09/07/2008 - Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Huckerby had a goal and an assist as San Jose beat D.C. United, 2-1, on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium to extend its unbeaten streak to eight matches.
San Jose won for the fourth time in its last five games and moved into fourth place in Major League Soccer's Western Conference.
The Earthquakes (7-9-7), who had just three wins in their first 18 games this season, climbed from the bottom of the conference past Los Angeles, FC Dallas and Colorado.
"This was an important game we needed to win and I'm happy we did," said San Jose's Arturo Alvarez, who scored the first goal of the match.
D.C. United (10-11-2), which won the U.S. Open Cup on Wednesday, remained tied with Red Bull New York for fourth in the Eastern Conference. Santino Quaranta scored United's lone goal late in the second half.
Alvarez put San Jose in front in the 18th minute, finishing off a great play by Huckerby for his sixth goal of the year. Huckerby stole the ball outside the penalty area and found Alvarez for an easy finish.
Huckerby, who has been a major part of San Jose's surge, doubled the lead in the 62nd minute with assists from Eric Denton and Scott Sealy. Sealy found the former English Premier League player at the top of the area and Huckerby fired inside the near post for his fourth goal.
D.C., which was without leading scorers Luciano Emilio and Jaime Moreno, cut the deficit in half in the 76th minute on Quaranta's fourth goal of the year.
Rod Dyachenko stole the ball deep in San Jose's end and found Quaranta outside the area to his right. Quaranta made a move to his left to lose a defender and fired inside the far post.
San Jose nearly put the match away two minutes later when Jovan Kirovski, Ned Grabavoy and Sealy worked a quick passing combination, but Sealy's finish was erased because he was offside.
D.C. failed to test San Jose goalie Joe Cannon over the remainder of the match and the Earthquakes held on for their seventh win of the season.
San Jose will try to extend its streak against two-time defending MLS champion and conference-leader Houston on Sept. 13. D.C. will try to bounce back Sept. 13 when it hosts FC Dallas.
<< Harrell, Morris help Red Raiders top Wolf Pack
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Morris had a pair of touchdowns, including
one on an 86-yard punt return, leading 12th-ranked Texas Tech to a 35-19 win
over Nevada.
Graham Harrell completed 19-of-46 passes for 297 yards with a TD
<< Giants rally to edge Pirates
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Scott McClain hit a two-run home run as
the San Francisco Giants rallied to defeat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 7-6, in the
second of three games at AT&T Park.
Pablo Sandoval went 2-for-2 with two RBI a
<< Tebow, Gators pull away late to crush 'Canes
Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Tebow threw for 256 yards and two
touchdowns as the Florida Gators overcame a sluggish start to down the Miami
Hurricanes for the first time since 1985 with a 26-3 victory.
Tebow was 21-of-35
<< Utah uses second-half surge to double up UNLV
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Johnson garnered 183 passing yards
and two touchdowns on 15-of-24 completions with an interception and also
rushed five times for 80 yards and a TD, as the No. 22 Utah Utes crushed the
UNLV Re
Abreu's big night helps keep Yanks in playoff hunt >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Abreu had a solo home run and finished
3-for-4 with three runs driven in and two scored, missing the cycle by a
double, as the New York Yankees kept their fleeting postseason hopes alive
with a
Sun Devils sting Cardinal in rout >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rudy Carpenter threw for 345 yards and three
touchdowns, boosting 15th-ranked Arizona State to a 41-17 rout of Stanford.
Carpenter completed 27-of-36 passes and was picked off once for the Sun Devils
(2-0, 1
The real McCoy: Longhorns level UTEP >>
El Paso, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colt McCoy threw four touchdown passes as 10th-
ranked Texas beat up Texas-El Paso, 42-13, at the Sun Bowl.
McCoy completed 20-of-29 passes for 282 yards and a pick while Quan Cosby had
eight catches for 154
Jays hope to get brooms out on AL East-leading Rays >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays take aim at their eighth straight win
this afternoon when they try and complete a three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay
Rays at Rogers Centre.
Toronto handed Tampa its first series loss on the road in nea
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.
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