Cardinals sign P Motte

Baseball Betting Lines

01/25/2012 - St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals have avoided arbitration with Jason Motte, signing the reliever to a one-year contract on Wednesday.

Motte emerged as the club's closer late last year, recording nine saves from August 28 to the end of season. He earned five more saves in the postseason and was on the mound for the final out of the World Series.

The 29-year-old established a franchise single-season record in 2011 for games pitched by a right-hander with 78.

For his career, Motte has compiled a 13-8 record with 12 saves and a 2.92 earned run average.

Wwwslotszone Baseball Betting News

<< Alouettes sign Boulay, Mims
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed safety Etienne Boulay and wide receiver Adam Mims to two-year deals on Wednesday. Boulay only played in four games last season due to a concussion. In six seasons, all w

<< Colts name Pagano head coach
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts have named former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano as the team's next head coach. The Colts, coming off a 2-14 season, needed a new head coach after getting rid o

<< Steelers DT Hoke announces retirement
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Steelers defensive tackle Chris Hoke has announced his retirement after 11 seasons in the NFL. The 35-year-old nose tackle from Brigham Young University had three tackles in six games this yea

<< Western Illinois coordinator resigns abruptly
Macomb, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Western Illinois football is seeking a defensive coordinator again after the recently hired Kevin Corless resigned due to personal reasons. Corless, who spent nine seasons leading the defense at Arkansas State f

<< D.C. United signs Argentine defender Dudar
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United announced the signing of Argentine defender Emiliano Dudar on Wednesday, pending the receipt of an International Transfer Certificate and visa. Dudar, 30, joins D.C. from Swiss sid

San Jose State extends MacIntyre >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose State extended the contract of head football coach Mike MacIntyre through the 2017 season. "In two years as San Jose State's head coach, Mike MacIntyre created a new dynamic that articula

Suns' Lopez gets one-game suspension >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Phoenix Suns center Robin Lopez has been suspended one game without pay for improper conduct towards a game official. The incident occurred with 8:14 remaining in the second quarter of the Suns' 99-96

Red Sox sign P Bailey >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox signed pitcher Andrew Bailey to a one-year contract on Wednesday, thereby avoiding arbitration. Bailey was acquired by the Red Sox from the Oakland Athletics on December 28. Last sea

Gallinari, Nuggets agree to extension >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Denver Nuggets and Danilo Gallinari have agreed to a multi-year contract extension. The Denver Post reported the deal to be a four-year, $42 million pact. Gallinari joined the Nuggets last season i

Ohio State routs Penn State >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jared Sullinger had a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, helping No. 4 Ohio State record a wire-to-wire victory over Penn State, 78-54. William Buford added 15 points and nine rebounds for the

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.