02/21/2007 -
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry each scored 20
points to lead the New York Knicks over the Orlando Magic, 100-94, at Madison
Square Garden.
Quentin Richardson added 15 points and David Lee had 14 points and 16 boards
for the Knicks, who returned from a 1-2 three-game road trip to win for the
fourth straight time at MSG. Stephon Marbury also had 14 points for New York,
which used a 12-2 run to start the fourth quarter to distance itself from the
Magic.
Dwight Howard was a force, recording 27 points and 14 boards, for the Magic,
who made it interesting in the final minutes only to lose for the 13th time in
18 outings. Jameer Nelson added 16 points for Orlando, which has lost five
straight on the road.
Ahead 79-78 to start the fourth quarter, the Knicks began the stanza with a
12-3 run to open up a 10-point advantage. Channing Frye scored six of his
eight points during the surge, which was capped by a Marbury three-pointer for
a 91-81 advantage with 5 1/2 minutes left.
Orlando responded by drawing within 94-91 after Nelson hit a three-pointer
with under 1 1/2 minutes to play, but New York held off the Magic by scoring
six of the final nine points of the contest.
Hedo Turkoglu had 14 points for the Magic, who trailed for much of the
contest. Orlando went into the second down 23-22 and trailed 49-45 going into
halftime.
Howard has 37 double-doubles this season...Orlando's Bo Outlaw played in his
900th career game...Lee has 29 double-doubles this season...New York has won
the two meetings against Orlando so far this season...NY hit 30-of-37 free
throws compared to 17-of-25 for the Magic.
Nebraska falls to Iowa State >>
Ames, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Megan Ronhovde scored 15 points and pulled down
eight rebounds, as Iowa State defeated 25th-ranked Nebraska, 64-53, at Hilton
Coliseum.
Lyndsey Medders poured in 13 points and had nine boards for the Cyclones
(
Higgins, Ryder lead Habs over Caps >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chris Higgins and Michael Ryder netted two
goals each to guide the Montreal Canadiens past the Washington Capitals, 5-3,
at the Bell Centre.
Garth Murray added an empty-net goal in the closing seconds and
Devils edge Rangers in chippy affair >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zach Parise scored the game-winning
goal in the third period and Martin Brodeur made 35 saves, as the New Jersey
Devils edged the New York Rangers, 2-1, in the start of a home-and-home
series.
Senators shoot past Oilers >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dean McAmmond was credited with the game-winning
goal in the shootout and the Ottawa Senators escaped a late rally to defeat
the Edmonton Oilers, 4-3, at Scotiabank Place.
Dany Heatley, Mike Fisher and Dan
Lightning top Panthers in shootout >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin St. Louis scored the game-winner in the
shootout and added a goal in regulation to lead the Tampa Bay Lightning to a
3-2 win over the Florida Panthers at St. Pete Times Forum.
With the shootout tied
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25
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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