Columnist Jeff Haney: The excitement is back

Friday, Oct. 14, 2005 | 6:58 a.m.

Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or haney@lasvegassun.com.

Breaking It Down

2005-06 NBA regular-season over/under wins. Betting lines from the Las Vegas Hilton sports book:

Hawks 21.5

Celtics 37.5

Bobcats 22.5

Bulls 43.5

Cavaliers 49.5

Mavericks 53.5

Nuggets 50.5

Pistons 50.5

Warriors 41.5

Rockets 53.5

Pacers 54.5

Clippers 40.5

Lakers 41.5

Grizzlies 42.5

Heat 58.5

Bucks 37.5

Wolves 42.5

Nets 48.5

Hornets 23.5

Knicks 42.5

Magic 35.5

76ers 41.5

Suns 43.5

Blazers 27.5

Kings 47.5

Spurs 58.5

Sonics 42.5

Raptors 27.5

Jazz 36.5

Wizards 40.5

Of the dozens of college football games on the betting board for Saturday, none will attract as much money from gamblers as the clash between Notre Dame and Southern Cal.

"It's going to be electric," said Micah Roberts, Palace Station's sports book director. "You have a built-in rivalry that has been decades in the making."

Saturday's encounter, the 77th between the schools, carries more weight than in recent years because both teams are national powers.

The No. 1 Trojans (5-0) have been ranked atop 25 consecutive Associated Press polls. The Irish lost to Michigan State on Sept. 17, but with a record of 4-1 they stand at No. 9 in the rankings.

"The rivalry kind of slumped for a few years, but now you've got them both in the top 10," Roberts said. "Plus you have the drama of seeing what (first-year Notre Dame coach) Charlie Weis' pro-style offense can do against the team everyone has as the best in college football."

The game has generated a distinct betting pattern, Roberts said. Professional gamblers, or "wise guys," wagered heavily on home underdog Notre Dame early in the week, but most of the smaller betting tickets have been on USC.

The Trojans are holding steady as an 11 1/2-point favorite at all Station Casinos properties, but are favored by 12 points at some sports books.

"If anything I expect more USC money to come in as people arrive from Southern California for the weekend," Roberts said.

The Trojans have treated their backers well at the betting windows, covering the point spread eight times in 13 games last season and in three of five this year.

They failed to cover the spread in their most recent two games, beating Arizona State by 10 as a 17-point favorite and then beating Arizona by 21 as a 39-point favorite.

Las Vegas sports handicapper Patrick Bartucci, who specializes in the Pac-10, thinks laying the points with the Trojans is the right move this week.

"It could be another game that's close the whole time until SC turns it up in the fourth quarter and gets the cover," Bartucci said.

The 11 1/2-point spread is the smallest margin the Trojans have been favored by in a regular-season game since last Oct. 16, when they easily covered a 10 1/2-point spread against Arizona State. In the Orange Bowl in January, USC closed a 1-point favorite before trouncing Oklahoma 55-19.

"It's the first time this season the line on SC isn't too out of whack," Bartucci, online at patricksfreepress.com, said.

The buildup to Sunday's NFC North game between the Chicago Bears and visiting Minnesota Vikings, meanwhile, took a strange twist when it was reported that 17 Vikings players were being investigated for alleged lewd behavior on a recent charter cruise.

Even though Vikings coach Mike Tice suggested the investigation could pose a distraction, the betting line barely budged. The Bears were quickly bet up from a 2 1/2 to a 3-point favorite early in the week, before the news came out about the boat trips. The line has since held steady.

Both teams are 1-3, but the Vikings have looked pathetic, throwing 10 interceptions and losing five fumbles in their four games.

Bartucci recommends a bet on the Bears as one of his stronger NFL plays of the week.

"The Vikings are terrible on grass," he said. "It's a division game. The Bears hate them. ... I'll take the intangibles and the home team."

How many NBA regular-season wins did the injury to All-Star forward Amare Stoudemire cost the Phoenix Suns?

It's impossible to say precisely, but Phoenix won a league-best 62 games last season, and the over/under on this year's total was set this week at 43 1/2 at the Las Vegas Hilton sports book.

Stoudemire, who recently signed a five-year, $73 million contract extension, had surgery on his injured left knee Tuesday. It was announced Wednesday that he's expected to miss about four months.

Oddsmakers don't project a drop-off from the Miami Heat or the league champion San Antonio Spurs, both 59-23 last regular season. Each team's total has been set at 58 1/2 wins, the highest on the board.