings, he said.

There are trap games, though. They just might not be what you think. The perception is of a good team, say Philadelphia, laying a small number against New Orleans.

Using the highly-respected power ranking from The Gold Sheet, you’d find the Eagles with a power rating of 4 and the Saints at 8. When you factor the game being played in New Orleans, you could see why the line opened so short at less than a field goal.

For some, this makes it enticing to take the Eagles. That’s not a real trap game, though.

A real trap game, says professional gambler Dave Malinsky, is thinking you’re getting value betting a bad team, which brings us to the Oakland Raiders-Denver Broncos matchup.

The Raiders are +15 in this long-standing division rivalry. Denver is on a short week having dispatched Baltimore Monday. However, the Raiders haven’t covered the spread their last 10 games.

Many bettors don’t trust the Raiders to give a full effort. Few think much of Art Shell and his Oakland’s coaching staff.

So oddsmakers have to do something to make Oakland attractive if they hope to get equal action.

Now Malinsky is a value shopper. But he won’t touch the Raiders even getting more than two touchdowns.

“I try to eliminate the undisciplined, unfocused teams because they’re the ones most likely to suffer the bad beats,” he said.

Near the top of Malinsky’s list of stay-away teams is the Miami Dolphins, who have yet to cover a spread this season.

“Whatever you think of Nick Saban, you have to look at the penalties and turnovers,” Malinsky said.

It’s easy to point out the Dolphins failed to get the money this past week against New England because Olindo Mare missed a field goal and had another field goal blocked. But even though the Dolphins outgained the Patriots, 283-213, they committed eight penalties.

Bad teams not only cost themselves victories, but pointspread covers as well. The Arizona Cardinals and Green Bay Packers are two more examples.

The Cardinals couldn’t have been in a better position this past Sunday, up 14-0 at home against a mediocre Kansas City Chiefs squad. But they couldn’t hold it. The Packers got a push against St. Louis, but also could have won losing by three when Brett Favre fumbled at the St. Louis 11-yard line with 44 seconds left.

“The Packers were in a position to beat Philadelphia, too,” Malinsky said. “But they couldn’t even cover double digits.

“These teams just make mistakes and it costs you … they always will look good from a value standpoint. They really will. But that’s the trap.”

Houston and Tennessee rank among the six-worst teams. Malinsky wouldn’t be afraid to take either of these teams, however, if the price were high enough.

The Texans are bad, Malinsky said, but they have some discipline. The Titans showed they could not only come up with an outstanding game plan, but execute it as well, losing by one to the Colts on the road as an 18 ?-point underdog this past Sunday.

“Jeff Fisher is a worker,” Malinsky said of the Titans coach. “I’m not sure how hard Art Shell wants to work when he gets out of bed.”

Fisher, though, could be out as Tennessee coach after this season. Is he still worth backing in the right spot, with the right price, as a lame duck coach?

“It’s in his nature to keep working hard and not worry about any possible lame duck status,” Malinsky said. “He’s coaching for his resume.”

Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting lines.