Memphis seeks redemption in todays' tilt with Ole Miss

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

12/09/2006 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a rather lopsided loss to an intra-state rival, the 16th-ranked Memphis Tigers will attempt to get back on track by knocking off the Ole Miss Rebels in a non-league clash.

Ole Miss has been idle since November 30th when it posted an 85-77 decision over New Orleans. That win was the third in a row for the Rebels, who suffered their only loss to national powerhouse UConn on the road. They have yet to post a quality win, but that would certainly change if they can find a way to knock off Memphis.

The Tigers got off to a bad start against Tennessee on Wednesday and couldn't recover in what turned out to be a 76-58 loss to the Vols on the road. That defeat snapped a four-game winning streak for the Tigers, and the 58 points that they scored marked a season low by a wide margin. On a positive note, they do carry a perfect 4-0 home record into this afternoon's tilt.

Memphis holds a 26-11 advantage in the all-time series with Ole Miss, including a 72-49 romp over the Rebels in last season's meeting.

Bam Doyne has emerged as a big-time scorer for Ole Miss, as he is posting 17.9 ppg to go along with 7.6 rpg. Clarence Sanders adds 15.0 ppg to the lineup, and Todd Abernethy provides some balance with his 10.4 ppg. Even more impressive than his scoring ability is the fact that Abernethy has racked up 31 assists against only seven turnovers. In the win for the Rebels over New Orleans last week, a 65.2 percent shooting effort from the floor and a 15- of-19 showing from the foul line over the final 20 minutes proved to be the difference. Doyne and Jeremy Parnell tallied 16 points apiece in the triumph, while Kenny Williams and Eniel Polynice contributed 15 points each. Abernethy and Sanders combined to hit only two shots from the floor, and it is surprising that Ole Miss was able to overcome their ineffectiveness.

Memphis shot 9-of-40 from the floor in the first half against Tennessee and trailed by 21 points at intermission. The Tigers finished the game 5-of-28 from three-point range and 9-of-18 from the foul line in what was a poor offensive showing in all regards. Chris Douglas-Roberts was one of the lone bright spots for Memphis, as the talented guard finished with 19 points. Robert Dozier pitched in 13 points and nine rebounds, and Joey Dorsey pulled down 13 boards before fouling out. Douglas-Roberts is averaging 15.3 ppg on 50.6 percent shooting from he floor, and Dozier adds 12.8 ppg to the lineup on 55.6 percent efficiency to go along with 7.0 rpg. Jeremy Hunt (11.6 ppg) and Antonio Anderson (10.3 ppg) round out the double-digit scorers for Memphis, which is netting 81.5 ppg while limiting opponents to 67.9 ppg on 38.2 percent shooting from the field.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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