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01/04/2009 - Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Big Ten foes will collide in Ann Arbor on Sunday afternoon, as the 23rd-ranked Michigan Wolverines play host to the Illinois Fighting Illini.
Illinois carries a stellar 13-1 record into this clash, and the club has won its last seven outings. On Tuesday, the Illini opened the league portion of their schedule with an impressive 71-67 overtime win over Purdue on the road. They have played six games away from home this season, and all six have resulted in victory.
As for Michigan, it carried a five-game win streak into Wednesday's conference opener against Wisconsin, but that home game resulted in a 73-61 setback. Still, the Wolverines are 10-3 overall, and eight of their victories have come at home. They have beaten both Duke and UCLA this season, and those non-league triumphs will help the squad when NCAA Tournament selection time rolls around.
Illinois owns an 81-70 series lead over Michigan, and the Illini have won 16 of the last 20 meetings.
Amazingly, Illinois has four players averaging 12.1 ppg, as Trent Meacham, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale and Demetri McCamey provide plenty of balance to the lineup. Davis leads the club with 7.7 rpg, and McCamey is tops with 4.4 apg. The Illini are generating 71.4 ppg this season while limiting opponents to 56.6 ppg on 39.5 percent shooting from the floor, including 26.3 percent from three-point range. Clearly, strong defense has been a key to the team's success thus far. In the thrilling victory over Purdue, Tisdale netted 18 points from his center position. Davis and Alex Legion pitched in 12 points apiece for the Illini, who got 11 points and six assists from Meacham. Illinois finished the contest with 21 assists and only six turnovers, an impressive ratio by any standards. Also, the fact that the club limited the Boilermakers to 38.1 percent shooting from the floor certainly contributed to the win.
Michigan is averaging 73.7 ppg while surrendering only 63.1 ppg. Manny Harris continues to pace the Wolverines in scoring with his 19.0 ppg, and the multi- talented guard also adds 7.7 rpg and 64 assists to his stat line. DeShawn Sims provides 16.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg, and those two players are counted on heavily by Michigan. In the loss to Wisconsin on Wednesday, Zack Novak tallied 20 points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines. Sims pitched in with 14 points, and Lucas-Perry contributed 11 points off the bench. Harris struggled mightily in that clash, as he scored just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting from the floor. As a team, Michigan made good on only 39.2 percent of its field goal attempts while permitting Wisconsin to shoot 58.7 percent.
<< Azarenka, Bartoli cruise; Kirilenko withdraws in season-opening event
Brisbane, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victoria Azarenka and Marion Bartoli
breezed through first-round action at the $220,000 Brisbane International, a
2009 season-opening event on the WTA Tour.
Seventh-seeded Russian Maria Kirile
<< Soderling, Gasquet each kick off '09 season with win
Brisbane, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robin Soderling and Richard Gasquet
were each first-round winners at the $484,750 Brisbane International -- a
season-opening event on the 2009 ATP World Tour.
While the fourth-seeded Soderling
<< A Quick win: Kings edge Flyers in SO
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Quick recorded 31 saves and
stopped both Philadelphia tries in the shootout, as the Los Angeles Kings
topped the Flyers, 2-1, at Staples Center.
Wayne Simmonds scored a power-play
<< Sharks continue home domination with win over Islanders
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Grier scored twice and Jonathan Cheechoo
had three assists, as the Sharks extended their home points streak to 30 games
with a 5-3 victory over the Islanders at the Shark Tank.
Patrick Marleau, Dan Boy
Sun Devils and Golden Bears mix it up in Pac-10 action >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked Arizona State Sun Devils and
California Golden Bears will try to make it two Pac-10 wins in a row tonight,
as they clash at Haas Pavilion in Berkeley.
ASU kicked off its Pac-10 slate in a domin
Bluegrass State rivals square off at Freedom Hall >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Non-conference rivals will collide at
Freedom Hall this afternoon, as the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals battle
the Kentucky Wildcats.
Expect Kentucky to play with a wealth of confidence this afternoon, as
Bruins go Duck hunting in Eugene >>
Eugene, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - McArthur Court in Eugene is the site of today's
Pac-10 Conference clash between the UCLA Bruins and the Oregon Ducks.
UCLA opened Pac-10 play on Friday against Oregon State, and the result of that
tilt was a 69-
Duke opens ACC slate at home against Virginia Tech >>
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils will play host
to the Virginia Tech Hokies in the ACC opener for both squads this evening.
Virginia Tech has won its last four games to improve to 9-4 overall, and the
club is c
BILLS (+10) at Steelers SPORTSBOOK LINES
It's impossible to gauge how a team will react after something like the Steve Everett situation, and it probably doesn't matter. That being said, the Bills are going to lose several games this year where they keep things close but fall short in the end to superior teams. Ben Roethlisberger and company could have a field day against Buffalo's decimated defense, but I like the Bills to cover.
BENGALS (-7) at Browns SPORTSBOOK LINES
All you can ask out of your NFL team is that it has a plan. You may not always agree with it as a fan, but as long as it appears the organization is going in some sort of direction, you have to go with it. Which brings us to the Cleveland Browns. You flip a coin to determine whether Chuck Frye or Derek Anderson should start the preseason opener. You start Frye in Week 1, but pull him in the first half. And then you deal him to the Seahawks for a sixth-round pick? Hmm... the Bengals could get six turnovers again this week.
COLTS (-7) at Titans SPORTSBOOK LINES
Tennessee signed ex-Colts cornerback Nick Harper in the offseason so that should help slow down Peyton Manning. Just ask Jason David and the Saints. Oh wait... One of these weeks, I'm going to learn to not pick against Tennessee, which has won seven of its last eight games. But it's not happening against Indy.
TEXANS (+6.5) at Panthers SPORTSBOOK LINES
Houston's Mario Williams, the first pick in the '06 draft, has more touchdowns than Reggie Bush after one week. Somehow I don't see that lasting. Meanwhile, Carolina bottled up what was expected to be a pretty high-octane offense in St. Louis in Week 1. Could this be the Panthers' defense everyone expected last year? Maybe. This feels like a 20-16 Carolina win.
RAMS (-3) vs. 49ers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Absolutely love this game. Everyone's favorite pick for this year's surprise team -- the 49ers -- laid an egg on Monday night (not that anyone was watching with the game ending in the middle of the night for those of us on the East Coast). St. Louis wasn't much better, delivering a lackluster effort against the Panthers that included two Steven Jackson fumbles and panic from his fantasy owners. Jackson rebounds this week, and the Rams get their first win.
PACKERS (+1.5) at Giants SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Do you really trust this guy to win an NFL game if Eli Manning can't go? I say no. I'd feel alot better about this Packers team if it had any semblance of a running game, but I still think Green Bay's defense is good enough to give it a 2-0 start.
JAGUARS (-10) vs. Falcons SPORTSBOOKS LINES
Does it scare me to pick Jacksonville to cover a double-digit spread after it scored just 10 points last week against the Titans? Absolutely. But can I bring myself to pick Atlanta under any circumstances? No. Check out this poll on ajc.com. It asks what Atlanta's most urgent deficiency is: offense, defense, specials teams or all of the above. "All of the above" has 57 percent of the votes. Ouch.
SAINTS (-3) at Buccaneers SPORTSBOOKS LINES
I'm picking way too many road teams this week. Oh well. New Orleans has had some time to reflect on its lackluster showing in the opener, and the Buccanneers just aren't a very good football team. Anyone else surprised Tampa Bay hasn't made a move to sign Byron Leftwich? I thought that's what they do.
VIKINGS (+3) at Lions SPORTS BETTING LINES
Run the ball and stop the run. Minnesota can do both, and that will keep them in a lot of games this season. Even though it was only one week, Adrian Peterson looks like he was a steal at No. 7 in last year's draft. Not only will he produce, but Peterson delivers excitement to what otherwise would be one of the league's most boring teams.
DOLPHINS (+3.5) vs. Cowboys SPORTS BETTING LINES
Lost in the Tony Romo lovefest is just how bad the Cowboys' defense was last week. I know they're banged up, but Dallas' 'D' allowed 438 yards to the Giants' offense, and backup running back Derrick Ward averaged 6.8 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Cam Cameron's decision to split carries between Ronnie Brown and Jesse Chatman sounds about as can't-miss as Larry David's plan to show up to Marty Funkhouser's party a night late. Still, gotta go with Miami to cover at home.
SEAHAWKS (-2.5) at Cardinals SPORTS BETTING LINES
I'm probably missing something, but this game seems too easy. Arizona blew Monday night's game against the 49ers in typical Cardinals fashion, and the Seahawks beat Tampa Bay by two touchdowns. Love Seattle in this one.
BRONCOS (-9.5) vs. Raiders SPORTS BETTING LINES
Special teams was a major story line in Week 1. Take a look at the Broncos. They had to rush on to the field to get a Jason Elam field goal as time expired against the Bills. Denver drove into Buffalo territory on eight of 10 drives but came away with just a pair of field goals and a touchdown. Look for more scoring from the Broncos this week against an Oakland defense that gave up 36 points to Detroit in Week 1.
BEARS (-12) vs. Chiefs SPORTS BETTING LINES
Everyone talks about Rex Grossman when dissecting the Bears' offense, but Chicago's quarterback got no help in last week's loss to the Chargers. Meanwhile, Kansas City confirmed what we all thought while watching Hard Knocks: The Chiefs are going to stink this year. It could be a rough first month for Larry Johnson fantasy owners. Kansas City's RB was limited to 43 yards on 10 carries in Week 1, and the Chiefs face the Bears, Vikings and Chargers the next three weeks, all formidable run defenses.
RAVENS (-10) vs. Jets SPORTS BETTING LINES
A big dose of Willis McGahee and a usual sound defensive effort will give the Ravens their first win. According to Football Outsiders, no team in the NFL rushed only three defenders on pass plays last year more than the Jets. And according to my special Jets correspondent Ben Stauber, New York did the same in Week 1. Whoever starts at quarterback for the Ravens should have all day to throw.
PATRIOTS (-3) vs. Chargers
Friends and I were discussing how Bill Belichick goes about paying his $500,000 fine for cheating. Does he just write one check to the NFL? Do you need some sort of clearance to make such a monstrous financial transaction? I guess I shouldn't complain about the security deposit I have to put down on my new apartment. Anyway, two of the league's best teams square off in what should be a good one Sunday night. The Patriots always respond well just when you think they're in trouble. And their offensive attack was the story in Week 1.
Note: Monday night game will be picked Monday. Lines used are from football betting.
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