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03/15/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut finished as a unanimous selection as the top women's college basketball team in the final Associated Press poll.
The Huskies (33-0), winners of an NCAA Division I women's record 72 straight games, went wire-to-wire as the top-ranked team for the second consecutive season. UConn received all 40 first-place votes and 1,000 points from a nationwide media panel.
Connecticut has been No. 1 for a record 43 consecutive weeks, 35 straight as a unanimous choice.
Stanford, with its lone loss to Connecticut, kept its hold of the No. 2 spot and was followed by Tennessee, Nebraska and Xavier. Nebraska and Tennessee swapped places after the Huskers lost for the first time this season in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament on Saturday.
Duke, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas A&M and West Virginia completed the final top 10. Texas A&M, which moved up two places, handed Nebraska an 80-70 defeat on Saturday, then went on to capture the Big 12 title on Sunday with a 74-67 win over Oklahoma.
The second 10 consisted of Florida State, Oklahoma, Georgetown, Baylor, St. John's, Iowa State, Texas, Gonzaga, Kentucky and Oklahoma State, while LSU, UCLA, Georgia, Michigan State and Hartford were the final five teams ranked.
<< Bougherra suffers injury setback
Glasgow, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rangers central defender Madjid Bougherra
is set to be sidelined for several more weeks as he continues to be troubled
by a hamstring injury.
The 27-year-old Algeria international missed the Scottish
<< Groin injury to sideline Sunderland's Jones
Sunderland, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunderland striker Kenwyne Jones is
facing a month on the sidelines after picking up a groin injury against
Manchester City on Sunday.
Jones headed his side into an early lead at the Sta
<< Iowa to discuss future of men's hoops program
Iowa City, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The University of Iowa has scheduled a Monday
news conference to discuss the future of the men's basketball program amid
speculation about the job security of head coach Todd Lickliter.
KCRG-TV has report
<< Berbatov: United will win the title
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Striker Dimitar Berbatov has
confidently declared that Manchester United will retain their Premier League
crown this season.
The Bulgaria international scored United's final goal in Sunday
Nesta set to miss remainder of season >>
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan's veteran defender Alessandro Nesta
is set to miss the rest of the season after being forced to undergo surgery on
his injured right knee.
The 33-year-old was injured in last weekend's goalless
Lotina receives Deportivo extension >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coach Miguel Angel Lotina has penned a one-
year contract extension to keep him in charge at Deportivo until the end of
next season.
The 62-year-old took the helm at the Riazor in 2007 and has help
Hertha faces action from German Football League >>
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The German Football League have vowed to
take action after violent scenes erupted after the final whistle of Hertha
Berlin's 2-1 home defeat to Nurnberg.
The result left crisis-torn Hertha all but c
Foote returns to Pittsburgh >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have brought back a
familiar face, signing linebacker Larry Foote to a three-year contract through
the 2012 season.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Foote spent his
Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence
Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.
Work left to do:
Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.
Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.
DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...
West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.
Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.
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The Indianapolis Colts know that winning the Super Bowl last season put a huge target on their backs, and they expect opponents to go all-out to knock them from the top of the mountain.
They’ll get their first test from the New Orleans Saints this Thursday night. The defending champs had nothing but good things to say about the New Orleans defense this past week, praising their opponents’ pass rush and run-stopping abilities.
"They play very aggressively," head coach Tony Dungy told the New Orleans Times-Picayune. "They play a lot of man-to-man coverage, and they come after you. They have good pass rushers, and they're going to try to pressure us, I'm sure."
Both center Jeff Saturday and quarterback Peyton Manning gave New Orleans’ front four props, admitting keeping guys like Will Smithand Charles Grant contained would be a tall task for the offensive line.
New Orleans ranked second in total defense during the preseason at a sportsbook, allowing just under 233 yards per game. Last season, the defense finished 11th in the league after giving up 307.3 yards and 20.1 points per contest.
Not so sound on the ground
If Indianapolis' efficient offense has a weakness it has to be its running attack. The Colts one-two-punch of Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai is no longer, leaving the bulk of the carries to Addai, the second-year back out of LSU.
Former Saskatchewan Roughrider Kenton Keith was named Addai’s backup this week after beating out DeDe Dorsey for the second-string position. Indy has only three backs on the roster right now, including fullback Luke Lawton, and coach Dungy is aware of the thinness of his ground game. Sports Betting lines on the game can be found at BettingExpress.com
“We’ll continue to look. Luke Lawton’s done a good job for us too. So probably getting a third true tailback is something that we’d like to do,” Dungy told the Indiana Tribune-Star.
Last season, Addai rushed for over 1,000 yards in his rookie campaign and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
Brees says bring it on
Opening the season on the road against the defending Super Bowl champions is not the way most teams would like to kick off their year – unless you’re the New Orleans Saints or their quarterback Drew Brees. This internet Sportsbooks had the Saints as the favorites.
Brees told the New Orleans Times-Picayune that he is excited to get the regular season started and the Colts are a great challenge for him and his teammates. The 28-year-old QB, entering his second season with the Saints, is expecting a wild environment in the RCA Dome this Thursday when the franchise celebrates its 2007-2007 championship.
Brees said he sees the opening game scheduling as an honor and a testament to how well New Orleans did last season. The Saints missed facing the Colts in the Super Bowl by one game, losing to the Chicago Bearsin the NFC Championship game.
"I mean, people think we can hang with these guys," Brees told reporters. "Even if they didn't, it wouldn't matter what they thought because as a team we're very confident. We know what we can do. We're not satisfied where we finished the season last year. And we've been looking forward to this opportunity for a long time."
SportsBooks ready for a shootout
Oddsmakers are preparing for some fireworks this Thursday when the NFL season kicks off. online Sportsbooks have Thursday’s total set at a whopping 52 points, accounting for two of the league’s most explosive offenses.
“This is like must-see TV,” Saints cornerback and former Colt Jason David told the Baton Rouge Advocate. “It’s two exciting offenses with great players. You’ve got a lot of star power on offense. At any given time a big play can happen. If I was a fan, I wouldn’t miss a snap.”
New Orleans, who ranked No.1 in total offense last season, can go blow-for-blow with the Colts’ attack. Head coach Sean Payton’s offensive schemes will get even better production out of Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and receiver Marques Colston now that they’ve each had a season of playing together under their belts.
The Saints and Colts were the top two passing teams in the NFL last year, but while Indianapolis managed to put up almost 27 points per game, New Orleans struggled to capitalize on their efforts. The Saints ranked fifth in points per game.
“Yards are great,” running backDeuce McAllister told reporters, “but to be able to score more touchdowns would be important for us.”
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