No. 3 Ohio State holds on, beats Purdue

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/07/2012 - Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - William Buford netted a game-high 29 points and added seven rebounds as No. 3 Ohio State fought off a resilient Purdue team, 87-84, on Tuesday.

The teams exchanged the lead 16 times, but a jumper by Buford with 4:30 to play gave the Buckeyes a 75-73 lead they would not relinquish.

Jared Sullinger had 18 points, six rebounds and a block for Ohio State (21-3, 9-2 Big Ten). Aaron Craft and Deshaun Thomas both chipped in 13 points for the Buckeyes.

Four Boilermakers finished with double figures in scoring, paced by D.J. Byrd with 24 for Purdue (15-9, 5-6). Kelsey Barlow and Lewis Jackson both had 14, and Robbie Hummel rounded out the group with 13 points.

Wwlooksmart NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Canadiens top Penguins in shootout
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Plekanec scored in the eighth round of the shootout to help the Montreal Canadiens take a 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins at Bell Centre. In the eighth round, Plekanec beat Marc-Andre Fleury to t

<< Jets edge Maple Leafs
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bryan Little scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period, and the Winnipeg Jets hung on to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1, on Tuesday. Chris Thorburn also lit the lamp for the Jets, w

<< Edler lifts Canucks over Preds in shootout
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexander Edler scored in the sixth round of a shootout Tuesday night, lifting the Vancouver Canucks to a 4-3 win over the Nashville Predators. Edler challenged Pekka Rinne from the left side, skating de

<< Elliott tops former team, leading Blues over Sens
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Almost a year after the Ottawa Senators traded him to the Colorado Avalanche, Brian Elliott made his regular season return to Scotiabank Place. Elliott stopped 28 shots and led the St. Louis Blues over Ot

<< Pekovic helps Minnesota down Sacramento
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nikola Pekovic had a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds to lead Minnesota as it defeated Sacramento, 86-84, at Target Center on Tuesday. Michael Beasley added his own double-double with 17 point

Aves beat slumping Blackhawks >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanch

Avs beat slumping Blackhawks >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Jones scored twice as the Colorado Avalanche took down the slumping Chicago Blackhawks, 5-2, at Pepsi Center. Kyle Quincey, Peter Mueller and Gabriel Landeskog each had a goal for the Avalanch

Rangers lock up SS Andrus with 3-year deal >>
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers agreed to a three-year, $14.5 million contract with shortstop Elvis Andrus on Tuesday night, according to MLB.com. The deal, which is pending a physical, would make him a free agent af

Ellis' 48 not enough, Durant lifts Thunder over Warriors >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Durant scored 33 points and made the go- ahead jumper with 14.2 seconds remaining, as the NBA-leading Oklahoma City Thunder snuck past Monta Ellis and the Golden State Warriors, 119-116. Durant also

Zvonareva, Kirilenko advance at Pattaya Open >>
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion Vera Zvonareva and fellow Russian Maria Kirilenko were second-round winners Wednesday at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis tournament. The top-seeded Zvonareva moved on with

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.

NFL Betting Lines

To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your college football betting needs.