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01/27/2007 - Stillwater, OK (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys finish up a brief two-game homestand this weekend, as they play host to the Iowa State Cyclones in Big 12 action from the Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater.
The Cowboys moved to 3-2 in league play and 17-3 overall with a 66-61 win over rival Oklahoma on Monday.
The Cyclones are a game behind OSU in the standings at 2-3 and the team brings a three-game losing streak into Stillwater. The team hasn't played since last weekend, when it fell at home to Kansas State, 69-60.
The Cowboys hold a 56-51 advantage in the all-time series. Oklahoma State has won seven of the last eight meetings with ISU and has a 32-13 edge in games played at home in this series.
The Cyclones struggled with their shot, especially in the first half and trailed by 10 points at the break against Kansas State last weekend. The team did a little better in the second half, but could not overcome the deficit, falling by nine in the end. Mike Taylor did his best to lead the way to victory, as he scored 21 points to pace all Cyclones. Jiri Hubalek had a solid game as well, registering a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards. On the season, Iowa State has struggled offensively for the most part, averaging just 67.1 ppg, on a modest .419 shooting. Taylor has been the most consistent performer, averaging 16.7 ppg. However, his .382 shooting from the floor could certainly use some improvement. Wesley Johnson is one of the top freshmen in the league, averaging a near double-double with 12.2 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Hubalek has been a force up front as well, with 10.8 points and 6.8 rebounds per outing.
The Cowboys remained perfect at home with a solid win over the Sooners this week. Oklahoma State shot just .419 from the floor in the game, but outscored the visiting Sooners, 27-13 at the free-throw line in the victory. Byron Eaton led the offensive charge with a season-high 17 points. Three others joined him in double figures, with Mario Boggan putting up 13 points, followed by JamesOn Curry and David Monds, at 12 and 11 ppg, respectively. This season, Oklahoma State is averaging a steady 81.8 ppg, on nearly 50 percent shooting (.492) There may not be a better one-two punch in the nation than Boggan and Curry, who combine for nearly 40 points per game. Boggan leads the team in both scoring (21.0 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg), while shooting .575 from the field. Curry is a perfect complement with his perimeter game, pouring in 18.8 ppg, while delivering on 43.3 percent from behind the arc (55-of-127). Terrel Harris provides another option offensively, at 10.8 ppg.
<< Jayhawks host Buffaloes in Big 12 clash
Lawrence, KS (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Two teams at opposite ends of the Big 12
standings meet this afternoon in Lawrence, as the eighth-ranked Kansas
Jayhawks host the Colorado Buffaloes in conference action from the Allen
Fieldho
<< High-powered Penguins skate into Phoenix
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Penguins continue their push towards a
possible playoff spot this evening, where the up-and-coming club visits the
Phoenix Coyotes at Jobing.com Arena.
Pittsburgh has won four of its last five ga
<< Scorching Blues hope to end string of misfortune vs. Preds
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The resurgent St. Louis Blues hope to end a long winless
drought against the Nashville Predators when the two Central Division
opponents face off tonight at Scottrade Center.
Nashville boasts 13 consecutive
<< Panthers return from break to host dangerous Devils
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After starting up their current road trip with a victory,
the New Jersey Devils will shoot for a Sunshine State sweep when they head to
the BankAtlantic Center tonight to take on the Florida Panthers.
New Jersey contin
Top-25 battle pits Tar Heels against Wildcats >>
Tucson, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A rare non-conference treat late in the season
takes place in the desert this afternoon, as the fourth-ranked North
Carolina Tar Heels come calling on the 17th-ranked Arizona Wildcats in
Tucson.
Sooners attempt to continue mastery of Aggies >>
College Station, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sitting in a logjam atop the Big 12
standings, the sixth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies return home to the friendly
confines of Reed Arena, as they play host to the Oklahoma Sooners in
confere
Top-25 Pac-10 tilt features Oregon at Washington State >>
Pullman, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A top-25 battle in the Pac-10 takes place in
the Pacific Northwest this evening, as the seventh-ranked Oregon Ducks
take on the 20th-ranked Washington State Cougars from Friel Court in
Pullman
Trojans attempt to slay Golden Bears in Berkeley >>
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In an attempt to salvage something from
their trip to the Bay Area, the 25th-ranked USC Trojans will take on the
California Golden Bears in Pac-10 play from Haas Pavilion this evening.
The Tro
My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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JUPITER, Fla. -- The Foorida Marlins are preparing for the likelihood that right-hander
Josh Johnson won't be ready when the season starts April 2.
Grapefruit League action starts Wednesday, but Johnson, penciled in as the No. 2 starter, hasn't even thrown off a mound at full speed since September. He's experienced some soreness in his right forearm.
MySportsbook.com have the Marlins listed with baseball betting lines at +800 to win the NL East this season .
''You guys know the math. If he's not on the hill then he becomes an opening day roster issue,'' manager Fredi Gonzalez said Saturday. ''We're borderline now.''
Johnson, who finished 12-7 with a 3.10 ERA in 2007, was supposed to throw on flat ground Saturday. That was canceled when he woke up with pain.
He played catch on Wednesday with no pain but felt discomfort in a throwing session on Thursday. He's expected to try again Sunday.
''Like we always said from the very beginning, we're going to take it easy on him,'' Gonzalez said. ''He didn't feel right, so we shut him down. We're going to take it back to step one and see where we're at.''
Among the candidates to take Johnson's spot in the rotation are left-hander Chris George and right-handers Yusmeiro Petit and Jose Garcia.
Right-hander Sergio Mitre, who missed most of last season with arm and shoulder problems, also is behind.
With Johnson's status doubtful, Gonzalez said right-hander Ricky Nolasco will stay in the rotation and no longer will be considered a candidate for closer.
Additional basbeall odds can be found at: www.MySportsbook.com
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