WR Nicks among Giants to miss practice
Football Betting Lines
01/27/2012 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks missed practice for a second straight day Friday because of a sprained shoulder.
Nicks, the team's second-leading receiver, said he has a sprained AC joint but expects to be ready for the Super Bowl February 5 against New England.
"I just want to give myself a couple days to try and get it back right and rehab it a little bit," Nicks said.
Linebacker Jacquian Williams (foot) and cornerbacks Corey Webster (hamstring) and Will Blackmon (knee) also missed their second straight practice Friday.
Meanwhile, running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot) was a limited participant after missing practice Thursday.
The same thing went for linebacker Chase Blackburn (calf) and center David Baas (abdomen), while defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle/knee) was limited for the second straight day.
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Madrid welcomes Real Zaragoza to the Bernabeu in La Liga action Saturday as the first-place club looks to secure its fifth-straight league win. The leaders enter the weekend with a five-poin
<< Trojans' Dedmon out with torn ACL
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Southern California head coach Kevin
O'Neill announced on Friday that forward Dewayne Dedmon was diagnosed with a
torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee as is likely out for the
remaind
<< Racing legend Foyt forced to skip Rolex 24 at Daytona
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A.J. Foyt will miss this weekend's Rolex
24 at Daytona after being hospitalized due to complications from recent knee
surgery.
Foyt, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, was scheduled to serve as G
<< Mets sign INF Tuiasosopo
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets signed free agent infielder
Matt Tuiasosopo on Friday.
Tuiasosopo, 25, played sparingly in three major league seasons for the Seattle
Mariners between 2008-10 and hit .176 with 15 runs batte
<< Hannover gets first Bundesliga win since October
Hannover, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mohammed Abdellaoue scored his 10th goal
of the season and Hannover edged Nurnberg, 1-0, on Friday at AWD Arena for its
first Bundesliga win since October.
Hannover had six draws and two losses in its l
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia 76ers signed free-agent veteran center Francisco Elson on Friday. The signing provides the Sixers depth in the frontcourt as Spencer Hawes and rookie Nikola Vucevic have battled inj
PSG resumes Ligue 1 play without Pastore >>
Brest, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PSG has continued its spending spree with the
signings of Brazilian defenders Alex and Maxwell, but will be without its most
expensive addition, Javier Pastore, on Saturday at Brest.
Pastore, acquired for app
Dolphins hire new offensive and defensive coordinators >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Dolphins new head coach Joe Philbin chose
his coaching staff on Friday, naming Mike Sherman as offensive coordinator and
Kevin Coyle as defensive coordinator.
Sherman has spent the last four years as the
Browns hire Childress as OC >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns named former Minnesota
Vikings head coach Brad Childress offensive coordinator on Friday.
Childress becomes the first offensive coordinator under Browns head coach Pat
Shurmer.
Amon
Wade back after 6-game absence >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade will make his return
to the lineup on Friday night against the New York Knicks.
Wade has missed the last six games with a right ankle/leg injury suffered in a
January 13 loss at Denve
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.
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