Boise State heads to Sin City to challenge 21st-ranked UNLV

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Las Vegas, LV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Losers of two straight and three of the last four outings, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels find themselves now ranked 21st in the country as they await the arrival of the Boise State Broncos for a Mountain West Conference showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Just a short time ago it was the Rebels and San Diego State fighting for the top spot in the MWC standings and now both of those squads are trying to catch up to New Mexico, the same New Mexico that throttled UNLV on Saturday in a 65-45 final in Albuquerque. The scoring output by the Rebels was easily the lowest of the season for the squad and was a far cry from the 97 points the team tallied against TCU just four days earlier in a five-point overtime loss. Now tied with the Aztecs for second in the conference standings, UNLV is undefeated at home through 14 games so at least the team has that going in their favor after a difficult couple of weeks.

As for the Broncos, this is their first year in the MWC after making the move over from the Western Athletic Conference and early on the transition was clearly a difficult one for the program. However, since dropping seven in a row to begin conference play, BSU has turned the corner and rattled off three straight victories, the latest of those coming against TCU on Saturday in a thrilling 65-64 final. Even though Boise State is still tied for last place in the conference standings, the team certainly has reason to be encouraged.

UNLV leads the all-time series by a count of 3-1, but the Rebels had to go to overtime to take out Boise State on the road at Taco Bell Arena in the first meeting of the season by a score of 77-72.

Anthony Drmic knocked down a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining to give the Boise State Broncos a thrilling one-point win over the TCU Horned Frogs in Mountain West Conference action at Taco Bell Arena on Saturday afternoon. Drmic finished the afternoon with 10 points for the Broncos, followed by Derrick Marks who accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds and Kenny Buckner 12 points and six boards for the hosts. BSU survived despite shooting only 4-of-16 behind the three-point line. The epitome of balanced scoring, the Broncos have only one player scoring in double figures this season and still the squad is generating 70.5 ppg. Drmic checks in with 12.3 ppg, although his mere 38.5 percent accuracy from the floor is certainly questionable. Marks (9.2 ppg) and Buckner (9.0 ppg) pick up some of the slack as they convert 51.3 and 60.9 percent from the floor, respectively.

Playing in The Pit is never easy for the competition and the Runnin' Rebels were reminded of that on Saturday as they were crushed by the Lobos. UNLV finished the contest shooting a mere 14-of-45 from the floor and ended up with more turnovers (17) than made baskets. While it would not have made enough of a difference in the outcome, had the Rebels shot better than 11-of-21 at the free-throw line perhaps the visitors could have gone about it another way. Anthony Marshall was the only player in double figures for the Rebels as he dropped in 18 points, adding 10 rebounds to pace the team in that department as well. Completely taken out of his game was Mike Moser who delivered just eight points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Moser is the one who makes this run-and-gun offense move, averaging 14.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, so when he is brought to a halt so is the team. Chace Stanback is responsible for 13.1 ppg as he gives the squad a presence on the perimeter where he is shooting 45.7 percent, but even with the Rebels hitting 62 more three-pointers than the competition running the floor and pushing the ball inside is still what makes this group tick.

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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined

Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.

"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."

Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)

According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.

As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).

Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.

Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at

17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.

*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007

New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers

By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.

"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."

While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."

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