Patriot League adding football scholarships in 2013

NCAA Football Betting Lines

02/13/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Touchdown.

After exhaustive debate in recent years, the Patriot League has decided to start awarding athletic scholarships in football - 15 each year - beginning with the 2013 season.

The league announced the new policy on Monday, although the decision by its school presidents was termed a "consensus" and not likely a unanimous vote, which in the coming years may fail to fully remove the cloud that has hung over the league.

Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette and Lehigh are full Patriot League members which sponsor football, while Fordham and Georgetown are associate members for the sport. Fordham started offering athletic scholarships in 2010 and was planning to leave the FCS league if they were not voted in league- wide, while Georgetown was generally believed to be against a change in policy.

Patriot members Army and Navy, which participate on the FBS level, and American, which doesn't sponsor football, also were part of the league's vote, which limited Patriot teams to 15 athletic scholarships, including those to transfers, in future recruiting classes.

"First of all, we make this decision in recognition that we believe that it will help the league to remain strong and competitive, both with regard to our academic goals, which are foremost in the league, and to athletic competitiveness," Lafayette College president Dr. Daniel H. Weiss, the chair of the league council of presidents, said on a conference call.

"We believe over time that this decision is in the best interest of the league because it will help us with future membership prospects for joining the league, it will help us with scheduling out-of-league competitors in football, it will allow us to be more competitive in admissions with regards to identifying and recruiting to our campuses' outstanding students who also play Division I football at the level of the Patriot League.

"The decision that was reached is the result of several years of discussion and analysis by the presidents and their colleagues, and it represents the consensus, and argues that it is the right thing for the league to do at this time."

Patriot League football celebrated its 25th anniversary last year. Need-based financial aid has always been offered to student-athletes, but the athletic scholarships, or merit-based financial aid, have not been offered despite being allowed by the league's 22 other sports. Football has been considered a separate entity by the league.

The need-based financial aid will continue alongside the athletic scholarships. However, athletic scholarships will not be offered to this year's recruits or any student-athletes already in the programs. Only those enrolling in the fall of 2013 and beyond will be eligible.

Holy Cross athletic director Richard M. Regan Jr., the chair of the league's committee on athletic administration, said he expects the addition of athletic scholarships to at least double the size of the recruiting pool.

Since adding scholarships, Fordham has been declared ineligible for the Patriot championship and the league's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs. The league announced that later this spring a decision will be made regarding when that policy will change.

Patriot League executive director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said league expansion could result from the change in policy.

"I don't think we're going to be in any rush," she said. "I think there would be some attractiveness to adding one or two more members on the football side and perhaps one or two more members on the full member side. Those conversations have yet to take place. I expect that we'll be in a good position to do that over the course of the next year or so."

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Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament odds  
As of February 9, MySportsbook.com has released its coveted 2007 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament betting odds. “March Madness betting ” only a month away, the top ranked Florida Gators are favorite at 7-2 to win it all. The defending champs have not disappointed at all this season and currently have a 22-2 record and are undefeated (9-0) in SEC play. The Gators’ thrive off of their extremely balanced, experienced and versatile attack. All five starters started in last seasons National Championship game. What is most impressive with this group is their balance; the five starters all average between 10.7 and 13.6 PPG. The Gators have been on an absolute roll having won 15 straight by an average of 16.4 PPG.

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Below is a list of some of the favorites to win the 2007 Men’s NCAA Basketball Championship lines. For the full list of teams and March Madness odds be sure to log onto MySportsbook.com. If you want to use your credit card to bet on college hoops or any other event, MySportsbook.com has the highest credit card acceptance rate in the industry.

Arizona 20-1

Butler 20-1

Duke 30-1

Florida 7-2

Georgetown 30-1

Indiana 35-1

Kansas 15-1

Marquette 25-1

Maryland 40-1

Memphis 50-1

Nevada 50-1

UNC 9-2

OSU 8-1

Oregon 30-1

Pittsburgh 15-1

Texas 30-1

Texas A&M 18-1

UCLA 6-1

Wisconsin 10-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook betting needs.

Football Betting

NFL Football Betting Online

The San Francisco 49ers (5-11 SU, 5-10-1 ATS in 2007; 1-1 SU & ATS in pre-season) found some offensive life last week, and they will try to build some momentum on Thursday night as they travel to the Windy City to take on the Chicago Bears (7-9 SU & ATS in 2007; 0-2 SU, 0-1-1 ATS in pre-season) in an NFL matchup that is set to get underway at 8 PM ET at Soldier Field (natural turf) in Chicago.

Thursday, August 21

NFL betting odds: CHICAGO -3 (-120), Total 37

NOTABLE STAT: San Francisco was last in points, last in total offense in 2007
KEY NFL BETTING TREND: SF has lost its last seven SU on pre-season road

In the BetUS NFL pre-season football betting odds, the Bears are listed as a three-point favorite (laying -120), with the total posted at 37 points.

Here are some NFL football betting trends as they relate to this matchup (reflecting numbers going into the 2008 season):

* SF has lost 11 of its last 14 games SU
* SF has covered three of its last 11 games
* SF has lost six of its last seven road games SU
* SF has covered one of its last seven road games
* CHI has covered five of its last eight games
* CHI has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
* CHI has covered four of its last 13 home games
* SF has lost its last seven pre-season road games SU
* CHI has covered two of its last seven home pre-season games

Well, I guess we should congratulate the Bears on making their quarterback choice for the season's opening game, as they have designated Kyle Orton the starter against Indianapolis. The Bears obviously have lost patience with Rex Grossman, and what they do with him at this point is anybody's guess. But suffice it to say that there isn't a quarterback competition anymore, at least in training camp.

Meanwhile, the quarterback competition may also be settled in San Francisco, where the Niners bounced back from a lackluster 18-6 loss to the Raiders, in which they turned the ball over four times, to execute a 34-6 rout of the Packers last Saturday. However, coach Mike Nolan has stopped short of saying that, insisting that the job is still open. But J.T. O'Sullivan, the longshot of the trio of Niner signal-callers who opened camp, will start his third straight pre-season game here. Against Green Bay, O'Sullivan was only 8-for-17, and was intercepted, but he also threw for 9.1 yards an attempt, which included a 59-yard TD pass to Josh Morgan. The others struggled.

Some offensive cohesion is badly needed, in light of the Niners' dismal 2007 campaign, in which they were dead last in the NFL in scoring, with just 13.7 points a game. And O'Sullivan is the guy who is most familiar with offensive coordinator Mike Martz's exacting system, because he learned it last year in Detroit. O'Sullivan will go at least the entire first half and may even last longer. He'll be relieved by Alex Smith, with Shawn Hill doing the mop-up work. Three receivers who were out last week - Bryant Johnson, Ashley Lelie and Arnaz Battle - will miss this game too.

That may hurt a little here, especially since the Bears will be using a lot of their defensive starters. And it's the defense that has been keeping the Bears in games thus far. In fact, the defense and special teams were responsible for the first 19 points Chicago scored against Seattle last time out, as the offense really struggled with Grossman at the controls. But maybe the first-team offense has a chance to settle a little bit as it works more with Orton at the helm.

Certainly we have concerns about the Bears' offensive line, but we like the scenario for them here, especially if O'Sullivan doesn't make some bis plays. The Niners may have nowhere else to turn right now, and they have lost seven straight road games in the pre-season. Let's take Chicago, the three-point favorite in the NFL football betting odds.

CHICAGO -3 (-120) **
(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)

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