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11/23/2008 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fresh off a tournament title in the 2K Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer, the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils return to Durham and put a 62-game homecourt winning streak against non-conference opponents on the line this evening at Cameron Indoor Stadium against the Montana Grizzlies.
The Blue Devils moved to 5-0 on the season with wins over Southern Illinois (83-58) and Michigan (71-56) in New York City this week, to wrap up yet another in-season tournament title.
The Grizzlies were routed in their season opener at Colorado State (85-55), but Wayne Tinkle's team has rebounded nicely with two straight victories, knocking off UM-Western (75-67) and most recently, Mississippi Valley State (82-65).
This game marks the first-ever meeting between these two programs.
The Grizzlies came out on fire against the Delta Devils last time out, shooting a scorching 63.3 percent from the floor and taking a 17-point lead into halftime. The team cooled off over the final 20 minutes (40 percent), but if Montana can shoot a similar 54 percent from the floor on most occasions, the Grizzlies will have a hugely successful 2008-09 campaign. In the win over Mississippi Valley State, forward Jordan Hasquet was outstanding, hitting 8- of-12 shots from the floor, including four three-pointers, en route to a game- high 23 points. Guard Ryan Staudacher and forward Jack McGillis chipped in with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Staudacher leads the team in scoring at 16.3 ppg, thanks to a sizzling .643 field-goal percentage. Staudacher has been almost automatic from behind the arc (11-of-16). He gets plenty of frontcourt support from Hasquet (13.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg) and center Brian Qvale (10.3 ppg, 8.0 rpg).
Sophomore star Kyle Singler was named the 2K Sports Classic MVP, after averaging 16.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists in tournament play. Singler has certainly been the catalyst early on for a team that is averaging a robust 82.6 ppg. The team has also dominated at the defensive end of the court this season, limiting the opposition to just 59.2 ppg and .363 shooting from the floor. In addition, Duke has owned the low post, outrebounding foes by 12.2 rebounds per game. Singler leads four players in double figure scoring at 17.4 ppg. Singler is also tops on the team in rebounding (7.2 rpg) and assists (3.2 apg). Guards Jon Scheyer (12.8 ppg) and Nolan Smith (12.4 ppg) provide plenty of perimeter support. Gerald Henderson rounds out the double- digit threats with 11.8 ppg. The Blue Devils have definitely benefited from their trips to the charity stripe, averaging a whopping 25.8 made free throws over the first five games. In the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic against Michigan, Smith led the offensive charge with 16 points, thanks to 6- of-8 shooting from the floor. Singler once again gave a complete effort with 15 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Henderson added 12 points to the cause.
<< Waves challenge 15th-ranked Sun Devils in Tempe
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 15th-ranked Arizona Sun Devils will do battle
with the Pepperdine Waves this afternoon in a non-conference tilt from Well-
Fargo Arena in Tempe.
Pepperdine opened the season with three straight home games and
<< Missouri and USC meet in San Juan
San Juan, PR (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fourth-place game of the Puerto Rico Tip-
Off features a pair of 3-1 teams, as the USC Trojans meet the Missouri Tigers.
USC opened the season with back-to-back home victories, both by double
figures, befo
<< South Alabama seeks upset of No. 3 Louisville
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The third-ranked Louisville Cardinals try to
make it two in a row to start the season as they host the South Alabama
Jaguars in the next round of the Billy Minardi Classic at Freedom Hall this
afternoon.
On
<< Devils head south to take on Lightning
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a perfect homestand, the New Jersey Devils aim for a
season-high fourth straight win this evening in a visit to Tampa Bay to take
on the Lightning at St. Pete Times Forum.
After dropping the start of a home-and-home
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
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
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
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,
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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