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Badgers try to claw their way past Spartans in Big Ten TournamentNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/09/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in less than a week, the Michigan State Spartans and third-ranked Wisconsin Badgers will collide, only tonight's meeting takes place in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament from the United Center in Chicago. The Spartans, who were defeated at Wisconsin (52-50) in their regular season finale last Saturday, went an even 8-8 in league play this year en route to earning the seventh seed in this event. Despite landing its lowest seed ever for the Big Ten Tournament, MSU was able to overcome 10th-seeded Northwestern, 62-57, in the opening round on Thursday. The win improved the Spartans to 11-7 all-time in this event, as they are in search of their first title since winning two straight in 1999 and 2000. As for Wisconsin, it has enjoyed one of its most successful seasons ever, setting school records for most overall (27) and conference (13) victories. The team also posted a 17-game winning streak at one point during the regular season and that even set a new program record. The Badgers finished behind Ohio State in the league standings at 13-3 and therefore earned the second seed in this event for just the second time in school history. The other time UW was seeded second was in 2004, when it won its only Big Ten Tournament crown. The Badgers are 9-8 all-time in this event, and they have either advanced to the finals or lost in the first round in their last six appearances. In terms of the all-time series, MSU owns a 66-55 lead over Wisconsin, with the teams splitting a pair of meetings during the regular season. The winner of this game will move on to meet either Illinois or Indiana in the semifinals on Saturday. The Spartans shot a solid 57.9 percent from the field, including a 7-of-13 effort from long range, as they held off Northwestern for a five-point win on Thursday. The team also won the battle on the boards, 28-21, and that helped to compensate for its 16 turnovers. Drew Neitzel led the way with 20 points and six assists, while Raymar Morgan added 15 points and five boards. Neitzel, a first-team all-league performer, leads MSU on the season with 18.3 ppg, and he is also dishing out 4.1 apg and shooting 42.1 percent from long distance. Morgan contributes 11.3 ppg and 5.2 rpg for the Spartans, who lead the conference in scoring defense (56.3 ppg) and field goal percentage defense (.380). The team has also fared well on the boards, outrebounding its opponents by 8.1 rpg. Wisconsin has also had a great deal of success at the defensive end of the court this season, as it is holding its foes to a mere 57.5 ppg and 40.7 percent shooting from the floor. At the other end, the Badgers are turning in 71.3 ppg behind the duo of Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor. Tucker, who was the recently named the Big Ten Player of the Year, ranks second in the conference in scoring with an average of 20.1 ppg. He has had 17 20-point performances this season and he is also pulling down 5.4 rpg. As for Taylor, he was a Second Team All-conference selection after averaging 12.5 ppg during the regular season. He is the team's biggest threat from beyond the arc, where he is making good on 40.7 percent of his attempts.
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New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-seeded Pittsburgh Panthers and second-seeded Louisville Cardinals will square off this evening in the semifinal round of the Big East Conference Tournament. The winner of this game will
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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 millionIn the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree. And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so. Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal. So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them. Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.) The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money. As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached. The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs. In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season. Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done. And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting. So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year. There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve. So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal. And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million. There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.) Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft. Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey. Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year. So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation. To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs. |
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