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03/06/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gilbert Brown poured in a game-high 19 points while pulling down six rebounds, as the 17th-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers destroyed the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 83-54, in the regular-season finale for both clubs.
Ashton Gibbs added 13 points for the Panthers (24-7, 13-5 Big East), who will be the No. 2 seed in the Big East tourney next week. Pittsburgh snuck past Providence, 73-71, on Thursday to clinch a two-day bye in the tournament.
Coming into Saturday, the Panthers needed a victory combined with a win by West Virginia over Villanova to secure the second seed. The Mountaineers completed the first part of the equation for Pitt by claiming a 68-66 overtime victory over the Wildcats.
Brad Wanamaker donated 12 points and five assists, while senior Jermaine Dixon tallied 10 points in his final home game for the Panthers, who finished an impressive 17-1 at home this season.
Mike Rosario finished with 14 points for the Scarlet Knights (15-16, 5-13), who were coming off a loss to Seton Hall on Thursday. Austin Johnson and Mike Coburn added 12 and 10 points, respectively, in defeat.
A Jonathan Mitchell layup and James Beatty three-pointer put Rutgers ahead 5-3 early on, but the Panthers scored the next 15 points to take control. Dixon tallied six points during the run, which Dante Taylor capped with a layup for an 18-5 margin with over 11 minutes to go.
Ahead 28-11 moments later, Pittsburgh ripped off seven consecutive points to build a 24-point lead. Brown's trey capped the burst, making it a 35-11 game with three minutes left. The score was 40-16 at the half.
Jonathan Mitchell's three-pointer had the Scarlet Knights within 50-28 five minutes into the second half. The Panthers made it a full-on rout from there, going on an 11-2 spurt. Dante Taylor's free throw made 61-30 with 11 minutes to play.
Game Notes
Pittsburgh was awarded the second seed by virtue of tiebreaker wins over West Virginia and Villanova. Each school went 13-5 in conference play to tie for second place...Despite the loss, the Scarlet Knights still hold a 23-22 series advantage...The Panthers' 13 wins in the Big East is tied for the second highest win total for the school in league play since Pitt joined the Big East in 1982-83. Pitt set the record with 15 wins in 2008-09. Pittsburgh also won 13 Big East regular season games in 2001-02, 2002-03 and 2003-04...The Panthers shot 48.3 percent from the field, while Rutgers made 40.9 percent of its shots.
<< Packers retain OT Clifton
Green Bay, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Green Bay Packers have re-signed
offensive tackle Chad Clifton, keeping the stalwart lineman that has started
for the team since 2000.
Terms were not released, but the deal was originally repo
<< Real Madrid joins Barca on top
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael Van der Vaart's stoppage-time goal
gave Real Madrid a 3-2 comeback win over Sevilla at the Santiago Bernabeu on
Saturday, while Barcelona could only manage a 2-2 draw with Almeria, leaving
the two
<< Stanford finishes off perfect Pac-10 slate
Berkeley, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kayla Pedersen had 23 points and Nnemkadi
Ogwumike scored 22, as No. 2 Stanford beat California, 63-48, to wrap up their
first undefeated Pac-10 season since 2002.
Ogwumike added 14 rebounds and Pederse
<< Villegas alone in first at PGA National
Palm Beach Gardens, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Camilo Villegas posted a three-under
67 on Saturday to take sole possession of the lead after the third round of
the Honda Classic.
Villegas finished 54 holes at 11-under 199 and is three stroke
Dunn leads Baylor over Texas; Bears clinch No. 3 seed >>
Waco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - LaceDarius Dunn scored 30 points and grabbed six
rebounds, as 21st-ranked Baylor defeated the Texas Longhorns, 92-77, at the
Ferrell Center.
Quincy Acy finished with 24 points on 12-of-15 shooting for the B
Couples cruises to lead at Toshiba Classic >>
Newport Beach, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fred Couples fired a seven-under 64 on
Saturday to move to the top of the leaderboard after two rounds of the Toshiba
Classic.
Couples finished 36 holes at 12-under 130 and missed Rodger Davis' 2003
Cardinals acquire S Rhodes from Jets >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals have acquired safety Kerry
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The Jets will receive Arizona's fourth-round selection in 2010 and seventh-
round selection in 2
Jags sign WR Osgood >>
Jacksonville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Jacksonville Jaguars signed wide
receiver Kassim Osgood to a reported three-year contract on Saturday.
The 29-year-old Osgood has played mostly on special teams since breaking into
the NFL as an
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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