Mid-American Conference Tournament Recaps

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Boudreau scored 18 points off the bench to lead the fifth-seeded Buffalo Bulls to a 72-54 victory over the 12th-seeded Toledo Rockets in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

Calvin Betts netted 13 points for Buffalo (18-11), which moves on to battle fourth-seeded Miami-Ohio in the quarterfinals. The Bulls also got 12 points from Sean Smiley.

Justin Anyijong tallied 14 points in defeat for Toledo (4-28), which closed out its season with losses in 21 of the last 22 outings. The Rockets also received 13 points and nine rebounds from Jake Barnett, as well as 12 points from Malcolm Griffin.

Buffalo shot 51.9 percent from the floor in the first half and led 35-22 at intermission.

The Bulls registered more field goals in the second half (15) than the first stanza (14), enabling them to cruise to victory.

Buffalo earned a 39-26 rebounding advantage in the clash and finished with 19 assists against only eight turnovers.

Final Score: Western Michigan 75, Bowling Green 73

Kalamazoo, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Kool racked up 20 points, six rebounds and five assists to lift the seventh-seeded Western Michigan Broncos over the 10th-seeded Bowling Green Falcons by a 75-73 final in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

Flenard Whitfield added 19 points off the bench for Western Michigan (17-14), which will battle second-seeded Central Michigan in Thursday's quarterfinal round. The Broncos also got 12 points from Martelle McLemore.

Scott Thomas scored 23 points in defeat for Bowling Green (14-16). Marc Larson posted 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Falcons, who received 11 points and seven assists from Joe Jakubowski.

Bowling Green led 39-38 at halftime after shooting a stellar 17-of-25 from the floor over the opening 20 minutes.

Over the final 20 minutes, the Falcons shot 50 percent from the floor, including 6-of-9 from three-point range. Still, Western Michigan was able to prevail because it earned a 10-4 edge in points from the foul line in the second half.

The Broncos finished the tilt with 17 assists against only six turnovers, impressive by any standards.

Final Score: Eastern Michigan 65, Northern Illinois 59

Ypsilanti, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandon Bowdry posted 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the sixth-seeded Eastern Michigan Eagles to a 65-59 victory over the 11th-seeded Northern Illinois Huskies in the first round of the Mid- American Conference Tournament.

Justin Dobbins tallied 13 points for Eastern Michigan (17-14), which will attempt to upset the third-seeded Akron Zips in the quarterfinal round. Carlos Medlock added 11 points for the Eagles, who got 10 points from Jay Higgins.

Xavier Silas poured in 20 points in the narrow defeat for Northern Illinois (10-20), which received 15 points and 11 rebounds from Sean Kowal.

Northern Illinois led by a 22-8 margin early on, but the Huskies slowed down an owned less impressive 29-23 lead at halftime

Over the final 20 minutes, the Eagles connected on 54.2 percent of their field goal attempts and held the Huskies to 30.8 percent shooting.

Northern Illinois finished the game with 18 turnovers, overshadowing a 39-27 rebounding advantage.

Final Score: Ohio University 85, Ball State 77 (OT)

Muncie, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Armon Bassett poured in 25 points to lead the ninth-seeded Ohio University Bobcats to a hard-fought 85-77 overtime victory over the eighth-seeded Ball State Cardinals in the first round of the Mid- American Conference Tournament.

DeVaughn Washington and Tommy Freeman both scored 15 points for Ohio (18-14), which moves on to the quarterfinal round to do battle with the top-seeded Kent State Golden Flashes. D.J. Cooper contributed 12 points. nine rebounds and eight assists for the Bobcats.

Randy Davis scored 21 points in the heart-breaking loss for Ball State (15-15). Jauwan Scaife tallied 17 points, Terrence Watson added 14 points and Jarrod Jones pitched in 12 points.

Neither team was able to build a double-digit lead in the first half, and Ball State owned a narrow 36-33 edge at intermission.

Bassett hit a layup for Ohio with 54 seconds remaining in regulation to tie the score at 69-69. Bassett was fouled on the play and could have given the Bobcats the lead with a free throw, but his attempt missed its mark. Neither team was able to score again down the stretch, and an extra session was needed to decide the outcome.

Ball State scored the first two points of overtime, but Ohio closed the game on a 16-6 run.

A 27-11 advantage in points from the foul line was key to the victory for the Bobcats.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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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.

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