Spartans and Badgers meet in Big Ten tussle

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/02/2010 - Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Michigan State Spartans will attempt to remain perfect in Big Ten play when they pay a visit to the 16th- ranked Wisconsin Badgers, who are undefeated at home this season.

Michigan State is riding a 10-game win streak, as the club hasn't suffered a defeat since December 22nd. The Spartans haven't exactly been dominant in recent weeks, as their last six wins have come by single digits. They are 19-3 overall and are coming off a 79-70 decision over Northwestern.

As for Wisconsin, it had a modest two-game win streak halted with a 60-57 loss at Purdue last Thursday. The fact that the Badgers are just 2-4 at home and 12-0 at home illustrates how much more formidable they have been in Madison than in enemy territory. Wisconsin is 16-5 overall and 6-3 in conference.

Michigan State beat Wisconsin by a 54-47 final on January 6th, and the Spartans own a 68-58 series lead.

Through 22 outings, Michigan State is generating 76.5 ppg on 48.6 percent shooting from the floor, and the club is holding its opponents to 63.7 ppg on 39.5 percent field goal efficiency. The Spartans have been a dominant rebounding squad, ripping down 9.8 rpg more than the opposition on average. Kalin Lucas is netting 16.0 ppg to go along with 89 assists to pace Tom Izzo's squad, and Raymar Morgan checks in with 11.1 ppg. Rounding out a foursome of double-digit scorers are Durrell Summers (10.8 ppg) and Draymond Green (10.4 ppg, 8.0 rpg). Summers racked up 24 points and 10 rebounds in the victory over Northwestern on Saturday, and Lucas added 23 points. Delvon Roe netted 13 points for the Spartans, who shot 51.9 percent from the floor and earned a 37-27 rebounding advantage. A 22-13 edge in points from the foul line helped the cause as well.

Strong defense has been key to Wisconsin's success this season as expected, as the squad is holding foes to 57.1 ppg on 41 percent shooting from the floor. At the offensive end of the court, the Badgers are generating 68.1 ppg, and there are two active double-digit scorers in the fold. Trevon Hughes is netting 16.0 ppg, and Jason Bohannon provides 10.4 ppg. Wisconsin suffered a 37-25 rebounding disadvantage against Purdue last week, perhaps the most obvious contributing factor in the setback. The Badgers finished with 20 field goals in 50 minutes of action, an effort that simply wasn't good enough. Keaton Nankivil was the lone bright spot for Wisconsin, as he nailed 7-of-8 three-pointers en route to 25 points. The rest of the team combined to shoot 2-of-15 from behind the arc.

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FOOTBALL TRASH TALK

NFL Football Trash Talk

Trash talk has a place in every competitive endeavor (except baseball; those stirrup-wearers are too busy chewing on their sunflower seeds and their supplements to worry about what their opponents are doing).

Fantasy sports is no exception. Any intelligent discussion of the subject would probably start with a thesis statement or a definition of terms. Thankfully, this wont be an intelligent discussion.

Let me just say that I am happy to take a place in this space alongside my talented colleagues, even our commissioner. (You should see how she bleats like a demented paper boy about league fees on our fantasy site).

Trash talking, I would argue, is primarily about amusing your friends, their sheeplike demeanors and sloping foreheads notwithstanding. The best place I have found for football trash talking is at www.SportsAlarm.com.

Beyond the entertainment factor, though, I would recognize that the sophomoric ritual has one advantage, when properly applied. It magnifies your fantasy triumphs and mitigates your fantasy failures by transforming the eventual point total into an afterthought. Winning makes it seem like your opponent really is a truss-owning, lapel-pin-wearing nitwit. And in defeat, trash talk can be the air bag to break the fall from your hyperbolic heights. The plug-necked yahoos on your team, you can say, will be sacking groceries by the end of the season.

The best trash talk, in my view, is layered and nuanced. And it doesnt focus only on your opponents team. It picks apart your opponent. The idea is to create a shock-and-awe-scale blizzard of nonsense, and the goal is to make your opponent drop his hands from his keyboard in exasperation.

What team does your opponent root for? Accuse a Giants fan of having a Joe Namath pillowcase. Wheres your opponent from? Give a look of concern no matter his reply, then say, I'll try to type slower for you next time. Is your opponent into politics? Label everyone a tax-and-spend corporate shill.

Cap all that with a liberal application of irrelevance. For instance, dont just conclude by saying your opponent is a twerp who drafts like my grandmother. Say that your opponent is a sweater-wearing, eyebrow-plucking twerp who drafts his team about as well as Zsa Zsa Gabor gave acceptance speeches at the Oscars. By the time your foe makes sense of that, his starting running back will have had puppies.

But what about you? Hmm? Recall a memorable slam? Have a tried-and-true technique? Know someone who seems impervious to insult? Take a moment and tells us about it. Put together some (fit-for-publication) thoughts. You wont be too busy returning phone messages from your friends, Im sure, to reply.

In addition to the trash talking, the Sports Alarm has a huge gallery of high resolution pictures of beautiful women and models in bikinis. The most popular models are: Lindsay Lohan, Carrie Underwood, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Paris Hilton.