12/01/2008 - Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies offered left-handed relief pitcher Brian Fuentes salary arbitration on Monday.
The Rockies will receive two draft picks should Fuentes decline arbitration and sign elsewhere.
Fuentes has until midnight (et) Sunday to accept or decline arbitration. The Rockies career saves leader finished with 30 saves in 34 opportunities with a 2.73 earned run average over 67 games last season. Fuentes has 115 career saves, all during his seven seasons with Colorado.
<< Burnett offered arbitration by Blue Jays
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Blue Jays offered salary
arbitration to star right-handed hurler A.J. Burnett on Monday.
Burnett finished second to ace Roy Halladay in wins for Toronto a season ago,
going 18-10 with
<< Yankees decline salary arbitration with Pettitte, others
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pitcher Andy Pettitte and right fielder Bobby
Abreu were both not offered salary arbitration by the New York Yankees prior
to a midnight (et) deadline on Monday.
Both players earned $16 million last season
<< Royals offer arbitration to Grudzielanek
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Royals have offered
arbitration to second basemen Mark Grudzielanek.
The 38-year-old Grudzielanek has until the conclusion of Sunday to accept the
offer. If he rejects the offer a
<< Angels offer Teixeira, K-Rod, Garland arbitration
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Angels offered salary arbitration to first
baseman Mark Teixeira, closer Francisco Rodriguez, starting hurler Jon Garland
and southpaw Darren Oliver on Monday.
Teixeira, Rodriguez and Oliver are Type-A
Harris paces Orange to rout of Colgate >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Harris netted 22 points as the 16h-ranked
Syracuse Orange dominated the Colgate Raiders in an 86-51 win at the Carrier
Dome.
Jonny Flynn had 12 points and a game-high seven assists for Syracuse (7-0)
Red Sox offer arbitration to Varitek and Byrd >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox have offered salary
arbitration to free agent catcher Jason Varitek and right-handed pitcher Paul
Byrd.
The Red Sox would be eligible to receive compensation for Varitek, a Type
Rinne gets first career shutout as Predators top Sabres >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pekka Rinne recorded his first career shutout
as Nashville scored twice in the third period for a 2-0 win over Buffalo at
HSBC Arena.
Rinne, who was a perfect 3-0-0 entering the game, stopped all 30 s
Richardson paces Bobcats over Timberwolves >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Richardson scored a season-high 25
points, and Emeka Okafor added a season-best 24 points to go along with 10
rebounds, as Charlotte downed Minnesota, 100-90.
The Bobcats also got a season-h
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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