Double pole day for Busch at Richmond

Autoracing Betting Lines

04/30/2010 - Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kyle Busch capped off a perfect afternoon on Friday at Richmond International Raceway after winning the pole for Saturday's Crown Royal 400.

Busch, who also won the pole for today's Nationwide Series race here earlier in the day, turned a lap of 127.077 m.p.h. for his first Cup pole at Richmond and the sixth of his career. His last one came in March 2009 at his hometrack in Las Vegas.

"We had great race car in practice," said Busch, who posted the fastest speed in final practice. "[Crew chief] Dave [Rogers] and the guys did a really awesome job on the car, and I'm really proud to put this [Toyota] Camry on the pole for the first time for me. I generally don't win that many poles. It's my first time here at Richmond, but I'm looking forward to it. I think we've got a pretty good race car."

Busch won last year's spring race at Richmond on the same day he celebrated his 24th birthday. He became the second driver to win a Cup race on his birthday. Cale Yarborough won the spring event at Atlanta the same day he turned 43 years old on March 27, 1983. Busch also won the Nationwide race here one year ago for a weekend sweep.

David Reutimann qualified 0.87 seconds behind Busch to claim the outside pole. It's the first time Toyota has been on the front starting row for a Cup race since last July at Chicagoland.

Hendrick Motorsports teammates Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon will start alongside each other on the second row. Both drivers have said they've cleared the air since their highly-publicized run-ins the past two weeks at Talladega and Texas.

"We'll have a lot of fun out there racing with [Johnson] like we have been," Gordon said.

Johnson currently holds a 26-point lead over last weekend's Talladega winner Kevin Harvick, who will start seventh at Richmond.

"I am really pleased with the qualifying effort," said Johnson, who will start third. "We struggled in practice, and it seems a lot of guys were struggling. We couldn't produce a lap time like my teammates were. At the end of practice, we found a couple of little things that gave us hope. When Kyle [Busch] ran his lap, we decided to get up on the wheel and hustle the car around the track."

Ryan Newman qualified fifth, and Brad Keselowski took the sixth spot.

Jamie McMurray, Brian Vickers and Clint Bowyer completed the top-10.

Michael McDowell, Max Papis and Dave Blaney failed to qualify.

Saturday's 400-lap race at Richmond is scheduled to start around 7:30 p.m. (et).

Punteruk Autoracing Betting News

<< Habs D Markov leaves game
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov left Friday's Game 1 Eastern Conference semifinal contest against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a lower-body injury and will not return. Markov was the r

<< Mayfair leads Quail Hollow; Woods badly misses cut
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Billy Mayfair carded his second straight four-under 68 to take a one-stroke lead over Angel Cabrera after two rounds of the Quail Hollow Championship. Mayfair, who had to Monday-qualify his way into the

<< East Carolina tabs Macy as head coach of women's hoops
Greenville, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - East Carolina named Heather Macy its next head women's basketball coach on Friday. Macy, formerly the head coach at Division II Francis Marion University, takes over for Sharon Baldwin-Tener, who earli

<< Reds put Dickerson on DL with broken bone in wrist
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cincinnati Reds placed outfielder Chris Dickerson on the 15-day disabled list Friday with a broken bone in his right wrist. Dickerson suffered his injury in Thursday's game against Houston. An MRI tak

<< M's activate Lee to make anticipated debut against Rangers
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mariners activated prized offseason pickup Cliff Lee from the 15-day disabled list to make his first start in a Seattle uniform in Friday's series-opener against Texas. Lee, who the Mariners acquired from P

Gates, Anderson remained tied for lead in Athens >>
Athens, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bobby Gates and Mark Anderson carded two-under 69s Friday to remain tied for the lead at the halfway point of the Stadion Athens Classic. Gates and Anderson, who shared the first-round lead with Bradle

Hawks-Bucks, Box >>
ATLANTA (83)Williams 1-5 0-0 2, Jos.Smith 4-11 2-3 10, Horford 6-12 3-5 15, Bibby 4-9 1-2 10, Johnson 8-24 4-4 22, Pachulia 0-0 0-2 0, Crawford 8-17 6-6 24, Evans 0-3 0-0 0, West 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-81 16-22 83.MILWAUKEE (69)Delfino 8-19 0-0 20,

Red Wings set to welcome back Hudler from Russia >>
DETROIT (AP) -Jiri Hudler is coming back to play for the Detroit Red Wings.Red Wings general manager Ken Holland confirmed Friday night that Hudler has been granted his release from Dynamo Moscow.The 26-year-old Czech forward was caught in the middl

Hawks stay alive, stave off cold-shooting Bucks to force Game 7 >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford scored 24 points and Joe Johnson added 22, and Atlanta used a giant run in the third quarter to beat Milwaukee, 83-69, to force a deciding seventh game in their Eastern Conference quarter

Boesch, Sizemore homer as Tigers down Angels >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brennan Boesch's grand slam, the first home run of his career, capped an eight-run fourth inning as the Tigers took a 10-6 victory over the Angels in the opener of a three-game series. Boesch's fellow roo

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.


Elite 8 NCAA Tournament Betting at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

In what should be an outstanding Saturday of March Madness betting action, the top four teams in the South and West Regions square off in what should be extremely close match-ups. Three of the four teams are coming off extremely close games on Thursday evening, only UCLA won semi comfortably over Pitt 64-55.

Ohio State is coming off their second game in a row where in all reality they should have lost. Of course that doesn’t matter now since the name of the game is “survive and advance” but as the tournament continues, they can’t afford to keep getting down to their opponents early. Kansas also avoided a scare by holding off a scrappy Southern Illinois squad. In the third thrilling game of the evening Memphis pulled off the minor upset (+3.5) despite being the higher seed to Texas A&M.

Although the spreads are fairly small for Saturday’s games, MySportsbook.com continue to bet against the underdogs. Despite OSU’s two scares, 86% of the “betting public” feels the Buckeyes (-1.5) have what it takes to make the Final Four. In fact, so much of the early money is on OSU that the line has already moved from -1 to -1.5. In the second game of the doubleheader, Kansas and their high-powered offense are 2 point favorites as they take on UCLA and their effective defense. About 63% of the early money thus far is once again backing the favorites. If those percentages stay that high, don’t be surprised if this line moves as well. If you like Kansas (-2) you might want to jump on it early.

Memphis vs. Ohio State

Both squads were involved in thrillers on Thursday evening and should come out fired up. OSU can ill afford to get behind early like they did versus their previous two opponents (Xavier, Tennessee). Greg Oden needs to stay out of foul trouble; the Buckeyes are a completely different team when he is on the court. Memphis definitely has the athleticism and length to match-up with OSU. Of Memphis’ five leading minute earners, the shortest of the bunch is 6’5”. Each team has a very effective defense; Memphis surrenders 62.3 PPG whereas the Buckeyes give up only 61 PPG. With those type of numbers, it isn’t surprising that Memphis covered the UNDER almost 69% of the time this season. As a favorite, OSU has covered the UNDER almost 66% of the time over the last three seasons. The major concern for Memphis which is magnifies this time of the year is their brutal foul shooting (62%). This season, OSU is 17-11 ATS versus teams with a winning record and 7-2 ATS in all tournament games. Memphis has been an extremely reliable cover in tournament play in recent years with a 23-8 ATS record over the last three seasons.

UCLA vs. Kansas

In the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, UCLA will play in a role which they are very unfamiliar with that of the underdog. Only twice this season have they been getting points from the handicappers and both times they covered. Over the last three seasons UCLA is a reliable 23-7 ATS in this unfamiliar role. UCLA has not fared well against Big 12 opponents recently going 1-7 ATS since 1997. Giving up only 59.6 PPG, UCLA will definitely look to do what they do best: keep this game as low scoring as possible. Their defense has been especially tough during the tournament. UCLA opponents have been able to muster up only 48.7 PPG while shooting a combined 34.5% from the field. UCLA definitely has a challenge at hand with a Kansas team that is capable of putting points on the board in bunches. As a team, they average 79 PPG and shoot an impressive 49.6% from the field and 39.4% from beyond the arc. During the tournament Kansas has been “lights out” from the field having shot 56.2%.

With Friday -105 juice on Basketball betting, MySportsbook.com is the place to bet on all of the “March Madness” action.  Don’t forget to monitor who the public is backing at MySportsbook.com’s “Betting Trends”.  By doing so, you have the best chance of predicting a possible line change, thus getting the best value for your wager.

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards