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02/26/2009 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Derrick Brown recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds and B.J. Raymond added 18 points of his own, as 19th-ranked Xavier stayed atop the Atlantic 10 standings with a 68-54 victory over Saint Joseph's at The Palestra.
The Musketeers (23-5, 11-3 Atlantic 10) held the Hawks to 37 percent shooting, forced 19 turnovers and held a commanding 40-27 advantage on the glass to improve to .500 over their last six games.
C.J. Anderson tallied 10 points, pulled down eight boards and handed out four assists for Xavier.
Ahmad Nivins logged a game-high 24 points to go with eight rebounds but turned the ball over six times for Saint Joseph's (14-13, 7-6), which dropped its fifth straight game after a strong start in conference play.
The Hawks played without point guard Tasheed Carr, who suffered a mild concussion in practice on Tuesday. Carr averaged 13.0 points, 4.3 assist and 4.7 rebounds in 26 games this season.
After making just four field goals over the opening 12 minutes, the Hawks climbed back from a 19-12 deficit with back-to-back three-pointers by Darrin Govens and Bryant Irwin.
Xavier eventually took a 31-26 lead into the locker room and scored the first seven points of the second half. Saint Joseph's inched back to make it a five- point game again, 41-36, with 14 1/2 minutes left.
Nine straight points from the conference leaders gave the Musketeers some breathing room. Brown's double-pump reverse stuff in transition and Raymond's three-pointer on the next possession resulted in a 50-36 margin with just over 11 minutes left.
The Hawks' subsequent 8-2 run was immediately answered by seven straight points by their counterparts, as Jason Love's three-point play with 4:38 left made it a 59-44 game that remained in double-digits the rest of the way.
Game Notes
Saint Joseph's still owns a 21-16 series advantage over Xavier...The Hawks' previous four losses were by a combined 12 points...Irwin scored 10 points for Saint Joseph's...Xavier shot 43.9 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
<< Strong power play helps Capitals down Thrashers
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alexander Semin had a goal and two assists
as the Washington Capitals knocked off the Atlanta Thrashers, 4-3, at Verizon
Center.
Mike Green added a goal and an assist while Michal Neuvirth stopped 21 sh
<< Panthers rally to nip Rangers
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - David Booth and Nathan Horton scored a minute
apart in the third period, as the Florida Panthers took a 2-1 win over the New
York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
Craig Anderson made 40 saves for Florida, w
<< Illinois uses strong defense to beat Minnesota
Champaign, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mike Davis notched 14 points with 11
rebounds against Minnesota's taller frontline, and No. 20 Illinois outlasted
the Golden Gophers, 52-41, in a game for conference positioning and full of
NCAA To
<< Duke's Smith out after suffering concussion
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Duke sophomore guard Nolan Smith will be
sidelined indefinitely after suffering a mild concussion in the second half of
a 78-67 win over Maryland on Wednesday.
Smith went down hard to the floor after run
Jokinen secures SO winner as 'Canes top Sabres >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jussi Jokinen scored the game-winner in the
shootout and give the Carolina Hurricanes a big victory, 2-1, over the Buffalo
Sabres at RBC Center.
In the second round, Jokinen used a stutter-step and then
Sharks edge Sens >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Milan Michalek and Patrick Marleau scored
power-play goals 1:18 apart in the second period, as the San Jose Sharks edged
the Ottawa Senators, 2-1, at Scotiabank Place.
Brian Boucher made 23 saves for
Thomas and Bruins destroy Ducks >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chuck Kobasew scored twice and Tim Thomas
recorded his fourth shutout of the season with 35 saves as Boston crushed
Anaheim, 6-0, at TD Banknorth Garden.
Michael Ryder added a goal and two assists
Oklahoma's Pattillo suspended >>
Norman, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma junior forward Juan Pattillo has been
suspended for this Saturday's road game against Texas Tech due to a violation
of team rules.
So far this season, Pattillo is averaging 7.6 points, 3.6 reboun
The 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds have been released and Denver Broncos' running back Knowshon Moreno has been made the opening favorite.
Moreno was selected in the first round of April's NFL draft and is expected to carry the rushing load for the Broncos this season. And with Jay Cutler now in Chicago, Moreno might be expected to be Denver's entire offense.
Betting Lines from sports betting lines have made Moreno a 5/2 favorite to win this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award. Fellow running back Chris “Beanie” Wells (Arizona Cardinals) is right behind Moreno at 7/2, while Donald Brown (Indianapolis Colts) and receiver Michael Crabtree (San Francisco 49ers) are 5/1 to win. Quarterbacks Mark Sanchez (New York Jets) and Matthew Stafford (Detroit Lions) are 7/1 and 8/1, respectively.
A couple of players who present some value are Josh Freeman, Shonn Green and Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Freeman needs to beat out Byron Leftwich to become the starting quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but if he does, he has a lot or raw talent and could use the weapons around him (i.e. Kellen Winslow Jr. and Antonio Bryant) to be very successful in his first season.
Green enters a crowded backfield in New York, but considering both Thomas Jones and Leon Washington are unhappy about their contract situations and might holdout, the former Iowa product could become the Jets' primary back.
Everyone was shocked when Al Davis took Heyward-Bey with the eighth overall pick in April's draft, but the kid has a tremendous amount of talent and if quarterback JaMarcus Russell takes the next step this year, the former Maryland product could blossom. Plus, Heyward-Bey will be looking to prove the people wrong who said Oakland should have taken Michael Crabtree with the No. 8 pick.
And if you're looking for a deep sleeper, check out Pat White at 30/1. He enters the Miami Dolphins vaunted “Wild Cat” offense and could be a big time playmaker.
For complete odds on the 2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year odds, see below.
2009 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Odds to Win
Ramses Barden (NYG) 40/1
Andre Brown (NYG) 20/1
Donald Brown (IND) 5/1
Kenny Britt (TEN) 20/1
Glenn Coffee (SFO) 30/1
Chase Coffman (CIN) 50/1
Michael Crabtree (SFO) 5/1
Josh Freeman (TB) 14/1
Shonn Green (NYJ) 14/1
Percy Harvin (MIN) 10/1
Darrius Heyward-Bay (OAK) 18/1
Juaquan Iglesias (CHI) 30/1
Cornelius Ingram (PHI) 50/1
Rashad Jennings (JAC) 30/1
Johnny Knox (CHI) 40/1
Jeremy Maclin (PHI) 18/1
Mohamed Massaquoi (CLE) 30/1
LeSean McCoy (PHI) 12/1
Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 5/2
Hakeem Nicks (NYG) 18/1
Brandon Pettigrew (DET) 30/1
Brian Robiskie (CLE) 20/1
Mark Sanchez (NYJ) 7/1
Matthew Stafford (DET) 8/1
Jason Smith (STL) 40/1
Mike Thomas (JAC) 25/1
Patrick Turner (MIA) 50/1
Mike Wallace (PIT) 50/1
Chris Wells (ARI) 7/2
Pat White (MIA) 30/1
Field (Any Other Player) 9/1
To visit this sports betting site go to BettingExpress.com for all your football betting lines needs.
For sports betting with credit cards site go to BettingExpress.com as well.
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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