2010 Big 12 Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/09/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Another year and another championship for Kansas, which captured its sixth straight Big 12 regular-season crown with a 15-1 finish. The No.1 ranked Jayhawks are the top-seed for the sixth time in the 14-year history of the Big 12 Tournament and they received a bye in the first round. Also earning first-round byes are Kansas State, Baylor and Texas A&M, as they all finished tied for second at 11-5. After the tie-breakers were worked out, the Wildcats landed the second seed followed by the Bears and Aggies.

The Missouri Tigers will begin their title defense in the first round, as they placed fifth in the conference at 10-6. Texas and Oklahoma State tied for sixth at 9-7, with the Longhorns grabbing the sixth seed and the Cowboys the seventh. The bottom five teams all had losing records in the conference and were seeded accordingly. The winner of this annual event moves on to the NCAA Tournament with an automatic bid.

The 14th-annual Big 12 Tournament gets underway at the Sprint Center on Wednesday, with the ninth-seeded Texas Tech Red Raiders clashing with the eighth-seeded Colorado Buffaloes. This is a rematch of Saturday's regular- season finale in which Colorado won a 101-90 shootout in Boulder. The Buffs won their last three games of the regular campaign, while the Red Raiders have dropped seven in a row heading into the postseason. Neither of these teams have won this tourney, and Texas Tech has captured both prior meetings with Colorado in the event.

The fifth-seeded Missouri Tigers defend their title against 12th-seeded Nebraska in the second game of the first round. The Tigers, as the third seed, won their first-ever Big 12 Tournament championship last season and went on to the Elite Eight of the Big Dance. Missouri, which has posted back-to-back 10- win campaigns in the Big 12 for the first time since 1999-00, is 15-12 all- time in this event. This is the sixth time Missouri and Nebraska are meeting in the Big 12 Tournament, with the Huskers winning the last two encounters. The Huskers though, finished with a league-worst 2-14 mark and they are just 1-9 over their last 10 outings.

Bitter rivals come together in the third game, as the 10th-seeded Oklahoma Sooners tussle with the seventh-seeded Oklahoma State Cowboys. One year removed from an outstanding campaign, the Sooners disappointed big time due to injuries and inconsistency, finishing just 4-12 within the conference. Oklahoma enters the postseason riding an eight-game losing streak and will need to win this event in order to avoid its first losing campaign since 1981. The Cowboys meanwhile, were the only Big 12 team to defeat Kansas, as they knocked off the top-ranked Jayhawks, 85-77, on February 27th. Oklahoma State features the Big 12 Player of the Year in James Anderson, who will try to carry the program to its first title in this tourney since 2005.

First-round play wraps up with the sixth-seeded Texas Longhorns taking on the 11th-seeded Iowa State Cyclones. The Longhorns soared to No.1 in the nation at one point this season, but fell on hard times down the stretch and finished the regular campaign outside the Top 25. Still, Texas had enough to reach the 20-win plateau for the 11th straight season at 23-8 overall. The Longhorns are 17-13 all-time in this event and despite five championship game appearances, they have never won the title. Iowa State meanwhile, is coming off another poor showing with just a 4-12 mark within the conference. The Cyclones, however, ended a 21-game losing streak to ranked opponents with a triumph of Kansas State on Saturday. In 2000, Iowa State won this tourney, but it hasn't had much luck since.

The top-ranked and top-seeded Kansas Jayhawks will make their tourney debut in the quarterfinals on Thursday, as they await the winner of Texas Tech/Colorado pairing. The Jayhawks are the face of the Big 12, having won or shared 10 of the 14 regular-season titles while capturing this tourney on six occasions. Kansas has won at least 11 games each season since in the inceptions of the Big 12 in 1996-97 and they have notched 15 league victories on four occasions. The Jayhawks, who are 29-2 overall, own a 25-7 record in this event, but had their run of three-straight titles stopped last season.

Once the doormat of the Big 12, the fourth-seeded Texas A&M Aggies are now consistent contenders for a top finish. The Aggies earned a first-round bye for the third time in five years following a run in which they were never seeded higher than seventh. Texas A&M though, has only three wins in this event and that ranks last of any member. The Aggies, who have registered six straight 20-win campaigns, will tussle with the winner of the Nebraska/Missouri matchup.

The quarterfinal round continues with second-seeded Kansas State hooking up with the survivor of the Oklahoma/Oklahoma State pairing. The No.2 seed is the program's highest in the Big 12 Championship, as Kansas State earned a first- round bye for the fourth straight season. The Wildcats 24 overall wins and 11 conference victories are their most since the 1987-88 campaign. The team, though, is just 7-13 all-time in this event and has yet to even reach the finals.

The third-seeded Baylor Bears had a terrific run in this tourney last season and will collide with the victor of the Iowa State/Texas clash in the quarterfinals. As the ninth seed last season, the Bears played the role of giant-killer, advancing all the way to the finals before losing to Missouri. Baylor took that experience and applied it to this season, capturing 11 conference wins for the first time in Big 12 history. With that came the program's highest seed and first bye in this event.

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MySportsbook.com favors Buckeyes, Fighting Irish and Golden Bears in this weekend's big games.

NEW YORK, NY, Sept. 21 - My Sportsbook NCAA football fans: things are beginning to get really interesting on college football's national stage. Following last weekend's "Separation Saturday", which included five teams ranked in the top 15 dropping games, the BCS Championship picture is beginning to take shape - with Ohio State leading the charge. And, according to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, the number-one-ranked Buckeyes will continue their winning ways this weekend.

Revenge will be the name of the game in Columbus this Saturday, as Ohio State looks to even the score following last season's loss to Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions. Although Penn State are listed as 16.5 point underdogs, they are 11-10 all-time versus the Buckeyes. Paterno and the Lions, however, will have to shut down Heisman Trophy favorite Troy Smith who has thrown for 769 yards and seven touchdowns this season.

Speaking of revenge, Notre Dame will be out for some against Michigan State, following last year's 44 - 41 overtime loss to the Spartans in South Bend. The thirteenth-ranked Irish, listed as a 3-point favorite, will also be looking to avenge last Saturday's thrashing from the Michigan Wolverines. The Spartans, meanwhile, have won seven of the last nine match-ups against Notre Dame and are coming off an impressive 38-23 victory over Pittsburgh.

Out west, 22nd-ranked Arizona State will be battling for their first victory over 21st-ranked California since 2000. Although the Golden Bears are listed as 7.5-point favorites, the Sun Devils are 3-0, lead the nation in sacks with 18 and possess the Pac-10's leading passer in sophomore quarterback Rudy Carpenter.

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NCAA Football betting lines (home team in CAPS)
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Date Favorite Opponent Point Spread
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Sept 21 GEORGIA TECH Virginia 17
Sept 22 NEVADA Northwestern 6.5
Sept 23 MICHIGAN Wisconsin 14
Sept 23 Minnesota PURDUE 3
Sept 23 SYRACUSE Miami (Ohio) 6.5
Sept 23 MISSOURI Ohio 21.5
Sept 23 Louisville KANSAS STATE 14
Sept 23 TENNESSEE Marshall 22
Sept 23 CLEMSON North Carolina 16.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA Kentucky 24
Sept 23 Iowa ILLINOIS 20.5
Sept 23 FLORIDA STATE Rice 30.5
Sept 23 AUBURN Buffalo 41.5
Sept 23 BOWLING GREEN Kent 7
Sept 23 NAVY Tulsa 4.5
Sept 23 VIRGINIA TECH Cincinnati 27
Sept 23 BYU Utah State 29
Sept 23 OHIO STATE Penn State 16.5
Sept 23 TEXAS Iowa State 25
Sept 23 Washington State STANFORD 10
Sept 23 CALIFORNIA Arizona State 7.5
Sept 23 UCLA WASHINGTON 3
Sept 23 INDIANA Connecticut 1.5
Sept 23 Central Michigan EASTERN MICHIGAN 4
Sept 23 WYOMING Air Force 1
Sept 23 UTEP NEW MEXICO 9.5
Sept 23 West Virginia EAST CAROLINA 21
Sept 23 Boston College NORTH CAROLINA STATE 7
Sept 23 GEORGIA Colorado 27
Sept 23 ARKANSAS Alabama 1.5
Sept 23 BAYLOR Army 11
Sept 23 WESTERN MICHIGAN Temple 28
Sept 23 MISSISSIPPI Wake Forest 2.5
Sept 23 KANSAS South Florida 5.5
Sept 23 TEXAS A&amp;M Louisiana Tech 23.5
Sept 23 UAB Mississippi State 9.5
Sept 23 LSU Tulane 36
Sept 23 Utah SAN DIEGO STATE 6.5
Sept 23 BOISE STATE Hawaii 15
Sept 23 Notre Dame MICHIGAN STATE 3
Sept 23 USC ARIZONA U 22
Sept 23 Oklahoma State HOUSTON 1
Sept 23 OREGON STATE Idaho 23
Sept 23 OKLAHOMA Middle Tennessee State 29
Sept 23 MARYLAND Florida International 18.5
Sept 23 AKRON North Texas 17.5
Sept 23 SOUTH CAROLINA Florida Atlantic 29.5
Sept 23 NEBRASKA Troy 23
Sept 23 SMU Arkansas State 6

For complete NCAA football odds and World Series odds please visit MySportsbook.com