Dallas draws Toronto to extend road unbeaten run

Soccer Betting Lines

07/24/2010 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milton Rodriguez scored his first Major League Soccer goal in the 77th minute and FC Dallas tied Toronto FC, 1-1, on Saturday at BMO Field to extend its road unbeaten streak to seven games.

Maicon Santos scored his first goal for Toronto in the 61st minute, but Dallas responded to earn its seventh result in eight road matches this season.

Dallas (6-2-8) suffered its only road defeat in mid-April at Red Bull New York and has two wins and five draws on the road since. Dallas is also unbeaten in its last seven overall.

Toronto (6-5-5) remained unbeaten at home this year but settled for its fourth draw in nine home matches.

Dwayne De Rosario, third in MLS with eight goals, nearly put Toronto in front in the 28th minute off a free kick but Hartman pushed the dipping 25-yard shot over the bar. Chad Barrett had the only other shot on goal in the first half for either side in the 45th, but Hartman made an easy save at the near post.

Barrett set up De Rosario for the first scoring chance of the second half, but the Toronto captain wad denied by a fingertip save from Hartman. Santos tried to turn the rebound on goal while he was on the ground, but shot wide.

Santos was on target three minutes later, as he took a perfect through ball by Julian de Guzman and beat Hartman at the near post. De Guzman found Santos on the left and he dribbled into the box and, despite being well defended by Zach Loyd, found the bottom-left corner in the 61st. Santos scored once for Chivas USA earlier this season before joining Toronto.

FC Dallas answered just over 15 minutes later through Rodriguez, who headed by TFC goalie Stefan Frei from six yards. David Ferreira delivered the corner for his fifth assist, and Rodriguez jumped between two defenders to drive the ball past a helpless Frei.

Frei, who made one save in the first 85 minutes, preserved a point for Toronto when he dove to make a one-handed save on a deflected shot from Dallas' Atiba Harris with three minutes remaining in normal time.

Dallas reserve goalie Dario Sala was red carded on the bench in stoppage time, but neither team threatened on the field in the six added minutes.

Dallas will try to extend its road unbeaten streak against the Colorado Rapids on July 31, when Toronto also plays its next match at the Kansas City Wizards.

Wwwracingcasino Soccer Betting News

<< Wilson four ahead after 54 holes in Canada
Etobicoke, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dean Wilson carded his third straight five- under 65 Saturday to take a four-stroke lead after three rounds of the Canadian Open. Wilson, whose lone win was at the 2006 International, finished 54 holes at 15-

<< Chakvetadze reaches finals in Slovenia
Portoroz, Slovenia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anna Chakvetadze overcame a rough start Saturday to defeat Polona Hercog and move into the finals of the Slovenia Open. Hercog, a Slovenian, won the first set, 6-0, in 24 minutes and took th

<< Mets' Maine to miss rest of season
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York Mets pitcher John Maine has undergone surgery on his right shoulder that will sideline him for the rest of the 2010 season. The procedure was performed Friday by Dr. Michael Ciccotti in Phil

<< Flanagan moves in front in Ohio
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Nick Flanagan carded a two-under 69 Saturday to grab a one-stroke lead after three rounds of the Nationwide Children's Hospital Invitational. Flanagan, who won three times in the 2007, completed 54

<< Rangers disable catcher Treanor
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Texas Rangers placed catcher Matt Treanor on the 15-day disabled list after suffering a knee sprain in Friday's game against the Angels. In the bottom of the seventh, Treanor hit a bouncer off pitche

Report: Giants sign LB Bulluck >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants have reportedly signed veteran linebacker Keith Bulluck. The Star-Ledger, which cites Bulluck's agent, Gary Wichard, reports that the two sides have agreed terms on a one-year

Ludwick returns to Cardinals lineup >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Cardinals activated outfielder Ryan Ludwick from the 15-day disabled list in time for Saturday's game at Wrigley Field. He went 1-for-3 with two runs scored and walk in his return to the l

Rachel Alexandra garners Lady's Secret victory >>
Oceanport, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, used a stalking ride Saturday to win the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park. The champion filly won the 1 1/8-mile race by three-lengths over Qu

New York's Barajas leaves game >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mets catcher Rod Barajas left Saturday's game against Los Angeles in the sixth inning with a strained right oblique. The veteran receiver had singled in a run to cut the Dodgers' lead to 2-1 and was re

Giants place Affeldt on disabled list >>
Phoenix, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco Giants have placed pitcher Jeremy Affeldt on the 15-day disabled list with a left oblique strain. The veteran left-hander has appeared in 37 games in relief this season and has posted a rec

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.


What Is the Point Spread?

What are Sports Betting Point Spreads?

In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.

Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).

If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).

Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.

How to Read Point Spreads

New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles

The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)

In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:

To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.