Czechs settle for 4-1 Davis Cup victory over Belgians

Tennis Betting Lines

03/07/2010 - Bree, Belgium (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Czech Republic wound up with a 4-1 victory over host Belgium in a first-round Davis Cup tie in Bree.

In a pair of dead rubbers on Sunday, Steve Darcis got Belgium on the scoreboard with a 7-6 (8-6), 1-6, 6-4 victory over Jan Hajek, and Lukas Dlouhy capped the tie for the Czechs by overcoming Christophe Rochus 1-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

The Czechs will meet the Chile-Israel victor in the quarterfinals in July.

On Saturday in Bree, Tomas Berdych and Radek Stepanek blew past a Belgian doubles tandem of Darcis and Olivier Rochus 7-6 (7-0), 6-0, 6-3 on the indoor hardcourt at Expodroom, clinching the victory for the Czechs.

On Friday, Berdych blitzed Olivier Rochus 6-3, 6-0, 6-4 and Stepanek handled Xavier Malisse 6-2, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) in the opening singles.

The Czech Republic, last year's Davis Cup runner-up to mighty Spain, is captained by Jaroslav Navratil, while Belgium was guided by Reginald Willems.

The Czechs, who won the Davis Cup as Czechoslovakia behind the great Ivan Lendl 30 years ago, are now 8-3 all-time against the Belgians.

Vagess Tennis Betting News

<< Everton cruises past Hull City
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikel Arteta scored his first two goals of the season, Landon Donovan added a goal and an assist, and Everton defeated Hull City 5-1 on Sunday at Goodison Park. Arteta, limited to six EPL matches due to

<< Nalbandian sends Argentina into Davis Cup QFs
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Nalbandian defeated Andreas Vinciguerra to give visiting Argentina a 3-2 victory over Sweden in their first-round Davis Cup matchup in Stockholm. The former Wimbledon runner-up Nalban

<< Twins lock up P Blackburn, sign 20 others
Fort Myers, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins on Sunday signed pitcher Nick Blackburn to a four-year, $14 million contract. The deal also includes a club option for the 2014 season worth $8 million. Blackburn started 33

<< Boonchu Ruangkit claims European Seniors event
Brunei (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Boonchu Ruangkit defeated Frankie Minoza in a playoff Sunday to claim the Aberdeen Brunei Senior Masters. Ruangkit and Minoza closed with five-under 66s to finish at 14-under-par 199. Ruangkit won with a pa

<< Croatia rips Ecuador 5-0 in Davis Cup first-rounder
Varazdin, Croatia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Croatia put the finishing touches Sunday on a 5-0 sweep of visiting Ecuador in a best-of-five Davis Cup first-round matchup. In a pair of dead rubbers on Day 3, Antonio Veic vaulted past Julio-C

Jaguars sign Kampman >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars have signed defensive end Aaron Kampman, the team announced Sunday. Terms and length of the deal were not disclosed. Kampman had spent all eight of his NFL seaso

Nurnberg hands Leverkusen first loss >>
Nurnberg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting scored twice in the closing minutes of the first half, Mikael Tavares added a goal 10 minutes after the break, and Nurnberg held on to hand Bayer Leverkusen its first loss of the

Keane's double leads Celtic over Falkirk >>
Falkirk, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robbie Keane scored a goal in each half and Celtic defeated Falkirk 2-0 on Sunday at Falkirk Stadium for its first win over the struggling club in three matches this season. Celtic settled for draws in

Djokovic propels Serbia past U.S. in Davis Cup >>
Belgrade, Serbia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Novak Djokovic outlasted big John Isner in five sets on Sunday to lift Serbia past the United States and into the 2010 Davis Cup quarterfinals. The Serbs have an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the best-of-five

Pavlyuchenkova sets up Monterrey final showdown with Hantuchova >>
Monterrey, Mexico (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Third-seeded Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova got past Latvian Anastasija Sevastova in Sunday's semifinal at the $220,000 Monterrey Open. Pavlyuchenkova will face second-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantu

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.