Orange head to Sunshine State to battle Bulls

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01/02/2009 - Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 13th-ranked Syracuse Orange have only one blemish on their impressive record thus far, and they will take on the South Florida Bulls tonight in Big East Conference action.

Syracuse has won four games in a row since its lone loss to Cleveland State which ended on three-point heave from beyond half court. The Orange opened the Big East portion of their schedule on Tuesday with a 100-76 romp over Seton Hall, and 10 of their 13 victories have come at home. Considering that they have beaten the likes of Florida, Kansas and Memphis, the club's non-league resume' is certainly impressive and figures to come in handy when NCAA Tournament selections and seeding are announced.

As for South Florida, it owns a disappointing 5-7 overall record. This game marks the league opener for the Bulls, who are coming off a 68-55 victory over Iona on Saturday. That triumph halted a two-game skid for USF, which has gone down hill since a 3-1 start to the campaign.

Syracuse holds a commanding 5-1 series lead over South Florida, but the teams split a pair of meetings last season.

Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf returned from suspension against Seton Hall on Tuesday, and he posted 20 points and five assists in only 22 minutes of action off the bench. Andy Rautins was even more impressive for the Orange, as he nailed 7-of-10 three-pointers and finished with 26 points. Rick Jackson and Jonny Flynn both netted 14 points, and Arinze Onuaku provided 11 points. The Orange connected on 56.5 percent of their field goal attempts in that tilt, including a 12-of-22 showing from behind the arc. They also earned a 44-35 rebounding edge and limited the Pirates to 37.5 percent shooting, including 2- of-27 from three-point range. For all those reasons, Syracuse was able to overcome 20 turnovers. Flynn is averaging 17.2 ppg this season, and the dynamic point guard has dished out 74 assists. Devendorf provides 14.4 ppg, and Paul Harris checks in with 12.9 ppg and 8.4 rpg. Onuaku is scoring 12.1 ppg while ripping down 7.6 rpg, and Rautins contributes 11.1 ppg.

South Florida is far from explosive at the offensive end of the court, as the team is only generating 61.9 ppg on 41 percent shooting from the floor. On a positive note, the Bulls have been able to limit their opponents to 63.4 ppg on 40.2 percent shooting. USF relies heavily on two players to carry the load at the offensive end, as Dominique Jones provides 17.1 ppg and Jesus Verdejo checks in with 16.3 ppg. In the victory over Iona last time out, the Bulls connected on 10-of-20 three-pointers and only turned the ball over five times. Jones was sensational, as he exploded for 36 points on the strength of his 12- of-16 shooting from the field, including 7-of-9 from three-point range. He also recorded five assists and three steals.

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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.

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