Albelda signs extension at Valencia

Soccer Betting Lines

02/17/2012 - Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Valencia announced Friday that it has reached an agreement with defensive midfielder David Albelda for a contract extension to keep him at the Mestalla until June of 2013.

The deal will make the 34-year-old Valencia staple the longest-serving active player at the club as he will become the only player in the current squad to complete 15 seasons as a Valencianista.

Albelda has enjoyed a impressive level of success at the Mestalla. His list of achievements at the club level includes one UEFA Cup, one European Super Cup, two Champions League runners-up medals, two La Liga titles, one Spanish Super Cup, and one Copa del Rey. Albelda has also featured 51 times for Spain and helped his country to a silver medal in the 2000 Olympics.

Wwwsingaporeair Soccer Betting News

<< Bruins' Peverley out 4-6 weeks with knee sprain
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins revealed Friday that forward Rich Peverley will be sidelined 4-to-6 weeks with a third-degree MCL sprain in his right knee. Peverley suffered the injury during Wednesday's game against th

<< Wakefield retiring after 19 big league seasons
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Wakefield is retiring from the game of baseball. The 45-year-old knuckleballer will make his announcement during a Friday press conference at JetBlue Park, the spring training home of the Red Sox in

<< Grey Cup rematch helps kick off historic CFL season
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Canadian Football League will celebrate in 2012 the 100th Grey Cup championship, and the season will open on June 29 with a pair of games, including a rematch of the 2011 Grey Cup between Winnipeg and British

<< Duquesne opens at ODU, play five at home
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Duquesne football will try to build off a Northeast Conference co-championship last season in its 11-game 2012 schedule announced on Friday. The Dukes will play five home games, including a Nov. 10 match-up

<< Valencia sidelined for a month
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United was dealt a major blow after its Europa League win over Ajax on Thursday as it was revealed that in-form winger Antonio Valencia will sit out for a month with a hamstring injury.

Azarenka, Stosur into Doha semis >>
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Belarusian star Victoria Azarenka and U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur were a pair of quarterfinal victors Friday at the $2.168 million Qatar Open. The Australian Open champion Aza

Rangers tries to bounce back from tough week >>
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers hopes of defending its Scottish Premier League title were dealt a massive blow this past week as the club entered administration amid growing financial woes. Ally McCoist's team ended las

The Sixth Man: James can't go home again >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When LeBron James "took his talents to South Beach," he didn't burn his bridge out of Cleveland, he napalmed it. So, any time the world's best basketball player is scheduled to return to the Forest City, i

Hiddink appointed as Anzhi boss >>
Makhachkala, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala continued its free-spending ways by landing former national team manager Guus Hiddink as head coach on Friday. Hiddink, 65, brings a wealth of experience to the

Farrington named VMI's defensive coordinator >>
Lexington, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - VMI named Jeff Farrington as the new defensive coordinator of its football program on Friday. Farrington became Mercer University's defensive coordinator last July as it builds a program that will debut in 20

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.