Dortmund maintains lead atop Bundesliga
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02/11/2012 - Dortmund, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Borussia Dortmund escaped its match at Signal Iduna Park on Saturday with a 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen to maintain its lead at the summit of the German Bundesliga.
Dortmund's 15-game unbeaten run in German league play has helped the club overtake Bayern Munch for top spot in the Bundesliga as the Black and Yellows enjoy a two-point lead over the the European giants.
The lone goal of the match came from Japanese star Shinji Kagawa as he notched his seventh goal of the campaign just before the break. A scoreless second half ensured that Kagawa's strike held up as the game-winner.
With Bayern also taking three points on Saturday, the table remains unchanged at the top as Dortmund sits in pole position with 46 points, followed closely by Bayern on 44 points.
Bayer Leverkusen has not picked up a win in its last three league outings as it remains in sixth place on 31 points.
Bayern Munich 2, Kaiserslautern 0
Munich, Germany - Bayern Munich claimed a 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern on Saturday to keep pace with Borussia Dortmund at the top of the table.
Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller provided the goals in the first half with Gomez scoring in the sixth minute and Muller breaking his goal drought in the 30th minute.
Bayern Munich sits two points adrift of Dortmund in fist place, holding down second place on 44 points. Kaiserslautern has lost two straight and sits third from bottom on 18 points.
Stuttgart 5, Hertha Berlin 0
Stuttgart, Germany - Stuttgart cruised to comfortable 5-0 victory over Hertha Berlin on Saturday as the home side appears to have banished its poor run of form.
A four-goal first half led Stuttgart to its first league win since Nov. 20 as two goals from Martin Harnik guided the Reds to a vital win.
Vedad Ibisevic and Shinji Okazaki scored a goal apiece in the first half and Levan Kobiashvili conceded an own goal in the second half to complete the rout.
Stuttgart, with 26 points, sits in ninth place, while Hertha Berlin remains just two points above the relegation zone after suffering its fourth straight loss.
Monchengladbach 3, Schalke 0
Monchengladbach, Germany - Three first-half goals powered Monchengladbach to a 3-0 win against Schalke at Borussia-Park on Saturday.
Marco Reus opened the scoring after just two minutes, Mike Hanke extended it with a goal in the 15th minute, and Juan Arango tacked on a third goal in the 32nd minute as the home side grabbed all three points in convincing fashion.
Monchengladbach maintains its third-place position in the Bundesliga as it keeps pace with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. It also climbs above fourth-place Schalke as the two sides are now separated by just two points.
Mainz 1, Hannover 1
Mainz, Germany - Hannover narrowly claimed a point at the Coface Arena on Saturday as it needed a late goal to draw 1-1 with Mainz.
The home side went in front through Mohamed Zidan after just seven minutes, but it was canceled out by Artur Sobiech's equalizer in second-half stoppage time.
Hannover preserves its unbeaten run in Bundesliga play, which is now at eight games. The club goes tied with Bayer Leverkusen on 31 points. Mainz, meanwhile, has drawn two successive league matches and sits five points above the drop zone.
Werder Bremen 1, Hoffenheim 1
Bremen, Germany - Werder Bremen struck late to salvage a point in a 1-1 draw with Hoffenheim at the Weserstadion on Saturday.
Jannik Vestergaard gave the visitors the lead in just the fourth minute, a lead that lasted until the dying moments when Bremen struck through Austrian striker Marko Arnautovic.
With four straight draws, Werder Bremen sits fifth in the table on 33 points. Hoffenheim has tied four of its last five league games and occupies a mid- table position on 25 points.
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The Tar Heels (21-4, 8-2 ACC) pulled away in the second half, wiping away the
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Michael Snaer and I
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Starkville, MS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Robinson netted eight of his 13 points in overtime and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 20 points and eight rebounds as Georgia upset No. 20 Mississippi State, 70-68. Dee Bost had a chance
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Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ryan Callahan's second career hat trick
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Montpellier, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montpellier scored three second-half
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Seguin, Bruins take down Predators in SO >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyler Seguin and Patrice Bergeron scored in the
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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW 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.
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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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Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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