Seton Hall fires hoops coach Gonzalez

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/17/2010 - South Orange, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Seton Hall has fired head men's basketball coach Bobby Gonzalez.

Gonzalez was in his fourth season with the team, which ended its season Tuesday with an 87-69 loss to Texas Tech in the first round of the NIT. Seton Hall went 19-13 overall.

But Patrick Hobbs, the school's law school dean who has been overseeing the athletics department since July, indicated Gonzalez's firing wasn't necessarily due to on-court performance.

"Performance and success are not measured solely by wins and losses, but also in the conduct of those associated with the program," Hobbs said. "We have expectations as to how our coaches and players will conduct themselves, and they are expected to treat everyone they interact with, whether officials, the press or our students, with the utmost respect, maturity and professionalism. Those core expectations must be met."

Back in September, Gonzalez was given a contract extension to remain with the school through the 2014-15 season.

However, this season was somewhat rocky for the Pirates. Guard Keon Lawrence was suspended for the first eight games of the season after being involved in a wrong-way car accident prior to the season's start, and late on Sunday, forward Robert Mitchell was removed from the basketball team for unspecified reasons.

Additionally, a New York Times report from last week described Gonzalez's volatile and combative behavior toward officials and media and detailed how he nearly got in a fight with a former assistant. In 2008-09, he was suspended for his team's first Big East game of the season.

"It is essential that all University leaders embody the ideals that make us all so proud of Seton Hall," said school president Monsignor Robert Sheeran.

In four seasons at Seton Hall, Gonzalez compiled a 66-59 record and 29-45 mark in the Big East.

Foorball365 NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< NASCAR tweaks format for all-star race
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR is making a slight adjustment to its annual Sprint All-Star Race by adding a mandatory four-tire pit stop for all teams prior to the start of the final 10-lap segment. NASCAR officials made the a

<< Portland fires VP Penn
Portland, OR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Portland Trail Blazers announced on Wednesday that Vice President of Basketball Operations Tom Penn has been relieved of his duties. "We felt it was in the organization's best interest to

<< Report: Rangers manager Washington tested positive for cocaine
Surprise, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington reportedly tested positive for cocaine during the 2009 season. According to a report from SI.com, Washington failed the test last July, but has passed all his t

<< Eagles cut ties with OL Andrews
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Eagles released offensive lineman Shawn Andrews on Wednesday. "We appreciate the efforts and contributions of Shawn while he was in Philadelphia," said head coach Andy

<< Harvick looking for another win at Bristol
Bristol, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Saturday, March 20. Race: Scotts Turf Builder 300. Site: Bristol Motor Speedway. Track: .533-mile oval. Start time: 2:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 300. Miles: 159.9. 2009 winner: Kevin Harv

Canucks winger Samuelsson to miss up to 3 weeks >>
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -Canucks winger Mikael Samuelsson will be out up to three weeks with an undisclosed upper body injury during Tuesday night's 5-2 loss to the Islanders.Samuelsson left during the third period of a contest that also sa

Bears release Vasher >>
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) -The Chicago Bears have released former Pro Bowl defensive back Nathan Vasher.Vasher, selected in the fourth round of the 2004 draft out of Texas, played six seasons with Chicago and made 19 interceptions, including eight in 2

DE Edwards reaches 4-year deal with Bills >>
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) -Free agent defensive end Dwan Edwards has signed a four-year contract with the Buffalo Bills.The team announced the deal Wednesday.A person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press early Wednesday morning tha

Bears release CB Vasher >>
Lake Forest, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Bears released long-time cornerback Nathan Vasher on Wednesday. Vasher, who was a fourth-round pick by the Bears in 2004, has spent the last six seasons in Chicago. He signed a cont

Spoiler replaces rear wing starting with Martinsville >>
Concord, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR will replace the rear wing with the spoiler on the current Sprint Cup Series cars, beginning with next week's race at Martinsville Speedway. During a news conference held on Wednesday at Charl

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.

For more College Basketball betting lines go to MySportsbook.com

Additional basketball lines can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com - this sportsbook accepts credit cards.