05/09/2008 - Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After failing to secure its third straight scudetto last Sunday with a 2-1 defeat to rivals AC Milan, Inter Milan will attempt to lift the title once again with a home victory against Siena on Sunday.
Inter's loss coupled with a Roma win closed the gap to just three points with two games remaining, however Inter owns the head-to-head tiebreaker should the two clubs finish level on points, meaning a win on Sunday will be enough to keep the trophy in Milan.
While the derby defeat to the Rossoneri was tough to swallow, and only added to the speculation that manager Roberto Mancini will be gone at the end of the season, Inter rebounded by beating Lazio 2-0 in the second leg of its Italian Cup semifinal, putting them into the final against Roma for the second straight season.
Injuries have been a major problem for Mancini's men in recent months and he will likely be without defenders Cristian Chivu and Nicolas Burdisso, who both sustained injuries in the win over Lazio.
Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has still not yet recovered from a knee problem, while defender Marco Materazzi will take part in the match despite picking up a red card against Lazio. He will be able to play in league games but likely faces a suspension for the Cup final.
Roma must be ready to produce another strong effort like the one they put forward last week in a 3-0 win over Sampdoria. The capital club will host Atalanta on Sunday, but their title hopes will end if Inter beats Siena.
Juventus has already clinched third place and will host Catania, while AC Milan took over fourth place with its win against Inter and will travel to Napoli.
Fiorentina is two points back and will need three points from relegation- threatened Parma, while Udinese is three points behind the Viola and hosts Cagliari.
Last-place Livorno must win at home to Torino to have a shot at safety, while second-from-the-bottom Empoli faces a huge relegation battle at Reggina, which is just three points ahead of Empoli.
Lazio travels to Genoa, and Sampdoria needs three points against Palermo to keep its European hopes in good standing.
<< Karlsson shoots course-record 61 to lead in Italy
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Karlsson fired an 11-under 61 in the
second-round of the Italian Open on Friday to set a course record and take a
two-shot lead.
Karlsson was at 15-under-par 129 overall, his 61 on Friday bre
<< Lo Duca, Estrada placed on DL
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Nationals placed a pair
of catchers, Paul Lo Duca and Johnny Estrada, on the 15-day disabled list
on Friday.
The club recalled catcher Jesus Flores from Triple-A Columbus, and rein
<< Lyon filled with confidence ahead of top-three clash
Lyon, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lyon will head into Saturday's top-three
showdown with Nancy full of confidence after beating Sedan 1-0 in the
semifinals of the French Cup on Wednesday.
The six-time defending Ligue 1 champi
<< Drama at both ends of Premiership table on final day
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There is still plenty to be decided on
the final Premiership Sunday of the season, with Manchester United and Chelsea
both level on 84 points at the top, while three teams are separated by just
one poi
Atletico Madrid can lock up Champions League spot >>
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atletico Madrid hopes to secure a spot in the
Champions League on Sunday against Deportivo. But while that's Atletico's main
goal, Barcelona is also just three points away in third place.
Atletico Madrid beat
Quenneville will not return as Avs coach >>
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Colorado Avalanche announced Friday
that Joel Quenneville will not return as head coach for the 2008-09 season.
"After meeting with Joel, we mutually agreed that the best decision for both
parties
Serena suffers QF loss in Berlin >>
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in two days,
Dinara Safina knocked off a top-10 superstar, as the Russian ousted previously
red-hot American Serena Williams on Friday to reach the semifinals at the
$1.34 m
Walking the MLB line >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - If there's one sport that lends itself
more to winning wagers than the rest, it has to be Major League Baseball.
Unlike football or basketball, point spreads do not come into play, so the
late meaningless t
“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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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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