08/18/2008 - East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson left Monday's preseason contest against the New York Giants with a possible concussion.
Early in the second quarter, Anderson was sacked by Giants defensive end Osi Umenyiora and immediately exited into the locker room to be evaluated.
Second-year signal-caller Brady Quinn replaced last year's Pro Bowl selection, who completed 4-of-10 passes for 20 yards.
<< Maddux to join Manny in LA?
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles Dodgers may be positioning
themselves for help in the starting rotation by turning to Greg Maddux.
The Los Angeles Times reported Monday night that the Dodgers have acquired the
four-time C
<< Ravens' Suggs signs franchise tag tender
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs
signed the club's one-year franchise tag agreement on Monday, ending his 27-
day holdout from training camp.
The Ravens slapped the franchise tag on Suggs, mean
<< Bryan, Putnam share U.S. Amateur lead
Pinehurst, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wesley Bryan and Andrew Putnam both posted
rounds of three-under 67 Monday to share the lead after the first round of
stroke play at the U.S. Amateur.
The championship is being contested at Pinehurs
<< Rangers' Kinsler placed on DL
Arlington, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Rangers second baseman and American
League MVP candidate Ian Kinsler was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday
with a sports hernia.
Coming into Monday's action, Kinsler, 26, led the majors
Hinske, Floyd lift Rays over Angels >>
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Hinske and Cliff Floyd each hit
two-run homers, as the Tampa Bay Rays defeated the Los Angeles Angels of
Anaheim, 6-4, in the opener of a three-game set at Tropicana Field.
Willy Aybar fi
Twins drop to second in AL Central with setback to A's >>
Minneapolis, MN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kirk Saarloos was thrown right into the
fire after his call up from the minors in place of early-departed Justin
Duchscherer, as Oakland slipped past Minnesota, 3-2, in the first of a three-
game se
White Sox use long ball to sink M's >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Quentin's push to an out-of-nowhere MVP
award continued with his MLB-leading 35th home run, and Chicago's push to an
AL Central crown also rolled on with a 13-5 victory over Seattle in the opener
of a th
Sabathia continues to roll as Brewers bury Astros >>
Milwaukee, WI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - C.C. Sabathia put together another solid
performance on the mound and Ray Durham drove in three runs, as the Milwaukee
Brewers bested the Houston Astros, 9-3, in the opener of a three-game series
from Mi
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
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting