Columbus, Dallas hope for more sharpness

Soccer Betting Lines

04/09/2010 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas hosts the Columbus Crew on Saturday night, with both Major League Soccer teams coming off bye weeks.

The Hoops earned a 1-1 draw vs. Texas rivals the Houston Dynamo in their season opening league fixture on March 27.

"It's probably very typical for the first game of the year," Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman told his club's website. "I thought there was a lot of energy from both teams. I thought it was a good game from the beginning to the end. I was very pleased with our play because we were down a goal to a very good team, the Houston Dynamo. It's not often that teams can come back and tie a game or score on Houston. They have that mentality of stepping onto you when you're down. I was very pleased with our mental attitude of coming back."

The Crew (1-0-0), on the other hand, are coming off a 2-0 home win vs. Toronto FC in their last league fixture on March 27. They weren't as sharp as they could be either, which is expected out of a season-opening effort.

"It wasn't a great game, but it was good because we won two-nil," Crew midfielder Adam Moffat told his club's website. "We probably should have won three, four, five-nil, but it's good to get the three points either way."

"All in all, it wasn't our best game," Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer told his team's website. "It was ugly at times. There wasn't a lot of rhythm. We're a little bit upset we didn't put the game away earlier. It was a little dodgy for awhile."

The Crew and Hoops (0-0-1) will both be aiming to clean up their play on Saturday, but after a week off, expect to see some offseason rust still evident for both clubs.

A key for the Crew will its ability to shut down Hoops attackers Jeff Cunningham and David Ferreira. That task could get easier if defender Chad Marshall, the '08 and '09 MLS Defender of the Year, is available. Marshall missed the team's season opening game with a hamstring injury.

"You always expect the same thing from Columbus," FCD's Dax McCarty told MLSsoccer.com. "They won MLS Cup a few years ago. They've been Supporters' Shield winners for the past few years. You know they're always going to give you a tough game. At the end of the day, they're definitely one of the best teams in MLS."

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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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