McMurray holds off Busch for Atlanta Nationwide win

Autoracing Betting Lines

09/04/2010 - Hampton, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamie McMurray won his first Nationwide Series race in nearly six years by taking Saturday's Great Clips 300 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

McMurray, who won the Daytona 500 and the Brickyard 400 in the Sprint Cup Series this season, passed Brad Keselowski after the final restart with 23 laps remaining. He then held off a hard-charging Kyle Busch in the closing laps for his eighth career Nationwide win, but his first since November 2004 at Darlington. His first career win in the series came in 2002 at Atlanta.

Busch was attempting to win his record 11th Nationwide race of the season.

Carl Edwards finished third, followed by Kevin Harvick, who won this race last year, and Matt Kenseth.

Keselowski, who did not pit during the final round of stops, wound up finishing 12th. His lead is now 332 points over Edwards.

Sktbook Autoracing Betting News

<< Jaguars get to 53; Williamson and Alexander among cuts
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Troy Williamson and safety Gerald Alexander were among the notable players cut by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to 53 players. Williamson, the No. 7 ove

<< Seahawks cut Houshmandzadeh, 20 more
Renton, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Veteran wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh was given the boot by the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday after spending just one season with the team. The release of Houshmandzadeh came amid several moves by the Seahawk

<< Bears Release 21, including two '09 third-rounders
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wide receiver Juaquin Iglesias and defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert, a pair of third-round draft choices of the Chicago Bears in 2009, were released by the team as part of their Saturday "cut-down day" maneuve

<< Thrashers sign veteran F Modin
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Atlanta Thrashers appear to have signed veteran forward Fredrik Modin. TSN of Canada on Saturday quoted the Swedish paper Aftonbladet as saying it's a one-year deal, but no terms of the deal were discl

<< Bengals acquire safety Nelson from Jaguars
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - On NFL cut-down day, the Cincinnati Bengals made a move to bolster their defensive backfield by acquiring safety Reggie Nelson from Jacksonville. The Bengals sent cornerback David Jones to the Jaguars in

Chiefs deal S Page to Patriots >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Kansas City Chiefs traded veteran safety Jarrad Page to the New England Patriots for an undisclosed draft pick. Page started in 39 of the 53 games he played in for the Chiefs over the first four

O's down Rays to give Showalter 900th win >>
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Markakis smashed a two-run homer and Matt Wieters supplied a two-run double, as the Baltimore Orioles beat Tampa Bay, 8-4, in the middle installment of a three-game series at Camden Yards. Jeremy

Schulz grabs three-stroke lead at First Tee Open >>
Pebble Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ted Schulz fired a eight-under 64 at Pebble Beach on Saturday to grab a three-stroke lead after two rounds of the First Tee Open. Schulz, who is making his 12th Champions Tour start of the year, completed

Phils score twice in seventh to squeeze past Brewers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Braun's throwing error in the bottom of the seventh allowed the Phillies to score the go-ahead run, as Philadelphia got past Milwaukee, 5-4, in the second test of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Pa

Chiefs release 13, including Morgan; Leggett and Urban to IR >>
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Safety DaJuan Morgan was among the most prominent players released by the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday, as the team reduced its roster to the 53-player maximum. Morgan played in 28 games as a Chief after

Big Ten Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa

Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.

Should be in:

Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?

Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.

Work left to do:

Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.

Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.

Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.

Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional sports lines can be found at: www.Sportsbooks.com

To bet on March Madness games this online sportsbook accepts credit cards.


Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.