Crean officially signs 10-year deal with Indiana

Cbasketball Betting Lines

08/19/2008 - Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana University made it official with new men's basketball coach Tom Crean on Tuesday, signing the former Marquette mentor to a 10-year contract.

Crean left Marquette in April to join Indiana, and on Tuesday inked a deal that will pay him $600,000 per year in base salary with an additional $15.72 million in outside marketing and promotional income during the life of the deal. The agreement is retroactive to April 2, 2008 and expires on June 30, 2018.

"I left a very special situation at Marquette when Indiana offered me this opportunity," said Crean. "I wanted to make sure that if I left, I would be going to a place that would be a destination for my family and allow me to build a program for the long haul with the same security."

Crean compiled a record of 190-96 at Marquette, including a 25-10 record last season. The Golden Eagles reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament, falling to Stanford in overtime.

Marquette earned five NCAA Tournament bids during Crean's tenure, highlighted by a Final Four appearance in 2003. It was the first Final Four run for the Golden Eagles since the 1977 team captured the national championship.

The move also marks a return to the Big Ten for Crean, who was an assistant under Tom Izzo at Michigan State for four seasons before taking the Marquette job.

Crean had initially agreed to an eight-year deal with the Hoosiers.

"I appreciate the confidence that President McRobbie and the university have shown in me by offering the two additional years to the agreement," Crean added. "It is a great responsibility to lead this program and I look forward to the challenge of bringing the program the respect it deserves. The process of restoring this great program is going to take a lot of time, more than probably any of us anticipated."

Crean will take over a program that faces NCAA sanctions in the wake of violations under Kelvin Sampson's watch last season. Sampson was forced to resign in February and Dan Dakich took over on an interim basis as the Hoosiers finished a 25-8 campaign with a loss to Arkansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Should Crean decide to leave Indiana, he would owe the university $3 million after years one through three of the agreement, $2 million after years four through five, and $1 million for years six through 10.

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Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

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