Buckeyes set sights on Gophers in Big Ten brawl

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/14/2012 - Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sixth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes will try bounce back from their poorest outing of the season as they head to Williams Arena to take on Tubby Smith's Minnesota Golden Gophers in a Big Ten Conference matchup.

This is the only scheduled contest between Ohio State and Minnesota this season. The Buckeyes lead the all-time series 80-49 and they currently hold a four-game winning streak over the Golden Gophers.

Thad Matta's team lost sole possession of first place in the Big Ten's standings on Saturday as it fell 58-48 to the Michigan State Spartans, who the Buckeyes are now tied with atop the conference. Ohio State submitted season-lows in points (48), field goal percentage (26.4), and three-point percentage (13.3) in the losing effort. The defeat snapped a six-game winning streak. The Buckeyes have not lost consecutive games yet this season. Ohio State cannot afford to lose tonight as it still has to play three ranked opponents in addition to Illinois, which knocked off OSU earlier this season.

All-American Jared Sullinger leads the charge for Ohio State with averages of 17.4 ppg and 9.3 rpg. The star sophomore recorded a double-double with 17 points and 16 rebounds versus Michigan State. Sullinger has now recorded 11 double-doubles this season. William Buford and Deshaun Thomas are both quality players for the Buckeyes as they each have scoring averages near 15 ppg. Aaron Craft leads the Buckeyes in both assists (4.6) and steals (2.2).

Tubby Smith has seen an improvement in his team's play as it comes in with a 17-8 overall record. The Golden Gophers lost 68-61 to the nationally ranked Wisconsin Badgers in overtime their last time out, which dropped their league record to 5-7. Despite the loss, Minnesota shot 41.8 percent from the field against the Badgers' stifling defense. Wisconsin shot only 35.8 percent from the floor in the same contest. Minnesota is four games out of first place in the Big Ten standings coming into today's bout. The Golden Gophers have outscored their opponents by an average of 5.4 ppg this season, which ranks in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten.

Since losing its leading scorer Trevor Mbakwe for the season after just seven games, Minnesota has relied on its depth to power past opponents. 10 different players are playing more than 10 minutes per game. Rodney Williams is pacing the team with 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. Julian Welch is second on the team in scoring with 10.1 ppg. In their recent loss to Wisconsin, Andre Hollins came up big off the bench with 20 points as he knocked down 5-of-6 from beyond the arc.

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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.

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