Celtic claims 13th-straight league win

Soccer Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic continued its stunning run of form Saturday, defeating Inverness, 1-0, at Parkhead to extend its winning streak in Scottish Premier League play to 13 games.

The Bhoys have not dropped points in Scotland's top flight since Oct. 29 when it was held to a 0-0 draw with Hibernian, and it hasn't lost a league match since Oct. 2 when it fell 2-0 to Hearts.

Neil Lennon's men have been on a roll since, winning 13 successive contests to overtake Rangers at the top of the table.

With Rangers also taking three points on Saturday after a 4-1 defeat of Dunfermline, the Premier League table remains unchanged with Celtic leading its fierce rival by four points.

Celtic needed only one goal to dispatch Inverness, and Joe Ledley provided that lone strike in the 16th minute.

The goal was slightly overshadowed by red cards issued to players on both squads, as Celtic's Daniel Majstorovic was sent off in the 60th minute before Steve Williams of Inverness picked up his second yellow card in the 78th minute.

But all that mattered for the home side at the end of the day was three points, which they earned through Ledley's early strike.

Celtic's 21st win of the season gives the club 65 points on the season, while Inverness remains third from bottom on just 26 points.

Rangers 4, Dunfermline 1

Dunfermline, Scotland - Rangers surrendered an early lead at Dunfermline on Saturday but battled back to claim a resounding 4-1 victory at East End Park.

Andy Kirk opened the scoring to shock the visitors in the 16th minute. Rangers responded quickly with goals in the 24th and 39th minutes from David Healy and Lee McCulloch respectively.

Rangers extended the lead and secured the victory in second-half play with goals from Sone Aluko and Salim Kerkar.

The Gers keep pace with league-leaders Celtic, sitting four points of the pace with 61 points on the season. Dunfermline remains in the cellar of Scotland's top tier with 18 points.

Dundee United 5, St. Johnstone 1

Perth, Scotland - Dundee United handed St. Johnstone its second-straight league defeat in stunning fashion, trouncing the fifth-place club, 5-1, at McDiarmid Park on Saturday.

A pair of own goals gifted the visitors the lead as Steven Anderson conceded the opener in the 35th minute before Callum Davidson gave away another in the 61st minute.

Anderson made amends by pulling a goal back in the 66th, but Dundee responded with three more goals through Johnny Russell, Jon Daly, and Milos Lacny.

Dundee moves into the top half of the table on 30 points where it sits five points behind St. Johnstone.

Kilmarnock 1, Hearts 1

Kilmarnock, Scotland - Hearts earned a dramatic point on the road, grabbing a 90th minute goal as it played to a 1-1 draw with Kilmarnock at Rugby Park on Saturday.

Paul Heffernan thought he handed Killie the win with a 79th-minute goal, but it was canceled out late on by Suso Santana as the Spanish winger helped Hearts earn a share of the points.

Hearts improve to 36 points in fourth place, while Killie remains in eighth place after drawing its second straight match.

Hibernian 0, Aberdeen 0

Edinburgh, Scotland - Hibernian was held scoreless at home as it played to a 0-0 draw with Aberdeen at Easter Road on Saturday.

Hibs, sitting second from bottom, have managed just one point from it last three Scottish league games.

Aberdeen has fared much better as it extended its unbeaten streak to five games.

St. Mirren 0, Motherwell 0

Paisley, Scotland - St. Mirren and Motherwell played to a 0-0 draw in a stalemate at St. Mirren Park on Saturday.

With its second-straight draw, St. Mirren improves to 28 points on the season, good enough for ninth place in the Scottish Premier League.

Motherwell, unbeaten in its last four, sits third in the league on 42 points.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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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

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