New York hopes to snap losing skid at Dallas

Soccer Betting Lines

07/03/2009 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red Bull New York ends a tough seven-match streak Saturday night at FC Dallas, hoping to snap a nine-game winless skid and a road losing stretch that dates back to last season.

New York (2-12-4) contests its sixth road match in its last seven games against Dallas, and with an 0-9-1 record away from Giants Stadium this season - and 22 straight regular season road losses - could still struggle again in a clash vs. another one of the worst teams in MLS.

FC Dallas (3-7-5) has lost just once in its last seven games, but are still in need of more points as it tries to overcome a poor start to the season. Dallas has just four more points than New York.

New York hasn't won since May 8, and has scored just one goal - while allowing 17 - on the road this season.

"Certainly you read it and go, Holy cow," New York's Seth Stammler said about the road losing streak. "We treat road games with the same importance as home games so it's not like we're doing something strategically to let that happen."

The Red Bulls lost to the Columbus Crew last week, 1-0, in a rematch of the MLS Cup. Crew defender Chad Marshall scored the only goal late in the first half. New York has allowed a league-high nine goals in the last 15 minutes of a half.

"If it happened once it wouldn't be that big a deal but we've been talking about it for the last couple of weeks because we continue to do it," Stammler said. "That's how it's been the last two months. Stupid mistakes defensively and we give up goals and then we're not converting our chances. We've got to step up and take care of our responsibilities."

New York was without forward and leading scorer Juan Pablo Angel last week, as well as defender Kevin Goldwaithe. Forward Macoumba Kandji and Dane Richards were on the bench, but neither played.

Goldthwaite is ruled out this week, along with fellow defender Carlos Mendes. Angel and Kandji are questionable, and Richards and Alfredo Pacheco are playing in the Gold Cup for Jamaica and El Salvador, respectively.

The Red Bulls acquired veteran MLS goalie Bouna Coundoul earlier this week - and released Jon Conway - and hope he can make a difference in the back.

"With our past experiences it seems players come to this club and it takes a little more if not much more to play here," New York coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. "But, hopefully Bouna can sustain what is needed to play for the Red Bulls and hopefully he will do well."

If New York can snap its road woes this weekend, it plays six of its next seven at home, starting on July 16 when Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham returns to MLS from his loan deal with Italy's AC Milan.

Dallas is coming off a 1-1 draw with the Colorado Rapids, but is also dealing with injuries and losses to the Gold Cup.

Most notably, striker Kenny Cooper and his team-high seven goals will be with the U.S., and coach Schellas Hyndman is still not positive what changes he will make.

"It really does [leave] not only an offensive void for everything Kenny brings plus the experience," Hyndman said.

Second-year forward Brek Shea, who has one assist in seven games, could replace Cooper in the lineup, or Hyndman could turn to veteran Jeff Cunningham.

"I think [Shea] is ready [to play a full 90] but whether he will or he won't, we don't know," Hyndman said.

Defenders Steve Purdy and Daniel Torres, and midfielders Alvaro Sanchez and Marcelo Saragosa are out this week, and Ray Burse will make his 10th straight start in place of usual No. 1 goalie Dario Sala - who is still recovering from a knee injury.

"He started a little shaky in the first four or five games," Sala said of Burse. "Then, he made a transition. He started to do better in Houston when we lost 1-0 there. And from there, he picked it up and has been doing well."

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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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