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
02/19/2007 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Nashville Predators will try to regain possession of first place in the Central Division as they continue a homestand this evening with a matchup against the slumping Phoenix Coyotes.
Nashville lost its grasp on the top spot in both the Central and the Western Conference following Saturday's loss to Minnesota at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Wild spoiled Peter Forsberg's debut as a Predator by scoring three times in the third period en route to a 4-1 victory.
Detroit passed Nashville in the standings with a 4-1 triumph over Phoenix on Saturday night. The Red Wings have 82 points on the season, one better than the Preds.
Forsberg, acquired from the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday in the year's biggest in-season deal thus far, was not a factor in his first game with his new club. The five-time All-Star and 2003 Hart Trophy winner was held without a point and managed just one shot on goal.
J.P. Dumont scored the lone goal for Nashville, which lost for the third time in four games, while goaltender Tomas Vokoun stopped only 18-of-21 shots that came his way.
The Predators played without standout defenseman Kimmo Timonen, who was scratched from the lineup with an upper-body injury. The All-Star blueliner is expected to be available for tonight's tilt, however.
Nashville has now lost two in a row at the Gaylord Entertainment Center after putting together a franchise-record eight-game home win streak from January 6- February 8. The Predators are still an outstanding 21-5-3 on home ice this season.
Phoenix is currently mired in a season-worst five-game losing streak, the club's longest since a six-game slide from March 22-31, 2003. The Coyotes surrendered three power-play goals to the Red Wings in Saturday's defeat.
Mike Zigomanis had the only Phoenix goal and Mikael Tellqvist turned away 23- of-26 shots in the loss.
Tonight's game marks the final meeting between these teams this season. The Coyotes have won two of the three previous encounters, but dropped a 4-1 decision to the Preds in the Music City back in October.
Phoenix has lost in each of its last four visits to Nashville and will be attempting to stop a six-game winless streak (5 losses, 1 tie) at the Gaylord Entertainment Center. The Coyotes' last road win in this series came on October 22, 2002.
<< Mets ink Sandy Alomar Jr. to minor league deal
Port St. Lucie, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets have signed catcher
Sandy Alomar Jr. to a minor league contract with an invitation to spring
training.
The 40-year-old Alomar played in 27 games last season with the Los An
<< Morrison stars as Canucks edge Avs
Vancouver, BC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Morrison scored two goals and picked
up an assist to lead the Vancouver Canucks to a 5-4 victory over the Colorado
Avalanche at General Motors Place.
Matt Cooke added a goal and two assists for
<< Bryant leads West to easy All-Star game win
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant scored 31 points, dished out six
assists and had six steals to lead the West to an easy 153-132 win over the
East in the 56th annual All-Star Game at the Thomas & Mack Center.
Bryant was nam
<< Kings top Ducks in shootout
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lubomir Visnovsky scored in the sixth round of
the shootout, to lift the Los Angeles Kings to a 4-3 victory over the Anaheim
Ducks at the Honda Center.
Visnovsky added a goal and an assist in regulation and
Jayhawks and Wildcats square off in pivotal Big 12 clash >>
Manhattan, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas hopes to extend its winning streak
to five games as it battles long-time rival Kansas State in Big 12
Conference action from Manhattan.
The fourth consecutive win for KU came on
Pitt continues to build head of steam as home stretch approaches >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The seventh-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers
continue their quest for the Big East Conference regular season title, and
they will take another step in the right direction if they can knock off the
Seto
Big East foes meet in Milwaukee >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a heart-breaking loss, the Villanova
Wildcats will try to help their NCAA Tournament chances with a victory
over the 12th-ranked Marquette Golden Eagles in Big East Conference action.
O
Horizon League foes lock horns in Green Bay >>
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Butler Bulldogs have lost two
of their last three games, and they hope to get back on track in tonight's
Horizon League clash with the Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix.
Butler appeared to
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
Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
Get free 2009 Super Bowl Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting VISA Mastercard
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