Andreev, Fish, Karlovic all reach third round in New Haven

Tennis Betting Lines

08/19/2008 - New Haven, CT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fourth-seeded Russian Igor Andreev, second- seeded Croat Ivo Karlovic and eighth-seeded American Mardy Fish were second- round winners Tuesday at the $708,000 Pilot Pen Tennis event, a final U.S. Open tune-up.

Andreev erased Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-4 on the hardcourts at the Connecticut Tennis Center.

Fish, who was last year's New Haven runner-up to fellow American James Blake, bounced back from a second-set loss to compatriot Wayne Odesnik to take a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 victory.

Karlovic dropped his first set to American John Isner, but then easily handled the next two sets to take a 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 victory.

German Mischa Zverev toppled fifth-seeded Argentine Juan Monaco 6-3, 6-3, while No. 6 seed Marin Cilic of Croatia was leading last week's Washington, D.C. runner-up Viktor Troicki, 2-1, when the Serbian retired.

In additional action involving top-10 seeds, No. 7 Italian Andreas Seppi overcame compatriot Potito Starace 4-6, 6-4, 6-4; No. 9 Frenchman Marc Gicquel grounded Spaniard Albert Montanes 7-5, 6-3; and Fabio Fognini upended 10th- seeded fellow Italian Simone Bolelli 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

Eleventh-seeded Austrian Jurgen Melzer snuck past pesky French veteran Arnaud Clement 7-6 (7-1), 7-5 on the grounds at Yale University.

American wild card Robby Ginepri posted an upset by taking out 12th-seeded Argentine Agustin Calleri 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, while other upsets came when Belgian Steve Darcis drove out 13th-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers 6-2, 6-2; Slovenian qualifier Luka Gregorc knocked out 14th-seeded Argentine Jose Acasuso 6-4, 6-4; and Czech Ivo Minar doused 15th-seeded Argentine Eduardo Schwank 7-5, 6-3. Minar is rewarded with a third-rounder against top-seeded Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

Sixteenth-seeded Romanian Victor Hanescu avoided an upset by holding off German Denis Gremelmayr 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

An additional second-round win came for American lucky-loser Jesse Levine, who drubbed Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-0, 6-3. Levine joined the draw on Monday when red-hot Argentine Juan Martin del Potro withdrew, citing exhaustion.

The 2008 U.S. Open will commence Monday in New York.

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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.

Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.

El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.

MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds. 

Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.

New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.

Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''

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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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