Badgers battle Bulldogs in Madison

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/12/2007 - Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wisconsin Badgers are heavily favored in today's non-conference clash with The Citadel Bulldogs, who are coming off a record-setting performance.

Last Saturday, The Citadel set a modern-day school record by scoring 76 points in a shutout of lowly Webber International. The victory moved the Bulldogs to 2-0, marking the first time they have opened a campaign with back-to-back victories since 1997. Clearly, this game marks a major leap in competition level for the program.

Wisconsin moved to 2-0 with a 20-13 victory over UNLV on Saturday, but because that win wasn't as lopsided as expected, the Badgers dropped two positions in the national poll. Still, they are the highest-ranked Big Ten team, and they have been nationally ranked for 13 consecutive weeks dating back to last season. This tilt marks the first of what will be three straight contests at home, and Wisconsin will begin conference play next week. Currently, the Badgers own the longest active winning streak at 11 games dating back to last season.

This game marks the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and The Citadel on the gridiron.

In the first 19 minutes of last weekend's romp over Webber International, The Citadel's Duran Lawson threw three touchdown passes to Andre Roberts. Lawson also scored on a six-yard run during that span, proof of his versatility. The Bulldogs posted 514 yards of total offense in the tilt, as both the run and the pass proved productive. Lawson finished the contest 12-of-21 for 220 yards with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. Roberts reached the end zone on all three of his catches and finished with 86 yards. As for the ground attack, Tory Cooper posted 110 rushing yards and two touchdowns on only 16 carries. In the season-opening victory over Charleston Southern, Lawson connected on 20-of-31 passes for 207 yards and a pair of touchdown passes. As for Roberts, he caught eight passes in that contest for 91 yards and a score. Cooper had 116 yards and two touchdowns in the clash, and he appears well- suited to be a featured back.

Judging by the fact that The Citadel did not allow a single point last time out, the defense certainly deserves credit. The Bulldogs permitted only 176 total yards despite the fact that Webber International ran 79 offensive plays. The pass defense was tremendous, allowing only 18-of-39 throws to be completed while posting a pair of interceptions. Even more impressive was the fact that the run defense yielded a mere 38 yards on 40 rushing attempts. With three takeaways and three sacks, The Citadel made a number of impact defensive plays. In the season-opening victory over Charleston Southern, the Bulldogs allowed only 24 rushing yards on 22 attempts. They permitted a mere 161 total yards in that clash, so the defense is off to a tremendous start.

Tyler Donovan came through with the play of the game for Wisconsin last week, as his 29-yard touchdown scamper with under two minutes remaining enabled the Badgers to overcome a stiff UNLV challenge. Donovan is a first-year starter at the quarterback position who provides a great deal of versatility. Not only did he complete 14-of-26 passes for 138 yards with one touchdown and no interceptions, Donovan also rushed for 47 yards and one score. Travis Beckum was the most productive receiver in the win over UNLV, as he made six grabs for 66 yards. Of course, the most recognizable contributor on offense for the Badgers is big tailback PJ Hill, who carried the ball 30 times for 147 yards against the Rebels. Through two outings, Hill has run for 231 yards and a pair of touchdowns. As for Donovan, the coaching staff has to be proud of the fact that he has thrown four touchdowns with no interceptions while completing 60 percent of his passes.

Credit the Wisconsin defense for a job well done in the victory over UNLV. In the first quarter, the Badgers permitted the Rebels to march 80 yards in 14 plays and score a touchdown. Fortunately, the defense stiffened from that point on, as UNLV only managed two field goals over the final three quarters. The run defense of Wisconsin was particularly strong, permitting a mere 48 rushing yards on 27 attempts. While the pass defense does show some room for improvement, there was one interception registered that proved key to the victory. Through two outings, Wisconsin is surrendering 17.0 ppg and 317.0 total ypg. Clearly, the defensive unit has not been as dominant as it was early on last season, but it is hard to judge the team too much after only two games. Elijah Hodge leads the defense with 17 total tackles, including 2.5 TFLs.

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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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