Akron hires Terry Bowden as football coach

NCAA Football Betting Lines

12/22/2011 - Akron, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Akron has named Terry Bowden head football coach.

Bowden resigned as head coach at Division II North Alabama to take his first job at the FBS level since coaching Auburn from 1993-98.

Akron announced the hiring Thursday but won't formally introduce Bowden until a press conference on December 28.

Bowden will try to bring the Zips back from two disastrous seasons under Rob Ianello, who was just 1-11 in each of his seasons as Akron's head coach. He was fired November 27.

"I'm so excited to be a Zip," Bowden said. "With the great resources and the commitment to winning by the administration and community, it's just a matter of time until we build a championship program."

Bowden, 54, is the 27th head coach in program history. He was an assistant at Akron in 1986 under then-head coach Gerry Faust.

"We welcome Terry Bowden back to campus. He brings with him an outstanding record of success and a true football coaching pedigree," said university president Dr. Luis M. Proenza. "We know the entire Akron community will support coach Bowden in his mission to cultivate a championship program here."

Bowden returned to college coaching at North Alabama in 2009 after a 10-year absence, leading the Lions to a combined 29-9 record and three consecutive NCAA playoff appearances.

At Auburn, Bowden went 47-17-1 and had the best opening five-year run of any head football coach in school history. He became the first collegiate coach in 50 years to win his 100th career game by his 40th birthday.

Bowden was also the first coach in FBS history to have an undefeated and untied season in his inaugural year at that level.

Wwwinfind NCAA Football Betting News

<< Genoa fires Malesani, names Marino new coach
Genoa, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Genoa fired Alberto Malesani on Thursday after just six months in charge, and named Pasquale Marino its new manager. Malesani was only named manager in June, but following a 6-1 loss to Napoli on Wednesday, hi

<< Twins sign Marquis to 1-year deal
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins added more depth to their pitching staff on Thursday, signing veteran Jason Marquis to a one-year, $3 million contract. Marquis made 23 combined starts with Washington and Arizona la

<< USC QB Barkley returning for senior season
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - USC quarterback Matt Barkley stood in front of a Christmas tree and delivered his school a present. After setting Trojans records for touchdown passes and completion percentage in a season, Barkley will ret

<< Penguins' Engelland given 3-game ban
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Deryk Engelland has been suspended three games for his unpenalized hit on Chicago's Marcus Kruger on Tuesday night. At the 8:55 mark of the first period, Engelland left h

<< Browns' Shurmur rules QB McCoy out again
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns starting quarterback Colt McCoy will miss his second straight game because of a concussion, head coach Pat Shurmur said Thursday. Shurmur said McCoy wouldn't travel with the team for S

Chelsea ties Tottenham at White Hart Lane >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Daniel Sturridge scored for the fifth time in his last six English Premier League matches, as Chelsea tied Tottenham 1-1 on Thursday at White Hart Lane. Emmanuel Adebayor scored after 8 minutes for Totte

Browns place S Ward on IR >>
Berea, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Browns placed safety T.J. Ward on injured reserve Thursday. Ward appeared in eight games in 2011, all starts, and tallied 28 tackles and one sack. The 25-year-old has been sidelined with a f

Levante loses Juanlu to broken leg >>
Valencia, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Levante forward Juanlu sustained a broken leg Wednesday in the Copa del Rey and will be sidelined for an extended spell, leaving the La Liga club without its top scorer this season. Juanlu, 32, leads Lev

Wolfsburg signs Czech Republic's Jiracek >>
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bundesliga side Wolfsburg signed Czech Republic midfielder Petr Jiracek on Thursday on contract through the 2015-16 season. The 25-year-old Jiracek will join Wolfsburg from Viktoria Plzen in the Cz

Sao Paulo signs defender Cortes >>
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sao Paulo signed defender Bruno Cortes on a five-year contract Thursday from Brazilian rival Botafogo. The 24-year-old Cortes enjoyed a breakout year with Botafogo, and was handed a call-up by Brazil

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.