No. 16 GaTech favored against SCarolina State

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/03/2010 -

ATLANTA (AP) -Paul Johnson didn't know what to expect when making his debut as Georgia Tech's coach in 2008.

As it turned out, Johnson inherited some pretty good talent from former coach Chan Gailey, including four players - Demaryius Thomas, Jonathan Dwyer, Derrick Morgan and Morgan Burnett - who helped lead the Yellow Jackets to the 2009 ACC championship before entering the 2010 NFL draft as juniors.

Some Georgia Tech fans may be wary of the possibility of a dropoff from last year's 11-3 finish entering Saturday's opener against South Carolina State. After all, Thomas, Dwyer, Morgan and Burnett led the team in receiving, rushing, sacks and interceptions, respectively.

Johnson sounded anything but wary as he compared his No. 16 Georgia Tech team with the 2008 team.

``We're a lot better football team. A lot,'' Johnson said this week. ``I had no idea two years ago ... what we were going to see. I've got a pretty good idea, I think, what we'll see on Saturday.

``But I've got to see it.''

Johnson may need more than one game to have his beliefs about his team confirmed. It may be difficult to evaluate the Yellow Jackets based on the opener, even though South Carolina State is an elite FCS team.

South Carolina State finished 10-2 last year and won the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship before losing to Appalachian State in the FCS playoffs.

``Certainly they have some guys who could play at Georgia Tech, I don't think there's any doubt about that,'' Johnson said.

``The more tape I watch, the more impressed I am with them. I think they've got a good plan. They've got some really good individual players and they play well together as a team. I'm sure they're coming in here with a mindset they're coming in here to get a win in Atlanta.''

Two Atlantic Coast Conference teams, Virginia and Duke, lost to FCS teams - William & Mary and Richmond, respectively - a year ago.

``We haven't talked about FCS or FBS; we just have talked about South Carolina State,'' Johnson said. ``We just have to worry about Georgia Tech, and we know if we don't go out and play well they are very capable of beating us. Hopefully we will go out and play our A game. Hopefully that will be good enough.''

South Carolina State lost at South Carolina 38-14 last season. Then-No. 23 Clemson beat the Bulldogs 54-0 in 2008.

``This is the fourth straight year that we have played a major school,'' said South Carolina State coach Buddy Pough. ``I'd like to think we have made some strides.''

Johnson said South Carolina State ``has kind of dominated their conference the last few years.''

``You don't win 20 games in the past two years without having some good players and knowing what you are doing,'' Johnson said. ``They have a good program, so we are preparing for this no different than any game we have ever prepared for.''

South Carolina State is led by senior Malcolm Long, who passed for more than 2,500 yards last year. The offensive line returns every starter, but the Bulldogs lost their top three receivers and Will Ford, the MEAC's all-time leading career rusher with 4,660 yards.

Georgia Tech also is led by a senior quarterback. The school this week unveiled a website to promote Joshua Nesbitt as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Nesbitt, who often keeps the ball on short-yardage and fourth-down plays, ran for 18 touchdowns in 2009.

Anthony Allen will take over from Dwyer as the lead runner in Johnson's spread option offense. Allen averaged almost 10 yards per carry a year ago and could thrive in his first opportunity to be the top threat.

This will be the debut of new defensive coordinator Al Groh's 3-4 scheme at Georgia Tech. Groh, fired as Virginia's coach last year, was hired to revamp a Georgia Tech defense that gave up 30 or more points in six games last season, including a 30-24 home loss to in-state rival Georgia to end the regular season.

Johnson fired former defensive coordinator Dave Wommack after the Yellow Jackets' 24-14 Orange Bowl loss to Iowa.

``We won't know about our defense probably until we've played two or three games,'' Johnson said. ``I think they're excited. I think they'll fly around. The big thing to me is can they not have a lot of (missed) mental assignments. Will they continue to play hard?''Copyright © 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

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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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

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