Illini and Badgers square off in Big Ten brawl

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/09/2010 - Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Illinois Fighting Illini carry a four-game win streak into tonight's Big Ten Conference battle with the 11th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers, who are tough to beat in Madison.

Illinois has quietly gotten itself into position to contend for the Big Ten title with its recent winning streak, as the club is 8-3 in league play. The Illini, who are 16-8 overall, knocked off Michigan State on Saturday by a 78-73 final, avenging a five-point loss to the Spartans last month. All but one of the club's eight losses this season have come by 10 or fewer points, proof that Illinois has been competitive even in defeat.

Like Illinois, Wisconsin is 8-3 in conference action thanks to wins in four of its last five contests. The Badgers defeated Michigan on Saturday by a 62-44 final to move to 18-5 overall, and they carry a 13-0 home record into this evening's affair.

Illinois owns a 107-74 series advantage over Wisconsin, but the Badgers have won six of the last seven meetings.

The Illini have achieved strong offensive balance thanks to the contributions of four double-digit scorers. Demetri McCamey leads the way with 15.4 ppg, and he has dished out 153 assists against 76 turnovers. Mike Tisdale provides 11.7 ppg on 57.6 percent shooting, and D.J. Richardson provides 11.2 ppg. As for Mike Davis, he rounds out the foursome with 10.7 ppg and 8.5 rpg. Illinois is posting 74.2 ppg through 24 games, while opponents are netting 67.0 ppg against the team. McCamey shot 6-of-9 from three-point range and finished with 22 points against Michigan State last time out, and Richardson added 14 points. The Illini shot 52.5 percent from the field and committed only 10 turnovers, eight fewer than the Spartans. Those positives enabled the Illini to overcome a 34-24 rebounding deficit.

Trevon Hughes is netting 15.5 ppg this season for Wisconsin, which is scoring 67.8 ppg while limiting opponents to 56.2 ppg on 41.0 percent field goal efficiency. Jason Bohannon checks in with 11.1 ppg, and Jordan Taylor adds 10.0 ppg. Against Michigan over the weekend, Wisconsin connected on 53.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including a 11-of-21 effort from three- point range. The Badgers also earned a 29-19 rebounding advantage and played tremendous team defense in the second half. Bohannon tallied 18 points in that contest, and he handed out five assists. Hughes pitched in 14 points, and Jordan Taylor finished with 13.

Casino-internet-casino NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Alabama visits Kentucky in SEC action
Lexington, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Alabama Crimson Tide invade Rupp Arena this evening for an SEC clash with the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats. Alabama is a respectable 13-10 overall, but that record is overshadowed by a 3-6 mark versus l

<< Hoyas head north to battle Friars
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a statement victory, the Georgetown Hoyas are slated to collide with the Providence Friars this evening in a Big East Conference affair. Georgetown had lost two of its previous three games heading

<< Berdych, Dent victorious in San Jose
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych and unseeded American Taylor Dent were first-round winners Monday at the $600,000 SAP Open. Dent topped fellow countryman Alex Bogomolov Jr, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) on the indoor hardco

<< Mavs send Warriors to ninth straight loss; Ellis hurts knee
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Terry made 6-of-9 three-point tries, finishing with a season-high 36 points, along with nine assists and six rebounds, as Dallas took control in the fourth quarter in a 127-117 victory over Go

<< Gasol carries short-handed Lakers over Spurs
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pau Gasol had a spectacular all-around game with 21 points, 19 rebounds, a season-high eight assists and five blocked shots, pacing the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-89 win over the San Antonio Spurs.

Ranked foes meet in Big Ten battle >>
East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 10th-ranked Michigan State Spartans will try to keep their slim hold on the top spot in the Big Ten tonight, as they host the sixth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers at Mackey Arena. After opening their Big T

Vols and 'Dores duke it out in pivotal SEC clash >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 12th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers will take on the 22nd-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores this evening with an SEC battle and state bragging rights on the line. Tennessee has won its last three games to move to

Pacers, Bulls clash at Conseco Fieldhouse >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A Chicago Bulls squad that's struggled on the road for much of this season will try to turn around its historic lack of success at Indianapolis' Conseco Fieldhouse in tonight's Central Division clash with the Indiana Pacers.

NBA's best meets worst as Cavs host Nets >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The teams with the best and worst records in the NBA this season will go head-to-head at Quicken Loans Arena tonight, where the powerhouse Cleveland Cavaliers put an 11-game win streak on the line against the downtrodden New

Sixers shoot for season-high 5th straight win vs. Wolves >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time Minnesota and Philadelphia got together the Sixers blew a 20-point lead en route to an overtime loss. The 76ers will try to maintain any sort of advantage tonight, when they try to extend their season high winni

FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.