CUBS

Parker powers Steelers to rout of Bills

Football Betting Lines

09/16/2007 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Parker rushed for 126 yards on 23 carries with a touchdown, and the Pittsburgh Steelers won their home opener under new head coach Mike Tomlin in dominating fashion, 26-3, over the Buffalo Bills.

Ben Roethlisberger went 21-for-34 for 242 yards with a touchdown and an interception, and Nate Washington had three catches for 60 yards for the Steelers (2-0). Hines Ward added 55 yards on five catches for the Steelers, who settled for four Jeff Reed field goals in the first half before pulling away in the second, thanks to a TD catch by Matt Spaeth and Parker's score.

J.P. Losman completed 15-of-25 passes for 154 yards for the Bills (0-2), who struggled offensively. Marshawn Lynch was held to 64 yards on 18 carries, and Roscoe Parrish had six catches for 56 yards for a heavy-hearted Buffalo team, which played for the first time since the tragic spinal injury to tight end Kevin Everett last week.


<< Germany should have no problem with Japan
Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany received a little dose of reality on Friday when it was held to a 0-0 draw by England after winning the opening game of the tournament 11-0 against Argentina. The Germans looked unstoppable in

<< Favre now No. 1 in wins as Green Bay pounds Giants
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brett Favre threw three touchdown passes and DeShawn Wynn ran for a pair of scores to lead the Green Bay Packers to a 35-13 win over the New York Giants. Favre complete 29-of-38 passes for 286 ya

<< Garrard leads Jaguars to comeback win over Falcons
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Garrard threw for 272 yards and a touchdown as the Jaguars edged Atlanta, 13-7, at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. Garrard completed 17-of-25 passes and added 20 rushing yards for the

<< Texans' Johnson leaves game
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson left Sunday's game against the Carolina Panthers early in the fourth quarter. Johnson hauled in a 10-yard pass from Matt Schaub and was immediately drilled by Ca

<< Winless England has eyes on quarterfinals
Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England advanced to the quarterfinals in its only other appearance in the Women's World Cup in 1995. The team is in a great position to do so once again Monday despite the fact it has failed to win eit

Garcia, Bucs earn surprising rout of Saints >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Garcia threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the New Orleans Saints, 31-14, in a divisional matchup at Raymond James Stadium. Garcia completed 10-of-16

Colts hold off Titans in final minute >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peyton Manning threw for 312 yards with a touchdown, but had to watch from the sideline as the Indianapolis defense stopped a potential last-minute drive from Vince Young, as the Colts held on for a 2

Udinese deals Juventus first loss of season >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Udinese gave Juventus its first loss of the season on Sunday at Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino as Antonio Di Natale scored the lone goal in a 1-0 win. It was a nice way to rebound from a 5-0 loss to promote

Gore scores twice as Nedney's late FG leads 49ers past Rams >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Just days after losing his mother, Frank Gore rushed for a pair of touchdowns to guide the San Francisco 49ers past the St. Louis Rams, 17-16, in an NFC West showdown. Joe Nedney hit the game-deciding fiel

Hudson records 10th career shutout as Braves blank Nationals >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Hudson tossed his 10th career shutout and first of the season, as the Atlanta Braves blanked the Washington Nationals, 3-0, in the finale of a three-game set at RFK Stadium. Hudson (16-8), w

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.


Sportsbook accepts U.S. credit cards

Sportsbooks That Take US Credit Cards for NFL football betting

Sportsbooks that take credit cards are not always easy to come by....Everything from credit card companies denying gambling transactions to the fear of chargebacks by customers has slowed down sportsbook credit card transactions by a high percentage.

There are however still sportsbooks that take credit cards.

When using your credit card it is highly recommended that you try either: MySportsbook.com or Sportsbooks.com. Both sportsbooks have a high rate of accepting credit cards and will save you the time and hassle of looking around the web to make a credit card transaction.

Furthermore, Sportsbooks.com is one of the oldest sportsbooks on the web and Sportsbook offers security in that they are the biggest online sportsbook in the world! Publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange, they are ROCK SOLID!