Red Sox activate Delcarmen among other moves

Baseball Betting Lines

07/17/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Red Sox activated pitcher Manny Delcarmen from the 15-day disabled list among a host of moves made Saturday.

Delcarmen last pitched on June 30 and had been on the DL with a right forearm strain. In 33 games this year out of the bullpen, Delcarmen is 2-2 with a 4.59 earned run average.

Also joining the active roster is catcher Dustin Brown, who was recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket. Brown is now the third catcher on the 25-man roster along with Kevin Cash and Gustavo Molina, and his only major league hit has been a homer, appearing in six games for Boston this season.

To make room on the roster, the team optioned Friday's starter Felix Doubront to Pawtucket and designated reliever Fernando Cabrera for assignment.

Wwbet365 Baseball Betting News

<< Le Toux sinks Toronto with late PK
Chester, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sebastien Le Toux's penalty kick in the 94th minute helped the Philadelphia Union claim a dramatic 2-1 win over Toronto FC at PPL Park on Saturday. Toronto equalized nine minutes from time through Chad Bar

<< Yankees' Burnett leaves with undisclosed injury
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett left Saturday's game against Tampa Bay with an undisclosed injury. Burnett allowed an RBI single to Carlos Pena in the third inning and was immediately visited

<< Yankees put Marte on DL with inflamed shoulder
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees placed left-hander Damaso Marte on the 15-day disabled list Saturday with an inflamed left shoulder. Fellow southpaw Boone Logan was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-

<< Gainey makes Nationwide Tour history
Maineville, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tommy Gainey fired a 10-under 62 on Saturday and extended his lead after three rounds of the inaugural Chiquita Classic. Gainey finished 54 holes at 24-under 192 and is four strokes clear at TPC River's

<< Harvick crushes field to win Gateway truck race
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Neither a stiff neck nor scorching heat could stop Kevin Harvick from winning Saturday's 200-mile Camping World Truck Series race with a dominating performance at Gateway International Raceway. The CampingWo

Tolliver in record book at American Century Championship >>
Tahoe, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Joe Tolliver, the former NFL quarterback, netted 33 points on Saturday in the modified Stableford scoring system to take the second-round lead of the American Century Championship. Tolliver finished two

Yankees' Burnett leaves with hand injury >>
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Yankees pitcher A.J. Burnett left Saturday's game against Tampa Bay with lacerations in his right hand. Burnett allowed an RBI single to Carlos Pena in the third inning and was immediately

Legendary UNC hoops coach Dean Smith suffering from memory loss >>
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The family of former North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith issued a statement Saturday addressing the health of the college basketball icon. The statement acknowledged Smith is suffer

Bayne captures Nationwide pole at Gateway >>
Madison, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Trevor Bayne claimed the pole for Saturday's Missouri-Illinois Dodge Dealers 250 Nationwide Series race after topping the qualifying charts at Gateway International Raceway just outside St. Louis. Bayne po

U.S. World Cup winner Chastain retires >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup winner Brandi Chastain, famous for removing her jersey following the winning penalty kick in the 1999 final, retired from professional soccer Thursday. Chastain helped

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.