Blackhawks clip Red Wings

Hockey Betting Lines

02/21/2012 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Kruger netted the winner early in the third period and Corey Crawford stopped 31 shots as Chicago edged Detroit, 2-1, at United Center.

Jimmy Hayes provided the other score for the Blackhawks, who have won four games in a row.

Valtteri Filppula notched a first-period goal for the Red Wings, whose six- game win streak came to a halt.

Jimmy Howard made his first start since February 2, but lost despite making 27 saves.

Wwwy28mark6 Hockey Betting News

<< Baylor women secure Big 12 title with rout of Texas
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brittney Griner had 18 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and No. 1 Baylor clinched the Big 12 regular season title with an 80-59 victory over Texas. The undefeated Lady Bears (28-0, 15-0 Big 12) also got a doub

<< Heat win seventh straight, top Kings
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and dished out 10 assists, and the Miami Heat pulled away in the fourth quarter to take down the Sacramento Kings, 120-108, on Tuesday. Chris Bosh and Mario Chalmers each add

<< No. 7 North Carolina downs NC State
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kendall Marshall scored a career-high 22 points, hitting four of North Carolina's 10 three-pointers as the seventh- ranked Tar Heels downed North Carolina State, 86-74, at RBC Center on Tuesday. Mars

<< Lehtonen, Stars blank Canadiens
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves to record his second shutout of the season and 19th of his career as the Dallas Stars blanked the Montreal Canadiens, 3-0, at Bell Centre. Ryan Garbutt netted his fir

<< Fleury, Penguins blank Rangers
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc-Andre Fleury made 27 saves to shut out the Eastern Conference's top team, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 2-0 win over the New York Rangers on Tuesday night. Fleury had six saves in the first

Fisher, Preds deal Canucks rare regulation defeat >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pekka Rinne made 32 saves and the Nashville Predators handed the Vancouver Canucks their first regulation loss in more than a month. Mike Fisher had a goal and two assists, leading the Nashville offense

UConn shakes off weekend defeat, routs Pitt >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis totaled a game-high 23 points as No. 4 Connecticut routed Pitt by an 86-37 count on Tuesday. Tiffany Hayes added 13 and five steals for the Huskies (25-3, 12-2 Big East), who snapp

Grizzlies send 76ers to fourth straight loss >>
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marc Gasol fill the stat sheet with 15 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists and five blocks, as Memphis started strong and beat Philadelphia, 89-76, handing the 76ers their season-high fourth straight loss. Rudy

Michigan uses long ball to down Northwestern in OT >>
Evanston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No. 11 Michigan went 14-of-38 from long range, hitting three in a row near the start of overtime to run away with a 67-55 win over Northwestern on Tuesday. Trey Burke led all scorers with 19 points, while Ti

Scott leads Virginia over Georgetown >>
Blacksburg, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Scott had 20 points and nine rebounds on Tuesday, leading No. 25 Virginia to a 61-59 win over Virginia Tech. Sammy Zeglinski and Jontel Evans both added 13 points for the Cavaliers (21-6, 8-5 ACC),

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

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.