Sherritt, Reynolds among preseason Big Sky honorees

NCAA Football Betting Lines

07/19/2010 - Ogden, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eastern Washington's J.C. Sherritt, the 2009 Buck Buchanan Award runner-up, has been named the 2010 Big Sky Conference preseason defensive player of the year. Montana's Chase Reynolds has been named the preseason offensive player of the year.

Both players were also named to the preseason All-Conference team.

Reynolds, a 2010 Walter Payton Award watch list member, is one of five Grizzlies to make the 30-player team. Montana State also had five players selected, while Northern Arizona, Weber State, and Sacramento State each had four.

Joining Reynolds in the all-conference backfield is Eastern Washington sophomore and fellow Walter Payton Award watch list member, Taiwan Jones. Jones finished second in the nation last season in all purpose yards, averaging 195.4 ypg.

Northern Arizona quarterback Michael Herrick, another Payton candidate, also made the cut. Protecting Herrick up front are Montana State's Mike Person (tackle), Montana's Jon Opperud (tackle) and Alex Verlanic (center), Weber State's J.C. Oram (guard) and Northern Arizona's Kris Poindexter (guard).

The selection of two Big Sky wide receivers in April's NFL draft opened the door for Montana State's Everett Gilbert, Weber State's Mike Phillips, and Sacramento State's Brandyn Reed to earn spots on the team. Joining the receivers is tight end Kyle Begger of Montana State.

Fullback Zac Eldridge of Weber State rounds out the offensive team.

Defensively, the team features six players who earned first-team All-Big Sky honors in 2009. These include linebackers Sherritt, A.J. Storms of Idaho State, and Taylor Sedillo of Weber State, linemen Dan Ogden of Montana State and Renard Williams of Eastern Washington, and cornerback Trumaine Johnson of Montana.

Johnson, and all-conference team newcomer Christian Clark of Sacramento State join Sherritt on the 2010 Buck Buchanan Award watch list.

Preseason All-Conference Team

Offense - QB: Michael Herrick, Northern Arizona, Sr.; RB: Chase Reynolds, Montana, Sr.; RB: Taiwan Jones, Eastern Washington, So.; FB: Zac Eldridge, Weber State, Sr.; TE: Kyle Begger, Montana State, Sr.; T: Mike Person, Montana State, Sr.; T: Jon Opperud, Montana, Jr.; C: Alex Verlanic, Montana, Sr.; G: J.C. Oram, Weber State, Jr.; G: Kris Poindexter, Northern Arizona, Sr.; WR: Brandyn Reed, Sacramento State, Sr.; WR: Everett Gilbert, Montana State, So.; WR: Mike Phillips, Weber State, Sr; K: Zach Brown, Portland State, So.; RS: Jabin Sambrano, Montana, Jr.

Defense - DE: Isaac Bond, Northern Arizona, Jr.; DE: Nick Hernon, Northern Colorado, Jr.; DT: Dan Ogden, Montana State, Sr.; DT: Renard Williams, Eastern Washington, Jr.; DT: Christian Clark, Sacramento State, Sr.; LB: A.J. Storms, Idaho State, Jr.; LB: Taylor Sedillo, Weber State, Sr.; LB: John Eddy, Northern Colorado, Sr.; LB: J.C. Sherritt, Eastern Washington, Sr.; CB: Korey Askew, Northern Colorado, Jr.; CB: Trumaine Johnson, Montana, Jr.; S: Matt Estrada, Northern Arizona, Sr.; S: Zach Estrada, Sacramento State, Sr.; P: Augie Heath, Sacramento State, Jr.; ST: Tanner Ripley, Montana State, Sr.

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Brandon Roy Favorite to Win 2007 NBA Rookie of the Year

Portland TrailBlazer’s guard, Brandon Roy, is MySportsbook.com’s overwhelming favorite to win the NBA Rookie of the Year odds.

Despite missing 20 games due to an injury earlier this season, Roy has definitely put up the best numbers of his 1st year peers. In 32 games, Roy is averaging 15.3 PPG, 4.2 boards and 3.5 assists in over 33 minutes of play per game. While most rookies breakdown as the season progresses (see Morrison), Roy is only getting stronger as his playing time and scoring average has increased each month.

With 30 or so games left in the regular season, Roy isn’t a lock for the award by any means. Other rookies are putting together some pretty impressive campaigns and a few could give Roy a run for the award with increased playing time. Heading the list is first pick, Andrea Bargnani of the Toronto Raptors. Even though he has started only two games all season, Bargnani is averaging 10.3 PPPG while shooting 35% from deep.

Randy Foye of the Minnesota Timberwolves could be set to give Roy the best competition NBA Rookie of the Year betting lines. With the benching of Mike James, Foye looks like he could be the starter in the T-Wolves backcourt for the rest of the season. So far, Foye has averaged 9 PPG and 2.4 assists in just under 21 minutes per game. With his new role of starter, Foye’s numbers will definitely increase. In his first game as the new starting guard this past Sunday, Foye had 10 points; five rebounds and 8 assists. More importantly, he logged 34 minutes of playing time; his third highest run of the season.

Adam Morrison, of the Charlotte Bobcats, was the favorite early on in the season after averaging 15+ PPG through the first month of the season. Ever since his torrid start, Morrison’s point production has declined each month. This really isn’t surprising, considering at 6’8” he only weighs 205 lbs. Obviously he will need to hit the weights big time during the off-season in order to keep from breaking down in the future.

Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to bet on the NBA. With the regular season about to hit the homestretch, it is important to point out that MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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