Gainey, two others share lead in Arkansas

Golf Betting Lines

05/08/2008 - Fort Smith, AR (Golf Betting) - Tommy Gainey posted a six-under 64 Thursday to grab a share of the lead after the opening round of the Fort Smith Classic.

Gainey was joined atop the leaderboard by Matt Weibring and Kris Cox.

There is a six-way logjam in fourth place. Australians Cameron Percy and David Lutterus share fourth place with Brian Stuard, Michael Boyd, Jason Dufner and Justin Hicks at four-under 66.

Gainey, known for his unique style of wearing two gloves, dropped in back-to- back birdies from the 11th at Hardscrabble Country Club. After he dropped a shot on 13 due to a double-hit on a chip, Gainey came right back to birdie 14 and 15.

After a pair of pars, Gainey birdied three in a row from the 18th to jump to minus-six, including a chip-in birdie on the first. He parred his final seven holes to end there.

"Frustration has really set in for me. The year has been real sketchy for me," admitted Gainey, who has made three cuts in nine starts as a rookie on the PGA Tour. "I have hit it good all year except for maybe three rounds. I have not made any putts and my scores show that."

Both Weibring and Cox carded bogey-free rounds. Weibring started with birdies on 12, 14 and 16. He moved to minus-four with a birdie on the par-five third. He eagled the next par-five, No. 5, to gain a share of the lead.

"I played really good today. I drove it well, I putted well," Weibring stated. "I had only a couple of those five-footers for par and I made those. Those are important to make to keep things going."

Cox, like his fellow leaders, played the back nine first. He first three birdies came at 11, 13 and 17.

On the front nine, he ran off three birdies in a four-hole span from the third to jump into a share of the lead. He parred the last three to end there.

"That's probably the best I've hit it in two years," said Cox, who has missed the cut in all eight of his starts this year. "I've just had a hard time playing this year. I haven't played well all year. You play so poorly you wonder if you're ever to be good again. I played like a pro today."

Darron Stiles, the 2006 champion, leads a large group tied for 10th at three- under 67. He was joined there by Josh Broadaway, Ty Tryon, Jim Herman, Anders Hultman, Won Joon Lee, David Morland IV, Rich Morris, Steve Schneiter and Jason Schultz.

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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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