Kentucky garners No. 1 seed in the East

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Kentucky, which scorched the Southeastern Conference in the regular season and won the conference tourney crown in a tense overtime contest, was named as the top- seeded team in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Kentucky (32-2), survived that scare from Mississippi State on Sunday and has been selected a No. 1 seed for the 10th time in school history. The Lexington- based school will be trying for its eighth national title and first since a 1998 triumph over Utah. It will also be making its 50th entry into the NCAA Tournament.

The Wildcats will take on 16th-seeded East Tennessee State (20-14), which emerged as the champion of the Atlantic Sun Conference for the second straight season, on Thursday in New Orleans.

"I'm happy that we are a one-seed, but there are no easy roads," said Kentucky head coach John Calipari. "Some are easier than others, but it's still hard. You don't want to look beyond East Tennessee State, Texas and Wake Forest -- all four good teams -- in our little bracket of the world. Other than that I'm not worried about anything else. I love New Orleans, I think it's a great place to have a tournament, and you know we'll have 20,000 fans down there."

West Virginia (27-6), has won six consecutive games heading into the NCAA Tournament, including a close one with Georgetown on Saturday to take its first Big East title in school history,

The Mountaineers claimed a No. 2 seed for the first time and will face off against Morgan State (27-9) on Friday in Buffalo. The Bears had an easier time with their competition, claiming both the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season and playoff titles.

Despite a loss in the Mountain West semifinals to eventual champion San Diego State, New Mexico (29-4), picked up the third seed on the strength of a 15- game win streak down the stretch before the Aztecs put an end to their conference title hopes.

The Lobos, who have not seen the tourney since a first-round exit to Villanova in 2005, have to deal with Big Sky winner Montana (22-9) on Thursday in San Jose.

Wisconsin (23-8), which dropped a Big Ten tourney quarterfinal appearance to Illinois, still garnered enough regard to snag the four seed in the East. Its first-round opponent will be Wofford (26-8) on Friday in Jacksonville. The Terriers, who were tops in the South Division of the Southern Conference, took home the postseason title after dispatching Appalachian State and gained the first NCAA berth in school history.

Opponents in the 5-12 matchup have a degree of familiarity, as Atlantic 10 champion Temple (29-5) meets the best of the Ivy League in Cornell (27-4) on Friday in Jacksonville. Owls bench boss Fran Dunphy was the head coach at Penn while current Cornell head man Steve Donahue was one of his assistants.

"We have nice veteran leadership sprinkled in with some young talent," said Dunphy. "The only thing I'm disappointed by is that I'm playing against a guy I coached with. If you had said to me before the season that we'd share the regular-season title with Xavier then win the playoff and take a five-seed, I'd have signed those papers right away."

Temple has bowed out in the first round the last two seasons, and has not enjoyed a late March run since an Elite Eight berth in 2001. Meanwhile, Cornell is looking for its first-ever NCAA Tournament victory following five losses.

A second Wisconsin-based program in the region earned the sixth seed, as Milwaukee's own Marquette (22-11) will square off against surprise Pac-10 champion Washington (24-9) on Thursday in San Jose.

Lorenzo Romar's Huskies were felled by Purdue in the second round last season, while the Golden Eagles shocked Florida State before losing to Xavier.

"I think what makes it special for this group is that I've never been around a group like this," said Marquette head coach Buzz Williams. "We're not here because of selfish ambition, we're still playing is because of the togetherness of our unit."

The other matchups feature at-large selections with seventh-seeded Clemson (21-10) against 10th-seeded Missouri (22-10) on Friday in Buffalo, and the 8-9 matchup features Texas (24-9) and Wake Forest (19-10) dueling Thursday in New Orleans.

The East Regional semifinals are slated for Syracuse on March 25, with the finals to take place two days later.

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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.