Memphis goes in search of ninth straight win

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

01/27/2007 - Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The premier team in Conference USA is the 11th-ranked Memphis Tigers, and they welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to town this afternoon.

With back-to-back wins, Southern Miss has improved to 13-5 overall, including a 3-2 mark against C-USA foes. On Wednesday, the Golden Eagles put forth one of their best offensive efforts of the season in an 83-72 triumph over East Carolina.

Memphis has won eight straight games, a streak that began back on December 23rd. The current run has enabled the Tigers to move to 16-3 overall, including a 6-0 mark in league play. All eight wins during the streak have come by double figures, including a 72-59 triumph over Tulsa on Wednesday.

Memphis holds a 51-23 advantage in the all-time series with Southern Miss, and the Tigers won both meetings last season by a wide margin.

Four players scored in double figures for Southern Miss in the 11-point victory over East Carolina on Thursday. The Golden Eagles got 19 points apiece from Sai'Quon Stone and Craig Craft, and 17 of Stone's points came from the foul line. In fact, Southern Miss earned a 27-7 edge in points from the charity stripe, the most obvious contributing factor in the win. Jeremy Wise pitched in 15 points and six assists, while Courtney Beasley tallied 12 points. Wise is the top scorer for Southern miss this season, as he is netting 15.8 ppg. Unfortunately, there is not another double- digit scorer in the lineup. On a positive note, the Golden Eagles are a tremendous defensive team, limiting opponents to 59.6 ppg on 38.6 percent shooting from the field while also outrebounding foes by well over eight boards per contest.

Memphis did not have the services of Chris Douglas-Roberts against Tulsa, as he continues to recover from a high ankle sprain. In the absence of the standout, the Tigers connected on only 39.7 percent of their field goal attempts, including a 4-of-16 showing from three-point range. Fortunately, they were able to force 18 turnovers and limit the Golden Hurricane to 33.9 percent shooting from the field. Leading the way in the win was Joey Dorsey with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Robert Dozier came through with 12 points and eight boards, and Jeremy Hunt tallied 11 points. Douglas-Roberts is averaging 14.8 ppg, and his status for today's game is uncertain. Hunt checks in with 13.5 ppg, and Dozier is contributing 11.5 ppg and 6.3 rpg.

Wwwmingpao NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Big Ten foes meet in Bloomington
Bloomington, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Long-time rivals will meet in Bloomington this afternoon, as 23rd-ranked Indiana and Michigan collide in a Big Ten Conference contest. Michigan carried a two-game win streak into Wednesday

<< Butler hopes to continue winning ways in Motor City
Detroit, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Butler Bulldogs continue to be the class of the Horizon League, and they hope to score yet another win in today's meeting with the Detroit Titans. On Thursday, Butler once again showed i

<< Tide puts perfect home record on line
Tuscaloosa, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coleman Coliseum in Tuscaloosa is the site of today's SEC battle between the Arkansas Razorbacks and Alabama Crimson Tide. Not much has gone right for Arkansas lately, as the team has lost four of it

<< Trojans attempt to slay Golden Bears in Berkeley
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an attempt to salvage something from their trip to the Bay Area, the 25th-ranked USC Trojans will take on the California Golden Bears in Pac-10 play from Haas Pavilion this evening. The Tro

<< Top-25 Pac-10 tilt features Oregon at Washington State
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 battle in the Pac-10 takes place in the Pacific Northwest this evening, as the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks take on the 20th-ranked Washington State Cougars from Friel Court in Pullman

Red Storm seek upset in Steel City >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. John's Red Storm are coming off a big-time win over a league opponent, and they will attempt to score a Big East upset on the road today against the ninth-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. St.

BYU puts lengthy home winning streak on line vs. Air Force >>
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The BYU Cougars put the nation's third-longest home winning streak on the line today as they battle the 16th-ranked Air Force Falcons in Mountain West Conference action from the Marriott Center. Trailin

WAC rivals lock horns in Reno >>
Reno, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Utah State Aggies take on their toughest opponent of the season tonight as they matchup against the 18th-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack in Western Athletic Conference action from the Lawlor Events

Irish put win streak on the line against dangerous Wildcats >>
South Bend, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Undefeated at home this season, the 22nd-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish attempt to remain that way, as they host the Villanova Wildcats in Big East action from the Joyce Center this afterno

Kings head to Edmonton attempting to get on a roll >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finally breaking out of a lengthy losing streak on Friday, the Los Angeles Kings will try to make it back-to-back wins when they invade Edmonton's Rexall Place tonight for a matchup with the Oilers. Los Angeles

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com