Georgia seeks upset of No. 20 Mississippi State

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/11/2012 - Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A good old-fashioned dog fight will take place in Starkville today, as SEC foes Georgia and Mississippi State do battle at Humphrey Coliseum.

Georgia comes in with an overall record of 11-12, and the team's 2-7 conference mark has it just a game above last-place South Carolina in the SEC standings. The Bulldogs did manage to put one in the win column the last time out, as they whipped visiting Arkansas in an 81-59 final on Wednesday night. Georgia is just 1-6 in true road games this season, and the team has lost its last four trips away from Athens.

Mississippi State comes into the weekend sporting an impressive 19-5 mark, and the team has won six of its first nine league bouts. As a result, the Bulldogs are ranked 20th in the most recent AP poll, and they'll be hoping to improve upon their near-perfect 14-1 home mark with a win today. MSU has won its last two games, the most recent being a 70-60 decision at home over bitter rival Ole Miss, and coach Rick Stansbury's squad has won four of its last five bouts overall.

Mississippi State owns a narrow 52-50 lead in the all-time series with Georgia, but it was the latter that won the last encounter, shooting the lights out in claiming an 86-64 triumph on January 22, 2011 in Athens.

Gerald Robinson went off in Georgia's recent rout of Arkansas, as he hit 10- of-13 field goal attempts in scoring a career-high 27 points. He also added six rebounds and five assists to his stat line, and the Bulldogs wound up shooting 52.6 percent from the floor and putting another three players in double figures. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope drained three of the team's nine three-pointers on the night as he added 18 points, Nemanja Djurisic contributed 14 points off the bench, and Marcus Thornton chipped in 10 points for a Georgia team that not only performed at the offensive end, but dialed up the defense as well in limiting the Razorbacks to 36.7 percent field goal efficiency, all while easily winning the rebounding battle, 44-21. Caldwell- Pope and Robinson are the team's only double-digit scorers on the season, and only a tenth of a point separates them at the moment (14.2 to 14.1 ppg). The last game not withstanding, the 'Dawgs have struggled to find their stroke this year, shooting just 39.4 percent from the field, while defensively allowing the opposition to net 63.0 ppg on 42.0 percent field goal efficiency.

Arnett Moultrie was his usual productive self in Mississippi State's recent win over Ole Miss, as the junior forward scored 18 points and grabbed nine rebounds in playing a game-high 37 minutes. Moultrie wasn't alone in his pursuit of excellence, as point guard Dee Bost logged a double-double consisting of 15 points and 13 assists, Renardo Sidney added 14 points and seven boards, and Rodney Hood finished with 10 points and six rebounds. The Bulldogs won the battle on the boards, 38-33, and hit nine three-pointers to only three for the Rebels. Moultrie is one of a handful of players averaging a double-double this late in the season, as he accounts for 17.0 points and 11.0 caroms per contest, while Bost (15.8 ppg, 5.1 apg), Hood (11.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) and Sidney (10.3 ppg, 5.0 rpg) have all been consistent contributors as well. As a team, MSU is scoring a healthy 73.7 ppg in hitting 46.5 percent of its total shots and 36.8 percent of its long-range launches, while at the other end allowing foes to net 66.4 ppg behind typical shooting outputs of 43.0 percent overall and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc. The team is +3.9 in rebounding margin, but -0.6 in turnover differential.

Wwweircom NCAA Basketball Betting News

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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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Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Super Bowl XLIII, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Super Bowl XLIII is now set, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers will meet each other on February 1st in Tampa's Raymond James Stadium to battle it out for the coveted Lombardi Trophy. The game kicks off at 6:00pm ET on NBC with announcers Al Michaels and John Madden covering the on-field action. Super Bowl XLIII betting odds at online bookmaker MySportsbook.com have the Steelers listed as an early -6.5 against the spread favorite.Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds

Pittsburgh earned their passage to the big game by beating their division rival, the Baltimore Ravens, 23-14 in yesterday's AFC Championship Game. The Steelers jumped on Baltimore early, building a 13-0 first half lead, and never let up on their way to a fairly easy win. Although the Ravens did close to within two points in the fourth quarter, it never appeared as if they had enough offense to pull off the upset.

The Steelers dominating defense held Baltimore to a total of 198 yards while allowing them to convert just three third downs in 13 attempts. Pittsburgh also forced quarterback Joe Flacco into three interceptions, one of which safety Troy Polamalu returned fourty yards for a touchdown.

The Cardinals, by far the playoff team with the longest odds to reach Super Bowl XLIII, did so yesterday with a 32-25 upset of the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship. Arizona charged out of the gates and built a 24-6 halftime lead that had the Eagles venerable defense reeling. Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald did most of the damage, connecting on three first half touchdowns.

Arizona, however, could not sustain their momentum and the Eagles took a 25-24 with 10:45 left to play in the fourth. The Cardinals, with the franchise's first Super Bowl appearance hanging in the balance, mounted a fourteen play, 72 yard touchdown drive that consumed 7:52 off the clock. Warner hit running back Tim Hightower on a short screen for the go-ahead, game clinching score that will forever live in Cardinal infamy.

MySportsbook.com's Super Bowl XLIII Betting Odds:

Pittsburgh Steelers -6.5 (-110), Over 46.5 (-110), -260 (Money line)

Arizona Cardinals +6.5 (-110), Under 46.5 (-110), +220 (Money line)

Matt Foust won both of his conference championship plays yesterday and he is ready to serve up plenty of Super Bowl action. Each individual play costs $15.00, however, MySportsbook.com recommends purchasing Matt's NFL Playoff Package which includes all of Matt's Super Bowl props and picks from just $45.00.

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