12/02/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Philadelphia Flyers forward Daniel Briere will return to the lineup for Tuesday's home contest against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Briere has missed the last nine and 14 of the previous 16 games while recovering from a groin injury.
The 31-year-old has scored five times with nine points in only eight games this season, his second with the Flyers.
To make room on the roster, the Flyers assigned forward Josh Gratton to the Phantoms of the AHL. The 26-year-old, who had cleared waivers, did not record a point but racked up 31 penalty minutes in 11 games this year for Philadelphia.
<< NFC South: Falcons' Turner one-ups former mentor
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) -- Michael Turner was deemed expendable by the San Diego
Chargers this past offseason, but there's no denying that the talented running
back has been vital to the Atlanta Falcons' amazing turnaround in 2008.
Eight months aft
<< NFC West: Arizona hurt by being one-dimensional
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals go only as far as the arm of Kurt
Warner can take them. They know that, and now apparently other teams do as
well.
The Cardinals feature the second-best passing attack in the NFL at 303.4 yards
per g
<< Astros sign Brocail
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros signed pitcher Doug Brocail
to a one-year, $2.5-million contract, plus incentives, on Tuesday.
The deal also includes a club option for 2010 worth $2.85 million, plus
incentives, wit
<< Newcastle won't discipline angry Martins
Newcastle, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Newcastle United will not discipline
Obafemi Martins following his angry reaction to being substituted at the
weekend.
The 24-year-old Nigeria international was reported to be facing disci
Giovinco staying with Juve >>
Turin, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Juventus midfielder Sebastian Giovinco is not
on the verge of joining West Ham United, according to the midfielder's agent.
Hammers coach Gianfranco Zola had been keen to sign the 21-year-old on loan,
hav
AFC North: Tough Stretch-Run Awaits Ravens >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - When the Baltimore Ravens' team charter lifted off on
Sunday evening to carry the team back home following a 34-3 rout of the
hapless Cincinnati Bengals, head coach John Harbaugh and his charges might as
well have started wav
NFC East: Giants block out yet another Burress distraction >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Plaxico Burress has done his best to internally sabotage
the New York Giants' goal of a second straight Super Bowl victory, but the
NFL's most resilient team wasn't fazed one bit by the latest -- and most
serious -- episode o
Burress officially out for the year >>
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Giants suspended wide
receiver Plaxico Burress four games and placed him on the reserve/non-football
injury list, officially ending his season.
"As we have said since Saturday mornin
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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