ACC showdown pits Heels against 'Canes

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/15/2012 - Coral Gables, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The eighth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels take to the road in search of their fourth straight ACC win away from Chapel Hill, as they invade the BankUnited Center to take on the dangerous Miami- Florida Hurricanes.

Roy Williams' squad dropped a crucial 85-84 decision to arch rival Duke last week, but bounced back with an impressive 70-52 win over nationally-ranked Virginia this past weekend to move to 8-2 in league play, good for a first- place tie with both Duke and Florida State in the standings.

Jim Larranaga's first season with the Hurricanes has been mildly successful. Miami is making a push for NCAA Tournament consideration, highlighted by a huge win over Duke in Durham. However, the momentum gained by a recent five- game win streak, was halted by last weekend's 64-59 road loss at rival Florida State.

The Tar Heels own a 17-2 advantage in the all-time series with the Hurricanes and have won the last nine meetings, including a 73-56 decision in Chapel Hill back on January 10th.

Virginia held North Carolina well under its season average, but it didn't matter, as the Tar Heels still won the game by 18 points this past weekend at the Smith Center. It was once again UNC's frontcourt that made the difference, headlined by Tyler Zeller. The 7-0 senior just missed a double-double with 25 points and nine rebounds. Forwards Harrison Barnes and John Henson however, were able to pull off the feat. Barnes finished the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Henson tallied 10 points and 10 boards for North Carolina, which outrebounded the Cavaliers, 52-32.

Fueled by the nation's premier frontcourt, North Carolina leads the country in scoring (83.5 ppg). Barnes has the ability to score both inside and out and is averaging a team-best 17.5 ppg (second in the ACC). Zeller isn't far behind at 16.0 ppg (fifth in the conference), while Henson pours in 14.0 ppg (ninth in the league). Henson and Zeller make up quite the rebounding tandem as well. Henson leads the ACC with 10.3 rpg, followed closely by Zeller's 9.6 rpg (third in the ACC). Point guard Kendall Marshall is charged with running the offense and although he isn't much of a scorer (6.8 ppg), he ranks first in the ACC and second nationally in assists (9.6 apg).

When compared to UNC's offensive proficiency, Miami lags pretty far behind. The Hurricanes are averaging a modest 71.5 ppg this year, doing so on .438 shooting. Still, there is scoring depth, as four of the team's five starters are averaging double figures. Kenny Kadji and Durand Scott share the team-lead with 12.6 ppg apiece. Malcolm Grant (12.1 ppg) provides support along the perimeter, while Reggie Johnson (11.4 ppg, team-high 6.9 rpg) does the same up front.

The Hurricanes struggled to find their range against the defensively-gifted Seminoles last time out, shooting a mere 41.4 percent from the floor, including an ugly 27.3 percent from three-point range (5-of-22). Kadji led the way at the offensive end with 14 points. Scott finished with 12 points, while Grant added nine. Johnson however, was neutralized in the game, finishing with a mere four points in the loss.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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