Montreal RW Blunden out 4-to-6 weeks following knee surgery

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02/08/2012 - Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Canadiens announced Wednesday that right winger Michael Blunden underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a meniscus.

The 25-year-old will require 4-to-6 weeks to recover.

Blunden has registered two goals and one assist in 28 games this season, his first with Montreal.

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<< Dartmouth going prime time again
Hanover, NH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dartmouth College football is drawing off the success of the first night game at Memorial Field last season with its 2012 opener against Butler. The Big Green will host the Bulldogs from the Pioneer Football Le

<< Isles reward Nielsen with 4-year extension
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders offically signed center Frans Nielsen to a four-year contract extension on Wednesday. No financial terms were disclosed, but multiple outlets reported it is worth $11 million.

<< Pacers seek another road win in Atlanta
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers target their fourth straight win on the road when they take on the Atlanta Hawks tonight at Philips Arena. Indiana is 10-5 as the visitor this season and will also visit Memphis on its quick two-game roa

<< Portland tries to bounce back at home vs. Rockets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portland will seek to rebound from a rare loss in Rip City when it hosts the Houston Rockets at the Rose Garden tonight. Russell Westbrook blocked Nicolas Batum's drive to the hoop in the closing seconds of regulatio

<< South Carolina State faces tough opening to 2012 schedule
Orangeburg, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-ever games at Arizona and Texas A&M are part of a rugged opening month of the 2012 South Carolina State football schedule announced Wednesday. Coach Buddy Pough's team will play only four home game

Ruff sidelined; Patrick to coach on Wednesday >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Assistant coach James Patrick will be behind the bench guiding the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday when they welcome the Boston Bruins. That's because Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff is still recovering from multi

Morris reportedly to be Yale's offensive coordinator >>
New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Massachusetts head football coach Kevin Morris will be named Yale's new offensive coordinator, according to reports Wednesday. The coaching web sites Coachingsearch.com and Footballscoop.com reported t

Memphis will join Big East in 2013-14 >>
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The ongoing game of musical chairs in college athletics has its newest player. The Big East made it official on Wednesday, welcoming Memphis in all sports for the 2013-14 season, completing the con

Union signs Colombian forward Pajoy >>
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Union announced on Wednesday that the club has signed Colombian forward Lionard Pajoy. Pajoy joins the Union from Colombian side Itagui Ditaires and he is coming off the best season of his ca

Traore out as Senegal coach >>
Dakar, Senegal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Senegal's football federation confirmed on Wednesday that coach Amara Traore has been fired following a disappointing showing by the team at the African Cup of Nations. Senegal entered the competitio

Huskers' Lucky hospitalized for undisclosed reason

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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