Altman hired by Arkansas after 13 seasons at Creighton

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

04/02/2007 -

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) -Dana Altman was hired as Arkansas' basketball coach Monday, ending the Razorbacks' weeklong search to replace Stan Heath.

Altman coached Creighton for 13 seasons and went 260-141. The Bluejays went 22-11 this season for their ninth straight 20-win season, a Missouri Valley Conference record.

The 48-year-old Altman is 343-208 in 18 years at the Division I level. He coached at Marshall and Kansas State before going to Creighton.

After Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles fired Heath March 26, the ex-coach said Broyles had grown concerned about a decline in the Razorbacks' season ticket sales. Arkansas attendance last season was 14,400 - down from 18,294 in 1998-99.

In introducing Altman to the media at Bud Walton Arena, Broyles credited Altman for having successful teams and attracting fans.

``It's not just Xs and Os. You're doing something special because the fans want to come see you play,'' Broyles said.

Altman, soft-spoken, said he was excited to follow in the footsteps of Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson. Sutton, also a former Creighton coach, took Arkansas to the Final Four in 1978. Richardson's teams reached the Final Four in 1990, 1994 and 1995 and won the national title in 1994 with a style of play dubbed ``Forty Minutes of Hell.''

``The style of play will be exciting to the fans,'' Altman said. ``We press 40 minutes a game - not quite the old Nolan press, we change it up a bit. We trap in different spots. We do press all the time.''

Heath was hired after taking Kent State to the round of eight in the NCAA tournament in 2002, but that was his first season as a head coach. This time, Arkansas had eyed Texas A&M coach Billy Gillispie - then the Razorbacks received permission to talk to Memphis coach John Calipari.

Instead, the Razorbacks ended up with another coach from a mid-major conference, although the Missouri Valley has done a lot to shed that label in recent years. Altman might not be the big name many Arkansas fans wanted, but his credentials are solid. Creighton has been to the NCAA tournament seven times in the last nine seasons and won a school-record 29 games in 2002-03.

Creighton loses Altman just a few days after assistant Kevin McKenna left to take over the Indiana State program. The Bluejays lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Nevada, 77-71 in overtime.

Arkansas has fallen from the heights it enjoyed under Richardson during the mid-1990s. The Razorbacks have not won an NCAA tournament game since 1999. Broyles fired Richardson in 2002 believing the coach had lost confidence in the program.

In 1974, Sutton came to Arkansas from Creighton.

Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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How did changes to college football betting rules affect bettors?

The 2007 college football rules changes that were implemented to shorten games are now history. The NCAA rules committee did what they set out to do; games were cut by an average of 14 minutes per game last season. There were also, on average, 14 fewer plays per game. We’ll get into how that did (or didn’t) affect games in regards to the pointspread a bit later.

While the NCAA rules committee may have had the betterment of the game in mind, they'll now “turn back the clock” for next season. Two key rules have now been overturned by the NCAA committee for the 2007 season, something definitely for the better.

For those of you who may not remember what those rules actually were, let us refresh your memory.

1) The first one was actually starting the clock on a kickoff as soon as the kicker touched the ball rather than waiting until the returner touched it. The problem here was near the end of the half (or game), if the team leading was kicking off, they could milk the clock by intentionally running offsides and then re-kicking. They could run 10-15 seconds off the clock each play while taking just five-yard penalties each time. They could run the clock down and simply cause the half (or game) to end on a kickoff, keeping the opposing offense off the field. In 2007, the clock will now start when the returner touches the ball as it had before last season.

2) The second rule dealt with starting the clock after a change of online football betting possession rather than waiting until the ball was snapped. This took a lot of time off the clock throughout the game as teams changed possession, however it caused the most problems late in games (or halves). Rather than huddling up and calling a play, the offensive team would have to rush onto the field as the clock started. This was a definite disadvantage to a team that was trying to come from behind late in the game. This year the clock will start on a change of possession, after the ball is snapped.

How did those rules affect the college game last year and will it make a difference this year when it comes to the pointspread? We commonly heard two theories when it came to these changes. First, it would affect scoring negatively. Second, it would hurt favorites as they would have less time and fewer plays to cover the number.

Did the rules hurt scoring? Yes. It seemed obvious that shortening the game by what amounted to 14 plays would push scoring downward. That was the case last year. Of the 119 Division 1A teams, 69 squads scored fewer points in 2007 than they did in 2005. Just 48 teams had a higher PPG scoring average and two stayed the same. Almost 59 percent of the teams in college football last year had a lower PPG average than they did in 2005. Expect more scoring in 2007 as we revert back to the old rules.

Did the rules hinder favorites from covering the number in 2007? Not really. Last year the favorites posted an overall spread record of 336-350-16 (48.9 percent). The year before, favorites were 316-326-13 (49.2 percent). In 2004, the favorites were 316-339-2 (48.2 percent). In fact, college football favorites have been above 50 percent for the season just once in the last seven years (in 2003). Last year’s numbers fell right in line with where they have been historically.

How about big favorites? The rules must have hurt them? Maybe a little bit. Double-digit favorites last year came in at a 47.8 percent clip compare with an average of just over 50 percent over the last seven years. Since 1980, favorites of -10 or more have covered at exactly a 50 percent clip (measured over 6,716 games).

Even bigger favorites must have struggled? Not really. In fact, it was just the opposite. Favorites of three TD’s or more were 59-54-2 last year (52.2 percent). Since 2000, those same favorites (-21 or higher) hit at 51.3 percent and since 1990 came in a clip of 50.3 percent. Stepping it up a notch to four TD favorites or higher, we actually see they've covered at a much better rate last season than before. Last year, favorites of -28 or more were 31-21-1, or almost 60 percent. Historically, four-TD-or-higher favorites have come in at a 50.7 percent spot since 2000 and only 48.9 percent since 1990. The “perceived” problem with the favorites covering at a reduced rate really never came to fruition.

Bottom line is, there might be some more scoring in 2007, but no real revelations when it comes to finding any pointspread golden nuggets.

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