NCAA bans Portland State men's basketball from postseason

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

06/09/2010 - Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The men's basketball team at Portland State has been banned from competing in the NCAA Tournament for the 2010-11 campaign after the school fell too low on the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate (APR) score list that was released Wednesday.

The NCAA said while APR rates showed improvement from last year, a total of 10 teams were subject to postseason bans this coming season, but just Portland State had to serve the penalty. UAB football, Colorado State men's basketball and Jacksonville State men's basketball received full conditional waivers and do not appear on any penalty list. The remaining six - Florida International baseball, Weber State football, Texas Southern men's basketball, Chattanooga football, Southeastern Louisiana men's basketball, and UAB men's basketball received conditional waivers of the postseason ban, but received scholarship and/or practice time penalties.

The overall multi-year Division I APR was 967, up three points from last year, according to the NCAA. The organization said football's average four-year APR is 944, up five points over last year; men's basketball is 940, up seven points; and baseball is 954, up eight points.

Syracuse men's basketball scored a 912 and will see a reduction of two scholarships. Colorado was hit with penalties in both men's basketball and football, losing one and four scholarships, respectively. The Buffaloes scored 920 on the APR in football and 897 in basketball.

The APR, now in its sixth year, is calculated on the eligibility and retention of scholarship student-athletes. Teams scoring below 925 out of 1,000 can face penalties, such as scholarship losses and restrictions on practice and competition. Rates are based on the past four years of performance.

"While only one team currently is subject to the postseason ban, the others remain subject to the penalty in future years if they do not meet their specific academic performance conditions or implement their academic improvement plans," said Kevin Lennon, NCAA vice president for academic and membership affairs.

Portland State said its officials made an appeal to waive any potential additional penalties based on academic enhancements and improvements by the program over the past year. In the three completed academic terms since Tyler Geving took over as men's basketball head coach, the Viking program has earned its two highest overall GPAs as a team in the past five years (Spring 2009, 3.00; and Winter 2010, 2.91). During the two years inclusive of 2007-09, Portland State has graduated seven of its eight seniors. The 2009-10 senior class of three is scheduled to graduate this year. The school also said, in the past two completed terms (fall and winter), Portland State basketball has recorded perfect APR scores.

"This is a very disappointing circumstance," said school athletic director Torre Chisholm. "The athletic program and university have been working very aggressively to improve the academic performance of student-athletes. This penalty is the result of past academic deficiencies. Unfortunately, men's basketball had fallen into a very deep APR hole. We just couldn't climb out of it fast enough."

The NCAA said this year 137 teams at 80 schools have been penalized for poor academic performance. Last year, 177 teams at 107 schools received penalties, and two years ago 213 teams at 123 schools were sanctioned. There are currently more than 6,400 teams in Division I.

Wwwlasseters NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Kentucky-Notre Dame clash highlights SEC/Big East Invitational
Providence, RI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky and Notre Dame were among the eight teams chosen to play in this year's SEC/Big East Invitational, a two-night event held December 8 and 11 in Louisville and Pittsburgh. Joining Kentucky from

<< WPS announces All Stars
San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Women's Professional Soccer announced the starting 22 players for its 2010 WPS All-Star game, which will take place on June 30 at KSU Soccer Stadium in Kennesaw, Georgia. The starting 22 players were

<< Hewitt lands in Halle QFs
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. The two-time major champion Hewitt humbled Dutchman Thiemo De B

<< 'Turfbreaking' set for EWU's red field
Cheyney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans All-Pro tackle Michael Roos will be in attendance for a "turfbreaking" ceremony at Eastern Washington on Saturday, as the Big Sky Conference university moves toward installing a red turf field.

<< ESPN hoops analyst Phelps recovering from cancer surgery
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Digger Phelps is recovering from successful prostate cancer surgery he underwent on Tuesday. The legendary coach was diagnosed on April 28 and had the

NFLPA issues challenge to structure of NFL television deals >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Football League Player's Association has initiated a legal challenge to the NFL's agreement with television networks, which allows the league to reap payments even if no games are pla

Nadal, Djokovic win second-rounders in London >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - French Open champion Rafael Nadal and second-seeded Novak Djokovic highlighted Wednesday's second-round winners at the Aegon Championships, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. Making a smooth transit

Report: Nets eyeing Johnson for coaching job >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Post is reporting that the New Jersey Nets have entered into discussions with Avery Johnson about the team's head coaching vacancy. Johnson was fired after the Dallas Mavericks' ouster from

2 BCS schools could lose basketball scholarships >>
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The NCAA's big boys have figured out how to beat up the little guys in the classroom, too.Spend more money.The newest Academic Progress Rate, released Wednesday, showed seven of the 137 teams facing penalties come from BCS confer

Pierce looks for better game, less foul trouble >>
BOSTON (AP) -Paul Pierce knows he has to improve his play in Game 4 of the NBA finals. First, he must stay out of foul trouble.The Boston Celtics' leading scorer in the regular season picked up his fifth foul in the first minute of the fourth quarte

MySportsbook.com offers Blackjack contest and $10,000.00 in Free Prize money!

Every month MySportsbook.com's casino host, Jack Black, gives away $10,000.00 in free casino prize money. To Enter - All you have to do is play at least 10 hands (total) of Blackjack on one of the specified dates of the blackjack contest. The online casino host randomly hands out free bonuses ranging from $50 - $500, and one lucky player who will receive a free $2,500.00 bonus.

"We have been running this monthly free blackjack contest to our active mebers for 5 years now, and the players just love it," says Jack Black, online casino host at MySportsbook.com. "And why wouldn't they love a free chance to win some extra online blackjack cash."

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts Mastercard needs.

Online Sportsbook Football Betting

The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

MySportsbook is considered one of the finest football sportsbooks according to several surveys performed by independent industry analysts considering such factors as payout accuracy and timeliness, overall quality of website, and bettor satisfaction.

MySportsbook is a large company with strong financial backing. Considered the best sportsbook for betting football online You will find their customer service is second to none and their web site is extremely user friendly and easy-to-use. All major professional sports games are available. Once you signup with MySportsbook, you may never use another online sportsbook again.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your nfl football betting needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.