Oklahoma City and New Orleans complete draft day deal

Basketball Betting Lines

07/08/2010 - Oklahoma City, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oklahoma City Thunder have acquired the draft rights to Cole Aldrich and veteran forward Morris Peterson from the New Orleans Hornets in exchange for the draft rights to forward Craig Brackens and guard/forward Quincy Pondexter.

Aldrich was the 11th overall choice in last month's draft after averaging 11.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots during his junior season at Kansas. He was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and leaves the Jayhawks as their single season leader in blocks (125) and second all-time with 253 swats.

The 6-foot-11 center never lost a collegiate game at home, going 55-0 at Allen Fieldhouse, and was a member of the 2008 Kansas national championship squad.

Peterson has averaged 10.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 10 NBA seasons with Toronto and New Orleans. He played in 43 games last season, 39 starts, with the Hornets and averaged 7.1 points and 2.7 boards.

The Thunder made Brackins the 21st overall choice in the draft after he posted averages of 16.5 points, 8.5 boards and 2.2 helpers during his junior campaign at Iowa State. The 6-foot-10, 230 pounder started all 95 games he played in during his three years with the Cyclones.

Pondexter, the 26th overall selection, averaged 19.3 points and 7.4 rebounds for Washington in his senior season and finished his career as the Huskies all-time leader in games played, 136, and third in school history with 1,786 points.

Imustlottto Basketball Betting News

<< Suns bring back Frye with five-year deal
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Suns have signed center Channing Frye to a five-year deal on Thursday. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. The Arizona product posted 11.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per contest in 81

<< Phillies activate P Madson from DL
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies have activated pitcher Ryan Madson from the 15-day disabled list. He underwent successful surgery to repair a broken right great toe on May 4. Madson has been on the disab

<< Rochus, Dabul reach Newport semis
Newport, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Belgian Olivier Rochus and unseeded Argentine Brian Dabul were a pair of straight-set quarterfinal winners Thursday at the Hall of Fame Tennis Championships. The 5-foot-6 Rochus rout

<< Agent: free agent DL Smith to miss season with Achilles tear
Littleton, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NFL free agent defensive lineman Kenny Smith will miss the entire 2010 season after suffering a torn Achilles tendon, according to his agent. The injury occurred while Smith was working out and he's

<< Clarke leads at Loch Lomond
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darren Clarke posted a six-under 65 on Thursday to take the first-round lead of the Scottish Open at Loch Lomond Golf Club. Clarke is riding a hot wave. He captured the unofficial JP McManus Pro-A

Even the Germans lose >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany manager Joachim Loew abandoned his strategy at the wrong time. Loew said before Wednesday's FIFA World Cup semifinal against Spain that attacking was the only way Germany could win the title. Loew

Raptors officially sign F Johnson >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Toronto Raptors officially agreed to a contract with forward Amir Johnson, the club announced on Thursday. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed, but The Toronto Star previously reported the de

Philadelphia's Rodriguez claims WPS honor >>
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Independence forward Amy Rodriguez was named the Women's Professional Soccer Player of the Month for June on Thursday. Rodriguez, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 WPS Draft, had f

Toronto signs Kleiza to offer sheet >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Denver Nuggets forward Linas Kleiza has been signed to an offer sheet by the Toronto Raptors. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed, however, the Denver Post cited Kleiza's agent a

Danks' gem gives White Sox sweep of Angels >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Danks took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and Paul Konerko knocked in the lone run as the Chicago White Sox bested the Angels, 1-0, in the finale of a four-game set from U.S. Cellular Field.

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.