Idaho hits road for test against No. 6 Nebraska

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - Lincoln, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a 49-10 thrashing of Western Kentucky in last week's season opener, the sixth-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers figure to be challenged a bit more this Saturday as they welcome the Idaho Vandals to Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

The Vandals are also 1-0 on the young season, having disposed of visiting North Dakota last week in a 45-0 final. It was the first time since 1998 that Idaho opened a season at home, and the first time they posted a shutout since 1997. The Vandals are coming off a 2009 campaign (8-5) in which they produced the second-best turnaround in the country -- they went just 2-10 in 2008.

As for the hometown Huskers, they scored early and often last week against the Hilltoppers to post their 25th straight season-opening victory -- the longest active streak in the nation. All 25 wins have come by double figures. WKU has now lost 21 consecutive games -- the nation's longest current losing streak.

A win here is important for the Cornhuskers, who travel to the Pacific Northwest next week to take on Pac-10 foe Washington. The Big 12 Conference slate, Nebraska's swan song as it will move to the Big Ten next season, will offer plenty of potential pitfalls, although the Huskers are fortunate to get Texas at home and miss Oklahoma all-together -- save for a potential meeting in the Big 12 title game.

This bout marks the first-ever meeting between Idaho and Nebraska on the gridiron.

Idaho started off slowly in last week's clash with North Dakota, but the floodgates opened soon enough and when the dust had settled the Vandals had piled up 547 yards of total offense and 45 unanswered points. QB Nathan Enderle went 24-of-37 for 311 yards with a pair of TDs and one INT. He hit Daniel Hardy four times for 82 yards and Armauni Johnson three times for a game-high 86 yards and a TD. Princeton McCarty was UI's leading ground gainer with 89 yards and two scores on 12 carries.

Idaho scored on all four trips to the red zone, while North Dakota came up empty on its two visits.

Defensively, the Vandals got huge games from Tre'Shawn Robinson and Shiloh Keo, the former logging nine tackles and the latter coming up with eight stops, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and an interception.

North Dakota finished with just 270 yards of total offense, with the pass yielding a mere 122 yards on 35 attempts. Five Fighting Sioux turnovers played a huge role in the outcome, as did the fact that the Vandals stood tall on third down, permitting just 3-of-13 chances to be converted successfully.

"As a whole," said Keo, "offensive and defensively, we were kind of slow in the beginning. But, at the end of the day, we came and did what we wanted to do. The offense moved the ball consistently and our defense held in there and we made some big plays and got the ball back to the offense."

Nebraska redshirt freshman QB Taylor Martinez made quite an impression in his first collegiate start last week against Western Kentucky, rushing for 127 yards and three TDs to power the Cornhuskers to their 39-point victory. He is the first freshman in school history to start the season opener, and was also effective in the passing game, hitting 9-of-15 attempts for 136 yards without a turnover.

NU head coach Bo Pelini was relatively happy with his rookie signal-caller's first game, "I thought Taylor did a nice job running the ball. He made some explosive plays and did some really good things. I thought he managed the football team well. I thought he threw it well and was pretty efficient. I thought for his first start he did a nice job."

Niles Paul was the team's leading receiver in the game, pulling down five balls for 92 yards and a TD, while the ground assault generated 289 yards and six TDs. In all, the NU offense amassed 536 yards on an average of 9.2 yards per play.

The 'Blackshirts', as the Nebraska defense has come to be known, allowed the Hilltoppers a mere 299 yards and just 10 points -- all scored in the second half. They were particularly tough against the pass (120 yards, zero TDs).

Lavonte David led all defenders in the game with 13 tackles, while P.J. Smith (INT) and Eric Hagg (fumble recovery) came up with the team's two turnovers.

Despite dominating the overmatched Hilltoppers, coach Pelini was not pleased with his defense's performance, "I thought overall defensively, I thought it was an absolute embarrassment. I thought it was coached poorly, that starts with me. I don't like anything we did defensively. There were a couple of things we did OK, but we did not play up to our standard."

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MySportsbook.com : Fortune Favors Favorites in March Madness betting?

Just like Day 1 of the “Sweet 16”, Friday’s games are chock full of some of the nation’s elite.  Unlike Thursday’s games, there is a little bit more of a “Cinderella” feel as #7 seed UNLV and #6 seed Vanderbilt will attempt to move on to the Elite Eight.  With powerhouses Florida, UNC and Georgetown looking to continue their momentum against lesser known teams, it isn’t surprising that once again the “betting public” is backing most of the favorites.  As the early coin rolls in, 56% of Sportsbook.com bettors prefer Georgetown (-7.5) as they take on Vanderbilt; 84% of the early money is backing Oregon (-3) as they square off against UNLV; and a slight majority (52%) of the early cash is on Florida (-10.5) against Butler as the Gators continue their quest for another National Title. The only favorite the public don’t seem confident in is UNC, as 59% of the cash is backing the underdog Trojans (+8).

Midwest

#1 Florida vs. #5 Butler

The defending National Champs have been on a mission since last April.  Joakim Noah and Al Horford turned down millions of dollars for one reason, to REPEAT.  After a late season hiccup which saw them lose three out of four, the Gators have won six straight by an average of 20.3 points. More importantly, they covered in five of those six games.  Behind their stymie defense that yields only 56.9 PPG, Butler has been a very pleasant surprise this season.  As their 20-11 ATS record will indicate, “surprise teams” like Butler are often good bets for gamblers.  Playing in an average conference, Butler wasn’t and underdog too often but when they were, they covered (6-0 ATS).  Butler’s defense will have its hands full against a Gators offense which averages 80.1 PPG on an amazing 52.9% shooting from the field.  With Florida’s tournament experience over the last few years, it isn’t surprising that they are 5-1 ATS this season, 20-4 ATS over the last three seasons and 38-20 since 1997 in tournament action.

#3 Oregon vs. #7 UNLV

As a #7 seed, UNLV is the closest thing to a “Cinderella” we have this year.  If you bet on UNLV this season with any regularity, you most likely cashed in. Behind their guard oriented attack, the Rebels are an impressive 20-11 ATS this season.  As an underdog they covered in 8 out of their ten games which isn’t surprising since they are 52-30 ATS as a ‘dog since 1997. The Rebels have been a consistent cover during the month of March as well.  This March they are 6-0 ATS, 11-3 ATS over the last three seasons and 24-11 since 1997. Their impressive ATS trends don’t end there; versus teams with a winning record they are 15-6 ATS this season and 41-21 over the last three seasons.  Although Oregon hasn’t been as generous to gamblers as UNLV this season, they have been covering consistently as of late.  There is no question that they are playing their best ball of the season having won their last 8 straight up (SU) by an average of 14.5 points. Not surprising they covered in 7 of those games.  It is interesting to note how similar these teams are in regards to scoring and scoring defense. UNLV averages 75 PPG while giving up 66.5 PPG and Oregon scores 75.8 PPG while yielding 65.5 PPG.

East

#6 Vanderbilt vs. #2 Georgetown

“Hoya Paranoia” is officially back! After a decent start, Georgetown has rolled through the second half of the season.  Over their last 18 games, they are 17-1 SU.  They have definitely improved ATS as the season has progressed as well. After opening the season 1-4-1 ATS, the Hoyas have covered 78.3% of their games.  With their great interior play of Jeff Green and Roy Hibbert, the Hoyas as a team shoot 50.5% from the field.  Like the Georgetown teams from years ago, they also excel on defense.  Hoya opponents averaged only 56.8 PPG on 38.2% shooting from the field and an extremely low 30.4% from beyond the arc.  The last stat could be of some concern to Vanderbilt considering they shoot 37.7% from long-range.  Ranking second to last in the SEC in rebounding margin, Vanderbilt will have its work cut out for them against the Hoya trees. As far as covering is concerned, Vanderbilt has been almost a “sure thing” (7-1 ATS) versus good defensive teams that allow less than 64 PPG.

#1 UNC vs. # 5 USC

The Tar Heels are as talented and as deep as any team in the country.  Going ten deep and chock full of HS All-Americans, UNC averages 86.1 PPG and scored 100+ seven times.  Led by All-American forward, Tyler Hansbrough (18.6 PPG 7.9 RPG) UNC has a very balanced attack which can kill you on the inside as well as on the perimeter.  UNC only real concern is their youth as eight of their rotation players are either sophomores or freshmen.  UNC was a reliable cover this season going 20-13 ATS.  An intriguing covering trend for the Tar Heels in recent years has been how they fared after non-conference games.  This season they are 11-3 ATS after non-conference games and over the last three seasons they are 31-13 ATS.  USC is also a pretty deep team which is loaded with swingman types.  An match-up to keep an eye on will be freshman forward Taj Gibson (12.1 PPG, 8.6 RPG) as he squares off against the AA Hansbrough.  USC has been a covering machine this season achieving a 21-10 record ATS.  They have thrived in the underdog role, having covered 10 out of 12.  When playing a team with a winning record, the Trojans are an incredible 20-6 ATS. Keep in mind, USC dedicated their season to former star to Ryan Francis who passed away before the season so as they get closer to the ultimate goal, emotion could definitely be on their side.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at this sportsbook “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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