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02/13/2012 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Charlotte Bobcats try to avoid a 15th straight loss this evening when they welcome the Philadelphia 76ers to Time Warner Cable Arena.
Charlotte established a new club record for futility on Saturday, as it dropped a 111-86 decision to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Kemba Walker continued his impressive rookie campaign, pacing Charlotte with 19 points. Corey Maggette, making his first start since a hamstring strain shelved him in early January, added 12 and six rebounds and Tyrus Thomas had 11 points off the bench for the Bobcats, who haven't won since beating Golden State on January 14.
"In the fourth quarter I thought we picked it up and played a little bit better," Bobcats coach Paul Silas said. "But that's about it. We did not shoot the ball well. We did not defend well. When you start games, have open looks and cannot make shots, it's a real problem."
Things have been really ugly lately, as the Bobcats have been outscored by an average of 24.9 points over their last six games.
"We're just not playing hard as a group," said Maggette. "We're just not doing the right things right. Ultimately we need to make shots. We're shooting like 32 percent as a group and thats not going to cut it, especially against a good team."
The Sixers, meanwhile, snapped a two-game slide on Saturday, as Jrue Holiday led a balanced Philadelphia attack with 20 points in a 99-84 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Lou Williams added 19 points, Thaddeus Young had 16, Elton Brand dropped in 11, and Jodie Meeks and Nikola Vucevic each contributed 10, helping the Sixers win for the seventh time in their last 10 tries.
"It was a big bounce-back game for us. We had to have it," said Brand. "It was as much of a must-win as we've had this season. We lost two tough games in a row, so we wanted to win this game."
A win tonight would make the Sixers the fourth team this season to reach 20 wins, a feat they didn't accomplish last season until game No. 45.
"Our goal was to get to 20 wins before we get to 10 losses," head coach Doug Collins said. "That would be a hell of a start."
Philly beat the Bobcats back on January 27 and has won three of the last four meetings. However, the home team in this series has won five straight and eight of the last nine.
<< Klieman takes over North Dakota State's defense
Fargo, ND (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FCS national champion North Dakota State has
promoted defensive backs coach Chris Klieman to defensive coordinator.
He replaces Scottie Hazelton, who has been hired as linebackers coach at
Southern California.
<< The Kentucky Derby winner will not come from the Mutuel Field
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Since the Kentucky Derby Future Wager began in 1999, the
mutuel field has been the correct bet in six of the 13 Pool 1 wagers,
including three of the last four years. However, half of those winners paid
$6.00
<< Warriors edge Rockets behind Ellis' 33
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Monta Ellis poured in 33 points and the Golden
State Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak to the Houston Rockets with
a 106-97 win on Sunday.
The Warriors got 15 points and 13 rebounds from David Lee a
<< Jazz top Grizzlies to snap 3-game slide
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gordon Hayward scored 23 points and handed out
five assists, and the Utah Jazz snapped a three-game slide with a 98-88
victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday.
Al Jefferson chipped in 21 points a
Reeling Wolves visit Magic >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Minnesota Timberwolves try to avoid a fourth straight
loss this evening when they visit the Orlando Magic
That may be easier said than done, though, as the Magic have won the last six,
seven of the last eight and eight
Habs aim to stay hot vs. Hurricanes >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The suddenly-hot Montreal Canadiens will try to extend
their winning streak to a season-high five games when they welcome the
Carolina Hurricanes for tonight's battle at the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens have scored 15 times
Canucks host streaking Coyotes in Vancouver >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to push their longest winning
streak of the season to six games when they visit the first-place Vancouver
Canucks tonight at Rogers Arena.
The Coyotes, who are holding onto the eighth seed in t
Jazz continue hectic stretch in NOLA >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah continues a grueling three games in three nights road
stretch tonight in the Big Easy when it visits the struggling New Orleans
Hornets.
The Jazz snapped a three-game skid in Memphis last night with an impressive
98-
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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