Top-25 Pac-10 tilt features Oregon at Washington State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 battle in the Pac-10 takes place in the Pacific Northwest this evening, as the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks take on the 20th-ranked Washington State Cougars from Friel Court in Pullman.

The Ducks are trying to salvage their trip to the state of Washington, after dropping an 89-77 decision at UW on Thursday. The loss halted a five- game win streak for Oregon, which is now 6-2 in Pac-10 play.

The Cougars are also 6-2 in league action thanks to two straight wins, including a 70-55 pasting of Oregon State on Thursday. Both teams sit just a game behind UCLA (7-1) in the league standings.

Oregon holds a solid 152-116 lead in this longstanding series and has won each of the last 11 meetings.

The Ducks played without the Pac-10's leading scorer, as Aaron Brooks sat out the game at Washington for an incident in last year's Pac-10 Tournament. The Ducks suffered a 12-point loss without their leader, despite shooting .547 from the floor and having six players finish in double figures. Bryce Taylor led the way with 19 points. Chamberlain Oguchi followed with 15 points, with Tajuan Porter (11 pts) behind him. Malik Hairston, Maarty Leunen and Ray Schafer all tallied 10 points in the loss. Oregon lost the battle on the boards (33-22) and turned the ball over a costly 18 times. Brooks will be back in the lineup for this game and his 18.4 ppg will surely be welcome. Brooks is not the only one who cam fill up the basket on this roster, as Taylor is shooting .527 from the floor and pouring in 16.2 ppg. Hairston is next with 13.0 ppg, followed by Porter and Leunen at 12.9 and 11.7 ppg, respectively. Leunen is averaging a near double-double with a team-high 9.8 rpg. As a team, Oregon is netting just over 80 points per game (80.1), while allowing just 66.

The Cougars lack the offensive punch to win a shootout with Oregon, but WSU has relied more on gritty defensive play to amass its impressive 17-3 record thus far. Opponents have managed a mere 58.0 ppg this year, while shooting a mediocre .401 from the floor. Offensively, the team is averaging just 68.4 ppg, but a +10.4 scoring margin is certainly a recipe for success. The backcourt combination of Derrick Low and Kyle Weaver is where most of the offense is generated. Low leads the team with 14.3 ppg, followed by Weaver's 11.3 ppg. Daven Harmeling (9.6 ppg) and Ivory Clark (9.5 ppg) are closing in on double digits. In the 15-point win over Oregon State, Robbie Cowgill led the way with a double-double consisting of a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. Weaver added 12 points to the cause, while Clark finished with 11. Low was just 3-of-7 from the floor, finishing with eight points.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Cassel Signs Contract

Kansas City, MO - Kansas City has not officially named Matt Cassel its starting quarterback, but there can be no doubt now.

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After praising his leadership and work ethic through spring workouts, the Chiefs announced Tuesday they had signed the 27-year-old Cassel to a multiyear contract. Terms were not disclosed, but he will almost certainly be one of the highest-paid members of the team.
"We are excited to be able to reach a long-term agreement for Matt Cassel to be a Kansas City Chief for many years to come," owner and board chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement. "His proven leadership on and off the field will be a tremendous asset to the organization."
Patriots made him their franchise player, meaning his salary for this season will be about $15 million.
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"I go out there each and every day with that focus that I'm the starter," Cassel said during a June minicamp. "Competition brings out the best in everybody."
The signing will come as welcome news to Cassel's new coaches and teammates. Amiable and hardworking, online football betting he appeared to win over everyone at minicamp.
"I think he's got some unique leadership qualities. I think his teammates like him and have respect for him. I think he's doing a pretty good job on the field, too," Haley said last month. "He's doing everything that I'm asking him, that our coaches are asking him to do. I don't have one single complaint how he's carrying himself."
After one workout, wide receiver Devard Darling declared Cassel "a breath of fresh air."
"He has a lot of swagger, a lot of confidence. It's good for us," said Darling. "We trust in him that he's going to go out there and lead us all the way."
nse to accommodate his specific abilities.
Trapped on the bench behind Heisman winners Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at USC and then unable to unseat Super Bowl MVP Brady at New England, Cassel seemed destined to be a backup all his life. As Brady was helped off the field last September, Cassel seized the opportunity he'd been waiting for since high school.
In his only sustained action since his teens, he hit 349 of 555 passes for 3,949 yards at New England. He had 23 touchdown passes and 13 interceptions as the Patriots, who had gone unbeaten through the regular season the year before, finished 11-5 and out of the playoffs.
Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, who had been Bill Belichick's assistant in New England, engineered the trade after the Patriots became convinced that Brady would recover fully from his knee operation.
"Since Matt arrived in Kansas City, he has embraced the team and the community," Pioli said. "His work ethic, his ability and competitive presence is what we expect from our players."

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.