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Hoyas and Mountaineers square off for Big East crownNCAA Basketball Betting Lines03/13/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East Tournament title is up for grabs this evening, as the 22nd-ranked Georgetown Hoyas take on the seventh-ranked West Virginia Mountaineers at famed Madison Square Garden. The Hoyas were thought to be a regular-season contender in the Big East, but the team faltered in the second half of the season and finished with a rather pedestrian 10-8 mark in-conference. However, Georgetown has certainly made believers out of skeptics with their play in this tournament, as the team has navigated the field out of the eight-seed, with impressive wins over the likes of South Florida (69-49), top-seeded Syracuse (91-84) and most recently, Marquette (80-57) in yesterday's semifinal action. The Hoyas are the most decorated team in Big East Tournament history, with seven tournament titles. The team is making its third appearance in the finals in the last four years, winning the whole thing in 2007. Standing in Georgetown's way is West Virginia. The Mountaineers earned the three-seed and a double-bye to the quarterfinals with an impressive 13-5 league ledger. In this event, West Virginia has had its hands full, but has come out on top with thrilling victories over both Cincinnati (54-51) in the quarterfinals and Notre Dame (53-51) in the semifinals. There are seven conference members that have never won this event and West Virginia is one of them. The team did however, appear in the championship game in 2005, falling to Syracuse. These two teams met just once this season, with West Virginia posting an 81-68 victory in Morgantown on March 1st. The Hoyas are a physical team and have certainly displayed that in this event, running all over the opposition thus far. Center Greg Monroe is a big reason for that and he had another huge game in the win over Marquette, abusing the Golden Eagles for his 13th double-double of the season and third straight, finishing with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Three other Hoyas joined Monroe in double-figure scoring, with Chris Wright and Jason Clark pouring in 15 points apiece and Austin Freeman tacking on 12 points. Georgetown made light work of Marquette by shooting 53.6 percent from the floor, including a scorching 60 percent in the decisive second half. The Hoyas are averaging a modest 73.7 ppg on the year, but possess more than enough weapons to run the score up. Freeman currently paces the team with 16.8 ppg, but it is Monroe's presence in the middle that sets everything else up. The sophomore center is converting over 52 percent from the floor and is netting 16.2 ppg, while grabbing 9.7 rpg. Wright (14.7 ppg) and Clark (10.8 ppg) provide more than enough offensive support. For the second straight game, West Virginia pulled off a victory in the waning moments. After a Da'Sean Butler's three-pointer with under two seconds to play decided the game against Cincinnati two days ago, it was a missed attempt by Notre Dame late that proved to be the difference in a two-point victory yesterday for WVU. Butler was once again instrumental in the win over Notre Dame, as he finished 9-of-15 from the floor for a game-high 24 points. Kevin Jones added 10 points, as West Virginia shot a solid .488 from the field, despite racking up just 53 points. The team did the rest at the defensive end, holding the streaking Irish to a mere .344 shooting effort, while outrebounding them 37-22. Much like Georgetown, West Virginia is averaging a modest 73.4 ppg on the year, despite having solid scoring depth. Butler leads four Mountaineers in double figures with 17.3 ppg. Jones (13.5 ppg, 7.2 rpg) and Devin Ebanks (12.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg) are a solid frontcourt duo, while Darryl Bryant (10.0 ppg) helps Butler from the perimeter.
<< Rams and Owls square off in A-10 semifinals
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and 17th-ranked Temple Owls continue their run for a third straight Atlantic 10 Tournament title today, as they clash with the fifth-seeded Rhode Island Rams in the semifinals at Boardwalk Hal
<< Cougars and Miners duke it out for C-USA crown
<< Commodores and Bulldogs do battle is SEC Tournament semifinals
<< SEC Tournament showdown pits Volunteers against Wildcats
<< Top-seeded Duke faces upstart Miami in ACC semifinals
Huskies and Coyotes square off for first-ever Great West title >>
Orem, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - An automatic bid to the Collegeinsider.com Tournament is on the line tonight as the Huskies of Houston Baptist challenge the South Dakota Coyotes in the first-annual Great West Conference Tournament Championship Game
Jayhawks and Wildcats collide for Big 12 title >>
Big Ten semifinals feature Buckeyes against Illini >>
Bobcats battle Zips for Mid-American Conference crown >>
Bears set sights on Bulldogs in MEAC title game >>
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
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.
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