02/23/2007 -
East Rutherford, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After weeks of rumors that the Nets
were taking offers to deal All-Stars Jason Kidd or Vince Carter, the two
remained in New Jersey as the trading deadline passed Thursday afternoon.
"Without divulging names or cities we had conversations with, we had
conversations with a lot of people in the last three or four days and I can't
say we ever got close to doing anything," Nets president Rod Thorn said.
It was a rather inactive trading deadline in the NBA with only a few deals.
In the first trade of the day, the Atlanta Hawks acquired guard Anthony
Johnson from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a second-round pick in the
2007 NBA Draft. The Toronto Raptors acquired guard Juan Dixon from the
Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for guard/forward Fred Jones. In another
small deal, the Philadelphia 76ers traded veteran forward Alan Henderson to
the Utah Jazz for the rights to exchange seconds round draft picks in the 2007
NBA Draft.
"It does surprise me because there was so much speculation and there was so
much of that was going on with so many high profile players, and for none of
it to come to fruition is surprising," Thorn said. "But historically 90
percent of the things that are proposed don't come to fruition. Seldom does
anything of substance get done. A few years ago Rasheed Wallace changed from
Atlanta to Detroit and had a profound affect on the playoffs, but that doesn't
happen often."
Now Kidd and Carter will remain with the Nets and try to help the team into
the playoffs. Kidd is averaging 14.2 points and a team-best 8.8 assists, but
it was revealed Thursday that he has a cracked rib. Kidd didn't play in the
All-Star game due to a sore back. Carter has compiled a team-high 25.1 ppg.
The Nets are in second place in the Atlantic Division, 4 1/2 games behind
Toronto.
<< Appel, Stanford drop UCLA
Stanford, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jayne Appel scored 24 points, as Stanford
clinched at least a share of its seventh straight Pac-10 title with a 65-54
win over UCLA on Thursday.
Brooke Smith scored 14 points and grabbed seven reboun
<< Fazekas, No. 11 Nevada dump Idaho
Moscow, ID (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Fazekas scored 21 points and grabbed 14
rebounds to help No. 11 Nevada down Idaho, 84-68, at Memorial Gym.
Ramon Sessions added 15 points and six assists and Marcelus Kemp added 14
points and six r
<< Loyola shocks 15th-ranked Butler
Indianapolis, IN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Blake Schilb scored 28 points, and the
Loyola-Chicago Ramblers shocked the 15th-ranked Butler Bulldogs, 75-71.
Majak Kou scored 13 points for the Ramblers (20-9, 10-5 Horizon), who won
their seve
<< No. 7 Memphis clinches C-USA with Rice rout
Memphis, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Willie Kemp scored 20 points on 8-of-10
shooting as seventh-ranked Memphis extended the nation's longest winning
streak to 16 games by pummeling Rice, 99-63, in a Conference USA battle at
FedEx F
<< Mavs win 10th straight by topping shorthanded Heat
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dirk Nowitzki posted 31 points and 11
rebounds, as the red-hot Dallas Mavericks and defending world champion Miami
Heat met for the second and final time in the regular season, with the Mavs
earning
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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