<< Kuroda, Dodgers shut down Astros
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just hours after being reinstated from the disabled list, Hiroki Kuroda tossed seven shutout innings to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers over the Houston Astros, 4-1, in the third game of a four-game set at

<< Sonics reach settlement with Seattle; will move to Oklahoma City
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle SuperSonics and the City of Seattle reached a settlement in their tempestuous KeyArena lease dispute on Wednesday, just hours before a U.S. District Court judge was to rule in the case.

<< Orioles' Cabrera goes the distance in win over Royals
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aubrey Huff's two-run homer in the first paced the Orioles early, leading them to a 5-2 victory over the Royals to take the third game in their four game set in Baltimore. Daniel Cabrera (6-4) pitched

<< Bloomquist's RBI single in ninth lifts M's over Toronto
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Bloomquist ripped a game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Seattle over Toronto, 7-6, at Safeco Field. Raul Ibanez worked a walk off Scott Downs (0-2) to lead off the inning and move

White Sox sweep Tribe on Pierzynski's walk-off homer >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Pierzynski's lead-off home run -- and second of the game -- in the bottom of the 10th inning lifted the streaking Chicago White Sox to a 6-5 win over the Cleveland Indians and completed a three-g

Giants sign 16-year-old pitcher Mateo >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have signed 16-year-old Dominican pitcher Luis Mateo. The 6-foot-3, 175 pound right-hander joined the Giants on the first day he was eligible to sign with a major league

Rays sweep Red Sox >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Bartlett's two-run single capped a six-run seventh inning, as the red-hot Tampa Bay Rays rallied to top the defending world champion Boston Red Sox, 7-6, and complete a three-game sweep at Tropica

Cairo knocks in three as Mariners top Blue Jays >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miguel Cairo doubled twice and drove in three runs, as the Seattle Mariners defeated the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set from Safeco Field. Ichiro Suzuki finished 3-for-

MySportsbook.com betting odds favor Europe in 2007 Ryder Cup

September 19, 2007 – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current betting odds on the 2007 Ryder Cup favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

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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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