This Week in Golf -- January 19th through January 22nd

Golf Betting Lines

01/16/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - PGA TOUR - HUMANA CHALLENGE, La Quinta Country Club, PGA West (Palmer Course), Nicklaus Private at PGA West, La Quinta, California - The PGA Tour bids aloha to Hawaii and heads to the mainland for the Humana Challenge.

This event was formerly known as The Bob Hope Classic, but the PGA Tour, Humana and the William J. Clinton Foundation entered into an eight-year agreement.

Hope's legacy remains with the tournament as the winner will be awarded the Bob Hope Memorial Trophy.

The name wasn't the only change for the 2012 championship. This event used to be five rounds, but it's been trimmed to four. La Quinta Country Club, PGA West Nicklaus Private Course and PGA West Palmer Private remained part of the rotation, but SilverRock Resort was dropped.

The format is the same, with professionals playing with amateurs. They team for three rounds, rotating among the three courses, then the 54-hole cut is made and the guys making money play on Sunday.

Since this is the first mainland America event, bigger names were bound to enter the field. Why travel all the way to Hawaii? But this year, with the Clinton Foundation and the helm and Pres. Clinton making some calls, the star power is pretty impressive.

First, Pres. Clinton called upon his buddy Greg Norman. The Hall of Famer hasn't played a PGA Tour event since the 2009 British Open Championship and only teed it up once when this was the Bob Hope Classic. That came way back in 1986.

Phil Mickelson also committed to the field. He's a two-time champion (2002, 2004) and is making his 2012 PGA Tour debut.

Also beginning his season is Dustin Johnson, who sat out the Hawaii swing after knee surgery.

Last year, an intriguing rookie stepped up for career victory No. 1.

Jhonattan Vegas parred the second playoff hole to defeat 2011 FedExCup champion and 2010 Hope winner Bill Haas and Gary Woodland. Vegas was a fourth- round co-leader with Woodland and both had three-under 69s on Sunday.

Haas was knocked out on the first playoff hole, then Vegas' par on the second extra hole was enough to get the win.

Golf Channel has the telecast.

Next week is the Farmers Insurance Open, which was won by Bubba Watson in a thrilling finish. He bested fellow left-hander Mickelson by a single stroke.

EUROPEAN TOUR

VOLVO GOLF CHAMPIONS, The Links at Fancourt, George, South Africa - This event features an exclusive field of proven winners, although the defending champion is not in South Africa.

Paul Casey won the inaugural tournament one year ago, but he is out of action thanks to a shoulder injury. He dislocated his right shoulder in a snowboarding accident in Colorado. Casey will be on the sidelines for at least two months.

Despite the absence of Casey, several stars lined up for this championship, which is reserved for European Tour players who won an event on last year's European Tour schedule.

The winners of the first two events this year are also invited but Louis Oosthuizen, the Africa Open champion, was already in the field. Branden Grace, who captured the Joburg Open, gained admittance on Sunday.

Current tour Members, under the age of 50, with more than 10 European Tour victories are also invited.

Casey won by a stroke last year over Peter Hanson and Miguel Angel Jimenez. At the The Royal Golf Club's Montgomerie Course in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Casey parred the last hole after Hanson made bogey. The win was the Englishman's 11th European Tour victory.

Golf Channel will carry the action.

Next week is the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and the top-ranked players in the world will be there, including Tiger Woods, Lee Westwood, Rory McIlroy, world No. 1 Luke Donald and defending champion Martin Kaymer.

CHAMPIONS TOUR

MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CHAMPIONSHIP AT HUALALAI, Hualalai Golf Course Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii - The Champions Tour begins its 2012 campaign in the 50th state.

John Cook captured last year's season-opener thanks to an amazing back nine. He fired a six-under 30 on the second side and overcame a three-shot deficit to win by two over 2011 Player of the Year, Tom Lehman.

Cook, who recorded just one bogey over the 54-hole tournament, collected his sixth Champions Tour title and his second in a row. He became the first player on the elder circuit to win the last event of one season, then the first event of the next in almost 15 years.

The field is loaded with Champions Tour stars, including Cook and Lehman.

Golf Channel will broadcast the tournament live all three rounds.

The Champions Tour is back Feb. 10 with the Allianz Championship in Boca Raton, Florida. Lehman won the first of three Champions Tour titles last year and will be back to defend.

Wwsandbox Golf Betting News

<< Bruins try for another rout of Panthers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last time the Bruins and Panthers met, Florida was dealt its worst shutout loss in franchise history. Boston will look for a repeat of that dominating performance as it tries to avoid losing back-to-back road games for

<< Red Wings shoot for home record against struggling Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings and Buffalo Sabres couldn't be heading in more opposite directions right now. The Red Wings close out a three-game homestand this evening looking to set a franchise record with a 15th straight home vi

<< Ontiveros leads Pachuca past Puebla
Pachuca, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pachuca grabbed its first win of the season on Saturday as Marco Bueno Ontiveros scored two goals in the final 15 minutes of a 3-1 win over Puebla. The two sides traded goals in the first half and enter

<< Stars head to St. Louis without Benn
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Though there is still plenty of time left in the season, the Dallas Stars don't want to wait too much longer before making a run up the Western Conference ladder. Losing their leading scorer won't make going on a hot strea

<< Sens go for fifth straight win in clash with Jets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The sizzling Ottawa Senators will take aim at a fifth consecutive victory tonight when they host the struggling Winnipeg Jets at Scotiabank Place. In addition to winning four in a row, the Senators have also gone nine str

Pirates' Hanrahan agrees to one-year deal >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Pirates closer Joel Hanrahan has agreed to a one-year contract, avoiding arbitration. Financial terms weren't released, but ESPN has reported the deal to be worth $4.1 million. Hanrahan and

No. 1 Syracuse takes aim at historic win >>
Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Needing just win to establish a new record for the best start in school history, the top-ranked Syracuse Orange will try to turn the trick when they entertain the Pittsburgh Panthers tonight at the Carrier Dome i

Louisville visits Marquette in Monday matinee >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A couple of Big East Conference squads pay their respects on Martin Luther King Day the best way they know how as the Louisville Cardinals and the Marquette Golden Eagles get together for a special Monday aftern

Aggies and Tigers mix it up in Big 12 action >>
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas A&M Aggies will attempt to be the second team this year to take down the Missouri Tigers as the Big 12 Conference rivals meet in an early evening showdown at Mizzou Arena. This will be just the 2

Baylor and Kansas tangle in pivotal Big 12 bout >>
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baylor Bears put their undefeated record on the line as they head to legendary Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence for a Big 12 Conference showdown with the Kansas Jayhawks. This bout marks the 19th meeting betwe

Academy Award Betting Odds for Best Picture Offer Great Value

If there is any category that is not an obvious win for any one nominee in this year's Academy Awards, it would be for Best Picture.  Sure the Departed is a 5/7 favorite, but that's hardly anything when we look at Helen Mirren and her "out-of-reach" 1 to 40 odds (which means you would win a whopping $1 for every $40 bet).

For value, take a look at MySportsbook.com Oscars betting odds on my personal favorite, The Queen - a remarkable 12 to 1 long shot.  The film hasn't won any pre-awards for Best Picture (compared to The Departed and Little Miss Sunshine), but there is a tremendous following and it is a strong enough film to warrant a surprise win.

TV Guide advises Oscar watchers should be cautioned not to discount the  drama "Babel" with its strong social themes about overcoming communication gaps among people of different cultures.

"While 'Babel' lost several guild awards to 'Sunshine' and 'Departed,'  it still enjoys loyal support, and historically Oscar voters favor dramas with social messages over comedies like 'Sunshine' and violent crime movies like 'Departed'."

"It hasn't done well in the guilds, which means there isn't much industry support," said Tom O'Neil of awards site TheEnvelope.com, "But several critics are expecting it to win, and that gets my attention." Babel had 7 to 2 odds at press time.

Who is to say independently produced Little Miss Sunshine won't be this year's Crash.  Last year, Crash won for Best Motion Picture, shocking those who bet on gay cowboy flick, Brokeback Mountain, as the favorite to win. 

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Visa needs.

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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