Originally posted by Stickboy46
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But it's also three straight good road wins as a multi-point underdog, and even by increasing margins of victory. The handicappers and bookies know about motivation and all the other factors that go into establishing a betting line, and they're good enough at their jobs to have built lots of fancy sportsbooks with the proceeds of their lines -- yet they've stiill undersold the Shocks, by a lot, in all three games.
I heard some announcer at one point in the game -- I think it may have been the IU radio team (to whom I listened because I was out with the family and KEYN was balking on my phone, so I went behind enemy radio lines and was very impressed with their excellent, almost Kennedyesque, play-by-play description) pull out the old "ball don't lie" line in response to a particular moment in the game. Well, the score doesn't lie either, and the score against the line is less likely still to lie.
So people can scoff at the NIT all they want, and it's true that it doesn't have the significance of the NCAA -- but the simple fact is that the Shocks are blooming brightly where they're planted, and they've been one of the best performers of this postseason so far. It's too bad more people aren't noticing, appreciating the job they've done, and giving credit where it's due.
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