Hill recorded a career-best 367 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 25
catches last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
<< Creative Cause heads San Vicente Stakes
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Creative Cause, third in last year's Breeders'
Cup Juvenile, heads a field of six in Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes for
three-year-olds at Santa Anita Park. The seven-furlong sprint marks the 2012
debut f
<< Oilers, Ducks swap players
Edmonton, AB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Edmonton Oilers acquired defenseman Bryan
Rodney from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for center Ryan O'Marra.
The 27-year-old Rodney has five goals and 15 assists in 41 games with the
Syracuse Crunch
<< Berdych, del Potro land in Rotterdam quarters
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up
Tomas Berdych and former U.S. Open champion Juan Martin del Potro reached the
quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament.
The second-seeded Ber
<< MLS signs U.S. striker Johnson
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - U.S. national team striker Eddie Johnson will
return to MLS this season, it was revealed Thursday. It will take one more day
to determine which team he will play for, however.
The 27-year-old Johnson, who le
<< Saint Francis names Benzel co-defensive coordinator
Loretto, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Robert Morris assistant football coach
Scott Benzel was named co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at
Saint Francis on Thursday.
Benzel has spent the last nine seasons at Robert Morris, incl
Aguero rescues City in Europa League >>
Porto, Portugal (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sergio Aguero scored in the 83rd minute and
Manchester City edged FC Porto, 2-1, in the first match of their Europa League
round of 32 series Thursday.
Silvestre Varela gave defending Europa League champion
Gary Carter passes away >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hall of Fame catcher Gary "Kid" Carter died
Thursday. He was 57 years old.
More to follow...
Rapids acquire Argentinean midfielder Rivero >>
Commerce City, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rapids acquired Argentinean
midfielder Martin Rivero on loan Thursday from Argentina's Rosario Central.
The 22-year-old Rivero debuted for Rosario Central at the age of 18, and made
30 app
Alouettes sign LB Davis >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Montreal Alouettes signed linebacker Rod
Davis to a two-year contract on Thursday.
Davis, who became a free agent on Wednesday, led the Edmonton Eskimos with 79
tackles last season. He also recorded fiv
Roughriders sign LaBatte, Picard >>
Regina, SK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Saskatchewan Roughriders agreed to terms
with a pair of offensive linemen on Thursday, signing Brendon LaBatte and
Dominic Picard.
LaBatte heads further west after spending the previous four seaso
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.
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.
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