Report: Calhoun expected to receive extension on Friday

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/07/2010 - Hartford, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Connecticut is reportedly set to give men's head basketball coach Jim Calhoun a contract extension through the 2013-14 season.

According to the Hartford Courant, UConn will hold a press conference on Friday morning to announce the move. The report cites a source as saying the extension is worth $13 million over five years and is retroactive to the 2009-10 season.

If those figures are correct, Calhoun will receive a significant raise on the $1.6 million he earned in the final year of his current contract that was slated to expire in June.

The 67-year-old, who guided the Huskies to a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004, experienced health problems during an up-and-down 2009-10 campaign and left the team for seven games.

A three-game winning streak shortly after Calhoun's return gave the Huskies hope for a possible at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament, but those dreams were dashed with a four-game losing streak to end the season, including an embarrassing 75-53 loss to St. John's in the first round of Big East tourney.

UConn ended the season 18-16, including a lowly 7-11 mark in conference play. They lost to Virginia Tech in the second round of the NIT.

In his 24 years with the program, the Huskies have gone 575-221. He also coached 14 seasons at Northeastern, compiling a record of 248-137.

In 2009, Calhoun became the seventh Division I coach in NCAA history to reach 800 career wins.

Fpxsports NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Hamilton, Guerrero power Rangers to wild win over Royals
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Josh Hamilton and Vladimir Guerrero clubbed back-to-back home runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting Texas to a 13-12 win over Kansas City in the opener of a four-game series

<< Bergesen, Wigginton help Orioles blank Twins
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brad Bergesen pitched 6 2/3 scoreless frames, and Ty Wigginton's two-run homer accounted for all the scoring, as the Baltimore Orioles opened up a four-game set at Target Field with a 2-0 win over th

<< Martinez knocks in four as BoSox sweep Angels
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Victor Martinez went 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and four runs batted in, leading the Red Sox in an 11-6 slugfest win over the Angels to sweep a four-game series at Fenway Park. Dustin Pedroia added

<< Magic pull away late, down Hawks in Eastern Conference semifinals
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard scored 29 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, and the Magic pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 112-98 win over Atlanta in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. Although the

<< Eveland pitches Jays to win over White Sox
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dana Eveland hurled seven shutout frames and Fred Lewis drove home the run support necessary, as Toronto blanked the White Sox, 2-0, in the opener of a four-game set at U.S. Cellular Field. Eveland (3-1) ou

Franzen's dandy period helps Wings stave off elimination >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Franzen notched a natural hat trick in a fabulous first period, sparking the Detroit Red Wings to a resounding 7-1 win over San Jose to stay alive after four games of their Western Conference semifin

Rays move to 12-1 on road, sweep Mariners >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Niemann hurled seven scoreless innings and Carl Crawford clubbed a two-run homer, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated Seattle, 8-0, to complete a three-game sweep at Safeco Field. Crawford finished 3-for-5 and

Mr. Clutch: Ethier's ninth-inning slam helps Dodgers avoid sweep >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andre Ethier belted a game-ending grand slam with one out in the ninth inning, and the Los Angeles Dodgers topped Milwaukee, 7-3, to avert a three-game sweep. Jonathan Broxton (2-0) blew the save o

Wizards' Arenas out of halfway house for gun count >>
GREAT FALLS, Va. (AP) -Gilbert Arenas has arrived home from the halfway house where he lived for nearly a month as part of his sentence for bringing guns into the Washington Wizards locker room.Arenas left the work-release facility in the Maryland s

UNC's Wear brothers to transfer >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina's basketball program took a hit for next season with the announcement that sophomore forward brothers David and Travis Wear are transferring. "Their father called me last night and asked f

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.

College Football Betting Tips From a Pro

While the NFL is the sport wagered on the heaviest, college football betting lines has become more and more popular as people realize it’s a game that can be beat. The NCAA football season gets longer each year with the addition of numerous bowl games and with that comes more opportunities for more money in your pocket, if handled correctly.

Betting on college football is not the same as with the NFL, so make sure you separate the two. Because of the vast number of teams, the parity between college football programs is slight and thus, you are going to see some high numbers in the NCAA. Teams favored by more than 40 points are not uncommon especially early in the season when teams playing their non-conference schedules.

The best advice when trying to tackle these enormous spreads and is to just stay away. A team that is favored by 40 points is favored by that many for a reason while teams getting 40 points are bad enough that they shouldn’t be touched. Set yourself a spread limit. Getting rid of these games will cut down on the number of contests that you need to handicap while staying away from backdoor or front-door covers.

What is a backdoor and front-door cover you ask? A backdoor cover is a team that is getting beat by more than the spread, but scores late to get within that number thus covering the spread. A front-door cover is just the opposite where the favorite scores late and covers the number they are favored by.

These front-door and backdoor covers are common when second and third string players enter games in college football and it can be the worst nightmare for some bettors. These players can also be your best friend, but ask any bettor and he will give you more instances on losing in this situation than winning. It just seems to work out that way even though everything evens out in the end.

College football betting has some of the softest lines of any sport and it’s being able to find these lines that will make you a successful college football handicapper. The NFL and NBA have the tightest lines around and while those sports can be beat by looking at situations and systems, college football doesn’t quite work that way. It’s much more manual, but when done correctly, it’s much more gratifying as well.

Getting into the nuts and bolts of college football means looking at the many stats in order to beat the number. As opposed to pro football, college football is less dependent on situations and angles and more on certain statistics. Rushing offense and defense, pass efficiency offense and defense and turnover margins are huge. These are vital in the NFL, but even more so when it comes to college football.

Being able to run the ball in college football has always been a key factor in the overall success of a team. The same adage also goes for teams who have the ability to stop the run. Putting these two factors together can produce some positive results in a team’s record both straight up and against the spread. These numbers show huge differences in teams and the spread may not take those into effect, which is where the value comes into play.

Passing yardage numbers both for and against can be a misinterpreted statistic. However, pass efficiency has always been one of the best ways to look at a teams’ passing game ability both offensively and defensively. But is it really a true indication of how they perform? I wouldn’t say so since they are raw passing numbers with nothing else taken into consideration.

I use pass efficiency ratings when doing my handicapping but I adjust my numbers based on a number of factors including power ratings, strength of schedules, personnel and injuries. This gives a much better picture of a team’s ability to pass effectively and also being able to defend the pass. Tweaking pass efficiency stats instead of raw passing yards is the key.

Turnovers are the single most frustrating, and at times the most gratifying, aspect of a college football lines, mostly because they are so unpredictable. They are part of the game and most of the time nothing can be done to control them. However, turnovers are contagious and they can carry over from game to game and season to season.

It’s important to know how to forecast these unforeseen events and how to use them to your advantage. You can find ways to give yourself an edge by looking at past histories of teams and coaches and how they have fared in turnover wars in the past. Instead of turnovers hurting you at the wrong times, find ways to use them to your advantage.

As you can see, college football handicapping is very labor intensive and isn’t just based on where teams are ranked in the AP and coaches polls. Experience, coaching and match-ups are all important since unlike the NFL, college teams turn over much more often with new personnel at most positions every single year. Keeping current on this information is vital.

Betting NCAA football can be lucrative if done correctly, but more importantly, it’s just plain enjoyable because it can be beat. College football is one of the best sports to watch with some of the best rivalries taking place in all of sports. The only downfall is that a championship isn’t decided on the field but on a computer-based system that is the Bowl Championship Series. That will change someday and we will all be better off for it.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NCAA college football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.