Gaels and Toreros tangle in WCC affair

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/02/2012 - Moraga, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 18th-ranked Saint Mary's Gaels put an 11- game win streak on the line this evening, as they welcome the San Diego Toreros to Moraga for a West Coast Conference matchup at McKeon Pavilion.

Randy Bennett's Gaels are clicking on all cylinders right now, at 21-2 overall and a perfect 10-0 in conference play. It is the best overall start for SMC in school history. Saint Mary's has not suffered a loss since December 22nd against Big 12 power Baylor (72-59). Most recently, the Gales remained unbeaten in league play with an 80-66 victory at BYU this past weekend.

Bill Grier's Toreros have struggled this season and enter this contest five games under .500 overall (8-13) and three games below the mark in-conference (3-6). San Diego is coming off an 84-70 loss at San Francisco and has lost two of its last three games overall.

The Gaels are seeking the regular-season sweep after posting a 78-72 victory at San Diego back on January 5th. With the win, Saint Mary's sports a narrow 37-35 lead in the all-time series.

With a -4.9 scoring margin, it is no wonder the Toreros have found wins hard to come by. The team lacks any real scoring depth, netting a meager 66.4 ppg, despite shooting a decent .440 from the floor. Another area of concern for the team is the lack of production on the boards. USD is being outrebounded by nearly five rebounds per game. Johnny Dee is the only player on the team currently averaging double figures at 14.5 ppg. Chris Manresa and Darian Norris are just below the mark with 9.4 and 9.1 ppg, respectively. The Toreros finally put together a strong offensive showing last time out, shooting a cool .509 from the floor against San Francisco. Unfortunately, it didn't carry over the defensive end, as the Dons racked up 84 points in a 14-point romp. Ken Rancifer led the Toreros with 17 points. Dee finished with 13, while Dennis Kramer and Manresa added nine points apiece.

The Gaels are getting it done in just about every facet of the game, leading the WCC in field-goal percentage (.483) and scoring defense (60.3 ppg). The team has a number of invaluable contributors, headlined by Matthew Dellavedova and Rob Jones. Dellavedova leads the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and assists (6-4 apg) with latter tops in the conference. Jones has the ability to score from anywhere on the floor, but enjoys the play down low, averaging 14.3 points and a WCC-best 10.8 rebounds per game. Stephen Holt (10.7 ppg) is a viable third scoring option and leads the WCC in steals. The Gaels displayed their offensive firepower in the road win at BYU this past weekend, as four players finished in double figures. Brad Waldow hit 8-of-10 from the floor to finish with a game-high 19 points. Clint Steindl came off the bench with 16 points. Jones just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Dellavedova tallied 10 points, seven boards and four assists.

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MySportsbook.com and Kentucky Derby Offer Bonuses
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Derby organizers announced this week that there will be a $1-million bonus at the 2007 Kentucky Derby odds if the first-place horse wins by more than 6 1/2 lengths – the margin of Barbaro's victory last year. The bonus would be divided Saturday among the winning trainer, jockey, owner and a charity, with each receiving 25 percent. The designated charity is the Barbaro Memorial Fund.

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Meanwhile, the Derby favorite – Curlin – is going against the odds this year. It's been 125 years since Apollo won after skipping his 2-year-old season, and not since Regret in 1915 has such a lightly seasoned horse worn the blanket of red roses.

Arkansas Derby winner Curlin – unbeaten in three career races – tries to overcome both those obstacles in Saturday's 133rd Derby.

''We're not running against history,'' trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. ''We're running against who they load up.''

Six other horses have run in the Derby without benefit of 2-year-old races and with three or fewer starts. The best any of them managed was a sixth-place finish by Showing Up last year.
   
Asmussen dismissed suggestions that Curlin's lack of racing experience could keep him from the winner's circle.

”He exudes confidence and he's got a great presence about him,'' the trainer said. ''I feel great about the position we're in. He's not worried about anything, why should you be?''
   
The Kentucky Derby is at 4:04 p.m., ET Saturday.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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.

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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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