Boise State heads to Sin City to challenge 21st-ranked UNLV
NCAA Basketball Betting Lines
02/22/2012 - Las Vegas, LV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Losers of two straight and three of the last four outings, the UNLV Runnin' Rebels find themselves now ranked 21st in the country as they await the arrival of the Boise State Broncos for a Mountain West Conference showdown at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Just a short time ago it was the Rebels and San Diego State fighting for the top spot in the MWC standings and now both of those squads are trying to catch up to New Mexico, the same New Mexico that throttled UNLV on Saturday in a 65-45 final in Albuquerque. The scoring output by the Rebels was easily the lowest of the season for the squad and was a far cry from the 97 points the team tallied against TCU just four days earlier in a five-point overtime loss. Now tied with the Aztecs for second in the conference standings, UNLV is undefeated at home through 14 games so at least the team has that going in their favor after a difficult couple of weeks.
As for the Broncos, this is their first year in the MWC after making the move over from the Western Athletic Conference and early on the transition was clearly a difficult one for the program. However, since dropping seven in a row to begin conference play, BSU has turned the corner and rattled off three straight victories, the latest of those coming against TCU on Saturday in a thrilling 65-64 final. Even though Boise State is still tied for last place in the conference standings, the team certainly has reason to be encouraged.
UNLV leads the all-time series by a count of 3-1, but the Rebels had to go to overtime to take out Boise State on the road at Taco Bell Arena in the first meeting of the season by a score of 77-72.
Anthony Drmic knocked down a pair of free throws with 0.9 seconds remaining to give the Boise State Broncos a thrilling one-point win over the TCU Horned Frogs in Mountain West Conference action at Taco Bell Arena on Saturday afternoon. Drmic finished the afternoon with 10 points for the Broncos, followed by Derrick Marks who accounted for 13 points and seven rebounds and Kenny Buckner 12 points and six boards for the hosts. BSU survived despite shooting only 4-of-16 behind the three-point line. The epitome of balanced scoring, the Broncos have only one player scoring in double figures this season and still the squad is generating 70.5 ppg. Drmic checks in with 12.3 ppg, although his mere 38.5 percent accuracy from the floor is certainly questionable. Marks (9.2 ppg) and Buckner (9.0 ppg) pick up some of the slack as they convert 51.3 and 60.9 percent from the floor, respectively.
Playing in The Pit is never easy for the competition and the Runnin' Rebels were reminded of that on Saturday as they were crushed by the Lobos. UNLV finished the contest shooting a mere 14-of-45 from the floor and ended up with more turnovers (17) than made baskets. While it would not have made enough of a difference in the outcome, had the Rebels shot better than 11-of-21 at the free-throw line perhaps the visitors could have gone about it another way. Anthony Marshall was the only player in double figures for the Rebels as he dropped in 18 points, adding 10 rebounds to pace the team in that department as well. Completely taken out of his game was Mike Moser who delivered just eight points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of action. Moser is the one who makes this run-and-gun offense move, averaging 14.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game, so when he is brought to a halt so is the team. Chace Stanback is responsible for 13.1 ppg as he gives the squad a presence on the perimeter where he is shooting 45.7 percent, but even with the Rebels hitting 62 more three-pointers than the competition running the floor and pushing the ball inside is still what makes this group tick.
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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK
NFL Football Trash TalkTrash 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.
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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