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02/12/2012 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cristiano Ronaldo scored a hat trick after Levante had Vicente Iborra sent off, and Real Madrid won 4-2 at the Bernabeu on Sunday to open a 10-point lead atop La Liga.
Gustavo Cabral fired fourth-place Levante into the lead inside 5 minutes, but a second yellow to Iborra late in the first half earned him an early trip to the shower, and put Ronaldo on the spot for his first goal of the match.
Ronaldo added two more goals in the second half and now leads La Liga with 27, and Karim Benzema added a fourth to seal Real's 11th home win in 12 matches.
Levante did make the match interesting for a few minutes in the second half as Arouna Kone scored in the 63rd to cut Real's lead to 3-2, but Benzema's strike followed just 3 minutes later.
Real took advantage of Barcelona's loss Saturday, and now leads the standings by 10 points with 16 matches left in the season. Levante is 26 points off the pace in fourth.
Valencia 4, Sporting Gijon 0
Valencia, Spain - Sofiane Feghouli's first-half goal sparked Valencia to a 4-0 win over Sporting Gijon on Sunday at the Estadio Mestalla as the hosts snapped a five-game La Liga winless run.
Feghouli scored in the 33rd, an own goal put Valencia in control in the 73rd, and Jonas added a brace in stoppage time to seal his club's first win since mid-December.
Despite the slide, Valencia maintained third and used the win to solidify its place in the Champions League places. Gijon lost for the third time during its current four-game winless run, and sits 19th on just 19 points from 22 games.
Villarreal 3, Granada 1
Villarreal, Spain - Marco Ruben and Borja Valero scored as Villarreal won its second straight, and for the third time in its last four, 3-1 over Granada on Sunday to climb to 14th in La Liga.
Ruben opened the scoring on 16 minutes and, after Inigo Lopez tied the fixture early in the second half for Granada, Valero restored the lead in the 64th. An own goal in the 73rd accounted for Villarreal's third goal.
The Yellow Submarines were in the bottom three before their recent success and have pulled three points clear of the relegation zone. Granada had a two-match win streak snapped, and is two points from danger in 16th.
Real Zaragoza 2, Espanyol 0
Barcelona, Spain - Last-place Real Zaragoza used goals from Paulo Da Silva and Juan Carlos to post just its third win of the season Sunday, 2-0 over Espanyol at the Estadi Cornella-El Prat in La Liga.
Da Silva opened the scoring 10 minutes after halftime and Carlos sealed a road win - Zaragoza's first of the season - in stoppage time. Zaragoza was winless in its first 11 road matches, with eight losses and three draws.
Real Zaragoza remained in last, eight points from safety, after its first win since October. Espanyol could have moved into the top four and a Champions League spot, but remained fifth.
Malaga 3, Mallorca 1
Malaga, Spain - Sebastian Fernandez, Jeremy Toulalan and Rondon scored to help Malaga overcame an early deficit for a 3-1 win over Mallorca on Sunday at the Estadio La Rosaleda in La Liga.
Pereira fired Mallorca in front after 4 minutes, but Fernandez pulled one back on 11 minutes, and Toulalan and Rondon scored in the second half to seal a win for Malaga.
Malaga pulled level on points with Atletico Madrid for sixth place and a place in the Europa League next season. Mallorca lost for the third time in its last five, and is just two points above the drop in 14th.
Rayo Vallecano 2, Getafe 0
Madrid, Spain - Michu and Diego Da Silva Costa scored on each side of halftime as Rayo Vallecano defeated Getafe, 2-0, at the Teresa Rivero to climb into the top half of the La Liga standings.
Vallecano, which has won two straight and three of its last five, climbed into 10th place, although its still just five points clear of the relegation zone.
Getafe lost its second straight, and fell one point behind Vallecano to 11th.
<< Bryant's late shot gets Lakers past Raptors
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kobe Bryant broke away from the double team of
James Johnson and DeMar DeRozan while Metta World Peace led him perfectly
into the right corner on the inbounds pass.
Bryant pulled up along the right base
<< Michigan uses balanced attack to beat Illinois
Ann Arbor, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Hardaway, Jr. led a balanced attack with
15 points, as No. 22 Michigan downed Illinois, 70-61, at Crisler Arena.
Trey Burke added 14 points, Evan Smotrycz had 13 and Zack Novak totaled 12
points wit
<< Duke holds off Florida State
Tallahassee, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Haley Peters scored 18 points and the
fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils held off the Florida State Seminoles, 67-57.
Elizabeth Williams and Shay Selby added 13 and 11 points, respectively, for
the Blu
<< Clark lifts No. 12 Georgetown over St. John's
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jason Clark struggled mightily from the
floor, but provided two key baskets late, lifting No. 12 Georgetown to a 71-61
wire-to-wire win against St. John's.
Clark netted 11 points on just 1-of-8 shootin
Suarez 'sorry' for latest incident with Evra >>
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool's Luis Suarez apologized Sunday
for refusing to shake hands with Manchester United's Patrice Evra prior to an
English Premier League match Saturday, admitting he made a mistake and that he
was "so
Panthers use strong second period to down Isles >>
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Fleischmann, Kris Versteeg and Jack
Skille tallied in the second period as Florida powered past the New York
Islanders, 4-1, at Nassau Coliseum.
Tyson Strachan also lit the lamp for the Pan
No. 4 Stanford crushes UCLA >>
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nnemkadi Ogwumike netted a game-high 25 points
to go with eight rebounds as No. 4 Stanford ran over UCLA, 82-59, on Sunday.
Chiney Ogwumike finished with 19 points, while Toni Kokenis and Joslyn Tinkle
added
Rondo's triple-double helps Celtics hold off Bulls >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rajon Rondo recorded his ninth career triple-
double with 32 points, 15 assists and 10 rebounds, helping the Boston Celtics
hold off the Chicago Bulls, 95-91.
Kevin Garnett added 13 points and 12 boards f
MySportsbook.com: New College Football Clock Rules Examined
Coaches and bettors alike are desperate to make sense of the new time-keeping rules on the NCAA gridiron. One of the big stories to come out of the Ohio State-Texas clash last weekend was Texas coach Mack Brown's criticism of the NCAA's new clock rules that are intended to shorten the duration of college football games, therefore affecting college football betting.
"They scored with six minutes left and the game was over before we had a chance to do anything," Brown told ESPN.com. "I really hope whoever made these changes will go back and look them over."
Sure, it might be sour grapes; the Buckeyes thoroughly trounced the defending national champion Longhorns 24-7. However, Brown isn't alone in giving the changes their due thought. Bettors are also wondering about them, albeit for a completely different reason. Most experts agree that the changes will result in games being shortened by anywhere from 10 to 20 plays. The obvious consequence is lower scores, with more time rolling off the clock during changes of possession. (The Ohio State-Texas game flew well under the total of 52.)
According to research at the online sportsbook MySportsbook.com, more than 18 plays a game disappeared last weekend into thin air. That's a 10-percent reduction. In 2005, a typical game had 168.58 plays. For 2007 already, it's down to 150.26.
As a result, teams combined to gain an average of about 100 fewer yards a game last weekend versus the 2005 openers. Scoring was also down by about 4.5 points (attention Las Vegas sports lines).
Of course, oddsmakers were able to adjust to the changes before the season started. Proof of that came as the over went a balanced 8-9 at My Sportsbook on Saturday.
Other angles to consider:A shorter game should theoretically result in shorter lines. Whereas Team A might have been a 14-point favorite in a 168-play game (last year), if there are 10 percent less snaps in 2007, the line should also be reduced by 10 percent (to 13 or 12.5). Of course, this is an over-simplification of the matter, but something to keep in mind.
Less possessions means a better chance the game will be decided by three or seven points. For example, what might have been a 20-10 final score in 2005 may end at
17-10 in 2007. Granted, a 24-17 game last year might end at 21-17 these days, but the former - a three- or seven-point advantage being preserved as opposed to created - is the most likely scenario.
*UPDATE* - Sept. 25, 2007
New Clock Rules Boon for online bookmakers
By adjusting the time-keeping rules to shorten the duration of college football games, the NCAA hoped to make its product more enjoyable for the fans. While the NCAA's success in this regard is still up for debate, bookmakers couldn't be happier with the results.
"We are seeing a massive jump in college football betting," noted the MySportsbook.com management team. "With all the early Saturday games (12 a.m. ET) ending before the second wave begins (3:30 p.m. ET) - something that didn't always happen before the changes - bettors are now able to re-invest their winnings from the morning session in the afternoon games."
While not all bettors will choose to roll over their winnings, it doesn't take much for an impact to be seen on the bottom line. "Not all of the millions of dollars in morning payouts get re-bet. In fact, it's probably only 10 to 20 percent," noted the sportsbook management team. "Still, the increased football betting lines window will create a ton of growth for us over the course of the season."
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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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