Bruins edge Rangers in key battle for East playoff spot

Hockey Betting Lines

03/21/2010 - Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tuuka Rask stopped 23 shots as the Boston Bruins got a big win with a 2-1 victory over the New York Rangers.

Both teams are struggling for their playoff lives, but it was the Bruins that came away with the two points and they now have 76 on the season, three more than Atlanta for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. New York is stuck at 71 points with 10 games to play.

Miroslav Satan and Dennis Wideman each scored a goal for the Bruins, who came into the game having lost five of seven.

Michael Del Zotto scored the lone goal while Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots in the loss for the Rangers, who have dropped three straight and seven of their last nine to fall to the 10th spot in the Eastern Conference.

Footballchancesports Hockey Betting News

<< Johnson, Syracuse have little trouble downing Gonzaga
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wes Johnson poured in a career-high 31 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, leading Syracuse to an 87-65 victory over Gonzaga in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Andy Rautins scored 24 for Syracuse (30-4

<< Rooney, Park lead United over Liverpool
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wayne Rooney scored his 26th EPL goal, Ji-Sung Park added the match-winner, and Manchester United edged Liverpool 2-1 at Old Trafford on Sunday to move back into first place. United regained the lead

<< Davies tops Oosthuizen in Morocco
Rabat, Morocco (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rhys Davies fired a seven-under 66 Sunday to come from behind and win the Hassan II Golf Trophy. Davies, who led after the second round, completed his first European Tour victory at 25-under-par 266. The

<< Suarez leads Ajax into second
Waalwijk, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Suarez scored two more goals to raise his Eredivisie-leading total to 29 and Ajax hammered RKC Waalwijk 5-1 on Sunday at Mandemakers Stadion to move into second in the Dutch top flight. First-pl

<< Miami-Ohio receives top seed in NCAA hockey tourney
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Miami-Ohio, Denver, Wisconsin and Boston College have been selected as the top seeds for the 2010 NCAA hockey tournament. Miami-Ohio will be the top seed in the Midwest Region and will open

UConn dominant as usual >>
Norfolk, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tina Charles posted 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the top-seeded Connecticut Huskies to a 95-39 romp over the 16th- seeded Southern University Jaguars in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Maya

St. Francis (PA) no match for Ohio State >>
Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jantel Lavender racked up 23 points and 16 rebounds to lead the second-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes to a 93-59 triumph over the 15th-seeded St. Francis (PA) Red Flash in the first round of the NCAA Tournam

Hamburg denies Schalke top spot >>
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jonathan Pitroipa scored with 13 minutes remaining and Hamburg denied Schalke the top spot in the Bundesliga with a 2-2 draw Sunday at HSH Nordbank Arena. Ruud van Nistelrooy scored before half for Hamb

Vanderbilt survives scare against DePaul >>
Cincinnati, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Merideth Marsh scored 26 points as the Vanderbilt Commodores staged a late rally to down the DePaul Blue Demons, 83-76, in overtime of a first-round game of the NCAA Tournament. Hannah Tuomi score

Brooks gets hot late, lifts Rockets over Knicks >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Brooks scored seven of his 16 points late in the fourth quarter as the Houston Rockets held on for a 116-112 win over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Kevin Martin led all scorers wi

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

MySportsbook.com is the Internet’s largest online sportsbook site serving customers in more than 80 countries worldwide. Founded in 1997, MySportsbook.com was the first sports book to introduce reduced margin wagering, using a -105 pricing model that gives bettors up to 50% better value on wagers than traditional bookmakers. With low minimum bet requirements and the highest maximum limits on the Web, MySportsbook.com has earned an industry leading reputation for providing consistent value to the player, professional customer service and the quickest payouts online. Fully licensed and regulated in Antigua and the UK, the company offers a secure environment for sports betting, horse racing and online casino games.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your Sportsbook accepts credit cards needs.