Babers' first game at EIU against rival Salukis

NCAA Football Betting Lines

02/20/2012 - Charleston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dino Babers' first game as Eastern Illinois' football coach will be against rival Southern Illinois and the Panthers will play five home games as part of an 11-game schedule announced Monday.

Eastern Illinois will kick off the Babers era at home at O'Brien Field on Thursday night, Aug. 30. The Panthers fell to the Salukis, 45-28, in their final game of a 2-9 season last year.

Babers is the Panthers' 22nd head coach, replacing Bob Spoo, who retired after 25 years at Eastern Illinos.

"I don't think you can replace him. I think what you can do is you can try to build on what he had started here," Babers said.

The Panthers' other home games will be against Ohio Valley Conference opponents Murray State (Sept. 22), Austin Peay (Sept. 29), Jacksonville State (Oct. 13) on Homecoming and Southeast Missouri State (Nov. 10).

The Panthers will travel to Western Michigan from the Mid-American Conference on Sept. 8 and play two other non-conference games, at Illinois State (Sept. 15) and Central Arkansas (Nov. 17).

Within the OVC, Eastern Illinois will travel to UT Martin (Oct. 6), Eastern Kentucky (Oct. 27) and Tennessee Tech (Nov. 3).

2012 Eastern Illinois Football Schedule

All Times ET

Thursday, Aug. 30, Southern Illinois, O'Brien Field, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 8, at Western Michigan, Kalamazoo, Mich., TBA

Saturday, Sept. 15, at Illinois State, Normal, Ill., TBA

Saturday, Sept. 22, Murray State*, O'Brien Field, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 29, Austin Peay*, O'Brien Field, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 6, at UT Martin*, Martin, Tenn., TBA

Saturday, Oct. 13, Jacksonville State* (Homecoming), O'Brien Field, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 27, at Eastern Kentucky*, Richmond, Ky., TBA

Saturday, Nov. 3, at Tennessee Tech*, Cookeville, Tenn., TBA

Saturday, Nov. 10, Southeast Missouri State*, O'Brien Field, 2:30 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 17, at Central Arkansas, Conway, Ark., TBA

* - OVC game

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.