Underdog Irish keep their label
Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis announced this week that freshman Jimmy Clausen will replace Evan Sharpley as starting quarterback and Las Vegas oddsmakers quickly responded.
How? They made Air Force (7-3) a three-point road favorite over the Irish (1-8), instead of the 2 1/2 -point line that opened the week in favor of the Falcons.
Just another example of how far Notre Dame has fallen under Weis, whose team has played better against the spread than it has on the field this season.
The Irish, who have been underdogs in eight of nine games, are 3-6 against the spread this season and 2-8 against the spread in their last 10 home games. Last week against Navy, Notre Dame was favored by three points and lost, 46-44, in overtime.
Air Force, which is getting 54% of the bets against the spread according to thespread.com, has won five in a row against the spread.
Rutgers is listed as a 19 1/2 -point road favorite over Army tonight and the Scarlet Knights have attracted big support this week.
Rutgers (5-4) picked up 85% of the bets against the spread on thespread.com’s betting trend, and 72.10% (1,204-466) at wagerline.com.
There are a couple of trends that give reason to back the Scarlet Knights, who are 5-0 against the spread in their last five road games against a team with a losing record.
Rutgers is also 5-1 against the spread in its last six games against a team with a losing record overall; Army is 1-5 against the spread in its last six home games.
Pro Basketball
With so many NBA teams turning to up-tempo attacks this season, it is interesting to see Utah as the league’s highest scoring team after two weeks of play. Led by point guard Deron Williams, who is averaging 22.6 points, the Jazz is scoring 111.4 points a game.
That’s why it is easy to understand the over being 5-0 in Utah’s first five games of the season. Tonight, the Jazz will play Seattle, which is averaging 99.8 points.
The San Antonio Spurs are still favorites to win this season’s NBA championship at 4-1, according to Sportsbetting.com’s latest odds. But watch out for Boston, which has moved even with Houston at 6-1.
Phoenix and Dallas are at 9-2. The Lakers come in at a respectable 25-1, while the Clippers are at 100-1.
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