Feathers are sure to fly in clash between Redbirds and Bluejays

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/01/2012 - Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Creighton Bluejays continue one of their most memorable seasons ever, as they play host to the Illinois State Redbirds tonight in Omaha in Missouri Valley Conference action.

Illinois State is 14-8 on the year, and the Redbirds sit a game over .500 in conference play at 6-5. They have won their last two tilts, the most recent of which being a 60-40 shellacking of Southern Illinois at home on Saturday. ISU is just 2-5 in true road games this season, and the team has dropped its last three outside of Normal.

Creighton has won 20 of its first 22 games, and is a 10-1 in MVC play. The Bluejays have won 10 straight, and they are 11-1 at home this year. A 73-59 triumph over Bradley was the team's most recent, and following this bout, it will hit the road for a pair before playing three of its final five regular- season games in Omaha.

Illinois State owns a 40-27 advantage in the all-time series, but Creighton has won the last three meetings, including an 87-78 decision in Normal on January 13 of this year.

Illinois State is averaging 68.8 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of 44.4 percent overall and 36.5 percent from three-point range. The team has two players netting double figures on a consistent basis, as Jackie Carmichael (13.6 ppg, 8.7 rpg) and Tyler Brown (12.3 ppg, 3.9 rpg) have done their best to keep the Redbirds competitive. Defensively, the team yields 62.5 ppg as foes are hitting just 40.8 percent of their total shots, which includes a 33.4 percent showing from beyond the arc. The Redbirds are +2.8 in rebounding margin, but they are -0.7 in turnover differential. Both Carmichael and John Wilkins logged double-doubles in the recent rout of Southern Illinois, with the former tallying 19 points and 11 rebounds, and the latter 10 points and 11 boards. As a team, ISU shot 44.4 percent from the floor, while limiting the Salukis to 30.0 percent. A 15-6 edge in points from the foul line also played an important role, as did a 40-29 rebounding advantage.

Creighton is one of the highest scoring teams in the country, averaging 80.9 ppg behind highly-efficient shooting percentages of .514 overall and .449 from three-point range. The Bluejays are led by MVC Player of the Year shoe-in, Doug McDermott (23.5 ppg, 8.4 rpg), and the team's only other double-digit scorer at the moment is Antoine Young (11.2 ppg, 4.4 apg). When it comes to playing with their backs to the basket, the 'Jays are giving up 67.8 ppg with foes shooting 42.4 percent from the field. Creighton routinely wins the battle on the board by 5.5 rpg, but is guilty of 13 turnovers per outing, compared to just 11.5 for the opposition. McDermott was on his season average in the recent win over Bradley, hitting 10-of-14 field goal attempts for 24 points, while Gregory Echenique and Josh Jones chipped in with 14 points apiece, the former also grabbing 10 boards as well. The Bluejays shot 54.5 percent from the field, while the Braves were just 39.0 percent accurate. A 17-7 edge in points from the charity stripe helped, but there was a negative in the game as Creighton committed 19 turnovers.

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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.