Langer builds 3-shot lead at Senior British

Golf Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Carnoustie, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bernhard Langer built a three-shot lead at the Senior British Open on Saturday after carding a two-under 69 in the third round.

Chasing his first major on the Champions Tour, Langer finished 54 holes at Carnoustie with a six-under 207.

Corey Pavin shared the 36-hole lead with Langer, but couldn't keep pace, posting a 72 to fall to three-under 210. A tour rookie, Pavin is seeking his first win the 50-and-over circuit.

Six players were tied at two-under 211, including Fred Funk, who rocketed 16 places on the leaderboard with a four-under 67. He was joined in third place by Jay Haas (72), Larry Mize (72), Ian Woosnam (72), Jay Don Blake (70) and Russ Cochran (70).

Langer made three birdies and 14 pars in his first 17 holes. He carried a four-shot lead to No. 18, but his drive rolled about 30 yards into a bunker and he walked off with a closing bogey.

The Hall of Famer from Germany has 10 career Champions Tour wins, including two this year, but no majors. He won the Masters twice on the PGA Tour.

MORE TO FOLLOW.

Myracetracks Golf Betting News

<< Montoya grabs pole for Brickyard 400
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juan Pablo Montoya captured the pole for the Brickyard 400 after posting the quickest lap in Saturday's qualifying at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Montoya edged defending race winner Jimmie Johnson fo

<< Melzer to face Golubev for Hamburg crown
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jurgen Melzer of Austria and Kazakhstan's Andrey Golubev will square off for the title at the German Open after both won semifinal matches on Saturday. The third-seeded Melzer blitzed Italy's Andreas Se

<< Yankees activate Mitre; Gardner hospitalized
Bronx, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Yankees have activated pitcher Sergio Mitre off the 15-day disabled list to start Saturday's game against the Kansas City Royals. Mitre had been sidelined since early June with a strained

<< Buchholz returns for Rockies
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Rockies have activated pitcher Taylor Buchholz off the 60-day disabled list. Buchholz has not pitched in the majors since September 9, 2008. He sat out all of last season because of e

<< Bacsinszky beats Meusburger in rainy Austria
Bad Gastein, Austria (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland beat Austrian crowd favorite Yvonne Meusburger in the semifinals of the Gastein Ladies tennis tournament on Saturday. The second-seeded Bacsinszky rallied for a 1-

A's place Sheets on DL >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Oakland Athletics placed starting pitcher Ben Sheets on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right elbow. The move is retroactive to July 20, and the team recalled pitcher Cedrick Bowers from Tri

Padres reinstate Latos from DL >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Diego Padres reinstated pitcher Mat Latos from the 15-day disabled list to make Saturday's start against the Pirates. Latos was disabled on July 16, retroactive to July 9, with a strained

Brazil names Menezes new coach >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brazil named Mano Menezes the new coach of its national team Saturday, and signed him to a contract through the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Muricy Ramalho was the first choice to replace Dunga, w

Manchester City signs Serbia defender Kolarov >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City added its fourth new player of the offseason Saturday, signing Serbia defender Aleksandar Kolarov from Lazio for $25 million. Kolarov, 24, played two games for Serbia at the recent

Colvin, Castro hit HRs as Cubs nip Cards >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Colvin and Starlin Castro homered to support six solid innings from Tom Gorzelanny as Chicago turned away St. Louis, 6-5, in the middle meeting of a three-game set. Castro finished with three h

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.