Kuznetsova falls at Indian Wells

Tennis Betting Lines

03/13/2010 - Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain upended No. 1 seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, in second-round action at the $4.5 million BNP Paribas Open tennis event.

Navarro's victory was the only significant upset so far Saturday at the beautiful Indian Wells Tennis Garden.

Third-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus rolled to a 6-1, 7-5 win over Sybille Bammer of Austria; No. 9 Flavia Pennetta of Italy dropped Czech Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-3; and No. 13 Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium bested Germany's Julia Goerges 6-2, 6-4.

Kim Clijsters of Belgium, seeded 14th in this tournament, needed a mere 57 minutes to drop Barbora Zahlavova Strycova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-1.

Also on Saturday, 23rd-seeded Alisa Kleybanova of Russia ousted Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-1; No. 25 Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova downed Croat Karolina Sprem, 6-3, 6-1; 27th-seeded Agnes Szavay of Hungary got the better of Yung-Jan Chan, 6-3, 6-2; and 28th-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain defeated Romania's Alexandra Dulgheru, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.

This week's 32 seeds all received byes into the second round.

Vera Zvonareva bested 2008 Indian Wells champ Ana Ivanovic in last year's finale here.

The 2010 Indian Wells winner will earn a hefty $700,000.

Wwwgoldenpalacepoker Tennis Betting News

<< Lookin At Lucky captures Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn
Hot Springs, AR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Champion colt Lookin At Lucky made a successful debut Saturday as a three-year-old in the $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park. The 2009 champion two-year-old was the even-money favorite in the sev

<< Zenyatta remains unbeaten with Santa Margarita win
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two-time champion mare Zenyatta made a successful 2010 debut Saturday in the $250,000 Santa Margarita Invitational at Santa Anita Park. The six-year-old mare is now perfect in 15 career starts. Zeny

<< Yellow Jackets hold off NC State to make ACC final
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Favors registered 17 points and eight rebounds, as Georgia Tech overcame sloppy play down the stretch to get by NC State, 57-54, and advance to the ACC Tournament final. Gani Lawal posted 12

<< Chad Collins leads in Puerto Rico
Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chad Collins found himself alone in the lead during the suspended second round of the Puerto Rico Open. Collins is six-under par through 11 holes of his second round and is in first place at nine-u

<< Minnesota crushes Purdue to reach Big Ten final
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ralph Sampson III scored a team-high 13 points and Minnesota continued its quest to an unlikely NCAA Tournament bid with a dominating 69-42 drubbing of No. 6 Purdue in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tou

NBA suspends Bulls' Hinrich one game, fines Suns coach Gentry >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The NBA suspended Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich for one game and fined Phoenix Suns head coach Alvin Gentry $25,000 for separate incidents from Friday. Hinrich made contact with an official during

No. 2 Stanford handles Cal, on to Pac-10 final >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike led all scorers with 18 points along with 10 rebounds as the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal handled the California Golden Bears, 64-44 in the semifinals of the Pac-10 Conference Tournam

Sidney's Candy garners San Felipe Stakes >>
Arcadia, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sidney's Candy, winner of the San Vicente Stakes, made it two straight Saturday by winning the $150,000 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. The colt covered the 1 1/16-miles in 1:42.30. Ridden by

Kansas captures Big 12 title with third win over K-State >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Marcus Morris donated 18 points and nine rebounds to lead No. 1 Kansas to its seventh Big 12 Tournament championship behind a 72-64 victory over ninth-seeded Kansas State. The Jayhawks (32-2) never

Huskies edge Cal to take Pac-10 crown >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quincy Pondexter had 18 points to lead Washington to a 79-75 win over California, as the Huskies won their second Pac-10 Conference Tournament title. Isaiah Thomas had 16 points and Venoy Overton

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.