Purdue downs PSU, captures share of Big Ten title

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/06/2010 - University Park, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - JaJuan Johnson finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, as seventh-ranked Purdue claimed a share of the Big Ten title with a 64-60 victory over Penn State.

Keaton Grant added 17 points for the Boilermakers (26-4, 14-4 Big Ten), who pulled even with Ohio State atop the conference standings and claimed a share of their first Big Ten title since 1996. Purdue also secured the second seed for the upcoming conference tourney.

Purdue did so while playing its final three games without forward Robbie Hummel, who suffered a torn ACL on February 24. The Boilermakers fell to Michigan State in their first game without Hummel, but took the final two to close out their regular season.

"It's great, especially for our players who really sacrificed a lot and battled, to be in this position and to get the job done is a great feeling," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "We've had a little bit of bad luck here with Rob's injury, so it's good to see so many smiles in that locker room, because they know this was a team effort."

Talor Battle and Chris Babb each scored 17 for the Nittany Lions (11-19, 3-15), who were coming off Thursday's two-point loss at Michigan State. Jeff Brooks ended with 12 points and seven boards in the loss.

Battle, Penn State's leading scorer, did not play the final six-plus minutes because of cramps, though the Lions nearly pulled even down the stretch.

"He just got sick. He was just sick in the stomach," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said. "He was very light-headed and very dizzy. He just felt horrible. He thought he was going to vomit and all of that kind of stuff, so he was back there with the doctor for the last five or six minutes."

Purdue held a 58-49 lead after Grant hit a three-pointer with 4:45 to play, but after David Jackson made 1-of-2 from the line, Babb drained a three. Andrew Jones followed with a layup to get the Lions within 58-55.

E'Twaun Moore's make from beyond the arc pushed Purdue's lead to six with a minute left, but Penn State still nearly came back. After a steal resulted in a Brooks layup with half a minute left, Grant missed the front end of a 1- and-1, then fouled Babb on a three-point try with 19.9 seconds left.

Babb sank all three attempts to bring PSU within 61-60. Two Moore free throws set the Boilermakers' lead at three, and Babb had a chance to tie on the next Lions possession. But his attempt missed, and Lions guard Tim Frazier dribbled the ball off his leg out of bounds after getting the rebound.

Johnson went to the line and made 1-of-2 to seal the victory.

Purdue held an 18-7 lead nearly midway through the first half, after Grant sank consecutive threes and Moore deposited a layup. The Boilermakers went into the break with a 30-22 lead.

Penn State got within 32-28 on a Battle three almost three minutes into the second half, but Purdue followed with the next eight points to restore a double-digit cushion.

Game Notes

Purdue never trailed...Johnson was 11-of-14 from the foul line, but the rest of his team went 2-for-7...Chris Kramer had four steals for Purdue...Penn State sank 9-of-22 three-point tries.

Moneuplays NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Wild forward Boogaard suspended again
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wild forward Derek Boogaard was suspended for two games on Saturday by the National Hockey League for an incident during Minnesota's game against Edmonton on Friday. In the first period of Friday's cont

<< Jags sign WR Osgood
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars signed wide receiver Kassim Osgood to a reported three-year contract on Saturday. The 29-year-old Osgood has played mostly on special teams since breaking into the NFL as an

<< Cardinals acquire S Rhodes from Jets
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals have acquired safety Kerry Rhodes from the New York Jets in exchange for two draft picks. The Jets will receive Arizona's fourth-round selection in 2010 and seventh- round selection in 2

<< Couples cruises to lead at Toshiba Classic
Newport Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Couples fired a seven-under 64 on Saturday to move to the top of the leaderboard after two rounds of the Toshiba Classic. Couples finished 36 holes at 12-under 130 and missed Rodger Davis' 2003

<< Dunn leads Baylor over Texas; Bears clinch No. 3 seed
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaceDarius Dunn scored 30 points and grabbed six rebounds, as 21st-ranked Baylor defeated the Texas Longhorns, 92-77, at the Ferrell Center. Quincy Acy finished with 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting for the B

Vols start strong in win over Mississippi State >>
Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - J.P. Prince scored 16 and grabbed seven rebounds, and No. 16 Tennessee opened the game with the first 17 points to conclude the regular season with a 75-59 win over the Mississippi State Bulldog

BYU trounces TCU to end season on high note >>
Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Tavernari scored 23 points, as 14th-ranked BYU breezed past TCU, 107-77, at Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Jackson Emery and Charles Abouo each added 22 points for the Cougars (28-4, 13-3 MWC), who

No. 25 Xavier downs St. Bonaventure to gain share of A-10 title >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jordan Crawford scored 22 points to lead 25th-ranked Xavier to a 93-72 win over St. Bonaventure in the regular-season finale for both teams at Cintas Center. Jamel McLean poured in 15 points for the M

Misremembered wins Big 'Cap and Alphie's Bet takes Sham >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Misremembered, ridden by Martin Garcia, held off Neko Bay down the stretch to win Saturday's 73rd running of the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (Big 'Cap) at Santa Anita Park. The four-year-old covered the

Celtics add guard Finley >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics officially announced the signing of guard Michael Finley on Saturday. Finley was waived at his request Monday by San Antonio after his playing time dwindled upon returning from a spra

FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.

Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.