Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
03/09/2010 - Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams poured in 28 points with a game- best 17 assists, as Utah used a big fourth quarter to pull away from Chicago, 132-108, at the United Center.
C.J. Miles scored 26 points off the bench, including six treys, while Carlos Boozer notched a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Paul Millsap came within a rebound of joining him with 16 points and nine boards. Mehmet Okur chipped in with 14 points and seven boards, while Andrei Kirilenko joined Wesley Matthews with 12 points apiece in the win.
The surging Jazz have won 10 of their last 12 road games in the first of a four-game road trip. Utah moved within one game of idle Denver in the race for the Northwest Division crown.
Derrick Rose led the Bulls with 25 points and 13 assists, Brad Miller scored 20 and Luol Deng and Ronald Murray totaled 14 points apiece for the Bulls, who have lost five straight to fall back below .500.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair with Utah scoring seven of the last eight points to open a 35-30 edge. Utah maintained its small edge for most of the second quarter, but climbed to a seven-point edge behind a quick six-point flurry for a 63-56 game. However, a Miller three and Murray layup capped the first-half scoring for a 63-61 margin.
The game was tied at 77-77 as late as the 5:20 mark of the third quarter, but Utah used a 15-4 spurt to end the period and begin to turn the game into a rout. The Jazz tallied seven straight points for an 84-77 lead on Boozer's two free throws, and the edge grew to 92-81 by the end of the quarter on Matthews' two free throws with 21.5 ticks remaining.
The Bulls scored five points in a nine-second span early in the fourth capped by Hakim Warrick's slam for a 92-86 game, but Chicago never got closer than that the rest of the way. The margin was as narrow as nine with just over six minutes left, 108-99, on Rose's driving layup, but over the next four-plus minutes, Utah went on a 21-7 stretch to pull away.
Game Notes
Utah shot a torrid 54.2 percent from the floor, including a 12-of-20 effort from beyond the arc...Chicago made 53.9 percent of its shots, but allowed Utah to collect 14 offensive rebounds and Rose committed five turnovers...The game featured three ties and three lead changes...Rose tied his career high in assists, first set on December 29, 2008 at New Jersey...Utah had lost four of its last five trips to the United Center prior to Tuesday's victory.
<< Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament Recaps
Winstom-Salem, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.J. Reed scored a game-high 23 points as
he led the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats to a 64-53 win over the Florida A&M
Rattlers in the opening round of the 39th annual Mid-Eastern Athletic
Con
<< Bogut, Bucks down Celtics in Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Andrew Bogut totaled 25 points, 17 rebounds
and four blocks, and the Bucks used a run in the fourth quarter to take the
lead and then held off the Boston Celtics, 86-84, at the Bradley Center.
Carlos De
<< Darche, Canadiens down Lightning
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mathieu Darche scored a pair of goals to help
the Montreal Canadiens defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning, 5-3, at the Bell
Centre.
Scott Gomez had a goal and two assists for the Canadiens, who have won th
<< Flyers rally to down Isles on Gagne's late score
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Simon Gagne was credited with the game-
winning power-play goal with 6:06 remaining in regulation, as the Philadelphia
Flyers rallied from a two-goal deficit to defeat the New York Islanders, 3-2,
at Wach
Oakland punches NCAA tourney ticket >>
Sioux Falls, SD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oakland punched its NCAA Tournament ticket
for the second time in school history, climbing on the back of Derick Nelson's
36 points to win the Summit League Tournament Championship with a 76-64
victory
Butler takes Horizon League crown in rout >>
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Matt Howard and Shelvin Mack each scored
14 points, as the 12th-ranked Butler Bulldogs officially punched their ticket
to the NCAA Tournament with a 70-45 victory over Wright State in the Horizon
League
Samuelsson nets hat trick, Canucks rally past Avs >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikael Samuelsson recorded his first NHL hat
trick and Jannik Hansen scored a controversial goal late in the third period
to help the Canucks rally to beat the Colorado Avalanche, 6-4, at the Pepsi
Center.
Blue Jackets-Ducks Sum >>
Columbus 1 2 2-5Anaheim 0 0 2-2First Period-1, Columbus, Dorsett 4 (Vermette, Blunden), 8:55.Second Period-2, Columbus, Voracek 10 (Tyutin, Stralman), 8:14 (pp). 3, Columbus, Tyutin 5 (Voracek, Umberger), 13:07.Third Period-4, Anaheim, Visnov
Michael Vick is back, Brett Favre isn't and the NFC East remains the best division in the NFC, maybe in all of football.
As players start to gather for the start of another season, some things change and some stay the same in the world of the NFL.
The NFC East has been the dominant division in the National Conference for a while, despite limited playoff success, save for the New York Giants surprise Super Bowl win two seasons ago.
Hell, there's a generation of kids in Texas who have never seen the Cowboys win a playoff game (last win was in 1996).
But collectively, the Giants, Eagles, Cowboys and Redskins (well, maybe not so much the Redskins) are as good as a division gets in an NFC conference that has struggled to stay competitive with the AFC side.
Sports bettors have both acknowledged the NFC East's dominance, as one glance at the NFL future odds menu will show.
Looking over the NFL betting odds at online sports book MySportsbook.com we see the top three teams listed to win the NFC Championship are all from the NFC East:
Dallas Cowboys - 7 - 1
Philadelphia Eagles - 13 - 2
New York Giants - 9 - 2
Slotting in behind these three are two teams from the NFC North: the Minnesota Vikings (15-2) and the Chicago Bears (10-1).
Again, despite the lack of recent playoff success, the Dallas Cowboys are popular with the sports betting community, as they hold 14% of all the money wagered on who will win the NFC Championship.
So far, the New York Giants are the bettors' favorite to represent their conference in the Super Bowl, as they have 24% of the overall NFC Championship betting volume.
And what about the Philadelphia Eagles? For the most part, the Eagles had a very productive offseason, the kind that could bring them back to the top.
They had a good draft adding the likes of WR Jeremy Maclin and RB LeSean McCoy.
Unfortunately, the team received a blow when long-time defensive coordinator Jim Johnson passed away on Tuesday.
But this team will make a real run at the division title this year. Going into the regular season, Philly is listed at +240 to win the division.
Last season the Eagles were 9-6-1 SU and 10-6 ATS.
Teams from the NFC East will play teams from the AFC West in the regular season and the Eagles haven't really been a good bet in the last 20 games against the likes of San Diego, Oakland, K.C. and Denver, only going 8-12 ATS.
Two seasons removed from that Super Bowl title, the New York Giants see themselves listed as the odds-on favorite in NFC East championship futures at +162.
Plaxico Burress is gone and with him all the bad publicity surrounding the gun in the sweatpants incident, but can they replace him in the offense?
Last season the Giants were a very reliable bet going 12-4 ATS.
In the Giants' last 20 games against fellow teams from the NFC East; they are 13-7 ATS.
Dallas is listed at +240 to win the division.
Dallas went 9-7 SU and 7-9 ATS last season and with the amount of talent the Cowboys have, a similar performance won't do.
The Cowboys have been atrocious against divisional rivals, going 6-14 ATS in their last 20.
The Washington Redskins are longshots to win the division at +550.
Visit MySportsbook.com for free sportsbook odds RSS feeds go to MySportsbook.com for all your betting football needs.
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.
Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting