Aggies seek upset of fourth-ranked Jayhawks
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In one of the more lopsided series in the Big 12 Conference, the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks will try to continue their dominance over the Texas A&M Aggies when the two square off tonight at Reed Arena in College Station.
Kansas has won 18 of the previous 19 meetings with A&M, the most recent of which being a 64-54 decision in Lawrence on January 23. The Aggies' lone victory over the Jayhawks occurred in a battle of top-10 teams at Allen Fieldhouse back in 2007.
Kansas is an impressive 22-5 on the year, and the team's 12-2 league ledger has it in first place, a half game up on Missouri in the race for the Big 12 regular-season title. The Jayhawks are currently riding a four-game win streak, with their most recent triumph coming in an 83-50 shellacking of visiting Texas Tech on Saturday. KU has won its last two games outside of Lawrence and is 6-2 in true road bouts this season.
Texas A&M is an even 13-13 on the year, and the team has really struggled in conference play, sporting a 4-10 record to this point. The Aggies are coming off Saturday's 71-62 home loss to Missouri, and the setback was their fifth in the last six games overall. Still, A&M is 11-5 at home this season giving the team at least some confidence heading into tonight's affair.
With such an outstanding record, it's no surprise the Jayhawks rank among the league leaders in several statistical categories, including first in field goal percentage defense (.378), rebounding margin (+6.4), assists (16.0 per game) and blocked shots (5.7 per game). Kansas boasts the league's fifth-best scorer in Tyshawn Taylor (16.6 ppg), and its top rebounder in Thomas Robinson (11.8 rpg) and shot blocker in Jeff Withey (3.4 bpg). Robinson scored 16 points on 60 percent shooting from the field while also adding a career-high five assists in leading KU to its recent rout of Texas Tech. The Jayhawks, who had three other players reach double figures in the contest, made good on 56.3 percent of their total shots, and they drained a sizzling 60.0 percent (9- of-15) from three-point range. Defensively, they allowed the Red Raiders just 40.9 percent field goal efficiency while goading them into 20 turnovers. A 32-21 rebounding advantage certainly helped matters, as did a 20-8 edge in points from the foul line.
Texas A&M is one of the worst offensive teams in the Big 12 this season, netting a mere 61.4 ppg behind 43.8 percent field goal accuracy and a league- worst 64.6 percent showing at the charity stripe. The Aggies however, have performed well at times at the defensive end, and they come into this game as the conference's leader in three-point field goal percentage against (.292). Elston Turner ranks in the top-10 in the league in both scoring (14.3 ppg) and three-point field goals (57). In the recent loss to Missouri however, it was the tandem of Khris Middleton and Jordan Green that led the Aggies, netting 15 and 14 points, respectively. As a team, A&M shot a solid 49 percent from the floor, but the Tigers drained 56.1 percent of their total shots, which included eight treys. The Aggies secured a mere 16 rebounds in the game, and were outscored at the free-throw line by a 17-9 margin. Turner finished with just seven points behind a dismal 2-of-10 shooting effort.
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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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