Southern Miss accepts bid to New Orleans Bowl

Cfootball Betting Lines

12/03/2008 - Hattiesburg, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Southern Mississippi accepted a bid to the New Orleans Bowl on Wednesday.

The Golden Eagles, who finished the season with a 6-6 record, will face the Sun Belt champion -- either Troy or Arkansas State -- on December 21 at the Louisiana Superdome.

Southern Miss, which is vying for its 15th straight winning season, is playing in its seventh consecutive bowl game and 11th postseason appearance in the last 12 years.

The Golden Eagles have played in 18 bowl games all-time and hold an 8-10 record. The school is 2-0 in New Orleans Bowl appearances.

Wwwgamefaqs Cfootball Betting News

<< Rays P Percival undergoes back surgery
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tampa Bay Rays closer Troy Percival underwent back surgery this week and is expected to be ready by opening day for the American League champions. The procedure was performed by Dr. Robert Watkin

<< Clemson accepts invite to Gator Bowl
Clemson, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Clemson accepted an invitation to the Gator Bowl on Wednesday, having parlayed a strong end of the season into a New Year's Day appearance. The Tigers went 4-1 over the final five games of the season,

<< Vikings sign DT Kennedy
Eden Prairie, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One day after defensive tackles Pat Williams and Kevin Williams were among six players suspended four games for a violation of the league's policy on anabolic steroids and related substances, the Min

<< Report: Tuberville era ends at Auburn
Birmingham, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Tuberville will reportedly no longer be roaming the sideline for the Auburn Tigers football team. The report, from the Birmingham News on Wednesday, did not indicate whether the longtime coach w

<< Wie five back after first round of Q School
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Shiho Oyama, ranked 42nd in the Rolex Rankings, fired an eight-under 64 on Wednesday to take the first-round lead of the 90-hole LPGA Final Qualifying Tournament. Amateur Mika Miyazato shot a six-unde

Trio leads PGA Tour Q School >>
La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major Manning, Craig Kanada and Joey Lamielle each fired rounds of seven-under 65 on Wednesday to share the opening-round lead of the Final Stage of PGA Tour Qualifying School. Mark Brooks, the 1996 PGA Ch

Around FCS: Take Two >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran Villanova coach Andy Talley was in a contemplative mood as he considered a rematch with James Madison, following the Wildcats' 55-28 playoff victory over Colgate on Saturday. "Very rarely in life d

Cards sign lefty reliever Miller >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals signed left-handed reliever Trever Miller to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal were not released. The 35-year-old Miller appeared in 68 games

Nash, Shaq out against Hornets >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns were without two key components on Wednesday, as neither center Shaquille O'Neal nor point guard Steve Nash were in uniform against the Hornets. Nash, who missed a game last w

Avery issues apology for Tuesday's comments >>
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery issued an apology Wednesday for derogatory comments made the previous day about his ex-girlfriends dating other players in the league. The comments led to an ind


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.