Bruins cling to Pac-10 title hopes

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2009 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 20th-ranked UCLA Bruins will try to keep their Pac-10 Conference regular season title hopes alive, as they host the Oregon Ducks at Pauley Pavilion this afternoon.

The Bruins enter the day one game behind Washington for first place and a game ahead of California for second at 12-5. With a win today, UCLA would be assured of no worse than a second-place finish, but it could also earn a share of its fourth straight Pac-10 title with a Washington loss to Washington State. The Bruins have won three straight and four of the last five outings, including a 79-54 blasting of Oregon State on Thursday. The triumph was the 15th in 17 home outings, as the Bruins improved to 23-7 overall.

As for Oregon, it assured itself of a last-place finish by dropping the first 14 games of its league schedule. The Ducks ended that drought with back-to- back wins last week, but they were unable to keep things going on Thursday, falling at USC in an 80-66 final. The loss was the ninth straight on the road for the team.

The all-time series between Oregon and UCLA leans heavily in favor of the Bruins, who extended their lead to 80-25 following an 83-74 decision over the Ducks in the first meeting of the season.

The Ducks hung tough early and trailed just 36-35 at the break, but in the second half, they shot a dismal 31.3 percent from the floor in what turned out to be an 80-66 setback at USC on Thursday. Oregon was also outdone at the foul line, where it went just 13-of-20 compared to a 22-of-28 effort by USC. Tajuan Porter guided the team in the defeat with 20 points, but he also accounted for seven of the squad's 13 turnovers. Still, Porter has been one of the few consistent players for Oregon and he is averaging a team-high 15.4 ppg, while shooting 38.6 percent from three-point range and 88.5 percent at the foul line. LeKendric Longmire is the only other player on the team contributing double figures at the moment, with 10.2 ppg.

The Bruins broke an 11-11 tie by outscoring Oregon State 32-8 the rest of the half and they would coasted to the 25-point victory on Thursday. UCLA shot an electric 58.5 percent from the field, including 10-of-19 from long range, and also held a 33-20 advantage on the boards. Josh Shipp was sensational in the win, as he poured in a career-high 27 points and knocked down 5-of-8 buckets from downtown. Nikola Dragovic added 13 points and eight boards, and Darren Collison had 11 caroms and eight assists. Collison was limited to just six points, but he is averaging much better and team-high 14.7 ppg on the season. He is also the engineer of the Bruin attack, dishing off 5.0 apg. Shipp checks in with 13.9 ppg, while Alfred Aboya logs 11.7 ppg and a team-best 5.9 rpg. Overall, UCLA is generating 76.5 ppg behind a nation-best 50.3 percent shooting from the floor.

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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