Timbers sign Cameroonian midfielder Songo'o

Soccer Betting Lines

02/16/2012 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Timbers signed Cameroonian Franck Songo'o, a former Barcelona youth player, on Thursday.

The 24-year-old Songo'o, capped one time by Cameroon, left Barca in 2005 and began his pro career in the English Premier League with Portsmouth. He spent three years at the club, but mainly on loan to Championship sides.

Songo'o returned to Spain in 2008, and played at Real Zaragoza and on loan at Real Sociedad. A midfielder, he last played at Albacete in Spain.

"We are absolutely delighted to have Franck signed," said Timbers coach John Spencer. "He is a player that is going to be a huge success in Portland and one that is going to provide a lot of excitement on the field for our fans."

In addition to his one appearance for Cameroon's senior side, Songo'o, played for his country in the 2008 Olympics. He played for France at the Under-17 and U-19 levels.

Wusairways Soccer Betting News

<< Burke placed on administrative leave
Emmitsburg, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mount St. Mary's men's basketball coach Robert Burke has been placed on paid administrative leave. The school did not divulge details, saying the action was requested by Burke. Assistant coach Matt

<< Azarenka, McHale reach Doha QFs
Doha, Qatar (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - World No. 1 Belarusian stalwart Victoria Azarenka and rising American teenager Christina McHale were among Thursday's third-round winners at the $2.168 million Qatar Open. The Australian Open champion

<< Vancouver signs Scotland midfielder Robson as DP
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Vancouver Whitecaps FC's second season in MLS should be much better than their expansion year. Vancouver acquired Scotland international midfielder Barry Robson on Thursday as the club's newest Designated P

<< Berdych lands in Rotterdam quarters
Rotterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Wimbledon runner-up Tomas Berdych reached the quarterfinals at the $1.6 million ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament. The second-seeded Berdych, fresh off his title in Montpellier, France two

<< Four to compete for All-Star dunk title
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Indiana's Paul George, Minnesota's Derrick Williams, Houston's Chase Budinger and Iman Shumpert of the Knicks will vie for the dunk title as part of festivities at the 2012 All-Star weekend. The Slam D

Red Wings' Cleary placed on IR >>
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Detroit Red Wings placed forward Dan Cleary on injured reserve, retroactive to February 8, on Thursday. Cleary has been out since then after re-aggravating an existing knee injury. In 55 games th

Stepanek ousted in San Jose >>
San Jose, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former champion Radek Stepanek was a second-round upset victim Thursday at the $531,000 SAP Open. Belgian Steve Darcis bounced the fourth-seeded Czech 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2) on the hardcourts at HP Pavilion.

United tops Ajax in Europa League >>
Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ashley Young and Javier Hernandez scored in the second half as Manchester United opened its Europa League round of 32 series against Ajax with a 2-0 win Thursday. With a combined seven European t

Erakovic, Dulko exit Bogota >>
Bogota, Colombia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand and 2009 runner-up Gisela Dulko were a pair of second-round upset victims Thursday at the $220,000 Copa BBVA Colsanitas tennis tournament. Romanian Edi

Saint Francis names Benzel co-defensive coordinator >>
Loretto, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former Robert Morris assistant football coach Scott Benzel was named co-defensive coordinator and assistant head coach at Saint Francis on Thursday. Benzel has spent the last nine seasons at Robert Morris, incl

MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your NFL football betting needs.

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.