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03/13/2010 - Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils are the top seed in the 2010 ACC Tournament, and they are set to clash with the 12th- seeded Miami-Florida Hurricanes in the semifinal round this afternoon.
The winner of this tilt will do battle in the title game tomorrow against either NC State or Georgia Tech, with an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament up for grabs. Duke will obviously receive a "dance ticket" regardless, but the Hurricanes seemingly need to win this conference tournament championship to get an invite.
Miami crushed fifth-seeded Wake Forest by an 83-62 final in Thursday's opening round, and the team managed another upset yesterday with a 70-65 triumph over fourth-seeded Virginia Tech. The Hurricanes, a relative newcomer to the ACC, have never won this event. The club is 20-12 overall in 2009-10, a solid record considering a 4-12 finish versus league foes during the regular season.
As for Duke, it earned a bye through the opening round of this event and managed to knock off Virginia by a 57-46 final in yesterday's quarterfinal round. The Blue Devils are now 27-5 overall, including 5-0 in neutral-site affairs, and they have won 10 of their last 11 games overall. Duke has won the ACC Tournament 17 times, tying it with North Carolina for the most titles among all league members. Last season, the Blue Devils captured the crown by defeating Florida State by 10 points in the championship game.
Duke beat Miami by an 81-74 final during the regular season, and the Blue Devils own a commanding 12-2 advantage in the all-time series.
Miami played tremendous defense in the second half of yesterday's game against Virginia Tech, holding the Hokies to 29 percent shooting. The Hurricanes earned a dominant 46-29 rebounding advantage in the tilt and shot a respectable 46.3 percent from the floor. The positives enabled them to overcome 18 turnovers. Durand Scott paced Miami with 17 points, and DeQuan Jones pitched in with 14. As for Reggie Johnson, he pulled down 12 rebounds for the Hurricanes, who are generating 72.4 ppg while allowing 64.3 ppg to opponents. Dwayne Collins is considered by many to be Miami's best player, but a leg injury is expected to keep him out of this tournament. It is surprising that the club has played so well without Collins and his 12.0 ppg and 7.8 rpg. James Dews (11.7 ppg) is the only active double-digit scorer for the 'Canes, who are averaging 72.4 ppg while allowing 64.3 ppg.
The Blue Devils connected on only 38.2 percent of their field goal attempts against Virginia yesterday, including 4-of-14 from three-point range. Fortunately, they did play tremendous defense, limiting the Cavaliers to 32.1 percent shooting from the floor. As usual, the trio of Nolan Smith, Kyle Singler and Jon Scheyer led the way to victory. In fact, those three players accounted for 48 of the team's 57 points. Singler scored 18 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for the Blue Devils, who got 15 points apiece from Scheyer and Smith. Scheyer, the team's standout point guard, is netting 18.8 ppg to go along with 5.2 apg. Smith adds 17.5 ppg, while Singler contributes 17.3 ppg and 6.9 rpg. The fact that no other player on the roster averages more than 5.5 ppg for Duke emphasizes the importance of the "big three". The Blue Devils are generating 78.4 ppg while holding foes to 61.3 ppg on 40.1 percent shooting.
<< Home sweet home: Canucks return to GM Place to battle Senators
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The wait is finally over.
After playing 14 straight times on the road over a span of six weeks, the
Vancouver Canucks finally return to GM Place for tonight's interconference
showdown with the slumping Ottawa Senators.
<< Blues hope to continue surge versus Blue Jackets
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A strong road trip has put the St. Louis Blues back in
contention for a postseason berth. The surging club continues its critical
swing with tonight's visit to the Columbus Blue Jackets, who'll be seeking a
third consecutive
<< Red Wings aim to get back in playoff picture against Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Finally healthy, the Red Wings' offense has looked like a
dangerous unit that could give teams trouble in the playoffs. However,
Detroit still needs to get there first.
The Red Wings will try to leap into the eighth spot i
<< Coyotes hit the road to take on Hurricanes
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will play their first road game in just
over a month this evening when they kick off a four-game swing versus the
Carolina Hurricanes at RBC Center.
The Coyotes are among the league leaders with 25 home
Commodores and Bulldogs do battle is SEC Tournament semifinals >>
Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Mississippi State Bulldogs and the 20th-
ranked Vanderbilt Commodores are set to collide in the semifinal round of the
2010 SEC Tournament.
Tomorrow, the winner of this contest will take on either Kentuck
Cougars and Miners duke it out for C-USA crown >>
Tulsa, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two programs trying to claim their first
Conference USA Tournament titles come together at the BOK Center in Tulsa, as
the top-seeded and 25th-ranked Texas-El Paso Miners clash with the seventh-
seeded Houston Couga
Rams and Owls square off in A-10 semifinals >>
Atlantic City, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-seeded and 17th-ranked Temple
Owls continue their run for a third straight Atlantic 10 Tournament title
today, as they clash with the fifth-seeded Rhode Island Rams in the semifinals
at Boardwalk Hal
Hoyas and Mountaineers square off for Big East crown >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Big East Tournament title is up for grabs
this evening, as the 22nd-ranked Georgetown Hoyas take on the seventh-ranked
West Virginia Mountaineers at famed Madison Square Garden.
The Hoyas were thought to b
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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