Bragging rights on line as West Virginia visits Marshall

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Huntington, WV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - State rivals will square off in Huntington on Friday night, as the Marshall Thundering Herd welcome the 23rd-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers to town.

On opening weekend, West Virginia cruised past Coastal Carolina as expected by a 31-0 final. Members of the Big East Conference, the Mountaineers are led by Bill Stewart, now in his third season at the helm. There are 16 starters back between the offense and defense, so expectations are fairly high in Morgantown.

As for Marshall, which is a member of Conference USA, it had the unenviable task of taking on second-ranked Ohio State in Columbus to open the season last week. Put simply, the Thundering Herd were outclassed, as they fell to the Buckeyes in a 45-7 final. That lopsided defeat spoiled the debut of Doc Holliday, the new coach at Marshall.

"I told our team that I was proud of the effort that they gave," said Holliday. "I was not proud of the fact that we did not follow the plan to win."

West Virginia has won all nine previous meetings with Marshall, including double-digit victories over the Herd in each of the last four seasons.

While many starters do return for West Virginia, Geno Smith is a fresh face under center. In the opener against Coastal Carolina, Smith completed 20-of-27 passes for 216 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

"I want Geno to know I have all the confidence in the world in him and the other 10 players out there with him," said coach Stewart. "I wanted that young man to know he's our guy, we're going with him and I wanted to showcase him right from the get go."

Noel Devine ran for 111 yards and a score for WVU, and the speedy back now has nearly 3,500 rushing yards in his brilliant collegiate career.

"People expect him to go out and run for 300 yards against these guys," said Stewart of Devine. "They spent the whole day trying to take Noel out of the game plan. That's why we threw the ball."

Jock Sanders paced the WVU receivers with eight grabs for 71 yards and a score, and the Mountaineers finished the contest with 400 total yards. They were 9-of-17 on third-down conversion attempts and held the ball for over 32 minutes.

Defensively, West Virginia stifled Coast Carolina, limiting the overmatched Chanticleers to 186 total yards on 60 offensive plays. Of the 14 third-down conversion attempts that Coastal faced in the tilt, only two of those were successful. WVU was particularly strong against the run, permitting a mere 63 yards on 33 attempts. The Mountaineers didn't record any sacks, but they did post a pair of takeaways. Terence Garvin paced WVU with seven total tackles.

"I really liked the way our defense played," said Stewart. "I am really pleased with the way our defense adjusted and reacted during the football game."

Looking forward to this weekend's game, Marshall's new head coach showed great respect for West Virginia.

"We come from playing the best team in the Big Ten Conference to now playing the best team in the Big East Conference," said Holliday. "They are the most talented Big East team out there."

Holliday's offense posted just 199 total yards and recorded 11 first downs against Ohio State, which possesses one of the best defenses in all of college football. The Thundering Herd were 4-of-14 on third-down conversion attempts and turned the ball over three times.

A major problem for Marshall was that its receivers dropped far too many passes. Both Brian Anderson and Eddie Sullivan saw time under center, and both were victimized by the drops. Anderson completed 17-of-28 passes for 135 yards and figures to be under center for much of this weekend's tilt.

Moving over to the defensive side of the ball, Marshall was simply not match for the high-powered and well-balanced Ohio State offense. The Thundering Herd were gashed for 529 total yards and 23 first downs, and OSU was able to hold the ball for nearly 35 minutes of the contest. With zero takeaways, Marshall failed to make the type of impact plays necessary to keep a game close against an elite opponent. Mario Harvey recorded 10 total tackles in the tilt, while Vinny Curry had a pair of sacks.

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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