Bruins seek Pac-10 title against Cardinal in Top-10 matchup

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2008 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A battle of Pac-10 heavyweights is on the docket tonight in Los Angeles, as the third-ranked UCLA Bruins entertain the seventh-ranked Stanford Cardinal.

If UCLA wins this contest, it will clinch the league's regular-season title and the top seed in next week's conference tournament. Stanford needs a victory to pull into a first-place tie with UCLA as the final regular-season game approaches.

The Cardinal have won four straight outings and 11 of their last 12, including a 60-53 decision over Washington State last Saturday.

UCLA has won five straight and 10 of 11, and while the Bruins were pushed to the limit by Arizona on Sunday, the result was a 68-66 road win. They have only lost three games all season, but two of those setback came at Pauley Pavilion.

UCLA holds a 128-89 lead in the all-time series with Stanford, and the Bruins won the first meeting this season by a 76-67 final.

The man to watch for Stanford is Brook Lopez, a standout power forward/center who is scoring 19.3 ppg to go along with 7.8 rpg and 44 blocked shots. He is joined up front by his twin brother, Robin, who adds 9.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 63 blocks. Anthony Goods has been a solid offensive contributor for the team, as he is generating 11.2 ppg. Strong defense has been a key to the success of the Cardinal, as they are limiting foes to 58.8 ppg on 39 percent shooting from the field. Strong rebounding has also played a major role, as they are pulling down 10 boards per game more than the opposition. In the win over Washington State last time out, Brook Lopez racked up 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting from the floor. Robin Lopez added 11 points, and Goods tallied 10 points. Stanford only turned the ball over eight times, impressive to say the least.

Kevin Love is just a freshman, but the UCLA standout has to be considered a major candidate for Pac-10 Player of the Year. In addition to his 17.3 ppg on 58.2 percent shooting from the floor, Love is ripping down 11.1 rpg to rank among the national leaders. Darren Collison is posting 14.3 ppg for the Bruins, as he is shooting a stellar 47.7 percent from three-point range. Josh Shipp checks in with 13.5 ppg, and Russell Westbrook adds 12.4 ppg. Defensively, UCLA has been able to limit its opponents to 57.9 ppg this season on 42.2 percent shooting from the field. The Bruins are also outrebounding foes by nearly 10 boards per contest while scoring 74.1 ppg. In the narrow win over Arizona on Sunday, Love scored 24 points and ripped down 15 rebounds. Collison scored 16 points, while Westbrook netted 10 points.

Wwclassifieds2000 NCAA Basketball Betting News

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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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