posted March 21, 2008 at 14:38 in NCAA B Articles

BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds: Mississippi State -2.5, Total 143

The Mississippi State Bulldogs (22-10 SU, 14-15 ATS) will attempt to impose their defensive will on Friday night when they open up play in the NCAA tournament's South Regional, facing the Oregon Ducks (18-13 SU, 16-13 ATS) in game that will begin at 7:25 PM ET at the Alltel Arena in Little Rock.

At BetUS Sportsbook, Mississippi State is listed as a 2.5-point favorite, with a total of 143 points.

Here are some of the NCAA college basketball betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

* ORE has won three of its last four games SU
* ORE has covered four of its last five games
* ORE has played four of its last six games OVER the total
* MSU has covered two of its last six games
* MSU has won 17 of its last 22 games SU

Oregon wants to play a very fast-paced game if it possibly can. This is a team that shoots 48% from the field and 40% from beyond the arc, and if they can get the opponent playing their style, they're extremely dangerous. But the Ducks didn't do that often enough to be successful in the highly-competitive Pac 10. Sure, they hold a win over Stanford, but they were swept by UCLA, USC and Washington State. Those are very good defensive teams, and Mississippi State may be just as good.

The Bulldogs allowed opponents to shoot just under 39% this season with a defense that is anchored by pivot man Justin Varnado, who averaged 4.8 blocked shots per game. No wonder he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year.

Of course, the difficulty when one looks at MSU is that it played a very modest non-conference schedule. perhaps the best win this team registered was against Kentucky. And Southern Illinois held the Bulldogs to just 49 points, which brings forward the obvious questions about firepower. As we know, the SEC wasn't nearly as good from top to bottom (well, almost bottom) as the Pac 10, and though style-wise, this would appear to be the kind of team that could cause Oregon a lot of trouble, please consider that the Ducks went to the Elite Eight last season, and brought back three experienced seniors from that starting lineup.

There's a chance Mississippi State just won't be able to trade points here. We'll take the points with Oregon, the 2.5-point underdog in the BetUS NCAA college basketball betting odds.

JAY'S PLAY:  OREGON

(Charles Jay of http://www.eBookies.com gives it the old college try as a regular contributor to the BetUS Locker Room)

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