08/28/2008 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Red-hot right-hander Edwin Jackson goes for a sixth win in seven starts when the first-place Tampa Bay Rays close out a three-game midweek series with the visiting Toronto Blue Jays tonight at Tropicana Field.
The Rays, who've already established a franchise record by surpassing 70 wins, can guarantee their first-ever .500 finish by securing win No. 81 in this game with Toronto.
Tampa Bay enters the contest as the unlikely front-runner in the American League's East Division, leading the defending world champion Boston Red Sox by 3 1/2 games. The Blue Jays are fourth in the East, 11 1/2 games off the pace.
Jackson has started twice against the Blue Jays in the last 1 1/2 months, dropping a 9-4 verdict on July 20 in Florida before winning, 3-2, in Toronto on July 30.
In those two games, Jackson combined to allow 15 hits and eight runs in 9 1/3 innings.
Lifetime against Toronto, he is 1-3 in nine games (8 starts) with a 4.20 earned run average in 49 1/3 innings.
For the Blue Jays, south Florida native Jesse Litsch looks for his second consecutive win after snapping a five-start winless skid last week.
Born in Pinellas Park, Fla. and a product of South Florida Community College, Litsch was 8-4 after defeating the Cincinnati Reds on June 26, but subsequently went 0-3 with two no-decisions through August 14.
He finally got season win No. 9 Saturday against Boston, taking an 11-0 verdict after allowing just three hits with four strikeouts in six scoreless innings.
The 23-year-old is 4-5 in 12 road outings (11 starts) this season with a 4.80 ERA in 65 2/3 innings.
On Wednesday, Carlos Pena homered and Matt Garza went 7 2/3 strong innings as Tampa Bay edged Toronto, 1-0, to even this series.
Garza (11-7) allowed only six hits without a run for the Rays, who snapped a two-game losing streak and remained 3 1/2 games ahead of second-place Boston in the AL East. The Red Sox clobbered the Yankees, 11-3, on Wednesday.
Joe Inglett collected a pair of hits for the Blue Jays, who have dropped three of five.
Toronto starter David Purcey (2-5) pitched very well in defeat, scattering five hits and allowing one run over eight innings, while fanning a career-best 11 batters without a walk.
Tampa Bay has won 10 of 14 games versus Toronto this year, winning two of three at over the Blue Jays at home in mid-July. The Rays also swept a three- game set between the clubs in Orlando from April 22-24.
<< Dodgers try to avoid sweep at hands of lowly Nats
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If the Los Angeles Dodgers wind up eventually falling
short in their quest to win the National League West, the team will likely
point to its current road trip -- and in particular, this series with the
Washington Nationals
<< Harang targets back-to-back wins in finale with Astros
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Right-hander Aaron Harang will try to win consecutive
starts for the first time this season tonight when the Cincinnati Reds close
out a three-game midweek series with the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park.
Harang, a 16
<< Around FCS: CAA Heavyweights Take Aim For Title
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Every week in the Colonial Athletic
Association is something akin to a series of heavyweight elimination bouts.
The contestants get battered and bruised and a team or two is eventually is
left standing with
<< Red Sox hoping to pay last respects to Yankee Stadium with sweep
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jon Lester attempts to bounce back from one of his worst
starts of the season this afternoon, when the Boston Red Sox try to complete a
three-game sweep of the New York Yankees in what will likely be the final game
played
Twins visit A's in next stop on grueling trip >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Twins continue their push towards the
postseason this evening, when they continue their 14-game road trip with the
first of four clashes against the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum.
Minnesota,
Around FCS: Rest Of Conference Chases McNeese State >>
Philadelphia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - McNeese State regained its swagger in 2007,
going undefeated in the regular season on the way to another Southland
Conference title.
It was the second straight championship for the Cowboys after they had slipp
Keeping the Good Times Rolling >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - College football fans across the country
have waited patiently (tongue planted firmly in cheek) for the 2008 season to
arrive. The anticipation is that much greater for programs that surprised the
country in
Around FCS: Are You Ready For Some Football? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - I'm not usually one for the raspy,
bellowing Country vocal tones of Hank Williams Jr., but this is one day each
year when putting Hank in the CD drive is appropriate.
He had it right when he asked "Are you
NEW 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.
Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.
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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MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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