10/22/2008 - St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending champion Andy Murray of Scotland and two-time winner Marat Safin highlighted Wednesday's winners at the $1.49 million St. Petersburg Open.
The U.S. Open runner-up Murray, fresh off his big title at the Madrid Masters last week, stayed hot with a 6-3, 6-3 first-round handling of rising Serbian Viktor Troicki on Day 3 on the indoor carpet at SCC Peterburgsky. Murray defeated Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in last year's St. Petersburg finale.
A third-seeded Verdasco moved into the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-3 second- round victory over Latvian wild card Karlis Lejnieks.
An eighth-seeded Safin, meanwhile, topped Ukrainian Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round. The former world No. 1 and two-time major champion Safin was the back-to-back St. Petersburg titlist in 2000 and 2001.
In other action on Wednesday, German Rainer Schuettler topped Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty 6-3, 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals and qualifier Andrey Golubev of Kazakhstan grounded Belgian Olivier Rochus 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round. Schuettler will face Verdasco in a quarterfinal here on Friday.
In some more second-round action here on Thursday, Murray will meet rising Latvian Ernests Gulbis, while second-seeded Russian star Nikolay Davydenko will battle countryman Michail Elgin and Safin will encounter Golubev.
The 2008 titlist here will collect $171,000.
<< New York can clinch postseason berth at Chicago
Bridgeview, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - New York striker Juan Pablo Angel wanted to
enjoy Saturday's win over Columbus, which put the Red Bulls in position to make
the playoffs with a win Thursday at Chicago, but wasn't sure he should.
Angel, wh
<< Milan denies Mexes reports
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan have dismissed reports suggesting
that they are lining up a move for Roma's French defender Philippe Mexes.
The 26-year-old has been with the capital club for just over four years, but
was rumo
<< Inverness defender McGuire out with ankle injury
Inverness, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Inverness defender Phil McGuire has
been ruled out for several weeks by an ankle injury sustained in the 2-1
defeat by Celtic.
The 28-year-old had to be replaced early in the second half of t
<< Torres disappointed to miss Atletico return
Liverpool, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Liverpool striker Fernando Torres is
devastated at missing out on the opportunity of making an emotional return to
Atletico Madrid.
The Spain international, who moved to Merseyside from the Vice
Jackson, Rouse, Bowman earn NFC weekly honors >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams running back Steven Jackson,
Green Bay Packers safety Aaron Rouse, and Chicago Bears safety Zackary Bowman
were selected as the NFC's top players for Week 7 of the NFL season.
Jackson rushed
Murray, Safin win Moscow openers; Davydenko pulls out >>
St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-seeded and defending
champion Andy Murray of Scotland and two-time winner Marat Safin highlighted
Wednesday's winners, while Russian star Nikolay Davydenko pulled out at the
$1.49 m
Patriots' Harrison placed on IR >>
Foxboro, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Patriots have placed safety
Rodney Harrison on injured reserve with what the team is calling a thigh
injury.
Harrison was hurt in the third quarter of Monday's game against Denver w
Line of Scrimmage: Week 8 - Is Favre's Legacy In Trouble? >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The recent revelation that Brett Favre
shared old Packers trade secrets with the Detroit Lions might say more about
the Lions than it does about Favre.
I mean, did Matt Millen, Rod Marinelli, the security
MySportsbook.com Week 1 odds:
Saints +6 @ Colts -6
Falcons @ Vikings (pick ‘em)
Panthers @ Rams (pick ‘em)
Broncos -3.5 @ Bills +3.5
Chiefs -1 @ Texans +1
Dolphins +3 @ Redskins -3
Patriots -5 @ Jets +5
Eagles -3.5 @ Packers +3.5
Steelers -4 @ Browns +4
Titans +6 @ Jaguars -6
Bears +6 @ Chargers -6
Lions +3 @ Raiders -3
Bucs +6.5 @ Seahawks -6.5
Giants +4 @ Cowboys -4
Ravens +3 @ Bengals -3
Cardinals +3 @ 49ers -3
Super Bowl line (2008)
NFC +6.5 vs. AFC -6.5
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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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