Is the wild card hurting the division races?

Baseball Betting Lines

09/08/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Before I get started here, let me state that I was a big proponent of the wild card when it was implemented back in 1995, and I am still in favor of it today. In fact, I am on the side of those who wish to expand the playoffs even further in adding another wild card team from each league.

But that, I guess, is a topic for another day.

The wild card has given us competitive races down the stretch in just about all of the 15 years it has been in place. It has kept more teams involved later than they would have been, while making for some compelling baseball heading into the final week, which, let's be honest, is all you can really ask for.

However, if things play out the way I think they will over the final three- plus weeks of the regular season, we could have a problem. The two best races in baseball are shaping up to be the American League East and the National League West, but all four teams could get into the playoffs anyway thanks to the wild card.

The juice has been taken out of the division races, especially in the AL, where it is a foregone conclusion that the loser between the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East is going to get in. They are 1-2 for the best record in baseball and will likely trade the top spot a number of times over the next couple of weeks.

How awesome would that race have been 16 years ago, had they both been fighting for one spot?

While it may not be as pronounced in the NL, I still see the wild card going to either San Diego or San Francisco. Of course, the division race between them is also going to come down to the final weekend, but again, who cares, knowing they both could get in anyway?

So where is the intrigue going to be down the stretch?

I know the National League East is tight at the moment, but the Phillies are now healthy and with the three pitchers atop that rotation, that division is over. Don't be surprised when the season ends on October 3rd and the Phils are the National League leader with the biggest divisional lead.

Atlanta, which fell a half-game back in the NL East on Tuesday, leads the Wild Card chase by a game over the San Francisco Giants. I don't like the way the Braves have looked over the last month, though, and I think them relinquishing their division lead on Tuesday was just the beginning. I see a free-fall coming.

The American League Central could come down to the wire - because it does every year - and give us some excitement, but in reality all the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox are battling for is the right to get eliminated by either the Yankees or Rays in the first round.

Is there anyone out there who doesn't think the Rays or Yanks will be coming out of the AL?

Forget an AL West that's been over since the All-Star break, despite the fact that the Rangers are playing as awful as any team in the league at the moment. The Reds' six-game lead on the Cardinals should also hold up in the National League, given who they have to play the rest of the way.

I would love to see the Cards get involved in the wild card mix, because if they get into the playoffs I have a feeling they could be scary. As I write this they sit 5 1/2 back, though only four back in the loss column.

There is one team, though, that can throw a wrench into all of this and that team is the Ghost of Septembers Past - the Colorado Rockies, who are in the midst of another late-season surge and have climbed within 4 1/2 games of both the NL West and the wild card.

That said, Colorado has been so inconsistent this season, I just can't envision them making a run here. Then again, I did not think they would rip off 13 wins in their last 14 games to force a one-game playoff in 2007 and definitely did not think they had another run in them in June of last season when they were 12 games under .500 and 15 1/2 games out of first place.

By the way, you may disregard all this when in a couple of weeks I am writing over the last weekend of the season about the wild free-for-all that is going to be taking place for the NL Wild Card.

I hope that is the case, but I just don't see it playing out like that.

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March Madness odds and printable March Madness brackets

With the field of 64/65 set, MySportsbook.com has the Florida Gators as the 4-1 favorite to successfully defend their National Championship.  Men’s Division-1 College Basketball has not seen a team repeat as National Champions since Duke won back to back championships in ’91 & ‘92.  After losing three out of four late in the season, the Gators are full of momentum as they won their last four games by an average of 18 points.  Not surprisingly, right behind the Gators are the other three top seeds: Kansas 5-1, UNC 6-1, and Ohio State 7-1.  Many consider Kansas to be the hottest team in the country, having won 11 straight. With Kansas, it is hard to ignore all of the early exits from the “dance” in recent years.  With an impressive ACC Tournament, UNC ensured themselves the other top seed.  UNC has about as much talent as any other team in the tournament but with a team that’s best players are primarily freshman and sophomores, could youth be a concern.  Behind freshman sensation, Greg Oden, OSU will look to do what their football team failed to do just a few months earlier.  OSU seems to have peeked at the right time, as they currently have a 17 game winning streak.  Since the tournament field was expanded in 1985, there has never been an instance where all four #1 seeds advanced to the Final Four.  It is obvious that each of the top seeds have the talent to make it through to Atlanta.  But as everyone knows, when makes the NCAA Tournament so special are all of the spoilers and “Cinderella” stories that knock off the favorites on a daily basis.

Be sure to logon to MySportsbook.com to see check out all of the early lines and “March Madness” props.  Also be sure to enter the “$10,000,000 Perfect Bracket Contest”. If someone has the skills to predict every winner, they will be set for life and walk away with $10,000,000.  Even if no one can cash in on the Grand Prize, with a $35,000 guaranteed prize pool and a Mazda RX-8 to the first prize winner, Sportsbook.com’s bracket is a must for all “March Madness” fans.

MySportsbook.com’s odds to win the Championship and Regions:

EAST National Championship Region
Arkansas 300-1 50-1
Belmont 1000-1
Boston College 100-1 40-1
Eastern KY 1000-1
George Washington 75-1
Georgetown 10-1 3-2
Marquette 100-1 40-1
Michigan State 100-1 25-1
New Mexico St. 500-1 200-1
UNC 6-1 6-5
Oral Roberts  500-1
Texas 15-1 5-1
Texas Tech 200-1 5-1
USC 75-1 20-1
Vanderbilt 100-1 30-1
Washington State 40-1 15-1
WEST
Duke 50-1 10-1
Florida A&M 1000-1
Gonzaga 200-1  40-1
Holy Cross 300-1
Illinois 300-1 60-1
Indiana 75-1 40-1
Kansas 5-1 13-10
Kentucky 100-1 40-1
Niagara 1000-1
Pittsburgh 40-1 8-1
Southern Ill. 50-1 12-1
UCLA 10-1 3-2
VCU 500-1 100-1
Villanova 100-1 40-1
VA Tech 50-1 15-1
Weber St 1000-1
Wright St 1000-1 300-1
MIDWEST
Arizona 50-1 30-1
Butler 40-1 30-1
Davidson 300-1
Florida 4-1 4-5
Georgia Tech 75-1 25-1
Jackson State 1000-1
Maryland 30-1 6-1
Miami-OH 300-1
Notre Dame 100-1 20-1
ODU 500-1 100-1
Oregon 40-1 6-1
Purdue 300-1 60-1
Texas A&M CC 1000-1
UNLV 100-1 30-1
Winthrop 500-1 100-1
Wisconsin 15-1 7-2
SOUTH
Albany 200-1
BYU 200-1 40-1
Central CT St. 1000-1
Creighton 100-1 35-1
Long Beach St. 500-1 200-1
Louisville 40-1 10-1
Memphis 30-1 4-1
Nevada 75-1 35-1
North Texas 500-1
Ohio State 7-1 6-5
Penn 500-1
Stanford 200-1 50-1
Tennessee 100-1 20-1
Texas A&M 12-1 11-5
Virginia 75-1 18-1
Xavier 100-1 40-1

Field                                              100-1

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