St. Mary's upsets No. 18 Gonzaga for WCC title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mickey McConnell and Ben Allen each hit four three-pointers to key the Gaels' terrific shooting effort, as St. Mary's downed No. 18 Gonzaga, 81-62, to capture the West Coast Conference Tournament title.

McConnell ended with 26 points, six assists and four steals, while Allen added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Gaels (26-5), who used a 14-3 run midway through the second half to secure the win and their sixth NCAA Tournament berth.

A 10-for-21 effort from three-point land and 14 forced turnovers helped spark the second WCC tournament crown in St. Mary's history.

Steven Gray scored 16 points and Matt Bouldin went for 14 on 2-of-8 shooting for the Bulldogs (26-6), who had swept the season series against the Gaels and beat them by 25 in last year's conference championship tilt.

The Zags are still expected to earn an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced on Sunday.

It was a two-possession game through the first 10 minutes of the second half, as a Gray bucket had Gonzaga, the WCC regular season champs, within 50-47.

Allen's three with just under nine minutes to play sparked the game-altering stretch, which ended appropriately on a McConnell three-ball for a 64-50 lead with 6 1/2 minutes left.

The margin was 64-54 before Allen and Jordan Page each hit from long distance, and Page's tear-drop while being fouled on the next possession put the finishing touches on an emphatic victory for St. Mary's.

McConnell scored the first seven points of the game to give the second-seeded Gaels an early lead. The Bulldogs settled down from a slow start, and though they never led in the opening 20 minutes, were within 30-29 at the break.

Game Notes

St. Mary's has won five straight overall, while Gonzaga was riding a five-game winning streak coming in...The only other WCC tourney title for the Gaels came back in 1997...The Bulldogs own 10 WCC Tournament titles and has captured five of the previous six crowns...Page ended with 11 points, while Omar Samhan had nine points and seven rebounds for the Gaels...Ellis Harris posted eight points on 3-of-13 shooting for Gonzaga.

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Super Bowl 2009 Betting

Super Bowl 2009 Betting propositions

Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.

Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.

Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.

If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.

Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.

By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.

In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.

So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.

While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.

There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.

In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:

SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.

XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.

XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.

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