Nobcats Baseball Betting News

<< Blue Bombers re-sign OL January
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have re-signed offensive lineman Glenn January. January started every game at right tackle for the Blue Bombers last season and was named an East Division All-Star. He mis

<< Champion mare Havre de Grace works on Wednesday
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Horse of the Year Havre de Grace took to the Fair Grounds track Wednesday morning for her second workout of the year. The five-year-old mare is wintering at Fair Grounds Race Course with the rest of trai

<< Billups has successful surgery on torn Achilles
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Clippers guard Chauncey Billups underwent successful surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon on Wednesday. The procedure occurred a little more than a week after he was pronounc

<< Everton signs Junior
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Everton made a swoop on Wednesday for out-of-contract midfielder Francisco Junior, who joins the Toffees on a two- and-a-half-year deal. The 20-year-old Portuguese youngster began his career at Ben

Sam Houston State hires Ruse as offensive coordinator >>
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Doug Ruse helped Western Illinois to a seven-win improvement and a berth in the FCS playoffs in his first season as its offensive coordinator in 2010. It would seem hard to improve much upon Sam Houston State's

The Sixth Man: Pacers fail big test >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A moral victory in professional sports borders on being a contradiction, at least until you actually see one. There are no participation trophies when the big boys play, only the cold, hard reality of wins

Argonauts ink WR Barnes >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Argonauts inked wideout Jason Barnes, signing the fleet receiver through 2013. Barnes, who was plucked from the Edmonton Eskimos, will be reunited with former Esks quarterback and curren

Marsh, Phillips agree to terms with Lions >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The British Columbia Lions signed defensive backs Ryan Phillips and Dante Marsh on Wednesday. Phillips returns for his eighth season with the defending Grey Cup champions and was eligible for free agenc

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.

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.

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