A top-25 SEC showdown on tap in Gainesville

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/04/2012 - Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-25 foes collide in Gainesville this afternoon, as the 12th-ranked Florida Gators play host to the 25th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in an SEC affair at the O'Connell Center.

Billy Donovan's Gators are peaking at the right time. Florida enters this contest with a six-game win streak in tow and moved to 6-1 in conference play with a 74-66 victory over South Carolina on Thursday. The win was also the 18th straight at the O'Connell Center, tied for the fourth longest streak in program history.

Kevin Stallings' Commodores are just a game behind the Gators in the SEC, following Tuesday's 82-74 loss at Arkansas. Vanderbilt has split its last four games and is 16-6 overall on the year.

This represents the 123rd meeting in this longstanding series. Vanderbilt holds a narrow 63-59 series advantage. These two teams have traded sweeps in the season series in each of the last three years. Florida is 12-3 against Vanderbilt at home under Donovan.

The Commodores have a fighting chance in any game thanks to the dynamic duo of John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor. Jenkins leads the SEC in scoring at 19.9 ppg and is shooting .481 from the floor overall, including 82-of-186 from three- point range. Taylor is fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.4 ppg and can also hit the long ball at a .463 clip (37-of-80). Scoring depth can be found in the form of Lance Goulbourne (9.6 ppg), Brad Tinsley (9.4 ppg) and Festus Ezeli (9.0 ppg).

Vanderbilt shot a solid 50 percent from the floor at Arkansas, but fell victim to the Razorbacks' hot shooting in the second half (6-of-12 from three-point range) in an eight-point loss. Jenkins hit four three-pointers himself and was right on his season averaging with a game-high 19 points. Taylor poured in 18 points, Ezeli had 14 and Steve Tchiengang chipped in 10 in the loss.

One of the top offensive teams in the nation, Florida has a number of scoring options at its disposal, leading to an impressive 80.4 ppg. The Gators rely heavily on its long range acumen, delivering on 40 percent from behind the arc. Kenny Boynton plays a big role in that regard, averaging 17.5 ppg , fueled by a .438 clip from three-point range (74-of-169). Perimeter help comes in the form of Bradley Beal (14.2 ppg) and Erving Walker (12.7 ppg), who also serves as the team's primary distributor (5.1 apg). Center Patric Young (11.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Erik Murphy (10.3 ppg) provide the frontcourt balance.

The Gators jumped all over the Gamecocks early, building a 17-point lead in the first half, but South Carolina battled back to trail by only nine at the break. UF was able to hold off USC however, to remain unbeaten at home. The Gators knocked down a season-high 23 free-throws in the win. Boynton led the way 24 points, while Beal recorded his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Walker tacked on 14 points and dished out seven assists. The team got the win despite shooting under 40 percent from the floor and a season-low .250 from three-point range.

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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.

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