Allen, Brohm set records as eighth-ranked Louisville outscores MTSU

NCAA Football Betting Lines

09/07/2007 - Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Anthony Allen set a school record with 275 rushing yards and scored twice, as eighth-ranked Louisville survived a first-half scare and downed Middle Tennessee, 58-42, at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Brian Brohm threw for a career-high 401 yards on 25-of-39 passing and had five touchdown passes for Louisville (2-0), which led just 38-35 at the break. Mario Urrutia and Gary Barnidge each finished with well over 100 yards receiving and scored two touchdowns apiece.

Phillip Tanner rushed for 144 yards and three TDs while Joe Craddock threw for 290 yards and two scores for Middle Tennessee (0-2).

After trading blows with the Blue Riders for the entire first half, Louisville was finally able to gain some breathing room in the third quarter.

Art Carmody upped the advantage to 41-35 with a 30-yard field goal to cap an 11-yard march. Brohm then connected with Urrutia for a 22-yard TD completion with 2:51 remaining in the stanza to increase the lead to 13.

Carmody added another 30-yarder with under 30 ticks left in the third that made it 51-35.

Tanner started the fourth with a 79-yard burst up the middle to bring Middle Tennessee within nine.

Harry Douglas hauled in Brohm's final touchdown pass of the night moments later, however, and the defense held from there.

Louisville opened up the game with an 81-yard touchdown strike from Brohm to Barnidge.

Middle Tennessee, though, struck right back on the ensuing possession, as Craddock and DeMarco McNair hooked up for a 78-yard TD pass to tie the game.

The big-play dynamic continued in the next sequence, with Brohm finding Urrutia for a 71-yard TD to put the Cardinals back in front.

The Blue Raiders coughed up the ball on the subsequent kickoff, and Louisville capitalized with a five-yard Allen touchdown run to establish a 21-7 edge.

That hardly spelled the end for the Blue Raiders, who sliced their deficit to seven with Tanner's 23-yard scamper to pay dirt.

On Louisville's next scoring drive, Brohm connected with Harry Douglas, but he fumbled and Barnidge recovered for a score with less than six minutes to play in the first quarter to give Louisville a 28-14 lead. However, Craddock countered with a 24-yard TD toss to Bobby Williams to make it a seven-point game once again.

Carmody stretched the lead to 10 with a 31-yard field goal early in the second quarter, but McNair answered with a 39-yard TD run to make it 31-28.

One-yard touchdown runs from Allen and Tanner completed the first half scoring, as Louisville headed into the locker room with a slight 38-35 lead.

Game Notes

Louisville compiled 729 yards of total offense, while the Raiders had 555...The Blue Raiders and Cardinals met for the first time ever last season, with Louisville posting a 44-17 triumph in Nashville...Louisville's 20-game winning streak dates back to 2003, when they beat Houston, 66-45.

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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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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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