Badgers cruise past Wolverines for 16th straight victory

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/25/2007 - Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alando Tucker and Brian Butch scored 16 points each, and No. 2 Wisconsin cruised past the Michigan Wolverines, 71-58, at Kohl Center.

Kammron Taylor and Marcus Landry added eight points apiece for Wisconsin (20-1, 6-0 Big 10), which won its 16th straight game. The streak is the longest in the nation, and the 20-1 start ties the best start in school history for the Badgers. Wisconsin has won its first six Big 10 games for the first time since the 1913-1914 season.

Courtney Sims scored 16 points for Michigan (16-5, 4-2), which had won back- to-back games, and four of five entering the contest. Lester Abram scored 10 points for the Wolverines, who fell in a matchup between the top two teams in the Big 10.

Michigan scored the game's first nine points, but the Badgers answered with a 9-2 run, tying the game at 11-11 on a layup by Joe Krabbenhoft with 11:41 left in the first half. Wisconsin pulled ahead on the strength of a 9-0 run late in the first half, and led 33-26 at the intermission.

Wisconsin blew the Wolverines off the court in the second half, stretching its lead out to 24 points with just under eight minutes left. A Ron Coleman jumper pulled Michigan to within 39-30 just under three minutes into the second half, but Wisconsin went on a 24-9 stretch, capped by Tucker's jumper that put the Badgers up 63-39 with 7:58 left.

Wisconsin led 71-50 after a Tucker layup with 3:06 left, but Michigan closed the game with eight straight points to produce the final score.

Game Notes

Wisconsin shot 54 percent from the field, compared to a 45 percent performance by Michigan...19 Michigan turnovers led to 24 Wisconsin points...Each team had 30 rebounds in the contest.

Wsportsbetting NCAA Basketball Betting News

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Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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