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02/27/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try and stop a two-game losing streak this evening when they host the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavs have dropped two in a row after a two-game winning streak and suffered an 86-81 loss to the Miami Heat on Sunday at AmericanAirlines Arena. LeBron James finished with 29 points and seven assists and Larry Hughes scored 14 points for Cleveland, which fell to 4 1/2 games off the lead in the Central Division.
Cleveland is back at home where it owns a 20-8 record this season. In injury news for the Cavs, guard Sasha Pavlovic (flu-like symptoms) is questionable for Tuesday's game against the Hornets.
Meanwhile, New Orleans/Oklahoma City has won two straight and six of its last eight games, including Friday's 98-97 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics at New Orleans Arena.
David West posted 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Bobby Jackson scored 17 points for the Hornets, who are battling with the Los Angeles Clippers for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
Tyson Chandler posted 15 points and 19 boards, and Chris Paul notched 13 points and eight assists in the win over Seattle.
The Hornets, who are 20 games off the lead in the Southwest standings, are 9-18 as the visitor this season.
Tuesday's showdown between the Cavs and Hornets is the second and final meeting of the regular season. New Orleans/Oklahoma City won the first meeting, 95-89, on December 11 at the Ford Center.
Cleveland has won seven of the last eight meetings, while the Hornets have dropped five straight after winning their last two at the Cavaliers.
<< First-place Canucks wrap up road swing in St. Louis
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Vancouver Canucks hope to complete a four-game road
trip on a positive note tonight, when they visit the St. Louis Blues at
Scottrade Center.
So far the Canucks have earned a point in each stop on the tre
<< 'Canes aim to keep playoff hopes alive against Sens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes appear to be back on track towards
securing a playoff berth. Tonight the defending Stanley Cup champions aim for
a third consecutive victory when they host the Ottawa Senators at the RBC
Center.
Ca
<< Capitals welcome Panthers to Verizon Center
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Panthers will attempt to continue their recent
success against the Washington Capitals when the two Southeast Division
members get together tonight at the Verizon Center.
Florida has won 11 of the last 14 match
<< Panthers host rival Mountaineers in critical Big East bout
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 12th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers have
lost their hold on first place in the Big East Conference standings,
and they will play a critical game against the West Virginia Mountaineers
today.
Sabres, Leafs clash in Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Buffalo Sabres will look to rebound from an emotional
weekend when they battle the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening at the Air
Canada Centre.
Buffalo wrapped up a high energy home-and-home series on Saturday with Otta
Penguins acquire veteran F Roberts >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired veteran
forward Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Noah
Welch on Tuesday.
Roberts is in his 19th NHL season and has registered 29 points
Isles welcome lowly Flyers to the Coliseum >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders play the sixth contest of their
current seven-game homestand this evening, when they welcome the last-place
Philadelphia Flyers to Nassau Coliseum.
The stand has been a successful one for the Islande
Lightning and Stars collide in Tampa >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The first-place Tampa Bay Lightning conclude a three-game
homestand this evening, when they welcome the Dallas Stars to the St. Pete
Times Forum.
The Lightning come into the game as winners in 10 of their past 13 games to
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.
No. 1 always seems to fit USC.
Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.
Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.
Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.
"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."
Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.
"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."
The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.
"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."
Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.
"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"
USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.
"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."
While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.
As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.
But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.
The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.
The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.
No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.
Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.
Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.
Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.
The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.
South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.
The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.
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