Vols visit Jayhawks in intriguing non-league matchup

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/03/2009 - Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers of the SEC and the Kansas Jayhawks of the Big 12 will collide at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence this afternoon.

Tennessee has won its last three games to improve to 9-2 overall. The Vols are fresh off an 89-62 decision over UL-Lafayette on Monday and began the current three-game run with a decision over a strong Marquette squad. Tennessee has yet to begin SEC play, but many consider Bruce Pearl's club the favorite to win that league.

As for Kansas, the defending national champion, it has won two of its last three contests to move to 9-3 this season. The club is 8-1 at home and is coming off a 79-43 romp over Albany on Tuesday. Clearly, however, the competition level increases significantly today. Of the three losses suffered by Bill Self's team thus far, one came in overtime and another occurred by one point in regulation.

Surprisingly, this bout marks the first-ever meeting between Tennessee and Kansas on the hardwood.

Tennessee is scoring 84.5 ppg this season while allowing only 72.2 ppg to the opposition. Tyler Smith is generating 16.9 ppg as the team's leading scorer, and the versatile forward can do it all on the court. Wayne Chism checks in with 11.8 ppg and 8.5 rpg, while J.P. Prince provides 10.9 ppg. Tennessee is outrebounding its foes by nearly 10 boards per contest, a major key to the 9-2 record. In the romp over UL-Lafayette on Monday, Chism posted 18 points and 12 rebounds in only 24 minutes of action. As for Smith, he scored 10 points in 25 minutes. The Vols played tremendous defense in that tilt, forcing 22 turnovers while limiting their overmatched opponents to 37.9 percent shooting from the field. A 47-35 rebounding advantage and a 20-3 edge in points from the foul line contributed to the win.

Sherron Collins is scoring 16.9 ppg for Kansas, and he is dishing out 4.8 apg. Cole Aldrich checks in with 14.2 ppg and 9.6 rpg, and the big man has blocked 29 shots as well. Those two players are the only current members of the squad who made significant contributions a year ago. Tyshawn Taylor is the third and final double-digit scorer for the Jayhawks, as he is netting an even 10.0 ppg. Through 12 outings, Kansas is generating 79.4 ppg while limiting opponents to 62.7 ppg on 37.7 percent shooting from the field. In the 36-point romp over Albany on Tuesday, Aldrich scored 20 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field. Tyrel Reed pitched in 12 points off the bench on the strength of a 3- of-5 effort from three-point range. The Jayhawks connected on 56.3 percent of their field goal attempts in the clash and limited Albany to 30 percent, including 0-of-15 from three-point range. A 16-7 edge in points from the foul line also helped the cause.

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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.

NFL Betting Lines

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