Barcelo moves in front at Q-School

Golf Betting Lines

12/01/2006 - La Quinta, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rich Barcelo fired an eight-under 64 on Thursday to take the second-round lead of the finals of the PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament. He stands at nine-under-par 135 and is three clear of the field.

Play is split over the Stadium Course at PGA West and the Jack Nicklaus Tournament Course. Players rotate among the two courses through all six rounds as this marathon determines a golfer's fate for the 2007 season.

Anyone in the top-30 plus ties after Monday's final round will receive their PGA Tour cards for next season. The next 50 will earn full privileges on the Nationwide Tour in 2007.

Australian Paul Gow posted a four-under 68 on Thursday and is alone in second place at minus-six.

Steven Bowditch (68), George McNeill (66), Cameron Beckman (64) and Brian Bateman (65) are knotted in third place at five-under-par 139.

Barcelo played the Nicklaus Tournament Course in Thursday's second round and parred his first three holes. He tallied birdies on both par-fives on the front side - at four and seven.

The 31-year-old Nevada resident flew out of the gate on the back nine. Barcelo birdied three in a row from the 10th, then picked up back-to-back birdies from the 14th.

He birdied the par-three 17th to post his eight-under-par 64 and grab the lead at Q-School.

Barcelo only played once on the PGA Tour in 2006, a missed cut at the Chrysler Classic of Tucson. He teed it up eight times on the Nationwide Tour and only made half of the cuts.

Gow started on the back nine Thursday also at the Nicklaus Tournament Course and broke into red figures quickly with a birdie at the 11th. He added birdies at 13 and 14, but bogeyed No. 18.

The Australian record two straight birdies from the seventh to get into sole possession of second place.

Bob May, who lost to Tiger Woods in a playoff at the 2000 PGA Championship, shot a seven-under 65 and moved into a tie for seventh place with Steve Allan (71), John Mallinger (71), Bob Heintz (71) and Tom Johnson (68). The group finished at minus-four.

Overnight leader Scott Gutschewski struggled on Thursday. At the PGA West Stadium Course, he tallied two double-bogeys, three bogeys and three birdies for a four-over 76. He is tied for 21st.

Two-time U.S. Open champion Lee Janzen carded an even-par 72 and is tied for 44th place at plus-one. Duffy Waldorf rebounded with a four-under 68 and is tied for 21st at one-under-par 143.

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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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