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01/28/2012 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the 14th straight season, the Duke Blue Devils and St. John's Red Storm will take time out of their conference slates to meet on the hardwood.
The eighth-ranked Blue Devils are 5-1 in ACC play this season. The team dropped a tough 76-73 decision to Florida State the last time they were on their home floor, ending a 45-game homecourt winning streak in the process. Duke was able to find its way back into the win column with this week's 74-61 victory at Maryland. Duke has won 93 straight non-conference games at home, with the last loss coming to St. John's in 2000.
Steve Lavin's Red Storm have had their ups and downs this season, resulting in a 9-11 overall record. The Big East has also posed its own challenges with St. John's sitting at 3-4. The team did however, end a four-game losing streak with an impressive 78-62 victory over a good West Virginia team at Madison Square Garden this week.
Duke holds a 14-6 series advantage with St. John's and is 5-1 all-time against the Red Storm at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Red Storm trotted out five freshman as their starting five, but it didn't prevent them from ending their losing streak with a 16-point romp over West Virginia. St. John's jumped out to a 36-20 halftime lead and held serve in the second half for the victory. Moe Harkless led the way with a double-double of 23 points and 13 rebounds. D'Angelo Harrison poured in 19 points, while Amir Garrett and Phil Greene tacked on 11 points each, while Greene doled out a game-high eight assists. The Red Storm have struggled putting up consistent numbers at the offensive end, despite the scoring duo of Harkless and Harrison. Harkless is having a monster first season with the Red Storm, leading the team in both scoring (16.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.6 rpg). Harrison is a close second in the scoring column with 15.5 ppg. Gods'gift Achiuwa (10.6 ppg, 6.5 rpg) gives the team a viable third option.
It was a night to honor former Maryland head coach Gary Williams, but the Blue Devils took the wind out of the Terrapins' sails with a thorough beating at the Comcast Center. Mason Plumlee led the charge in the paint, finishing with 23 points and 12 rebounds, Ryan Kelly pitched in with 14 points off the bench, while Austin Rivers checked in with 10 points in the win. A close game got away from Maryland in the second half, as Duke was able to convert 52 percent from the floor and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe. The Blue Devils have been a strong offensive team this season, averaging 80.2 ppg on a healthy .492 shooting, including an even .400 from behind the arc. Rivers has made an immediate impact as a freshman, averaging a team-high 14.2 ppg. Kelly and Seth Curry add to the perimeter assault with 12.5 and 12.4 ppg, respectively. Mason Plumlee (11.8 ppg, 9.4 rpg) provides the low post balance. Andre Dawkins has shuffled in and out of the starting lineup, rounding out the double-digit threats with 10.0 ppg.
<< No. 12 UNLV comes calling on Air Force
USAFA, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Closing in on the 20-win plateau, the 12th-ranked
UNLV Runnin' Rebels take their act on the road tonight as they clash with the
Air Force Falcons in Mountain West Conference action at Clune Arena.
Since losing to
<< Gaels and Cougars meet in WCC tussle
Provo, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ranked 21st in the nation this week, the Saint
Mary's-CA Gaels continue to battle through the rest of the West Coast
Conference as the team clashes with the BYU Cougars at the Marriott Center in
Provo tonight.
O
<< Colorado State entertains No. 13 San Diego State
Fort Collins, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The last of the unbeatens in the Mountain
West Conference, the 13th-ranked San Diego State Aztecs hit the road this
afternoon to challenge the Colorado State Rams at Moby Arena in Fort Collins.
Not only ar
<< Panthers hope to make it two in a row in clash with Hoyas
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off their first win in more than
month, the Pittsburgh Panthers will try to make it two in row as they play
host to the ninth-ranked Georgetown Hoyas in a Big East Conference bout this
afternoon at the P
No.2 Tigers tangle with Red Raiders >>
Columbia, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The second-ranked Missouri Tigers set their
sights on getting back on track, as they welcome the Texas Tech Red Raiders to
Columbia this afternoon, for a Big 12 matchup at Mizzou Arena.
Frank Haith's Tigers ar
Cavs and Pack square off Raleigh >>
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams continuing to jockey for position
within the ACC meet in Raleigh tonight, as the 19th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers
take on the NC State Wolfpack.
Virginia is an impressive 16-3 this season, but the team
Columbus to host 2013 NHL All-Star game >>
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Columbus and the Blue Jackets will host the
NHL's All-Star festivities in 2013, the league announced Saturday.
The showcase, which includes the skills competition and All-Star game, will
take place on th
Kaman could be a keeper elsewhere >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - You can forget about blowing the whistle
on ageism in sports.
After all, it's not only accepted it's expected.
If you were wondering why the New Orleans Hornets are actively trying to trade
center Chris
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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El Duque expected to throw Tuesday
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- New York Mets pitcher Orlando Hernandez, sidelined at spring training because of arthritis in his neck, is expected to resume throwing on Tuesday.
Hernandez received a cortisone shot Thursday after leaving camp and returning to New York to have his neck examined. The 41-year-old right-hander is penciled in as the team's No. 2 starter behind Tom Glavine.
El Duque's health is a major issue for the Mets, who won the NL East in 2007 and came within one victory of the World Series. Their aging and unsettled rotation is a big question mark this year.
MySportsbook.com has the Mets as -110 favorites to repeat as NL East champions odds.
Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.66 ERA last season, including 9-7 with a 4.09 ERA in 20 starts after the Mets acquired him from Arizona in late May. But he missed the playoffs because of a torn calf muscle.
New York already is without Pedro Martinez, out until at least midseason following rotator cuff surgery. Among those competing for starting jobs are prospects Mike Pelfrey, Philip Humber and Jason Vargas, plus veterans Chan Ho Park, Jorge Sosa and Aaron Sele.
Notes: Mets manager Willie Randolph is excited about two new utility players he could have on his bench: Damion Easley and David Newhan. ''Their value is really all over the place,'' Randolph said. Easley can play anywhere in the infield and could be used as an emergency outfielder, though Randolph said he would prefer to keep the veteran in the infield. Newhan, meanwhile, can play second base, third or any outfield position for the Mets. ''I love versatility,'' Randolph said. ''I love guys that can give me options when I need them to step in.''
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