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02/20/2012 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Despite the efforts of Golf Channel and its bracket announcement special Monday morning, the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship pales a wee bit in comparison to the Selection Sunday you'll see in a little less than three weeks.
Yet, this is the strongest field to date on the PGA Tour schedule this season. The top 64 players in the world rankings are eligible and only two passed on the event.
Phil Mickelson, who would go in as the favorite based on his play two Sundays ago at Pebble Beach and a playoff loss at the Northern Trust Open, scheduled a family vacation for this week. That's code for "I don't really want to play in this event that much."
Paul Casey is still hurt and he's a two-time runner-up in this championship. He'd be a contender, but his absence won't be missed too terribly.
The field is set. The matches are penciled in, barring any other withdrawals, so let's analyze the brackets, found at http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=golf- e/stat/MATCHPLAY-BRACKET.htm
BOBBY JONES BRACKET
Luke Donald comes into the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and the defending champion. He couldn't be overjoyed to draw Ernie Els in the first round, but Els' record in this event borders on pathetic, so Donald should be a safe bet to advance past him.
Otherwise, this features some interesting names and perhaps the most interesting first-round match.
Dustin Johnson is the third seed and will meet Jim Furyk in Round 1. Johnson hits it a mile. Furyk will give up about 35 yards off the tee, but has the pedigree and mettle to take down Johnson, who showed serious short game problems Sunday at Riviera.
Thomas Bjorn is a fascinating name. He knocked out Tiger Woods last year and could make some waves.
This bracket will come down to Donald and upset special Bo Van Pelt. He's the No. 7 seed and will advance with wins over Mark Wilson and Johnson.
Donald will overcome all. His match-game record in both this event and the Ryder Cup is sterling and, frankly, this bracket doesn't do much for me. Johnson is shaky in clutch moments and No. 2 seed Adam Scott has missed a lot of time after having his tonsils taken out.
BEN HOGAN BRACKET
Martin Kaymer is the top seed and last year's runner-up. His game hasn't been sharp, but the biggest potential problem for the German is if it's chilly out and he has to wear a preposterous outfit (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/- cZPiekO71iM/TWlDs_o-LMI/AAAAAAAADqc/G_XQkzKiy-c/s1600/109453888%2Bkaymer.jpg).
Kaymer didn't get a great first-round draw, either. Greg Chalmers won twice in Australia at the end of last year and will get a ton of upset buzz, but Kaymer should be all right.
More than anything in this format, you'll see players who have done well continue to do well. Kaymer is one of them.
He will face Bubba Watson, the No. 5 seed, in the third round and Watson will take him down. Watson and Ben Crane will take longer than my sophomore year of college to complete their first-round match, but Bubba is truly one of the world's best right now. Like Kaymer, he has a strong record in this event and he will represent the Hogan bracket in the semifinals.
Graeme McDowell is a weak No. 3 and could meet Hunter Mahan in the second round if they both win. That would be a rematch of the decisive Ryder Cup bout from two years ago, when McDowell holed a long birdie putt to win 16, then watched Mahan barely make contact with the ball on 17.
I'm going with Mahan to come out of the lower half. No. 2 seed Steve Stricker gives pause for concern. Yes, he won the season opener in Hawaii, but with a balky neck, can he endure a possible six matches in five days?
GARY PLAYER BRACKET
Rory McIlroy is the No. 1 seed and this bracket is sneaky good. Geoff Ogilvy is the No. 12 seed, but a two-time winner. Ian Poulter is No. 6 and won two years ago. Keegan Bradley just showed a ton of marbles in his playoff loss to Bill Haas at Riviera, but the man who will come out of this bracket is the fourth seed.
Sergio Garcia was the best player on the course Sunday at the Northern Trust Open. He will have a tough time against his fellow Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez in the first round, but Garcia is in great form.
He'll have a tough paper route to get to the semifinals. Garcia will have to eliminate The Mechanic, either Bradley or Ogilvy, then McIlroy. Poulter will be waiting at the bottom half, but Garcia gets by.
SAM SNEAD BRACKET
And now we get to Tiger Woods.
He is a three-time winner, but has been prone to some hiccups in this tournament. There was Bjorn last year, and anyone remember him losing to Peter O'Malley in his prime?
Woods drew Gonzalo-Fernandez Castano on Wednesday. He's due respect, but Woods will walk by that one. A match-up with Nick Watney or Woods' good buddy Darren Clarke looms. Watney is perhaps the most under-appreciated great player in the game. He will add his name to the list that bested Woods.
This is a great chance for Tiger this week. His match-up singles record since the scandal has been overall very impressive, aside from the Bjorn bumbling of 2011.
He trounced Francesco Molinari at the 2010 Ryder Cup and hammered Aaron Baddeley at the past Presidents Cup. Woods doesn't have to be spectacular to win in match play. He just has to do enough. Sounds foolish, but if Woods gets by Watney (and I don't think he will), he could go on to the semifinals.
Lee Westwood is No. 1 in the bracket, but has a shaky 7-11 record.
Haas is at the bottom of the draw with No. 2 Webb Simpson. My hunch is Watney knocks off No. 10 Martin Laird to get into the last four. Laird hits it a ton and is just the type of unheralded player who always does well in this thing.
SEMIFINALS
Watson and Donald should be a fantastic blend of opposites, not unlike a fine bowl of chocolate and vanilla ice cream. Donald will advance, but he's not going to win it all.
That honor will belong to Garcia.
Very quietly, Garcia has been one of the top five players in the sport since last fall. He won twice in his home soil at the end of last year's European Tour campaign.
This year, he has a pair of top-fives in only three starts. Garcia's final- round 64 at Riviera sealed the deal.
Sergio Garcia, 2012 WGC-Accenture Match Play Champion.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- The drama at the Northern Trust Open proved that golf can survive without Woods in a prominent role. It will just need Mickelson.
- There was a fascinating Twitter dust-up about Keegan Bradley's constant spitting Sunday. It shouldn't have taken away from the spectacular golf, and it's hard to tell a guy what to do in the pressure of back-nine Sunday golf, but watching a guy spit for five hours can be a little stomach-turning. My hunch is someone says something casually to Bradley that golf courses aren't his private spittoons.
- Movie moment - Oscar picks - "The Artist" for Best Picture, Clooney in the tightest race of the night for Best Actor, Viola Davis for Best Actress, Christopher Plummer for Best Supporting Actor for a movie not one person you know has ever seen and Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress, although I wouldn't count out Melissa McCarthy. Call it the Marisa Tomei theory.
- And, finally, the greatest thing that I have ever, or will ever write is that my son Lukas Blee Brighters was born last Friday. Golf is one of those transcendent things that unite fathers and sons. It did with my father and golf is certainly one of those things I most look forward to teaching my son. Then I'll get him lessons.
<< Baylor remains undisputed No. 1; Stanford moves to second
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baylor remained an undisputed choice as the
No. 1 team in the Associated Press women's college basketball poll.
The undefeated Lady Bears again received all 40 first-place votes and a total
of 1,000 point
<< Rangers don't need to make a big move
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York fans made it clear on Sunday just
how much they want the Rangers to pursue Columbus Blue Jackets superstar Rick
Nash.
After Nash scored a game-tying goal with 1:33 left in Sunday's game at
Madiso
<< Haas jumps to 12th in world rankings
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bill Haas knocked off Phil Mickelson and
Keegan Bradley in a playoff at the Northern Trust Open on Sunday and that
helped Haas move to a career-best spot of No. 12 in this week's world
ranking
<< This Week in Golf -- February 22nd through February 26th
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - EUROPEAN TOUR - WGC-ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY
CHAMPIONSHIP, The Ritz-Carlton Golf Club (Saguaro/Tortolita Nines), Dove
Mountain, Marana, Arizona - Professional golf's version of March Madness hits
in February.
Babers' first game at EIU against rival Salukis >>
Charleston, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dino Babers' first game as Eastern Illinois'
football coach will be against rival Southern Illinois and the Panthers will
play five home games as part of an 11-game schedule announced Monday.
Eastern Illinoi
Jankovic wins Dubai opener >>
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jelena
Jankovic highlighted Monday's opening-round winners at the $2 million
Dubai Duty Free Championships.
The eighth-seeded Jankovic, the 2005 Dubai runner
Kentucky, Syracuse remain 1-2 in men's hoops poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kentucky and Syracuse remained the top two
teams in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll.
The Wildcats are the top team in the nation for a fifth straight week and for
the seventh we
Hornets ink Sloan to another 10-day contract >>
New Orleans, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New Orleans Hornets signed rookie guard
Donald Sloan to a second 10-day contract on Monday.
The Texas A&M product was originally signed by New Orleans on February 8th
after being released by Atl
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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