Flyin High! Eagles upset top-ranked UNC

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/04/2009 - Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyrese Rice scored 25 points, and added eight assists and five rebounds, as Boston College upended top-ranked North Carolina, 85-78, dealing the Tar Heels their first loss in the ACC opener for both schools.

Rakim Sanders contributed 22 points, a career-high seven steals, and grabbed six boards for Boston College (13-2, 1-0 ACC), which has won 10 consecutive games. Reggie Jackson scored 17 in the win for the Eagles.

The Tar Heels (13-1, 0-1) had not only won each of their games this season, but had done so by double digits. But UNC fell after making just 3-of-16 three-pointers in the second half and 15-of-27 free throws overall.

Tyler Hansbrough finished with 21 points and nine boards for the Tar Heels, while Wayne Ellington added 16 points and Ty Lawson 10 in the loss.

Wwwusacasino NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Eagles set up rematch with Giants after topping Vikings
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Westbrook took a short screen pass 71 yards for a touchdown to shatter a two-point second-half deadlock with 6 1/2 minutes to play, and the Philadelphia Eagles went on to post a 26-14 victory over th

<< Devils' Rolston nets OT-winner against Senators
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Rolston's power-play goal 1:43 into overtime lifted the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators at Prudential Center. Dainius Zubrus scored twice, and Jamie Langenbrunner added a pow

<< Sosa drills late three to lift Louisville over Kentucky
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edgar Sosa's three-point shot with two seconds to play gave the 18th-ranked Louisville Cardinals a 74-71 victory over intrastate rival Kentucky on Sunday at Freedom Hall. Sosa finished with 18 point

<< Extra Mayo! Memphis ends losing streak to Dallas
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - O.J. Mayo scored 21 points and grabbed six rebounds, as the Memphis Grizzlies topped Dallas, 102-82, to snap a 13-game losing against the Mavericks. Coming into the contest, Memphis had lost 18 of t

<< Bears' Woods, French to coach at All-Star Classic
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hershey Bears head coach Bob Woods and assistant coach Mark French have been named the coaches of the Canadian American Hockey League All-Star team for the 2009 All-Star Classic on Jan. 25-26 i

Tampa Bay beats Thrashers in battle for last place >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin St. Louis registered two goals, and the Tampa Bay Lightning climbed out of the Southeast division cellar with a 4-1 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers. Mike Smith made 27 saves, as the Lightning mo

Chandler and Harrington lead Knicks past Celtics >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wilson Chandler dropped in a career-high 31 points with eight rebounds, while Al Harrington poured in 30 points, as the New York Knicks snapped an eight-game losing streak to Boston with a surpris

Chargers RB Tomlinson's status up in the air vs. Steelers >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who sat out the entire second half of the team's wild card win over the Colts with a groin injury, is not a guarantee to play next week against the Ste

Blackhawks cool off streaking Flames >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Havlat recorded a goal and an assist, and the Chicago Blackhawks returned to their winning ways with a 5-2 rout of the Calgary Flames. Playing without star forward Patrick Kane because of a hig

Randle helps Cal top Arizona State >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jerome Randle connected on 7-of-10 from the field, including 4-of-7 from behind the arc, as his 26 points and 10 assists helped the California Golden Bears pull out an 81-71 victory over the 17th- ranked

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.