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Juan Pablo Montoya wins his first career Nascar Nextel Cup race, fending off Jamie McMurray and Kevin Harvick.

The second-seeded West Virginia Mountaineers knocked off No. 1 seed Kentucky Wildcats 73-66 this past Saturday and earned a spot in the Final Four for the first time since 1959. Joe Mazzulla, who is replacing point guard Darryl Bryant, scored a career-high of 17 points and guided West Virginia team with great shooting and defense. The Kentucky team had a poor shooting, especially in the three-point line in which they made only 4 out of 32. Since the start of the game, the Mountaineers used the same aggressive defense that led them to their three previous victories in the NCAA tournament. West Virginia defense closed every space and didn’t let any of the Kentucky guards to penetrate. Also the Mountaineers worked hard with the Wilcats’ posts, predominantly with DeMarcus Cousins, who was guard inside by three players every time he had the ball. Cousins got frustrated and was not able to play at his best level. Moreover, West Virginia didn’t allow any easy shots to the Wildcats and committed several fouls to force Kentucky to the free throws line where they were scoring poorly and made only 16 points out of 29 attempts.

During the first half, Kentucky started scoring and seemed determined to get the control of the game. However the Mountaineers showed great defense and great shooting in the last 10 minutes of the half where they made eight three-pointers and no 2-points baskets, something unusual in the NCAA tournament history. This gave them the confidence needed to keep going. On the other hand, Kentucky missed all their eight three-pointer attempts in the first half but out-rebounded West Virginia, 29-13. However, the Mountaineers had only three turnovers and its shooting was incredible outside, which led them to be up in the game. West Virginia ended leading at halftime, 28-26. In the second half, West Virginia kept controlling the game with easy baskets and great defense. Despite Kentucky tried to get back in the game, they became desperate and their frustration grew as their baskets attempts didn’t go in. DeAndre Liggins was shrilled for a technical foul after shouting to a referee. Wall lost his temper in the game and Cousins yelled back to his coach John Calipari in several occasions.

The Mountaineers grew in confidence and control of the game even when Kentucky got only 6 points away from them during the final minutes. At the end, John Wall fouled out and his team couldn’t do anything else as their frustration was at the top of their minds. At the end, the game finished in favor of the Mountaineers, 73-66. “I don’t want to have excuses. They outplayed us. But I think there were times when the inexperience hurt us,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, who finished with a 35-3 record with the Wildcats. Meanwhile, Da’Sean Butler, who scored 18 points for WVU, expressed his satisfaction after the great victory against Kentucky as his team outplayed the Wildcats with great defense and simple plays. Butler also added that all their wins will have a real meaning if they go to win the national championship.

It must be strange to be a Manchester City fan at the moment. After years of turmoil, including a brief stay in the third tier of English football, all their dreams seemed to have come true when they were taken over by a group of billionaires from the Middle East. However, the club haven’t quite had things all their own way. Despite spending masses of cash on high-profile players such as Robinho the club failed to secure European football last season and looked like they’d miss out on a Champions League spot again this term. It was this, coupled with the poor form of their closest rivals – most notably Liverpool – that cost Mark Hughes his job. Although he had been told he only needed to finish in the top six, the owners clearly decided he should have done better as the Big Four had clearly weakened substantially. So he was on his way and in came Roberto Mancini. He got off to a dream start winning his first four games in charge. However, it’s fair to say that these weren’t against the toughest opposition in the league and yesterday the Italian suffered a rude awakening as his team crashed to a 2-0 defeat at the hands of a resurgent Everton side.

The result is likely to act as a wake-up call for Mancini who now knows that life in the Premier League isn’t as easy as it must have seemed at first. He will also know that if he does want to break into the top four, he will have to offload some dead wood. Take Robinho for example. He doesn’t look happy in a City shirt and there are rumours that his continued presence at the club is more down to the owners’ fondness for him rather than the performances he has been putting in. Mancini has a big task on his hands and it remains to be seen how long he will be given to do it. He might have bitten off more than he can chew.

Online Betting – Hey Duke-Haters…it’s been a tough couple of weeks and things look to only get tougher.

Online sportsbook currently have Coach K and the boys listed at +125 to win the NCAA hoops title, followed by the West Virginia Mountaineers at +175, the Michigan State Spartans at +350 and the Butler Bulldogs at +400.

West Virginia vs. Duke

The Blue Devils are the only #1-seed left in the tourney and head into their Final Four matchup against the Mountaineers listed as 2.5-point favorites, with the Over/Under set at 131.

The last time these two met in March Madness was in 2008 when WVU defeated Duke 73-67, covering as a 4-point underdog.

Back to the present, the Blue Devils are 4-0 straight up and against the spread during this year’s March Madness tourney. They are 15-5 SU in their last 20 games in the month of March and are 18-2 SU in their last 20 games overall.

However, Duke is a horrendous 2-7 SU and 2-7 ATS in their last nine when favored by 4-points or less.

Over/Under Numbers: In their last 20 games overall, Duke has a record 6 Overs and 14 Unders.

In their last nine games when favored by 4 points or less, they have a record of 2 Overs and 7 Unders.

The West Virginia Mountaineers have been equally impressive in their last 20 overall, with a record of 17-3 SU.

In terms of Over/Under numbers, the Mountaineers have produced 1 Over and 7 Unders in their last eight games.

The players at online sportsbook SPORTSBETTING.com have given Duke a slight nod in terms of betting action, with 56% of all the volume on this one tilted to the Blue Devils.

Michigan State vs. Butler

Sportsbook – To the casual bettor, it might seem a little odd that the Michigan State Spartans — one of last year’s Final Four and the runner-up — are listed as underdogs of 1.5-points for their Final Four tilt against the unheralded Butler Bulldogs; the Total is set at 126.

But the Spartans are missing regular season leading scorer Kalin Lucas, who is out with an Achilles’ tendon injury, and the Butler campus is located in the same city as the Final Four, Indianapolis, Indiana, giving the Bulldogs a homecourt advantage.

The Spartans are 15-5 SU in their last 20 games overall and in their last 20 games in the month of March, they are 16-4 SU and 14-6 ATS.

The Butler Bulldogs are only 10-10 ATS in their last 20 games overall, but they are also 20-0 straight up.

During their 2010 March Madness journey, the Butler Bulldogs are 3-1 ATS, pulling off some big upsets along the way. The Bulldogs took out their region’s top seed, the Syracuse Orange, in the Sweet 16 winning 63-59, covering as 6.5-point underdogs.

The Bulldogs then knocked out the second-seeded Kansas State Wildcats in the Elite Eight by a final of 63-56, covering as 4-point ‘dogs.

However, the Butler Bulldogs are only 3-6 SU and ATS in their last nine games when favored by 2-points or less.

The sports betting public look like they think this might be the end of the road for Butler, with 60% putting their money on the small dog Spartans to move through to the Championship game.

Enjoy the games!

Check out for More Details @ NCAA Basketball Betting