<p>Going to Las Vegas over Thanksgiving, I was expecting to have a good time on the trip but come out of it with a little less money. The first thing I did upon arriving at the Tropicana on Wednesday was sit down to play some blackjack. <br/>After losing 60 dollars in 15 minutes of five dollar blackjack (a seemingly impossible feat), I realized that unless I stopped the bleeding, I would be out of money by the time I went to sleep. After then losing 40 dollars in five minutes playing craps, it became imperative to find a sure moneymaker. <br/>So I retreated to the sports book. Perusing the college basketball board, I found my proverbial gold mine. <br/>There, written on the wall like a beacon of light, was the UCLA-Georgia Tech line. <br/>UCLA by 2. <br/>I thought it was a misprint. No way were the young Yellow Jackets expected to keep it close with the experienced Bruins. Georgia Tech had four freshmen in its rotation, two of them starting. The Bruins, on the other hand, had five starters with serious game-time experience. <br/>It was the kind of line a disgruntled gambler dreams of. <br/>Because I?m basically a coward, I only put 40 dollars on it, but the game?s finish was as foregone a conclusion as me losing all of my money by night?s end. <br/>UCLA 88, Georgia Tech 73. <br/>The No. 5 Bruins beat a Kentucky team the night before, despite the fact that UCLA?s only sure scoring came from within three feet of the hoop. The Bruins beat a BYU team earlier in the year, despite the fact that the Cougars couldn?t miss from the 3-point line. UCLA had given no indication that it was overrated. <br/>So why the two-point line? <br/>I can only assume that people (Vegas, the pollsters, Dick Vitale, ESPN) are once again overestimating the loss of Jordan Farmar. <br/>Look, Farmar was a good player. He had a good floor presence and he kept things under control. <br/>But he was also a turnover machine and not so hot at shooting. How much of that was his continuously sprained ankles and how much of it was him, I don?t know. <br/>All I know is that Darren Collison right now is better than Farmar ever was. Collison is currently averaging 7.8 assists. This is spectacular, considering that three of the four teams he?s faced are acknowledged to be good. Last year, during the year that propelled him to being a first-round pick in the NBA Draft, Farmar averaged 5.1 assists to go along with 3.6 turnovers. Collison, by comparison, is averaging just 2.5 turnovers. <br/>He?s also averaging more points (14) than Farmar did. <br/>The point here is that the Bruins do not miss Farmar, especially not in early-season games. Yes, Farmar had some serious chutzpah (to borrow a phrase an Irishman should never use) and was always there to take (and sometimes make) the big shots. <br/>But this was an early-season game in a season-opening tournament in front of a neutral, calm crowd. No way were the Bruins going to be missing their big-shot-taking, big-turnover-making former point guard. <br/>Two points was simply an awful line. <br/>The Yellow Jackets came in as the No. 19 team in the nation, and they played pretty well. But expecting them to hang with the Bruins, a team that is likely even better than last year, when it made a run to the NCAA Championship game, was simply foolish. Vegas should be ashamed. <br/><hr><i>Las Vegas should also be ashamed for dealing David 15s against the dealer?s 10 on every hand. E-mail him at .</i></p><br><br><a href='; target='_blank'>;