2 BCS schools could lose basketball scholarships

NCAA Football Betting Lines

06/09/2010 -

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NCAA's big boys have figured out how to beat up the little guys in the classroom, too.

Spend more money.

The newest Academic Progress Rate, released Wednesday, showed seven of the 137 teams facing penalties come from BCS conferences and only two power conference schools - Colorado and Syracuse - were sanctioned in football, men's basketball or women's basketball. Both schools said they have already taken the scholarship losses and won't be affected next season.

And there's little doubt about the reasons for the disparity between big and small schools.

``It is clear resources make a difference and the schools that do have resources can make more timely adjustments,'' NCAA vice president Kevin Lennon said. ``We clearly have examples of low-resource institutions that were very successful academically, it's not just money, but we're trying to help.''

Assistance didn't come quickly enough for Portland State, which lost an appeal to avoid a postseason ban in men's basketball. Nine other schools, none from BCS conferences, all received waivers. A year ago, football teams at Jacksonville State and Tennessee-Chattanooga and the men's basketball team at Centenary were the first schools to be banned from postseason play because of sub-par academic scores.

The APR measures the classroom performance of every Division I team and this year's data was collected from 2005-06 through 2008-09.

Syracuse and Colorado defied the trend.

Colorado was penalized one scholarship in men's basketball and four in football, while Syracuse lost two in men's basketball for falling below the NCAA's 925 cutline. Officials at both schools said they took away the scholarships last season after academically ineligible players left school.

Syracuse was one of only four NCAA tournament teams from last season to get hit with a penalty. The others were Houston, Morgan State and UTEP. Orange coach Jim Boeheim, the reigning national coach of the year, had an explanation for his team's 912 score.

``We had three students leave school early to pursue professional basketball careers last spring and that is difficult to overcome,'' he said. ``We anticipate being back above the APR standard when the next report is compiled.''

The APR is billed as a real-time academic measure of every Division I team. Each athlete receives one point per semester for remaining academically eligible and another point each semester for remaining at that school or graduating.

A mathematical formula is then used to calculate a final team score with 1,000 points being perfect. Teams falling below 925 can face conditional scholarship losses. Teams consistently falling below 900 can be penalized more harshly.

So when Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris all left for the NBA, Boeheim's team could have lost as much as six points.

Lennon and Walt Harrison, chairman of the Committee on Academic Performance, didn't buy it.

``I've learned a lot from Jim Boeheim. I understand his frustrations, but in the end, I'm not persuaded by his arguments,'' Harrison said.

Colorado was one of 10 schools to be sanctioned in both sports, though the other nine all compete in the Football Championship Subdivision. And four of those 10 are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).

The Buffaloes scored 920 in football and 897 in men's basketball.

``Naturally, the APR score for football is of great concern to both our academic and athletic leadership,'' Colorado chancellor Phil DiStefano said in a statement. ``It represents a challenge we are working to meet through our APR improvement plan, new academic support staff in athletics, and renewed focus in recruiting and engagement with our student-athletes.''

The good news is that overall APR scores increased by three points, to 967, over last year. Scores in the three lowest scoring sports - baseball, football and men's basketball - also increased and the number of teams decreased for the second straight year.

Harrison said 27 percent fewer athletes are flunking out of school since 2004-05 and that more athletes are coming back to earn degrees.

But NCAA officials understand many schools do not have enough money to respond to problems like Colorado.

Two years ago, the governing body instituted grants to help supplement academic aid at low-income schools, but so far, the results haven't changed much.

- Only four BCS teams, other than those at Colorado and Syracuse, face penalties: men's outdoor track teams at Auburn and Cincinnati, the men's indoor track team at Auburn and the women's rowing team at West Virginia.

- Of the 20 schools facing reductions in scholarships or practice time or both, none are BCS schools and eight are HBCUs.

- Florida International and Southeastern Louisiana each had seven teams sanctioned, the most in Division I. McNeese State was next with six. Cal State-Fullerton, Chicago State, Delaware State, Howard and Nicholls State all had four teams on the list. Georgia Southern, Portland State, Southern University, Southern Utah, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Texas-San Antonio each had three.

- Tennessee-Chattanooga avoided a second straight postseason ban in football despite scoring 885 because the team showed ``demonstrated improvement'' over last year's score of 870.

``I am haunted by the challenges that low-resource institutions have in showing academic performance,'' Harrison said. ``We are looking for ways that will help them, so we're doing everything we can, we believe, to help them. But it continues to be a nagging problem.''

---

AP Sports Writers John Kekis in Syracuse, N.Y. and Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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We all know by now that the “public” loves to put their money on the FAVORITES and the OVERS.  Just by taking a quick glance at Sportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends” it appears as is this tendency will continue as far as the Eastern Conference games are concerned.  For the inaugural games of the first round, 69% of the early money is on Toronto -4.5; 59% of bettors prefer Chicago -4.5; 84% are backing Detroit -9; and 56% think Cleveland -11.5 is the way to go.  As far as TOTALS are concerned, the only UNDER the “public” is backing is the Cleveland/ Washington game in which 83% are pounding the UNDER (190).  Remember, there is no better way to predict a possible line change than by monitoring MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.   By determining who the “public” is backing, you can get the most ideal line for your bet.  For example, if you are siding with the public you better place your bet before the line moves in the wrong direction.  On the other side of the coin, if you prefer the team that the “public” is betting against; you might be able to get and extra ½ or even more by placing your bet a bit later.  Under the “Betting Trends” section, Sportsbook.com also provides plenty of statistical data and trends in order for the bettor to make the most informed pick.  Below are some extremely important trends for the first round opponents of the Eastern Conference match-ups, more can be found at MySportsbook.com

New Jersey Nets vs. Toronto Raptors

Toronto was the most reliable covering team this season with a 48-33-1 ATS record but covered the OVER only 41.5% of the time.
The last 20 times these teams have played, the TOTAL has gone UNDER 16 times.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Toronto is 33-19 ATS including 17-9 at home.
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When playing a team with a winning record during the second half of the season, New Jersey was just 5-13 ATS this season.
After scoring 105 points or more, Toronto has covered the OVER only 28% of the time this season. 
 
Miami Heat @ Chicago Bulls

Miami has failed to cover their last 7 games whereas Chicago has covered 6 out of their last 8 games.
Miami has covered the UNDER in four of their last five games whereas Chicago has covered the UNDER in five out of their last six.
When playing on Saturdays, Miami covered 80% of their games this season.
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At home, Miami covered the UNDER about 66% of the time whereas Chicago covered the UNDER about 61% of the time.
The last 13 times these teams have played each other, Chicago has covered 9 times.
In Miami’s last 11 road games, the UNDER covered 9 times. 
 
Orlando Magic @ Detroit Pistons

Detroit has covered 5 out of their last 6 games.
Away from home, Detroit is 28-13 ATS but just 14-26-1 ATS at home.
At home, Orlando covered the UNDER 64% of the time while Detroit covered the UNDER in 63% of their away games.
The last five times these teams have played in Detroit, the OVER covered each time.
Versus Eastern Conference teams, Detroit is 8-17-1 ATS at home but 17-9 ATS away.
Detroit covered the spread 5 out of the last 6 times they played Orlando.
After a Division game, Orlando covered the UNDER 87% of the time this season. 
 
Washington Wizards @ Cleveland Cavaliers

In a home game where the TOTAL is between 190 and 194.5 points, Cleveland is 9-1 ATS this season.
Washington has covered the UNDER in their last 6 games and in 8 of their last 9 games.
The last 6 times these teams have played each other, the UNDER covered each time.
When playing on 3 or more days of rest, Washington is just 18-37 ATS since 1996.
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