Haas wins thriller at Riviera
Golf Betting Lines
02/19/2012 - Pacific Palisades, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Haas holed an unlikely 43-foot birdie putt on the second playoff hole to defeat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley and win the Northern Trust Open.
After a pair of incredible birdie putts from Mickelson and Bradley on the 18th hole at Riviera forced the playoff, Haas made the long birdie try for his fourth PGA Tour title.
The reigning FedExCup champion shot a two-under 69 in Sunday's final round to get in at seven-under 277. Mickelson, who was going for back-to-back victories after his win at Pebble last week, and PGA Champion Bradley both had even-par 71s.
MORE TO FOLLOW.
Bowling Green, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ray Harper has shed his interim tag as Western Kentucky's head men's basketball coach after just 11 games, the school announced Sunday. Harper has guided the Hilltoppers to a 4-7 record after taking
<< Tomko inks minor league deal with Reds
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds have signed pitcher
Brett Tomko to a minor league contract, the team announced Sunday.
A 14-year major league veteran, Tomko began his career with the Reds in 1997,
amassing a 29-26
<< Schalke GK Unnerstall suffers shoulder injury
Gelsenkirchen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Schalke goalkeeper Lars Unnerstall
suffered a shoulder injury Sunday, and the Bundesliga club will likely have to
turn to Timo Hildebrand in upcoming matches.
Unnerstall, who was filling in for in
<< Valencia's Banega run over by his own car
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia midfielder Ever Banega fractured
his tibia and perone bones Sunday when his own car rolled over his foot at a
gas station and is expected to be out six months, the La Liga club said.
The 23-yea
<< De Graafschap fires coach Ulderink
Doetinchem, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - De Graafschap, which is buried at
the foot of the Eredivisie standings, fired coach Andries Ulderink on Sunday.
De Graafschap sits at the bottom of the standings with just 13 points from 21
games
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Drill, ridden by Martin Garcia, held off American Act to win Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The colt covered the seven-furlongs in 1:21.28 on a fast track.
Yankees-Pirates finalize Burnett trade >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have officially traded
right-handed pitcher A.J. Burnett to the Pittsburgh Pirates for a pair of
minor leaguers -- relief pitcher Diego Moreno and outfielder Exicardo Cayones.
The
Raonic defends title in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milos Raonic successfully defended his 2011
SAP Open title with a straight-set win over Denis Istomin in Sunday's finale.
The third-seeded Canadian fired seven aces and never offered a break
oppor
Rivers, Curry lead Duke over Boston College >>
Chestnut Hill, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Duke's starting backcourt of Austin
Rivers and Seth Curry combined to score 34 points as No. 5 Duke routed Boston
College, 75-50.
Curry netted 18 while Rivers scored 16 to go with seven rebounds f
Mr. Bowling returns for Risen Star Stakes >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lecomte Stakes winner Mr. Bowling heads a
field of 11 three-year-olds for Saturday's $300,000 Risen Star Stakes at
Fair Grounds Race Course. The 1 1/6-mile race is a prelude to the $1 million
Louisia
Pro Football Odds : NFC SOUTH BETTING ODDS
NFL betting action is back! At MySportsbook, all of the pro football odds are posted for the NFC North. Check out how we see the four teams in this cloudy division stacking up this year in the chase for the playoffs! Green Bay Packers (+125) - With QB Aaron Rodgers leading the offense and DC Dom Capers working his magic on defense, the Packers are a real force to be reckoned with.
Virtually nothing changed on this offense for Green Bay from last year to this year, save for the addition of rookie OT Brian Bulaga to the bunch. Expect more huge numbers from the Pack, and a relatively favorable schedule should get them over the hump and into the playoffs once again this season. My NFL Betting Predictions: 11-5, 1st place in NFC North Minnesota Vikings (+130) - There are still too many unknowns about the Vikes this year. There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not.
There is a huge difference between QB Brett Favre and either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels under center. Plus, is Favre comes back, is he really going to be able to keep his pick total under double digits again? Depth at running back looked like it might have been an issue with RB Chester Taylor fleeing in free agency, but drafting RB Toby Gerhart should pick up the difference. This defense is still suitable, but with a first place schedule, making the playoffs is going to be very tough regardless of whether #4 comes back or not. Play this weekly NFL Football Contestto see if you can win.
Chicago Bears (+350) - The Bears are probably a bit of an overhyped team once again this year.No, we don't think it is plausible for QB Jay Cutler to have as bad of a season as he did last year, and we do think the additions of RB Chester Taylor and DE Julius Peppers are going to help immensely, but there's still something in the water in the Windy City that we aren't so sure about. Maybe Chicago finds its way to .500... but then again, maybe it doesn't. If Favre comes back, Cutler might be the worst quarterback in this division this year.
Detroit Lions (+1500) - The Lions are probably once again going to be the whipping boys for the rest of the teams in the NFC North, but they aren't just going to roll over and die once again. There is some real talent amassing on this team offensively, as the combination of QB Matt Stafford, RB Jahvid Best, WR Calvin Johnson, and TE Brandon Pettigrew should put a bunch of points on the board if the offensive line can even remotely hold up. The questions really lie on defense, where it feels like DT Ndamukong Suh is going to be trying to stop opposing teams all by himself. This year should show some marked improvement in the Motor City.
The Patriots will make NFL betting fans a lot of money this season, get in early and enjoy the cash.
To visit this sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.
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.