Sakoda kicks Utes to bowl win over Tulsa
NCAA Football Betting Lines
12/24/2006 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Louie Sakoda connected on all four of his field goals as Utah downed Tulsa, 25-13, to win the Armed Forces Bowl.
Brett Ratliff threw for 240 yards with a touchdown and an interception for the Utes (8-5), who are a perfect 6-0 in bowl games since 1999. The versatile Eric Weddle rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown and also intercepted Tulsa quarterback Paul Smith on the last play of the game.
Smith finished with 158 yards passing while running for two scores for the Golden Hurricane (8-5), who were making back-to-back post-season appearances for the first time since 1964-65.
The Utes took advantage of a good field position on their first possession of the game for the first score. Ratliff's 16-yard completion to Brian Hernandez set up Sakoda's first boot of the game, a 45-yarder with just under eight minutes to play in the first.
Tulsa survived a muffed punt late in the first quarter before embarking on a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive that bridged the first and second quarters.
Courtney Tennial rushed for 42 yards on the drive as Smith dove across the goal line from one yard out to put Tulsa up 7-3 early in the second quarter.
Ratliff began to heat up on Utah's next possession, completing three consecutive passes before hooking up with Brent Casteel for a 17-yard gain down to the Tulsa three yard line. However, Casteel was called for illegal touching after stepping out-of-bounds and the catch was nullified. Utah instead settled for a 39-yard Sakoda field goal that made it 7-6 with 8:50 left in the first half.
The Utes got the ball back with just over a minute left to play and put together an impressive late scoring drive. Ratliff scrambled for a 19-yard gain to the Tulsa 48-yard line before hitting Marquis Wilson for a 24-yard reception with just two seconds left on the clock. Sakoda stepped on the field and nailed a 41-yarder to put Utah up 9-7 at the break.
Utah came out strong to start the second half with a seven-play, 74-yard scoring march capped by Casteel's touchdown off a hook-and-ladder play. Ratliff threw out to the left flank to Hernandez, who tossed the ball back to Casteel. Casteel then ran untouched into the end zone to give the Utes a 16-7 lead.
Sakoda's 34-yarder on Utah's next possession gave the Utes a 19-7 lead with 3:02 left in the third.
Ratliff's errant throw early in the fourth quarter gave the Golden Hurricane some life as Bobby Blackshire came up with the interception. Tulsa capitalized on the short field as Smith scored his second TD of the game. Jarod Tracy pushed the extra point wide right to keep the score 19-13.
Tulsa then got the ball back with a chance to take the lead, but the Golden Hurricane stalled with a three-and-out. The subsequent punt and return gave Utah good field position and the Utes were able to take advantage.
With Weddle lined up primarily at the quarterback position, Utah ran the ball down Tulsa's throat, with Weddle scoring from four yards out to ice the game.
Game Notes
Hernandez finished with eight catches for 60 yards for the Utes, while Casteel rushed seven times for 66 yards...Tarrion Adams was Tulsa's leading receiver with nine catches for 63 yards.
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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.
Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.
Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.
Memphis vs. Ohio State
Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.
UCLA vs. Kansas
In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.
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 MySportsbook.com’s “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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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.