Djokovic, Tsonga roll into fourth round in Melbourne
Tennis Betting Lines
01/21/2012 - Melbourne, Australia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Last year's champion Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga were straight-set winners Saturday in third-round action at the Australian Open.
The world No. 1 Djokovic rolled past big-serving Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 on Day 6.
The reigning Aussie Open, Wimbledon and U.S. Open titlist has now won 35 of his last 37 Grand Slam matches and is seeking a third straight major title and a third Aussie crown. A title here would put Djokovic in select company, as only four players -- Rod Laver, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal -- have captured three straight Grand Slam championships.
France's Tsonga, the tournament's sixth seed, handled Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. The 2008 Aussie runner-up fired six aces and hit 35 winners to advance to the third round.
Fifth-seeded Spaniard David Ferrer took care of Argentine Juan Ignacio Chela 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
Andy Murray and Aussie veteran Lleyton Hewitt are also in action on Saturday. Hewitt will battle Canada's Milos Raonic while the fourth-seeded Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year's final and was also the runner-up to Roger Federer two years ago, will meet Frenchman Michael Llodra.
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Patrick Kane had a goal and an assist to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-1 win over the Florida Panthers at United Center. Jonathan Toews and Duncan Keith also scored for the Blackhawks, who have
<< North Carolina G Strickland tears ACL
Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - University of North Carolina junior guard
Dexter Strickland is out for the season after tearing his right anterior
cruciate ligament in Thursday's win at Virginia Tech.
Strickland suffered the inj
<< Hurricanes deal Ponikarovsky to Devils for Sova
Raleigh, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Carolina Hurricanes acquired defenseman
Joe Sova and a 2012 fourth-round draft pick from the New Jersey Devils in
exchange for forward Alexei Ponikarovsky on Friday night.
Sova, 23, is in his firs
<< Evans' late shot lifts Kings over Spurs
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tyreke Evans' jumper with 47.2 seconds left
in the game was the difference as the Sacramento Kings escaped San Antonio
with an 88-86 victory on Friday.
The Spurs had a chance to send the game into over
<< Howard leads Magic past Lakers
Orlando, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Dwight Howard had 21 points and 23 rebounds,
leading the Magic to a 92-80 win over the Lakers on Friday.
Jameer Nelson added 17 points and nine assists for the Magic, winners of six
of their last seven. J.
Dallas, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Teddy Purcell netted two goals, including the game-winner in the third period, as the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Dallas Stars, 2-1, at American Airlines Center. Purcell scored early in the first peri
Pacers kick their way past Warriors in controversial finish >>
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - George Hill kicked the ball away from Monta
Ellis in the final seconds and recorded a three-point play at the other end,
lifting the Indiana Pacers over the Golden State Warriors, 94-91.
With the score
Love's buzzer beater lifts Timberwolves over Clippers >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kevin Love knocked down a three-pointer as
time expired, sending the Timberwolves to a 101-98 comeback victory over the
Clippers on Friday night.
Minnesota, which has won three straight and four of fiv
NASCAR Hall of Fame inducts its third class >>
Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Darrell Waltrip and Cale Yarborough's long-
awaited arrival to the NASCAR Hall of Fame is over, as both three-time
champions in NASCAR's premier series were among those inducted during a
ceremon
Southeastern Louisiana adds three more signees >>
Hammond, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - First-year Southeastern Louisiana football
coach Ron Roberts announced the signing of three players to increase the
program's mid-year transfers to five.
Signing with the Lions were safety Theo Alexander (St. L
COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING
NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25NEW 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