Blackhawks activate F Bourque

Hockey Betting Lines

02/20/2007 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Blackhawks activated forward Rene Bourque on Tuesday.

Bourque missed the past 21 games with a crack in his ankle. He was assigned to the team's AHL affiliate in Norfolk for conditioning purposes on January 22 and played in one game before re-injuring his ankle. He has not suited up since.

Bourque has tallied four goals and four assists in 24 games this season.

In other roster moves, the Blackhawks placed forward Tony Salmelainen on injured reserve and recalled center Craig MacDonald from Norfolk.

Wwwjsonline Hockey Betting News

<< This Week in Auto Racing February 23 - February 25
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - From one coast to the other the NASCAR caravan pulls into the Los Angeles area for week No.2 of 36. For those that had a tough time in the restrictor-plate race at Daytona its back to un- restric

<< Jankovic, Hantuchova advance in UAE
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fifth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic and eighth-seeded Slovak Daniela Hantuchova were among Tuesday's opening-round winners at the $1.5 million Dubai Duty Free Women's Open.

<< United, Dynamo gear up for Champions Cup matches
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While most Major League Soccer teams are slowly building their fitness and preparing for the upcoming season - which kicks off April 7 - two clubs are under considerably more pressure. The Houston Dy

<< Pennsylvania Derby purse increased to $1 million
Bensalem, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Park Racetrack has announced that its premier event, the Pennsylvania Derby, will now have a purse of $1 million. The announcement was made in a press release on Tuesday. "There's somethi

<< Leopold out four weeks for Avs
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Colorado Avalanche defenseman Jordan Leopold will be sidelined approximately four weeks with a fractured wrist. Leopold, who will undergo surgery, suffered the injury during the third period of Colorado's 7-

Kings get chance to be spoilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - While the Los Angeles Kings are all but out of this year's playoff race, they will get an opportunity to put a damper on some other team's chances as well. This past weekend, the Kings managed to split a home-and-home seri

Forsberg's impact on Predators not reflected in his stats >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In two games as a member of the Nashville Predators, Peter Forsberg has yet to record a point. But judging by the team's performance Monday against the Phoenix Coyotes, there's little to reason for Music City fans to panic.

Bears promote Babich to defensive coordinator >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears named Bob Babich the team's defensive coordinator on Tuesday, one day after announcing that Ron Rivera would no longer own that title. Babich has been an assistant coach in Ch

Robredo, Ljubicic win first-rounders in Rotterdam >>
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Spaniard Tommy Robredo and third-seeded Croat Ivan Ljubicic were among Tuesday's first-round winners at the $1 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The world No. 7 Robre

Champions League Roundup: PSV carry first leg lead to London >>
Eindhoven, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven handed English Premier League power, Arsenal, its first defeat in any competition of 2007 when the UEFA Champions League resumed with the first leg of 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.


Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.