Alabama still No. 1; Boise State gains first-place votes

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/07/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alabama remained the top team in the latest Associated Press college football poll, but Boise State gained additional first-place votes after its thrilling victory over Virginia Tech on Labor Day.

The Crimson Tide (1-0) opened the season with a 48-3 rout of San Jose State on Saturday, but lost seven first-place votes from the preseason poll. Alabama earned 47 No. 1 tallies this week, after garnering 54 in the first poll, and received a total of 1,484 points from a nationwide media panel.

Ohio State (1-0), after a 45-7 thrashing of Marshall last Thursday, again held the second spot with four first-place votes and 1,412 points.

Boise State (1-0) rallied for a 33-30 win over Virginia Tech on Monday and solidified its hold of the No. 3 ranking. The Broncos originally picked up one first-place vote in the preseason poll, but were awarded eight this week.

TCU moved up two spots to fourth and is followed by Texas, Nebraska, Oregon, Florida, Iowa and Oklahoma. Texas also earned one first-place vote in the wake of a 34-17 win at Rice on Saturday.

Oregon moved up four spots from 11th after a 72-0 shellacking of New Mexico, while Florida's lackluster 34-12 win over Miami-Ohio dropped the Gators four spots from fourth. Oklahoma, which had received one first-place vote in the preseason poll, dropped three spots from seventh after a 31-24 triumph over Utah State.

The second 10 consists of Wisconsin, Miami-Florida, Virginia Tech, Arkansas, Georgia Tech, Southern California, Florida State, Penn State, LSU and Utah. Virginia Tech dropped just three places from 10th after its loss to Boise State, while Utah is one of three newcomers this week.

Auburn, Georgia, West Virginia, South Carolina and Stanford round out this week's poll. In addition to Utah, South Carolina and Stanford are new this week, while Pittsburgh, North Carolina and Oregon State dropped out of the rankings.

Utah edged then-No. 15 Pittsburgh in overtime last Thursday, 27-24, in Salt Lake City, while South Carolina moved in after a 41-13 victory over Southern Miss. Stanford thumped Sacramento State, 52-17.

North Carolina was 18th and dropped a 30-24 decision to fellow ranked foe LSU in Atlanta after learning that 13 players would be unable to play because of an investigation into academic and agent-related issues, while Oregon State, ranked 24th, also lost a neutral-site game with a 30-21 setback to TCU in Arlington.

Four games this week feature matchups of ranked teams, highlighted by Penn State's visit to Alabama. Also, Florida State travels to Oklahoma and Ohio State welcomes Miami-Florida, while a big early-season SEC matchup pits Georgia at South Carolina.

Wwwmybookie NCAA Football Betting News

<< Top 10 holds steady through Labor Day racing
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion mare Zenyatta continues at the top of this week's NTRA National Thoroughbred Poll. There were no changes or additions to the top 10 for the first time this year. Zenyatta, 2008 and 2009 cha

<< Unexpected twist: Cincinnati's offense broken
CINCINNATI (AP) -An unexpected problem has Cincinnati revamping its offensive line after only one game.The Bearcats' offense evaporated during a 28-14 loss at Fresno State on Saturday night. A unit that is full of playmakers failed to score in the s

<< Kelly: Prepping for Mich QB Denard tough
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) -Notre Dame dealt with a mobile quarterback in beating Purdue last week. The Irish have a much bigger challenge this week.Coach Brian Kelly says there's a big difference between defending Purdue's Robert Marve, who could move i

<< Lithuania tops China to reach FIBA quarters
Istanbul, Turkey (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Linas Kleiza poured in 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds, leading Lithuania to a 78-67 win over China and a berth in the quarterfinals of the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Martynas Gecevicius add

<< Roughriders trade OL Bates to Edmonton
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders on Tuesday sent offensive lineman Kelly Bates to the Edmonton Eskimos for an undisclosed 2014 draft pick. Bates came to the Roughriders as a free agent in February, but was pl

Youzhny reaches Open quarters >>
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former semifinalist Mikhail Youzhny was a fourth-round winner Tuesday at the 2010 U.S. Open. The 12th-seeded Youzhny handled former top-10 Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 at the USTA Billie J

Former UCLA stars ready to shine >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Labor Day has passed, the kids are back in school and the leaves will soon begin to fall here in the northeast. That means the calendar has flipped to September and most of America is gearing up for footba

Dolphins GM Ireland takes over full club operations >>
Davie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Miami Dolphins have announced that general manager Jeff Ireland will assume full control over all aspects of the football team and support staff, effective immediately. Bill Parcells, who had be

Devils, Kovalchuk finally seal the deal >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It was anything but a smooth process, but Ilya Kovalchuk and the New Jersey Devils were finally able to consummate their long summer courtship in the early morning hours this past Saturday. Two months afte

Montero helping Sounders FC across the river >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With a record of 12-7-11, a playoff spot as the Western Conference's No. 3 seed, a U.S. Open Cup Championship, and almost half-a- million in paid attendance, Seattle Sounders FC was coming off one of the most successf

MySportsbook.com is a must-have for the smart veteran sports investor who enjoys following the odds almost as much as betting them. Simply put, no one offers more betting options and offers them faster than MySportsbook. This football sportsbook is known for its ability to set the early market odds on events without having to worry about weak lines. Professional players are well aware that getting a crack at the early betting line is worth as much as, and sometimes more than, huge bonuses or reduced prices. MySportsbook's fearless, yet smart bookmaking style is what keeps everyone watching, including most other sportsbooks.

This is also a great choice for those who just want to have a worry free, fun experience. The ownership’s motto is “Sweat the game, not the payout”. These are not just decorative words used to fill space on the homepage. MySportsbook aims to give their customers the fastest withdrawals in the industry. Payouts are processed within 24 hours by an online sportsbook that carries our A+ financial rating.

Those who enjoy proposition and future wagers consider MySportsbook.com a top choice. Smaller players who seek large bonuses would do better at their sister book, Sportsbooks.com.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.

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.