Surging Avs welcome Stars
Hockey Betting Lines
12/27/2006 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche look to maintain their strong recent form when they continue a homestand this evening with a visit from the Dallas Stars.
The Avs have been playing their best hockey of the season as of late. The club has won five of their last six games to jump into a three-way tie with Edmonton and Minnesota for first place in the tightly-bunched Northwest Division.
Colorado has also won four in a row at the Pepsi Center, including Saturday's 3-2 decision over Chicago, and is 10-7-1 on home ice this season.
Wojtek Wolski was the hero against the Blackhawks, as the rookie compiled the first two-goal outing of his brief career. Joe Sakic added a goal and an assist for the Avalanche, while Jose Theodore needed to make only 17 saves to preserve the win.
Dallas comes in off last night's 2-1 loss at Chicago, but will be facing an opponent it has dominated in recent meetings. The Stars have defeated Colorado six consecutive times, including twice this season, and has emerged victorious in each of its last three trips to the Pepsi Center.
In the Stars' most recent trip to Denver, the club came through with a 3-2 overtime victory in the regular-season opener for both teams back on October 4.
Dallas had won two straight prior to Tuesday's loss to the Blackhawks, in which Chicago's Nikolai Khabibulin recorded 11 of his 20 saves in the final period.
Stu Barnes netted the only goal for the Stars, who fell to 11-9-0 on the road, and Marty Turco finished with 22 saves.
Dallas continues to play without standout center Mike Modano, who has been out of the lineup since December 4 with a hip flexor, while former Hart Trophy winner Eric Lindros also sat out Tuesday's contest with an upper body injury. Lindros is questionable to return tonight.
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Wild will try to put the longest road losing streak in franchise history to an end tonight when the club skates into Detroit's Joe Louis Arena to take on the formidable Red Wings. Minnesota has lost nine str
<< Bobcats, Wizards meet in Charlotte
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Arenas is on fire and leads the Washington
Wizards on the road this evening against the Charlotte Bobcats.
Arenas is averaging 34.7 points this month (13 games) and recorded 31 points
in Tuesday night's 116-101 w
<< Raptors host Garnett, Timberwolves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlantic Division-leading Toronto Raptors open a brief
two-game homestand this evening when the Minnesota Timberwolves visit the Air
Canada Centre.
Toronto owns a one-game lead over Boston, New Jersey and New York in
<< Pistons try to stay hot at MSG
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Central Division-leading Detroit Pistons shoot for
their sixth straight win this evening when they visit the New York Knicks at
Madison Square Garden.
Detroit, which leads the division by three games over Cleveland an
<< Line of Scrimmage: Week 17 - Stop Whining About NFL Mediocrity
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If you are presently in the company of
someone who is crying like an infant over the mediocre state of the NFL,
permission granted to beat them about the skull and face with a claw hammer.
Waaaaah! At leas
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Lakers resume their road trip this evening when they take on the Orlando Magic at TD Waterhouse Centre. Los Angeles is 2-2 so far on its six-game road trip and 5-6 away from the Staples Center this season.
Canucks and Flames wrap up home-and-home >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks will shoot for a sweep of the Calgary
Flames when the Northwest Division rivals wrap up a home-and-home series this
evening at General Motors Place.
Vancouver put an end to its three-game losing strea
Badgers and Bulldogs meet up in Madison >>
Madison, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Wisconsin Badgers have climbed to the
fourth position in the latest AP poll, and they welcome the Gardner-Webb
Bulldogs to Madison for tonight's non-conference matchup.
Gardner-Webb began
LSU hosts Wright State in Hispanic College Fund Classic >>
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 17th-ranked LSU Tigers are the host
team of the Hispanic College Fund Classic, a four-team round-robin
tournament, and they will host Wright State tonight in the opening round.
Expe
Cavs visit Atlanta >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Hawks try and halt a four-game losing
streak this evening when they host LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at
Philips Arena.
Atlanta has dropped eight of its last nine games overall, including Saturday'
El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
Additional baseball lines and World Series odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.
Numerous College Basketball teams take final big step to March Madness betting
So, what turned on the lock spigot? Well, after what felt like weeks of teams treading water and slipping back into the bubble muck, a bunch of them finally decided to say "to heck with parity" and won games that should put them into the Big Dance.
Disagree with some of these? Then here's the challenge. Take all of the "should be ins" and make a legit case that each should be ahead of the team that's a lock. Then find 10 more teams that also should be placed in the bracket ahead of that lock team. Not so easy, is it?
If you want more evidence that these locks should be good to go, check out what our research department dug up. Since the NCAA Tournament went to 64 teams in 1985, only six teams from a "big six" conference have had a record of 10-6 or better in conference play and not been selected: Colorado (2004) and Nebraska (1999) from the Big 12, Boston College and Seton Hall (both 2003) from the Big East, Indiana (2005) from the Big Ten and UCLA, which somehow went 12-6 in the Pac-10 in 1988 and still missed out. (Note: Five teams went 11-7 and didn't get in, the latest being last season's Stanford team, which had a brutal nonconference run.)
Yes, 10 conference wins doesn't always mean what it used to because of unbalanced schedules, but this season, it should be plenty good in all but the extreme cases (see: Iowa).
In a way, this is a welcome development, because this is a bubble watch, not a lock watch. We can finally be done with teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech and start really bearing down on at-large battles such as Syracuse-West Virginia and Appalachian State-Georgia Tech.
Interestingly, all the shifting of teams into lock status appears to be more administrative than impactful. The number of remaining available at-larges didn't change one iota. The only difference is that teams on the bubble now have a clearer idea of which team(s) they are competing with for those precious bids.
| The Bubble Breakdown | |||
| CONFERENCE | LOCKS | SHOULD BE INS | AT-LARGES TAKEN (assuming no auto bid outlier) |
| ACC Betting Odds | 6 | 0 | 5 |
| Big East Betting Odds | 5 | 0 | 4 |
| Big Ten Betting Odds | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| Big 12 Betting Odds | 3 | 0 | 2 |
| Pac-10 Betting Odds | 5 | 1 | 5 |
| SEC Betting Odds | 4 | 0 | 3 |
| MVC Betting Odds | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| MWC Betting Odds | 2 | 1 | 2 |
| TOTAL | 28 | 5 | 25 |
As always, I've tried to be as inclusive as possible while only including teams that would have a reasonable chance of at least being discussed if this were Selection Sunday. If your team's not on here, there's probably a good reason (or three) -- start with the RPI and SOS numbers and work your way down.
(Please remember, per selection committee criteria, that records displayed are Division I only. Next update: Feb. 28)
If you have a legitimate grievance, or just like talking bubble, send an e-mail. Polite ones with fact-based arguments have a much better chance of receiving a response. I apologize in advance if I can't get back to all of you.
Atlantic Coast Conference
Work left to do: Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech
The ACC moves to six locks as BC, Va Tech and Virginia all got their 10th ACC wins, which should be more than enough this season, and Maryland rallied past North Carolina to get the final piece the Terps needed. After that? It could end there unless FSU, Ga Tech or Clemson picks things up in a hurry.
Work left to do:
Clemson [19-9 (5-9), RPI: 41, SOS: 42] The Tigers are closer to locking up the collapse of the year award (in a good battle with OK State) than they are to grabbing an at-large. Clemson's been very competitive, but there's no really positive way you can spin nine losses in 11 games. They now cannot get to .500 in ACC play and still must head to Virginia Tech in the season finale (after hosting Miami). Unless the Tigers win both and/or do some serious work in the ACC tourney, they very well could be left out. There are no great nonconference wins, but ODU, App State, Miss. State, South Carolina and Georgia are all respectable W's.
Florida State [18-11 (6-9), RPI: 48, SOS: 14] The Noles got thrashed at Maryland to run their losing streak to five, but then pounded NC State at home to set the table for what likely is an elimination game at Miami. You can at least make a case for the Seminoles at 7-9 in ACC play (and some work in the ACC tourney), but 6-10 is not going to cut it. Wins at Duke and over Florida will resonate, but the computer numbers remain questionable. Beyond Florida, FSU thrashed bubble buddy Providence, but there's not a ton beyond those two games that will help. They didn't show well in big-time opportunities against Pitt and Wisconsin (before the Florida win).
Georgia Tech [18-10 (6-8), RPI: 51, SOS: 46] The Jackets beat Wake on Wednesday but couldn't get it done at UVa on Saturday, which could be a crucial loss with UNC and BC (both at home) remaining and 8-8 almost a certain need for at-large consideration. A nonconference win over Memphis helps, but the RPI and SOS are not at-large quality right now; if you combine those with a sub-.500 ACC mark, that could spell NIT for GT.
For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com
Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.