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<< Young, Sixers overcome big deficit to topple Pacers
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thaddeus Young scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers erased a 26-point first-half deficit and came back to edge the Indiana Pacers, 94-92. Andre Miller s

<< No. 21 Wake Forest crushes N.C. Central
Winston-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Freshman Al-Farouq Aminu scored 21 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and No. 21 Wake Forest kicked off its 2008-09 campaign with a 94-48 rout of North Carolina Central. Aminu made 9-of-12 from the

<< Charlotte pulls out victory over short-handed Jazz
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Wallace scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Charlotte Bobcats to a 104-96 victory over the ailing Utah Jazz, who were without three of their top six players. Deron Williams,

<< Ovechkin and Laich lead surging Caps over Devils
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexander Ovechkin and Brooks Laich both had a goal and an assist, as the surging Washington Capitals defeated the slumping New Jersey Devils, 3-1, in the opener of a home-and-home series at the Verizon Center.

Harris leads Nets to victory over Hawks >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Devin Harris finished with 30 points, eight assists and six rebounds, as the New Jersey Nets used a strong fourth quarter to take a 115-108 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Vince Carter ended with

No. 12 Oklahoma rolls over American University >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin had 24 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, as 12th-ranked Oklahoma crushed American University, 83-54, in the season opener for both clubs. Cade Davis had 11 points while Willie Warren added

Thrashers stay in win column by edging 'Canes >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Johan Hedberg finished with 27 saves as the streaking Atlanta Thrashers downed the Carolina Hurricanes, 3-2, in a Southeast Division battle at Philips Arena. Marty Reasoner, Eric Perrin and Slav

Posey, Hornets hold off Blazers >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - James Posey scored 14 points and nailed two key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, as the New Orleans Hornets pulled out a hard-fought 87-82 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers. Chris Paul logged

American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.