Caps get F Belanger from Minnesota

Hockey Betting Lines

03/03/2010 - Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals added depth to the forward line by acquiring center Eric Belanger from the Minnesota Wild for a 2010 second-round draft pick.

The 32-year-old veteran came to Minnesota as a free agent in July of 2007 and has registered 13 goals and 35 points to go along with 28 penalty minutes in 60 games this season.

Originally a fourth-round pick by the Los Angeles Kings in the 1996 Entry Draft, Belanger has totaled 119 goals and 174 assists in 617 contests with the Kings, Carolina, Atlanta and Minnesota.

Wgrouplotto Hockey Betting News

<< Diamondbacks lock Upton up through 2015
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Diamondbacks have signed outfielder Justin Upton to a six-year contract extension. Although financial details were not released, the deal is believed to be a shade over $50 million, making it

<< Milan still waiting on Pato
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan will have to wait until next week before discovering whether Alexandre Pato will be fit to face Manchester United in the Champions League. The Brazil striker is in danger of missing the se

<< Roughriders sign OL Goodspeed
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders on Wednesday agreed to terms with offensive lineman Dan Goodspeed. Details of the contract were not disclosed. A five-year CFL veteran, Goodspeed was with Hamilton in 2009 af

<< Marchena hoping for Valencia stay
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia captain Carlos Marchena is hoping to extend his stay at the Mestalla with a new contract. The 30-year-old Spain defender has been with the La Liga club since 2001 but is out of contract at the e

<< Caps acquire F Walker from Carolina
Arlington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals have acquired veteran forward Scott Walker from the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2010 seventh-round draft pick. The 36-year-old Walker has spent the last four seasons with Carolina

Canucks trade Schneider to Phoenix, re-assign Lukowich >>
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks made a minor deal with the busy Coyotes on Wednesday, trading defenseman Mathieu Schneider to Phoenix for a minor league defenseman and 2010 conditional sixth-round draft pick. The 40-y

Kings pick up Halpern from Tampa Bay >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Kings have acquired center Jeff Halpern from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forward Teddy Purcell and a third-round draft pick. Halpern had been with Tampa Bay since a Feb

Redskins' Samuels to call it a career >>
Ashburn, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Redskins stalwart left tackle Chris Samuels will announce his retirement at a press conference Thursday. The six-time Pro Bowl selection had his 2009 season cut short by a neck injury in October.

U.S. wins Algarve Cup final over Germany >>
Faro, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The United States women's national soccer team topped Germany 3-2 in the Algarve Cup final on Wednesday in Portugal. Lauren Cheney, who scored two goals in the American's previous Algarve Cup match v

Ducks and Oilers swap backup goaltenders >>
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Anaheim Ducks acquired goaltender Curtis McElhinney from the Edmonton Oilers for goaltender Vesa Toskala. McElhinney, 26, has served as Miikka Kiprusoff's backup over his three seasons in the league and

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.