Hoosiers and Wolverines meet in Big Ten showdown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/01/2012 - Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A pair of ranked foes in the Big Ten Conference square off in Ann Arbor this evening, as No. 20 Indiana comes calling on No. 23 Michigan.

Indiana started the season impressively, jumping out to a 12-0 record before suffering its first defeat at Michigan State in the conference opener on December 28. The Hoosiers bounced back to win their next three, but after that coach Tom Crean's club lost 4-of-5. IU is coming off a 103-89 victory over Iowa in its last outing, and while the Hoosiers are 17-5 on the year, they are just 3-4 in true road games.

Michigan too got off to a sensational start to the 2011-12 campaign, streaking out to a 12-2 mark before crashing back to Earth with a 4-4 mark since. The Wolverines are fresh off a demoralizing 64-49 loss at Ohio State on Sunday, and this bout is the second in a three-game stretch the team will play against Top-25 competition -- at No. 9 Michigan State this Sunday being the last. The Maize and Blue are a perfect 12-0 at home this season, and coach John Beilein's club has won 13 straight at Crisler Arena overall.

Indiana owns a commanding 101-55 lead in the all-time series with Michigan, but things have been pretty even of late as the teams have split the last eight meetings. The Hoosiers won the most recent encounter, taking a 73-71 decision at home on January 5 of this year.

Indiana is one of the more potent offensive teams in the Big Ten, as it averages 79.5 ppg in hitting 50.1 percent of its field goal attempts, which includes a 43.8 percent showing from three-point range. The Hoosiers are also 73.8 percent accurate at the charity stripe, and they own favorable margins in both rebounding (+3.1) and turnovers (+1.7) as well. Defensively, the team yields 65.8 ppg, with the opposition hitting their field goals 42.4 percent of the time, which includes a 32.7 percent showing from beyond the arc. Cody Zeller (15.2 ppg, 6.1 rpg) is IU's leading scorer and rebounder, while Christian Watford (12.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg), Jordan Hulls (11.9 ppg, 3.2 apg) and Victor Oladipo (10.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg) round out the unit's double-digit scorers. In the 103-point outburst against Iowa, Zeller scored a career-high 26 points to lead six Hoosiers in double figures, and Indiana shot 55.2 percent from the field while converting 25-of-31 free throws. IU won the rebounding battle, 37-22, handed out 20 assists, and scored 21 points off 17 Hawkeye turnovers.

Michigan isn't quite the offensive juggernaut its counterpart tonight is, but the team is shooting 45.9 percent from the field, and has made good on 34.3 percent of its three-point tries. The Wolverines boast just double-digit scorers in the form of Tim Hardaway, Jr. (15.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg) and Trey Burke (14.1 ppg, 5.0 apg), although Zack Novak (9.0 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Evan Smotrycz (8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg) are close to joining the ranks thanks to both hitting better than 40 percent of their three-point attempts. From a defensive standpoint, UM is allowing just 61.1 ppg on typical shooting outputs of 42.1 percent overall and 35.4 percent from downtown, and the team comes into this contest with positive differentials in both rebounding (+1.8) and turnovers (+1.4) as well. Michigan scored a season-low 49 points in its recent outing at Ohio State, as Hardaway, Jr. and Burke tallied 15 and 13 points, respectively, as the only Wolverines to reach double figures in the loss. The team shot just 35.8 percent from the field, while the Buckeyes claimed a 15-3 edge in points from the foul line and a 38-29 advantage on the glass.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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