Bears and 'Horns duke it out in Lone Star State showdown

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/02/2009 - Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Longhorns have been a bit inconsistent this season, and they will play host to the Baylor Bears this evening in a Big 12 Conference affair.

On Saturday, Texas fell to Oklahoma State in a 68-59 final, as theLonghorns simply didn't play well enough at the offensive end to win. They are now 19-9 overall, including 8-6 in league play, and a loss tonight could potentially hurt the team's chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament as an at-large selection. Fortunately for Texas, it is 12-2 at home this season and is taking on a Baylor squad that is 2-6 on the road.

The Bears dropped back-to-back road decisions to Oklahoma State and Iowa State before halting that skid with a 75-57 home win over Colorado on Saturday. Still, the Bears' 5-9 conference record clearly overshadows a 17-11 overall mark.

Texas beat Baylor by a 78-72 final in Waco back on January 27th, and the Longhorns own a commanding 154-75 advantage in the all-time series between the Lone Star State rivals.

Curtis Jerrells was tremendous for Baylor in Saturday's romp over Colorado, as the talented guard poured in 29 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the floor and 10-of-11 from the foul line. LaceDarius Dunn added 10 points for the Bears, who shot 52.2 percent from the field and earned a 21-14 edge in points from the charity stripe. A 32-22 rebounding advantage also helped the cause. Through 28 games, Jerrells is averaging 16.4 ppg to go along with 142 assists. Dunn checks in with 15.0 ppg, and he has come off the bench in all but four games this season. Kevin Rogers provides 12.3 ppg and 7.5 rpg, while Tweety Carter contributes 11.8 ppg. Henry Dugat rounds out a group of five double- digit scorers for the Bears, who are surrendering 77.1 ppg to conference opponents.

There is no doubt that Texas relies heavily on the duo of A.J. Abrams and Damion James to carry the load at the offensive end. Abrams is scoring 17.0 ppg despite his 39.3 percent field goal efficiency, and he is as streaky as they come. James is an ultra-athletic forward who brings 15.8 ppg and 9.4 rpg to the floor. The third and final double-digit scorer on the UT roster is Gary Johnson with his 11.3 ppg. Unfortunately, the Longhorns connected on only 31.5 percent of their field goal attempts against Oklahoma State on Saturday and finished with just seven assists against 15 turnovers. Texas was also outscored 19-7 from the foul line in defeat. James posted 18 points and 18 boards in the setback, while Dexter Pittman and Harrison Smith tallied 12 points apiece.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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