Top-25 foes meet in Big East clash

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/10/2009 - Villanova, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Villanova Wildcats will try to continue their run tonight, as they host the 10th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles in a Big East battle at the Pavilion.

The Wildcats have clawed their way back from a 2-3 start in league play by winning each of their past five outings. The conference winning streak is the team's longest since the 2005-06 season and includes a 102-85 besting of Syracuse on Saturday. Villanova now stands at 19-4 overall and its 7-3 conference record is good for the fifth position in the Big East.

One of the squads the Wildcats are chasing is Marquette, which held sole possession of first place for a few days before suffering a stunning 57-56 upset at South Florida on Friday. The Eagles had won their first nine conference contests prior to the setback that snapped the team's lengthy 12- game winning streak. Still, at 20-3 overall, Marquette has nothing to be ashamed about, and it has also fared well on the road, going 5-1 as the visitor.

The Eagles topped the Wildcats in the first meeting of the season, 79-72, and that win knotted the head-to-head series at 6-6.

The Eagles are a versatile and athletic club and they are generating a healthy 80.2 ppg, with four of their starters doing a majority of the damage. Jerel McNeal is one of the top players in the Big East and he enters the game just 21 points shy of breaking George Thompson's school record for career points at Marquette. The well-rounded McNeal is currently averaging a hardy 20.0 ppg to pace the Eagles and he also adds 4.6 rpg and 3.7 apg, in addition to shooting 47.2 percent from long range. Wesley Matthews checks in with 18.9 ppg and 5.6 rpg, and Lazar Hayward contributes 15.7 ppg and a team-high 8.7 rpg. Dominic James chips in with 11.7 ppg and he is handing out 5.1 apg to lead the team in that department. On Friday, McNeal poured in 22 points for the Eagles, but it wasn't enough in a shocking loss at USF. James and Matthews each had 11 points, and Hayward pulled down 14 caroms. Matthews, though, missed a six- footer with time winding down and Hayward's putback was also off the mark, as the Eagles were unable to overcome their shooting woes in the loss.

The Wildcats are another versatile team in the Big East and they head into this bout scoring 76.0 ppg and limiting foes to just 38.5 percent shooting from the floor. Dante Cunningham leads the team with both 17.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg and he is a big reason why Villanova has been able to outrebound opponent by a solid 5.1 rpg. Scottie Reynolds logs 14.9 ppg and a team-high 3.9 apg, while Corey Fisher chips in with 10.2 ppg. On Saturday, Cunningham went off for 31 points and nine boards to power the Wildcats in a win over Syracuse. Corey Stokes had 16 points and eight boards off the bench and Fisher added 14 points and six assists. The Wildcats shot an efficient 54.5 percent from the floor, while also winning the battle on the boards, 46-37.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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