New York officially adds midfielder Robinson

Soccer Betting Lines

03/11/2010 - Secaucus, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York acquired midfielder Carl Robinson from Toronto FC in exchange for a fourth-round selection in the 2011 draft, the Major League Soccer club announced on Thursday.

"Carl is a very consistent player who will immediately contend for a spot in our starting lineup," Red Bull New York General Manager and Sporting Director Erik Soler said. "He has a significant amount of experience at both the club and international level and we expect that he will bring a strong veteran presence to our locker room."

The 33-year-old Robinson played for Toronto FC the past three years, appearing 74 times for the Canadian club. Prior to joining MLS, Robinson played for a number of English clubs, including Portsmouth, Sheffield Wednesday, Norwich and Walsall.

Robinson will be added to New York's roster pending visa approval.

Waskjeeves Soccer Betting News

<< Despite scoring slump, Tavares building foundation
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rookie forwards usually take at least a season to develop into consistent performers at the NHL level. Even in the case of No. 1 overall picks, who are expected to be stars, it usually takes a year of adjustment t

<< Brian Giles hangs up his cleats
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brian Giles, who recently signed a minor league contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, announced his retirement on Thursday. The 39-year-old outfielder battled an arthritic right knee last season

<< Kansas topples Texas Tech for milestone win
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sherron Collins scored 19 points and Cole Aldrich chipped in 12 with 18 rebounds, leading top-ranked Kansas to an 80-68 victory over Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Tournament. Xavier Henr

<< Blue Bombers ink CB Glover
Winnipeg, MB (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Winnipeg Blue Bombers signed four players on Thursday, including defensive back LaVar Glover. Glover has spent the past four years with Winnipeg and in that time has accumulated 116 tackles along

<< Hoyas knock off top-seeded Orange in Big East
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Wright scored 27 points and Greg Monroe contributed 17 with 10 rebounds and seven assists, as 22nd-ranked Georgetown pulled off a 91-84 victory over No. 3 Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the Big East To

Report: MLS players set to strike if CBA isn't reached >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Major League Soccer players overwhelmingly voted to strike if a new collective bargaining agreement isn't reached with the league by the season opener on March 25, according to a report in The Washing

Onuaku injures knee in Syracuse loss >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Syracuse forward Arinze Onuaku injured his right knee in Thursday's loss to Georgetown in the Big East Tournament. Onuaku was hurt with just over five minutes to play in the 91-84 loss when he tried to

Colts bring in G Alleman >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indianapolis Colts signed guard Andy Alleman on Thursday. Alleman played in nine games with Kansas City in 2009, with three starts. He appeared in 15 games two years ago with the Miami Dolphins.

Southeastern Conference Tournament Recaps >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikhail Torrance scored 17 points to help Alabama rally for a 68-63 win over South Carolina in the first round of the SEC Tournament. Justin Knox had 16 points and seven boards while JaMychal Gree

LeBron likely to return on Friday >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LeBron James will likely return to the court when the Cleveland Cavaliers visit the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday. James missed a loss to the Bucks last Saturday and a win over the Spurs on Monday in an

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.