Colorado-UNLV Line at Rebels -2.5

The 2012 NCAA Basketball Tournament First Round line for Colorado-UNLV had the Rebels as a -2.5 favorite.  This one was getting 60/40 action on the spread with more money going towards the Rebels.  You can find all the latest College Basketball Tournament odds at WagerWeb.com here.  Get up to $1000 in FREE CASH based on your initial deposit. 

“How potentially dangerous is UNLV?” asks the folks from WagerWeb.com.  

“The Rebels handed North Carolina its first loss of the season and have plenty of talent to make a run.”

Colorado, meanwhile, is in the Big Dance in its first season as a Pac-12 member after surprisingly winning the conference tournament.

From WagerWeb.com: 

The Rebels didn’t miss a beat after Lon Kruger left to coach Oklahoma and UNLV alum Dave Rice took over. A win against then-No. 1 North Carolina in November was part of a 16-2 pre-conference start. UNLV (26-8) hasn’t won an NCAA tournament game since 2008, but the Runnin’ Rebels have two major reasons why that could change: forward Mike Moser (14.1 ppg, 10.6 rpg), a UCLA transfer, and guard Oscar Bellfield (9.8 ppg, 5.3 apg). The duo powers an unselfish offense that’s second nationally in assists per game (17.9), a major reason another UCLA transfer, Chace Stanback (12.7 ppg, 4.5 rpg), and guard Anthony Marshall (12.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 4.6 apg) have emerged as double-digit scorers.

The Rebels are 3-6 in six appearances since losing to Duke in the Final Four in 1991. Offense likely won’t be a problem for UNLV, which is ranked 20th nationally in 3-pointers per game (8.3) and 22nd in scoring (77 ppg). But the Rebels have weaknesses, namely free-throw shooting (67.6 percent, 222nd nationally) and scoring defense (65.7 ppg, 131st).

One potential worry here:  When playing with 5 or 6 days rest, UNLV is 1-5 Against The Spread over the past three seasons.

- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com