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Sports Betting Overview

Baseball betting experts give the Atlanta Braves a lot of credit. It would be difficult for almost any team to keep pace with the best team in baseball. But the MLB standings show the Braves only three games off the pace being made by the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East. Recent MLB scores show the Braves on quite a roll while the Phillies have hit a skid. Atlanta is closing the gap with Philadelphia, and a head-to-head series is exactly what the Braves need to finally catch the hottest team in the major leagues.

The Philadelphia Phillies are starting to see why Cliff Lee cannot find a permanent home in MLB. Lee is brilliant most of the time, but he hits patches where he cannot buy a win. In this series, the Phillies need every one of their big name pitchers to step up, and that includes the struggling Lee. Luckily for the Phillies, Lee does not pitch in this series opener. Philadelphia is playing good baseball lately, but this is a door of opportunity that the Braves are desperately going to try and walk through. The Phillies will need to play their best baseball of the season to fend off the Braves in this series opener.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves are 8-2 in their last 10 games and are currently riding a three-game winning streak. Starting for the Braves in this game is Brandon Beachy. Beachy has a 3-1 record and a 3.23 ERA this season. He is young, but he is showing signs of promise. One of the drawbacks to being young in MLB is the inability to finish a game. In May, Beachy had a stretch of four games where he did not get the decision. That included one game where he gave up three earned runs in two innings and did not answer the bell for the third inning. Beachy has had a good stretch in late June and early July. He is 2-0 in that span, and only gave up two earned runs total in his two wins. He is getting better, and the Phillies line-up will be quite a challenge for the youngster.

Philadelphia Phillies

It is Phillies’ ace Roy Halladay’s turn in the rotation as he starts this series opening game. Halladay is being Halladay this season with an 11-3 record and a 2.44 ERA. The guy is a machine, and he looks to be a Cy Young candidate again this year. Halladay has not lost since May 15^th when he gave up three earned runs in a loss to the Braves. Halladay had a rough finish to May, giving up 21 hits and seven earned runs in his last two starts of the month. But he has been on track ever since and has put up extremely impressive numbers for June and July. Halladay has not faced the Braves since Atlanta beat him on May 15^th, and that could play into the outcome of this game.

The Bottom Line

This may be a very good game for the first few innings. But, eventually, the Phillies will get to the young Atlanta pitcher and Halladay will continue the dominance he started in June. The Braves will win a game or two in this series and pull closer to the Phillies in the standings. Atlanta just won’t win this game.

Pick: Philadelphia Phillies

Even with baseball betting going on, it’s never too early to start thinking about next season in the world of college hoops, and one of the biggest stories surrounds Harrison Barnes, the marvelous freshman from North Carolina who showed that he has what it takes to play in the NBA. But should he join the likes of Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams in the draft, or should he return to Chapel Hill?

Barnes made headlines for being the first freshman in history to be named to the preseason All-America team, but he got off to a slow start as he figured out how to mold his game to fit the team, and the team (and coach Roy Williams) had to figure out how to use him. There was far too much pressure on Barnes to come out and dominate, and quite simply, he was a kid who deferred to the upperclassmen, which is what we all want a freshman to do in this age of the one-and-done hoops star. But even those watching NBA scores had to notice when he started to pick up his play around the end of January, and you shouldn’t underestimate the effect that fellow frosh Kendall Marshall had on his game. Marshall was handed the starting job after Larry Drew II left the team, and not just Barnes, but the entire team, played better with Marshall at the wheel. He knew where Barnes liked to get the ball, and he also learned how to work with big men John Henson and Tyler Zeller, which opened up more space for Barnes, who became more consistent. The real Barnes started to come through, and he emerged as one of the best clutch shooters in the country, hitting several clutch baskets for the Tar Heels.

You don’t need to read 5dimes reviews to tell you that Barnes would be one of the top 10 picks in the draft, as he has an NBA-ready body and he’s getting better by the day. However, if he were to go back to North Carolina, the Tar Heels would be massive favorites to win the national title next season, and Barnes would likely be the No.1 pick in the 2012 draft, barring injury or someone coming out of nowhere. The biggest worry is that he gets hurt, because we can’t see his game regressing. In fact, we only see improvement because Barnes has to work on only two things: being more consistent on defense (and he showed he could shut down another star in his matchups against Duke’s Kyle Singler), and he has to avoid falling in love with the three-point shot. However you look at it, Harrison Barnes is going to affect a team’s odds next year, either North Carolina, or an NBA team, so beware when you’re betting online.

2011 March Madness betting is almost in the books as the Final Four prepares to tip off on Saturday night, and in what of the most unlikely Final Fours of all time (it is the first time that no No.1 seed has reached the Final Four), look for Kentucky and Butler to clash for the national championship.

VCU Butler Betting – Saturday, 6:05 PM ET

The Bulldogs are favored by 2.5 points over the Rams, and this is the highest combination of seeds to ever face each other in the Final Four as Butler is a No.8 seed, while VCU is an 11^th seed. Butler lost Gordon Hayward to the NBA lottery, but coach Brad Stevens has guided the Bulldogs back to the Final Four through a number of close games as their largest margin of victory is seven points, with a one-point win, a two-point win and an overtime victory. On the other hand, no March Madness betting could have ever seen the Rams coming as they had to beat USC in a play-in game, and then they’ve beaten all four of their opponents except for Florida State by 10 points or more, including top-seeded Kansas, so coach Shaka Smart should get some offers to leave VCU. The Rams have been shooting the lights out from three-point range, and the Bulldogs have to slow them down beyond the arc. While experience hasn’t matter yet, we think Butler’s trip to the Final Four in 2010 will help them to the title game for the second straight year.

UConn Kentucky Betting – Saturday, 8:45 PM ET

Betting services have the Wildcats as a 2.5-point favorite against the Huskies, who have won two of three over Kentucky since 2006. UConn beat Kentucky by three in the second round of the 2006 Tournament, then the Wildcats avenged that with a three-point win at UConn in 2009. They met again earlier this season in the final of the Maui Invitational and the Huskies rolled to a 17-point victory over the Wildcats, who were still getting their game together after losing five players to the first round of the NBA draft. We’re going to bet that the Wildcats will not let that happen again, although they’re going to have to slow down Kemba Walker, who dropped 29 points for the Huskies, while Brandon Knight struggled badly with six points on 3-of-15 shooting. The Huskies are 12-0 this season in a tournament setting, but they have to run out of gas at some point, and we think the Wildcats’ athleticism will wear UConn down with their array of perimeter players, while Josh Harrelson holds it down in the post. Go with Kentucky in your sports betting picks.

Take a look at the teams that have reached the Final Four in this year’s NCAA national title tournament. Among the four teams that have reached Houston, there is zero No. 1 seeds, zero No. 2 seeds, and just one player that was voted to the AP All-American team. None of the teams were among the betting favorites to win the tournament when the initial odds were released, but there was one element that has been underappreciated for far too long in the Madness. The national rankings are the biggest factor in determining the favorites to win it all, while the individual superstar never goes unrecognized as most play for the teams seeded the highest when the tournament opens. The one element that has made the biggest difference so far in the tournament however has been coaching, as evidenced by the four teams remaining.

The Virginia Commonwealth Rams are the team that nobody expected to be in the Final Four, and they have the coach that is the least recognized among the remaining names. Shaka Smart is just 33-years old and is in the head coaching position for the first time in his career after serving as an assistant since 2003. However, it’s his passion and temper that have ignited a fire under his VCU players, and his strategies have helped a team that nobody expected to win through the round of 64 emerge as one of the best shooting teams in the tournament. The Rams have been able to hit from beyond the arc almost at will throughout the Madness, and often it’s because players are staring down open shots.

VCU will play a Butler team that has reached the Final Four for the second straight year, and is no longer considered a Cinderella sports betting bonus team under head coach Brad Stevens. Stevens is in his fourth year as coach of the Bulldogs, and has made leaps with the program in NCAA national title tournament appearances in every season. Stevens admitted to changing up his team’s practice schedules to make sure they peaked at the right time and didn’t burn out due to fatigue, and after winning the Horizon league championship it appears as though his strategy is working once again.

The other Final Four March Madness betting matchup will feature two of the most recognized names in college hoops today in Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun and Kentucky’s John Calipari. Calipari has led the Wildcats to SEC titles in each of his two years with the program, while Calhoun has reached the Final Four for the fourth time in his career. While enough can’t be said about the accomplishments of these coaches, a look at the other side of the pendulum shows a coach that has struggled mightily in the big dance. The Kansas Jayhawks were eliminated from the tournament in the Elite Eight by VCU, pushing head coach Bill Self’s record to 1-5 all-time in the tournament. While Self isn’t on the floor missing the shots that his players miss, the fact that he has won just once in six tries with some of the most talented teams in the tournament has to be alarming. The Jayhawks looked flat in the first half of their loss to VCU, and part of that has to be in the preparation.

While the game is ultimately decided on the floor, in college basketball more than any other sport, coaching has a massive influence. That has undoubtedly been true in this year’s March Madness tournament, and may ultimately be the key factor in determining which pay per head team comes out on top.

Those who bet on March Madness could be in for a high-scoring affair on Friday in Newark, where North Carolina will face Marquette in the East region. Both teams love to get up and down the floor, and it could be a matter of who makes the last stop.

Marquette North Carolina Betting – Friday, 7:15 PM ET

The No.11 Golden Eagles avenged a regular-season loss to Syracuse with a 66-62 win over the Orangemen, and if you had Marquette has one of the Big East teams to make it to the Sweet Sixteen, you deserve a sports betting bonus. Darius Johnson-Odom led the way with 17 points, including the tie-breaking three-pointer, while Jae Crowder came off the bench to notch 16 points and seven boards for the Golden Eagles, who won this game at the foul line as they were 19-of-23, while the Orangemen were only 5-of-7. Syracuse shot 55.3% from the field, but the Golden Eagles took every punch that the Orangemen threw at them, and now they’re in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2003.

The No.2 Tar Heels escaped with an 86-83 win over Washington in the last round, and all five of their starters scored at least 10 points. Tyler Zeller dropped 23 points, while Harrison Barnes added 22, but Kendall Marshall did an excellent job steering the offense with 13 points and 14 assists. Again, this was a game won at the charity stripe as North Carolina went 18-of-23 from the foul line, and while Washington was perfect, they were only 7-of-7. The Tar Heels have now scored 188 points in their first two games, and they look to be clicking on all cylinders.

Betting services have the Tar Heels as a 4.5-point favorite against the Golden Eagles, who beat North Carolina in the 1977 championship game, but the Tar Heels avenged that with a 30-point blowout at home in 2001. The posted total is 149.5, which is the highest in any of the Sweet Sixteen matchups, and this could be the game where the Marquette offense gets on track as they’ve scored 66 in both of their games, but the Tar Heels may not be the team that they want to run with. But Marquette’s biggest problem, literally, comes in the post as they have to handle Zeller and John Henson, who poses an entirely different set of problems from Syracuse, who are also a big team, but not as physical as the Tar Heels. North Carolina can go to either player in the post for points, and they also have Barnes, who has been one of the best players in the country in the last two months. Go with North Carolina in your sports betting online picks.

March Madness betting players know all about the dangers of the 5-12 matchup, and every year, it seems to happen, sometimes in two or three games. That is why Arizona may be a little leery on Friday when they face off against Memphis in Tulsa in the West region.

Memphis Arizona Betting – Friday, 2:45 PM ET

The No.12 Tigers (25-9, 10-6 C-USA) finished the season with four straight games, claiming the C-USA tournament to head into March Madness with a full head of steam. The Tigers are loaded on the perimeter, led by Will Barton and Joe Jackson, and for what they lack in size, Memphis is a decent team on the boards. The Tigers are also very active on the defensive end of the floor, and those checking out March Madness scores will tell you that is a good trait to have at this time of year. Memphis is 19^th in blocks nationally, and 23^rd in steals, so even though they give up a lot of points, that is down to the style they play: 40 minutes, in your face, all the time.

The No.5 Wildcats (27-7, 14-4 Pac-10) fell in overtime to Washington in the final of the Pac-10 tournament, but Arizona are still one of the darkhorses to ride in the Tournament. They have a bonafide star in forward Derrick Williams, who will be getting a lot of attention from NBA scouts, and the Wildcats can score with the best of them. They allow teams to shoot a high percentage but strangely, the Wildcats defend well against the three-point shot. Coach Sean Miller has a very good record in the NCAA Tournament, where he went to the Elite Eight with Xavier in 2008, and with all due respect to the Musketeers, this Arizona team is better than anything Miller had there.

March Madness betting odds have the Wildcats as a 5.5-point favorite in their third meeting with the Tigers, who split a pair of games with Arizona in 2006 and 2007, with the home team winning on both occasions, both SU and ATS. The Wildcats have a big edge in the post with Williams, who is capable of dominating on both ends of the floor, but the Tigers aren’t going to make it easy on the Wildcats looking to get the ball to Williams, who can also step outside.  But when this game comes down to crunch time, the Wildcats know they have a player in Williams who will get a good shot, and they’re a much better free-throw shooting team than the Tigers, something that is going to help them along the way. Take Arizona to cover (barely) in your online sportbook.

While the defending national champions, the best from the best conference, and the team that proved without a shadow of a doubt that they were tops in their conference all made the list of top seeds for this year’s NCAA national title tournament, it was the top overall seed that really made news. As it turns out, that high ranking might as well be synonymous with the toughest schedule, which is what the Ohio State Buckeyes will undoubtedly face. The best from the Big Ten will potentially have to get past a couple of the most celebrated programs in the history of college basketball to earn a shot at the Final Four, as well as some of the toughest teams that didn’t finish at the top of their respective conferences for this sports betting season.

The Buckeyes open against one of the final two teams to clinch a spot in the top-68, which will undoubtedly be the team that nobody is assuming is capable of pulling off an upset, but once the second round is complete is when the real fun will begin. The Buckeyes will meet with either the Villanova Wildcats or George Mason Patriots in the third round, and both teams present interesting anomalies. The Wildcats have lost five straight games heading into the March Madness betting, but that was in the deepest conference in college basketball, with four of those five games against ranked opponents, two of which were played on the road. Villanova is determined to prove that their last season swoon was nothing more than an aberration, and will be focused for the chance to upset Ohio State. The same can be said about the Patriots, which many people are betting on as a potential underdog favorite. George Mason dominated its way through the CAA, and if they can carry over that momentum to the national title tournament where anything can happen, they could be a threat.

It only gets tougher in the following round, where the Buckeyes can meet one of the most storied programs in the history of the tournament in a potential matchup with the Kentucky Wildcats. There is also another team from the powerful Big East in the West Virginia Mountaineers that could be there waiting in the Sweet Sixteen, but either way a game against either of those sports betting  favorites will be another tough challenge.

Then comes the Elite Eight, where Ohio State can meet with ACC regular season winners the North Carolina Tar Heels, or one of the many Big East contenders in the Syracuse Orange. The Tar Heels proved their merit with a strong second half run that saw them overtake the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils on the final day of the regular season for the top spot in the ACC, while the Orange also finished strong in the ultra-competitive Big East. Then comes A-10 champions the Xavier Musketeers, one of the best sports betting bonus teams not to come from one of the mid-majors. While there are strong teams in every conference, much can be made about this possible crop of teams that could take on the Buckeyes in the Elite Eight, as Ohio State faces the toughest road to the Final Four of any of the top seeds.

While it may not be the greatest underdog story in Notre Dame’s prestigious history, the tale of the 2011 Fighting Irish has been a compelling one. Picked to finish seventh in preseason voting, head coach Mike Brey led his men to a fifth-straight 20-win season, and finished second only to Pittsburgh in the Big East standings. The Fighting Irish were one of the hottest teams in the conference to close out the regular season, finished fourth in the AP national rankings, and earned a bye through the first two rounds of the sports betting bonus postseason. Their story is not finished yet, but despite the hype this tale will not end the way that the Notre Dame faithful have hoped.

There is a lot to be said for the accomplishments of the Fighting Irish through the 2010-11 season, including a four-game winning streak that included a notable victory over the Connecticut Huskies to close out their conference schedule. Brey coached his team to victory in 10 if their last 11 games, that included six straight wins over ranked opponents. The high point in the season came at the beginning of that run, when Notre Dame came back from down five at halftime to beat the top-seeded Panthers 56-51 at the Peterson Events Center. The Fighting Irish shot 49-percent from the field and played solid defense down the stretch in a statement game that sparked their season-ending run, and proved down the stretch that they have some of the key elements that comprise a legitimate college basketball betting contender. Ben Hansbrough was the only unanimous selection to the All-Big East first team, and will provide Notre Dame with the star presence that will need to be relied on throughout the Big East and national title tournaments.

Beyond all of the positives that the Fighting Irish have presented this season, their current standing is not without at least a couple of major online sports betting question marks. For as good as Notre Dame was when they were hot, they were just as awful when they went cold with notable double-digit road losses at Marquette, St. John’s, and West Virginia, with the Red Storm the lone team of the three that finished the season in the top-25. The Fighting Irish have never made it to the Big East championship game, and there are major size issues when it comes to matchups against bigger teams such as Pittsburgh. Despite beating the Panthers, Hansbrough and company was outrebounded 28-21 with their 49-percent field goal percentage the difference-maker. It is hard enough to beat the same team twice in one season, and it will be even more difficult to hit that shooting mark again if these teams meet in the Big East finals. Pittsburgh finished sixth in the nation with an average of 40.3 boards per game, a big contributor to their third-overall ranking in assists. The loss to West Virginia proved that the Fighting Irish could have troubles against a high-temp defense that forces the issue, and although they looked very calm at times the atmosphere will be a lot different with the pay per head spotlight on them in the postseason.

There are a lot of positives that this Notre Dame team can take from a year in which they can already be labeled overachievers. Still, it will be a season that once again ends in disappointment when the Fighting Irish are exposed when it matters the most.

A potential ACC showdown seems like it cannot be avoided at this point, with the top two teams in the conference tied and just two games remaining on the college basketball betting schedule. The No. 4 Duke Blue Devils and No. 13 North Carolina Tar Heels are tied atop the ACC with a 12-2 conference record, and will each play one more game before their scheduled battle at the Dean E. Smith Center on Saturday March 5, 2011.

The Tar Heels came out of nowhere to find themselves on top of the ACC standings, overcoming a tough start to go on a brilliant run over the last two months to reach the role of contender. North Carolina has won 10 of their last 11 online sports betting  games, with a loss to the Blue Devils the only blemish on an otherwise perfect run that began in the middle of January. Tyler Zeller has been a revelation with a team-high 14.8 points per game, and is also second in rebounding with an average of 7.3 boards. Zeller is right behind Jon Henson, who has averaged 9.5 rebounds per game on a Tar Heels’ team that has absolutely dominated the glass. Head coach Roy Williams’ team is ranked first in the nation in rebounding with 42.9 per game, one of the biggest keys to their success. North Carolina needs to defeat the Florida State Seminoles in the prelude to Saturday’s showdown in order to keep pace, but a big win will mean a chance at the conference title.

The Blue Devils allowed North Carolina to slip through the back door and back in to contention with a couple of key losses down the stretch, but none more disheartening than a 64-60 defeat at the hands of the Virginia Tech Hokies their last time on the floor. Duke had no answer for a Virginia Tech offense that came alive in the second half with some excellent shooting, and that loss pushed them back in to a tie for first place. The defending national champions have shown flashes of being an absolute powerhouse this sports betting bonus season, but consistency will be the key, especially as they build towards the national title tournament. The Blue Devils understand what it takes to win it all, and that will have Nolan Smith and company ready to finish they year strong.

Duke has to be considered the pay per head  favorites going down to the wire, especially with the experience that they got from last season. The Blue Devils proved their merit in a 79-73 win over North Carolina in the first meeting between these teams this season, and it will now come down to finishing strong. The Dean E. Smith Center will be hostile territory for Duke, an environment they likely didn’t want to close the year in, and it should make for an exciting lead in to this year’s March Madness national title tournament.

NCAA basketball betting players will surely remember the last time that Connecticut and Louisville got together on January 29^th, when the two went to double overtime with the Cardinals coming away with a one-point win in Hartford. The two meet in the rematch on Friday in Louisville, and it should be another thrilling contest.

UConn Louisville Betting – Friday, 9:00 PM ET

The No.13 Huskies (20-5, 8-5) snapped Georgetown’s eight-game winning streak with a 78-70 win at home on Wednesday, getting a sterling performance from Kemba Walker, who notched 31 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel had another big game off the bench with 23 points and six rebounds for the Huskies, who shot 54.2% from the field. At the trade deadline NHL teams will be looking for secondary scoring to go with their stars, and Coombs-McDaniel has stepped up to support Walker, who has snapped out of his slump. The Huskies have now won three of their last four games and making a push for a No.2 seed in the Big East tournament as the top seed may out of reach with Pitt rolling.

The No.16 Cardinals (19-6, 8-5) fell behind by 12 points at halftime and couldn’t claw their way back in a 63-54 loss at Cincinnati on Wednesday, and this game was likely lost at the foul line. Louisville was only 4-of-7 from the charity stripe, while the Bearcats were 16-of-24, and it certainly didn’t help that the Cardinals couldn’t make that up beyond the arc, going 4-of-17. Terrence Jennings was the only player to reach double figures with 14 points for the Cardinals, who have now dropped three straight on the road. However, three of their last five are at home, so the Cardinals also have a good chance to improve their position.

The last meeting was well worth the price per head for anyone who paid to see that game, and while it may not be a double-overtime thriller, this one should follow the same pattern. The Cardinals should be favored at home, and they’ve split their last four at Freedom Hall both SU and ATS against the Huskies. The Cardinals have moved on to the KFC Yum! Center, and even though the name doesn’t have the same ring to it, Louisville is still a great team at home, where they are 8-2 SU, but also 3-5 ATS. The Huskies are 6-4 SU and 7-3 ATS in their last 10 on the road, and now with Coombs-McDaniel playing Robin to Walker’s Batman, UConn has a good shot. But the Cardinals will be jacked up after losing at Cincinnati, and we think their perimeter defense will be able to keep the Huskies’ guards quiet. Lay a sports bet on Louisville on Friday.