11/23/2008 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Oklahoma's rout of Texas Tech on Saturday shook up the latest Associated Press college football poll.
Alabama remained the No. 1 team and is followed by Florida, Oklahoma, Texas and Southern California.
The Crimson Tide (11-0), now the lone unbeaten team from a BCS conference, had this weekend off and kept the top slot. Alabama received 63 of a possible 65 first-place votes and a total of 1,622 points from a nationwide media panel.
Florida (10-1), coming off a 70-19 whipping of The Citadel, moved into the second slot vacated by Texas Tech. The Gators again earned two first-place votes.
Oklahoma's 65-21 throttling of Texas Tech swayed enough voters to move the Sooners (10-1) up two spots from fifth to third, vaulting past Texas (10-1), which held firm at No. 4. Texas, which beat Oklahoma at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas earlier this season and was idle this weekend, sits just four points behind Oklahoma.
Southern California (9-1), also off this weekend, moved up a spot from sixth to fifth, while Penn State (11-1) jumped one spot into sixth after finishing its regular season with a 48-19 win over Michigan State.
Texas Tech dropped five spots to seventh and is followed by Utah, Boise State and Ohio State. Utah completed an undefeated regular season with a 48-24 win over BYU in the Holy War, while Boise State will try to do the same next Friday against Fresno State after its 41-34 win at Nevada.
Oklahoma State is 11th and followed by Missouri, Georgia, TCU, Ball State, Cincinnati, Oregon State, Georgia Tech, Oregon, Boston College and BYU -- the last two tied for No. 20. Georgia Tech and Boston College moved back into the rankings after previously dropping out.
Michigan State, Florida State, Northwestern and Ole Miss are the last four teams ranked. Florida State also returned to the poll, while Northwestern and Ole Miss joined the rankings.
Ole Miss moved in after its 31-13 win at LSU, a loss that left the Tigers -- last week's No. 18 -- unranked this week. Pittsburgh, Maryland, Miami-Florida and North Carolina also dropped out of the poll after losses this weekend.
Next week's big games include traditional interconference matchups between Georgia Tech and Georgia in Athens and Florida and Florida State in Tallahassee. Alabama will host an unranked Auburn squad in the annual Iron Bowl to keep its national championship dreams alive, while the Civil War between Oregon and Oregon State in Corvallis takes on added significance with the Beavers needing a victory to claim a BCS berth.
The Big 12 South will eventually be decided, as Texas welcomes Texas A&M on Thanksgiving night, Oklahoma visits Oklahoma State on Saturday night and Texas Tech hosts Baylor.
<< Brilliant Olic helps Hamburg down Bremen
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ivica Olic scored a world-class goal in
the 75th minute to give Hamburg a 2-1 win over Werder Bremen at HSH Nordbank
Arena on Sunday.
Jose Paolo Guerrero scored six minutes into the game for Hamburg,
<< Eagles RB Westbrook active vs. Ravens
Baltimore, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian
Westbrook is active and will play in the team's matchup against the Baltimore
Ravens.
Westbrook, who was listed as questionable for Sunday's game because of ankle
and
<< NFL Inactives (Sunday, November 23, 2008)
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The following is a list of inactive players
for today's NFL games.
PHILADELPHIA EAGLES AT BALTIMORE RAVENS, 1:00 P.M. (ET)
Eagles - 3rd QB A.J. Feeley, RB Lorenzo Booker, FB Kyle Eckel, LB Joe Mays, DE
<< Hurricanes try to blow past Huskies in St. Thomas
St. Thomas, VI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the biggest game thus far for both
opponents, the 17th-ranked Miami-Florida Hurricanes take on the second-ranked
Connecticut Huskies in the semifinal round of the Paradise Jam this evening.
The winner of thi
Rams QB Bulger leaves with head injury >>
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams quarterback Marc Bulger
left Sunday's game versus the Chicago Bears with a head injury and his return
is questionable.
The signal-caller was hurt after taking a shot to the head on a sack by
Ferguson may bring Rossi back to United >>
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson
has dropped a hint that he may try to bring Italian striker Giuseppe Rossi back
to the club from Villarreal.
The 21-year-old left Old Trafford to join the Yellow
Verdasco lifts Spain to third Davis Cup title >>
Mar del Plata, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Verdasco was the hero
on Sunday, as the lefthander outlasted fellow slugger Jose Acasuso to give
visiting Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead in its best-of-five Davis Cup final
against Argen
NBA Pacific: Clippers get Davis his low post option >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Much was made this offseason of how Elton Brand convinced
Baron Davis to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Brand supposedly sold the All-Star point guard by pointing out how he would be
playing with a legitimate low post
Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."
When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules.
The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.
The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.
“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”
The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.
“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”
The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.
“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”
Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.
“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."
So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?
“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.
Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.
Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.
Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.
“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.
Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.
The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.
“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.
Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.
LaDainian Tomlinson Favorite to be 2007 NFL MVP
With the first NFL preseason game less than two weeks away, it is time to start thinking about football once again at MySportsbook.com. Reigning NFL MVP LaDainian Tomlinson is currently the 5-1 co-favorite to win the award again alongside Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone after his all out assault on the record books last season. For those suffering from amnesia or were under a rock last football season, all L.T. did last season was set the NFL record for rushing touchdowns (28), total touchdowns (31) and total points scored (186) to go along with his 1815 rushing yards and 508 receiving yards. At 6-1, Tom Brady is next in line which isn’t surprising considering all of the firepower the Pats added over the off-season. With the addition of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker; it would be quite difficult for Brady’s numbers not to improve from last years 3529 yards and 24 touchdowns. There appears to be some decent value in Drew Bees at 10-1 considering he probably would have won the award last year if it wasn’t for L.T.’s record breaking season.
There is no reason to think the Saints will come back to earth this season and playing in a weak NFC, they should have as good a shot as any to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. At 15-1, Donovan McNabb could also be worth a look. Remember, many felt he was the MVP of the first half of the season before going down with a season ending injury. Reportedly, he is in great shape and well ahead of schedule to return to form. Also, he could have some added motivation to put up big numbers this season with the Eagles using their first pick in the draft on McNabb’s future successor Kevin Kolb.
Be sure to log on to MySportsbook.com to check out the complete odds for NFL MVP as well as all of the new football related futures. With the popularity of NFL futures, these betting lines will be sure to change as the money comes in; get the early sports lines now.
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