Pair of Hockey East teams highlight 2009 Frozen Four
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03/29/2009 -
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boston University and the University of
Vermont, both from Hockey East, highlight the final four schools in the NCAA
men's ice hockey tournament, set for April 9-11 at Verizon Center in
Washington, DC.
The Terriers won the Hockey East regular season and playoff titles, finishing
the year as the top-ranked school in the nation, garnering the overall top
seed for the tourney. BU gained its first Frozen Four berth since 1997 by
routing Ohio State, 8-3, on Saturday and conference-rival New Hampshire on
Sunday by a 2-1 count to take the Northeast region.
Vermont, which finished fourth in the stacked conference, captured the East
region with victories over former ECAC foe Yale on Friday, then a disputed 3-2
double-overtime triumph Saturday against Air Force.
The Miami-Ohio RedHawks are the lone Central Collegiate Hockey Association
team in the field, gaining the semifinals after toppling top-seed Denver, then
Minnesota-Duluth in the West region on Friday and Saturday.
Bemidji State, from College Hockey America, rounds out the field after taking
the Midwest region following a 4-1 triumph over Cornell on Sunday to reach its
first Frozen Four in school history. The Beavers, which were the fourth seed
in the grouping, also dispatched regional top-seed Notre Dame on Saturday to
become the first team from outside the traditional four powerhouse conferences
to reach the national semis.
For the semifinal round on Thursday, April 9, Boston University squares off
against Vermont and Bemidji State looks to continue its run by facing Miami-
Ohio.
The winner of both will meet on Saturday, April 11, for the national
championship. Boston College took home the 2008 title, topping Notre
Dame.
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Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
Bet 2010 Super Bowl Odds
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
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