Blackhawks' Eager again suspended three games

Hockey Betting Lines

03/21/2009 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chicago Blackhawks forward Ben Eager was suspended three games without pay Saturday by the NHL.

Eager was given the suspension for his actions in the third period of Chicago's loss to Edmonton on Friday. He dealt a blow to the head of Oilers forward Liam Reddox, though was not given a penalty at the time.

Eager is considered a repeat offender, having also gotten a three-game suspension in October, for swinging his stick from the bench at then-Dallas Stars forward Sean Avery in a preseason game.

He will forfeit $21,951.21 in salary, and will not be eligible to return until the Blackhawks' March 29 game against Vancouver.

Eager has tallied 10 goals and four assists, with 139 penalty minutes, in 66 games this season.

Wwwmsnmusic Hockey Betting News

<< Jack powers Pacers to pounding of Bobcats
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jarrett Jack scored 31 points, and the Indiana Pacers cooled off the Bobcats in a big way, crushing Charlotte, 108-83. Jack went 13-of-14 from the field and added six rebounds for Indiana, wh

<< Tseng and Choi lead MasterCard
Mexico City, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yani Tseng, the No. 2 player in the world, posted a three-under 69 on Saturday to join Na Yeon Choi, who shot a 70, atop the leaderboard after the second round of the MasterCard Classic. Tseng a

<< Nadal, Murray reach final at Indian Wells
Indian Wells, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Rafael Nadal and Scotsman Andy Murray will meet in the title match after winning their respective semifinal matches Saturday at the BNP Paribas Open, the ATP World Tour's first Masters event o

<< Griffin helps Sooners beat Wolverines, reach Sweet 16
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Griffin scored 33 points and pulled down 17 rebounds, as Oklahoma tamed the Michigan Wolverines, 73-63, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Sprint Center. Willie Warren had 16 po

<< Johnson helps Purdue edge Washington
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - JaJuan Johnson totaled 22 points to help fifth-seeded Purdue down Washington, 76-74, and reach the Sweet 16 in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament. E'Twaun Moore had 14 points and six assists

Resurgent Blueshirts continue winning ways >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves to help the resurgent New York Rangers to a 5-3 win over the Buffalo Sabres at Madison Square Garden. Ryan Callahan tallied two goals while Nikolai Zherdev, Chris Drury

More home cooking for Hurricanes in win over Caps >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cam Ward was stellar between the pipes and Joni Pitkanen netted the game-winner early in the third period, as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Washington Capitals, 4-1, at RBC Center. Rod Brind'Amour,

Senators blow past Islanders to win fourth straight >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dany Heatley's team-leading 34th goal of the season capped a four-goal second period, as the Ottawa Senators defeated the New York Islanders, 5-2, at Scotiabank Place. Mike Fisher, Chris Neil, Nick Foligno

Magic inch closer to division crown with win over Knicks >>
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rashard Lewis finished with 27 points, as the Orlando Magic held on to beat the New York Knicks, 110-103, in the front end of a home-and-home, and moved closer to the Southeast Division title. Hedo Turkogl

Torres helps Blue Jackets rally late past Florida >>
Sunrise, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raffi Torres scored twice late in the third period as Columbus came from behind to defeat Florida, 3-1, in a matchup of two playoff-hopeful teams at BankAtlantic Center. Antoine Vermette added a late e

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.