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01/27/2007 - 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. John's has recorded back-to-back wins to move to 12-8 overall and 3-4 in league play. After beating Syracuse last weekend, the Red Storm came up with a thrilling 71-68 triumph over nationally-ranked Notre Dame on Tuesday. Still, it has to be mentioned that the squad is just 1-3 in true road games.
Pittsburgh has won eight of its last nine games to move to 18-3 overall and 6-1 in conference action. The Panthers recorded a 67-51 decision over Cincinnati on Wednesday, and of the three losses the team has suffered this season, two have come in overtime. While St. John's has struggled on the road, Pitt is a stellar 12-1 at home.
St. John's owns a 33-16 lead in the all-time series with Pittsburgh, and the Red Storm won last season's meeting by a 55-50 final.
St. John's got a tremendous effort from Lamont Hamilton in the win over Notre Dame on Tuesday, as he scored 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to lead all players in both categories. Teammate Eugene Lawrence finished with 13 points and seven assists, but he did commit 10 of the team's 19 turnovers. The third and final double-digit scorer in the victory was Larry Wright, as he finished with 11 points. The Red Storm limited the Fighting Irish to 35.5 percent shooting from the floor, and the strong defense was clearly the key to the team's success. Hamilton is averaging 13.5 ppg and 7.2 rpg this season, and Avery Patterson checks in with 11.9 ppg. As for Anthony Mason, he is contributing 11.0 ppg. Lawrence has dished out 105 assists and also leads the club with 36 steals.
Pittsburgh is scoring 74.2 ppg this season on 49.7 percent shooting from the floor, including 40.8 percent from three-point range. Defensively, the Panthers are limiting foes to 62.0 ppg on 40.2 percent shooting while outrebounding team by six boards per outing. Aaron Gray continues to lead Pitt with 14.8 ppg and 10.2 rpg, and he has blocked 34 shots as well while shooting 57.9 percent from the field. Mike Cook is a steady contributor who adds 11.4 ppg to the lineup, and Antonio Graves checks in with 10.3 ppg. The Panthers have featured the same starting lineup in all 21 games, an obvious key to their success. Levance Fields scored 18 points to lead Pitt in the recent win over Cincinnati, while Ronald Ramon and Sam Young tallied 10 points each. The Panthers connected on 60.5 percent of their field goal attempts in that contest, including a 12-of-19 showing from three-point range.
<< 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
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
Pacers close out homestand vs. Toronto >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Indiana Pacers will close out a four-game homestand
this evening when they welcome the Toronto Raptors to Conseco Fieldhouse.
Indiana is 2-1 on the homestand and has posted back-to-back wins, including
Wednesday
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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