Lille climbs to fourth in Ligue 1

Soccer Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Lille, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lille used an own goal from Bostjan Cesar to follow up its Europa League win over Liverpool with a 1-0 win over Grenoble on Sunday in Ligue 1 and climbed to fourth in the standings.

Bordeaux, Montpellier, Auxerre, Lyon and Marseille - the top five clubs before the start of the week - all tied this week, and Lille took advantage to climb within two points of first-place Bordeaux.

Lille beat Liverpool 1-0 on Thursday in the first leg of their Europa series, and Cesar's own goal two minutes after halftime was all it needed to win again at the Stadium Lille Metropole.

Also Sunday, Marseille tied Toulouse 1-1, and Rennes beat Valenciennes 2-0.

Brandao gave Marseille the lead against Toulouse in the 30th minute at Stadium Municipal, but Paulo Machado scored the tying goal nine minutes later.

Sylvain Marveaux and Asamoah scored in the first half to lead Rennes at the Stade Nungesser.

Skybppk Soccer Betting News

<< Els fends off Schwartzel for second WGC crown
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ernie Els fired a bogey-free, six-under 66 Sunday to beat Charl Schwartzel and win the WGC - CA Championship. Els, who earned his second WGC title, completed the event at 18-under-par 270. He missed Phil Mickelso

<< James, Cavaliers handle Celtics
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James ended with 30 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead Cleveland to a convincing 104-93 victory over Boston at Quicken Loans Arena. Antawn Jamison returned from a one-game absence

<< Kansas, Duke, Kentucky, Syracuse gain top seeds
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas, Duke, Kentucky and Syracuse were given top seeds for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. Kansas (32-2), which was anointed the top overall seed for the tournament, will be in the Midwest Region. The

<< Turner leads Ohio State to Big Ten title with rout of Gophers
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Evan Turner capped a dominant performance in the Big Ten Tournament with 31 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, as fifth-ranked Ohio State pulled away late to notch an impressive 90-61 win over Minneso

<< Nashville escapes Los Angeles with one-goal victory
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patric Hornqvist scored the game-winner late in the third period, as the Nashville Predators edged the Los Angeles Kings, 3-2, at Staples Center. Steve Sullivan and Colin Wilson also scored for

Browns send QB Quinn to Broncos >>
Englewood, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback Brady Quinn is set for a new beginning that had been rumored as the former first-round pick was dealt from Cleveland to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The move came a day after the Browns re

Report: Jets sign Tomlinson to two-year deal >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Jets have reportedly inked running back LaDainian Tomlinson to a two-year deal. Financial terms were not available, according to the New York Daily News. The likely Hall of Fame back spe

Streelman, Collins share lead in Puerto Rico >>
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Streelman and Chad Collins were atop the leaderboard Sunday at 12-under par when the third-round of the rain-delayed Puerto Rico Open was suspended for the day due to darkness. Rain delay

Seedorf's late goal leads AC Milan over Chievo >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Substitute Clarence Seedorf scored in injury time and AC Milan edged Chievo 1-0 on Sunday at the San Siro to close within one point of Inter Milan for first place in Italy's Serie A. Seedorf entered the ma

Gonchar caps Penguins rally over Lightning >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergei Gonchar notched the game-winning score early in the third period, as Pittsburgh clipped Tampa Bay, 2-1, at St. Pete Times Forum. Pascal Dupuis also tallied for the Penguins, who snapped a two-game s

Sportsbook betting odds favor Europe in Ryder Cup

September 19, – Despite holding a decided edge in the all-time series, with 24 wins, 2 ties and 10 losses, Team USA is the underdog again heading into the Ryder Cup in Kidare, Ireland this weekend, according to MySportsbook.com.  The Europeans have captured four of the past five editions, including their largest victory ever, an 18 ½ to 9 ½ thumping in Michigan in 2004. Current Ryder Cup betting odds favor the Europeans to continue their winning ways; they are a 4-5 bet to take the title, compared to 6-5 for the Americans. 

Despite being knocked out in the first round of World Match play by Shaun Micheel, Tiger Woods is predicted to lead the US charge and be their highest point scorer for the week, with odds listed at 9-4 that he outpoints all other American players, including Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and Chris DiMarco to  name a  few.  Team USA has four relatively unknown players on the roster but all four are 2007 tournament winners and have posted some of season’s best performances, each earning over $1.5 million on the PGA TOUR.  They include Zach Johnson, Vaughan Taylor, JJ Henry and Brett Wetterich.

The experienced European squad includes the likes of Luke Donald, Sergio Garcia, Padraig Harrington, Jose Maria Olazabal and Darren Clarke, who’s emotions will be tested after the passing of his wife to a battle with cancer.  Donald and Garcia are in particularly good form and each is a 5-1 bet to lead the European squad in the points race. Donald has proven he can go head to head with Woods at a major event after a run for the $1.2 million purse at the PGA Championship. Garcia’s Ryder Cup credentials prove he’s ready for battle too.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your golf sportsbook needs.

Ryder Cup Odds

Europe
Tie
USA		 4-5
10-1
6-5


Ryder Cup Top US point scorer
Tiger Woods
Jim Furyk
Phil Mickelson
Chris DiMarco
David Toms
Stewart Cink
Chad Campbell
Scott Verplank
Zach Johnson
Vaughan Taylor
JJ Henry
Brett Wetterich		 9-4
4-1
5-1
7-1
8-1
12-1
15-1
15-1
25-1
30-1
30-1
50-1


Ryder Cup Top European scorer
Sergio Garcia
Luke Donald
Padraig Harrington
Colin Montgomerie
Darren Clarke
David Howell
Lee Westwood
Paul Casey
Henrik Stenson
Jose Maria Olazabal
Paul McGinley
Robert Karlsson		 5-1
5-1
6-1
13-2
8-1
9-1
9-1
11-1
12-1
12-1
20-1
25-1

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com

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.