College Basketball Marketwatch Edition 8 2009-10

Sports MarketWatch
1/11/2009 5:00 PM EST
By The Team at SportsInsights.com

Welcome to the Sports Marketwatch – NCAA Basketball Edition, where SportsInsights gives sports fans unprecedented insight into the sports marketplace. If you want to know what is really happening on the sportsbook side, you now have an all-access pass with Sports Marketwatch!The staff at SportsInsights.com speaks directly with the line managers at some of the sports betting industry’s largest sportsbooks about which games the public is chasing and which ones the Sharps are pounding. Let’s look at what’s in store for the upcoming NCAAB games.

Sports Marketwatch – NCAA Basketball Edition

Our last edition of NCAA Basketball Marketwatch looked very promising early on. Akron led the Rhode Island Rams 48-39 with less than 15 minutes to go, but the Zips couldn’t hold their lead against the hot play of Lamonte Ulmer and Delroy James, ultimately losing 68-63. The Razorbacks also put up a valiant effort against the newly-crowned #1 team in the nation, the Texas Longhorns. The game was tied at 48 at halftime and as close as 86-84 late in the second half. Texas pulled away to win 96-85, but Arkansas managed to cover the 14.5-point spread.

2009 NCAA Basketball Games to Watch: 4-6-1, 40%*

*Source: SportsInsights.com

Oklahoma Sooners +1 over Oklahoma State Cowboys

This year’s Sooners are a far cry from the team that boasted last year’s 1st-overall draft pick, Blake Griffin and grabbed a 2-seed in the NCAA Tournament. They’ve begun the season 9-6 with losses to the likes of Virginia Commonwealth (coach Jeff Capel’s former team), San Diego, Houston and UTEP. Tonight they’ll face in-state rival Oklahoma State in Norman. The Cowboys are an impressive 13-2 and could be close to breaking into the Top 25. Coming off an 81-52 trouncing of #22 Texas Tech, they may look like a shoo-in to dominate tonight’s match-up. After all, Oklahoma just got stomped by 31 points at Baylor. Easy, right? Maybe not. None of Oklahoma’s losses this season have come at home, where they’ve manhandled legitimate programs like Arkansas and Arizona. The talent is certainly there, led by standout guard Willie Warren (17.9ppg, 4.4apg) as well as the leading candidate for the MAN Award(Most Awesome Name), their 6-foot-9 and 300-pound freshman, Tiny Gallon.

The visiting Cowboys opened as 1.5-point favorites at both CRIS and Pinnacle. The public has apparently paid attention to the 60-point differential from each team’s last game, and they are backing Oklahoma State with 63% of spread bets and 71% of parlays and teasers. Instead of increasing the line, however, bookmakers have essentially reversed it. Oklahoma is now a 1-point favorite at most sportsbooks, even moving to -1.5 at a couple in the last few minutes. We’ve seen Oklahoma get hit with Steam Moves from a two high-performing sportsbooks, both Olympic (+8.4 Units Won) and 5Dimes (+25 Units). You can find a couple extra value points hanging loose on the market right now, and we’re going to grab the point available at WSEX, still expecting the Sooners to win.

Games to Watch (4-6-1)
Oklahoma +1 (WSEX)

It should be an exciting night of college action in the sports marketplace. Keep Sports Marketwatch picks handy and your browser pointed to SportsInsights.com for the latest real-time updates, using our exclusive Sports Investing tools.

We’ll be back next week with a new college basketball edition of Sports Marketwatch.

Enjoy the games!

The Team at SportsInsights.com