Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting
02/04/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Blue Jackets will begin life after Ken Hitchcock tonight, when they welcome the Dallas Stars for a battle at Nationwide Arena.
Hitchcock was relieved of his head-coaching duties on Wednesday, less than a season after he guided the franchise to its first playoff appearance. Assistant coach Claude Noel has been tagged as the interim head coach.
Named the fourth head coach in franchise history on November 22, 2006, Hitchcock guided the Blue Jackets to a mark of 41-31-10 last season and finished seventh in the Western Conference, granting Columbus its first playoff spot since coming into the league in the 2000-01 season.
However, this season has been a different story as the team sits second to last in the Western Conference with a 22-27-9 record.
Noel will make his debut as an NHL head coach tonight against the Stars, the club that Hitchcock led to a Stanley Cup title in 1999. The 54-year-old Noel led Milwaukee to a Calder Cup in 2004.
"Claude Noel is a good hockey coach with a proven track record in the American Hockey League," said Columbus general manager Scott Howson. "He knows our team and is deserving of this opportunity."
Hitchcock's last game as Blue Jackets' coach came on Tuesday in a 5-1 road loss to the Colorado Avalanche. That setback dropped Columbus to 4-7-0 in its last 11 games.
Ryan O'Reilly had two short-handed goals to lead the Avalanche to the recent win over Columbus. Antoine Vermette also scored short-handed for the Blue Jackets, who lost all four meetings this season to Colorado.
Mathieu Garon was beaten five times on 26 shots in defeat. Defenseman Mike Commodore missed the game with a charley horse in his left leg and is questionable for tonight.
Columbus, which is 12-9-5 as the host this year, is kicking off a six-game homestand tonight. The residency will take the Blue Jackets through the Olympic break and will end March 2, when NHL play resumes following the Winter Games.
Meanwhile, the Stars have won three of their last four games and come into tonight with 61 points, tying them with Anaheim for the 10th seed in the West.
Dallas went 3-1-0 on a recent four-game homestand and posted a victory over Minnesota in the finale of that residency on Tuesday. Stars netminder Marty Turco turned aside 40 shots to backstop the Stars to a 4-2 win over the Wild, who are 0-9-3 in their last 12 trips to Dallas.
Mike Modano and Jamie Benn both registered a goal and an assist for the Stars, who have won six of nine overall. Dallas also received goals from James Neal and Brad Richards.
"The guys played a solid game," said Turco, who improved to 16-14-8 this season. Turco is expected to get the start again tonight.
Dallas will play four of its final five games before the Olympic break on the road. The Stars are just 8-14-6 as the guest this year and have lost 11 of their last 12 road games.
Tonight marks the final scheduled meeting between the Stars and Columbus this year. The Blue Jackets have taken two of three from Dallas this year, but the Stars still have four wins in the last six matchups. The Stars had a four-game road winning streak in this series halted with a 2-0 setback in Columbus on January 10.
<< Caps try to keep win streak going versus Rangers
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Washington Capitals will try to add another victory to
what is already the longest winning streak in club history, as they visit the
New York Rangers for tonight's battle at Madison Square Garden.
The Capitals, who lea
<< Bruins hope to end epic slide versus Canadiens
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Bruins will aim for their first win in three
weeks when they welcome the Montreal Canadiens for tonight's Northeast
Division clash at TD Garden.
The Bruins have lost eight in a row, going 0-6-2 since winning in
<< Vols set to tame Tigers in Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge, LA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 14th-ranked Tennessee Volunteers play
three of their next four games on the road, starting with this evening's clash
with the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge.
Bruce Pearl'
<< Duke hosts Georgia Tech in Top-25 ACC tilt
Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-25 foes collide in ACC action in Durham this
evening, as the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils welcome the 21st-ranked Georgia
Tech Yellow Jackets to Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Mike Krzyzewski's Blue Devils took a b
Blues take aim at visiting Sharks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - One night after defeating the second-place team in the
Western Conference, the St. Louis Blues will try to knock off the top dog when
the San Jose Sharks skate into the Scottrade Center this evening.
The Blues tuned up for
Avalanche try to keep rolling in visit to Nashville >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After finishing with the fewest points in the Western
Conference last year, some fresh faces have helped the Colorado Avalanche put
together a quick turnaround.
Colorado will try to win for the eighth time in its last 11 g
Wild return home to battle improving Oilers >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - A few days ago, the Minnesota Wild thought they drew the
perfect opponent to begin their critical five-game homestand in the Edmonton
Oilers. However, with Edmonton suddenly playing well and Minnesota facing some
issues in ne
Kings try to match record streak in test with Ducks >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - With Anze Kopitar leading the offense and Jonathan Quick
playing strong in net, the Los Angeles Kings have posted seven straight wins
for the first time in nearly 18 years.
Los Angeles will try to match the longest winning
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
Offering $12 Million Dollars to whoever fills in the perfect March Madness Bracket. For the fifth year in a row MySportsbook.com is giving March Madness bettors a chance to never have to work another day in their lives. MySportsbook.com has been in business for 12 years and to celebrate this years March Madness they are offering $1 Million Dollars for every year they have been taking college basketball wagers along with every other sports wagering type imaginable.
The MySportsbook.com March Madness contest is simple just Sign-up for the March Madness bracket contest and come back after Selection Sunday to submit your March Madness picks. Then place $20.00 in wagers during each round of the March Madness tournament. Even if your bracket is not perfect you could potentially still win $10,000.00.
There is not an office pool on the planet that can offer this March Madness Grand Prize. Get together with your office, work as a team or keep the $12 Million and do it yourself and win the $12 Million. Also feel free to print out the Printable March Madness Brackets .
Get free 2009 March Madness Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online March Madness betting VISA Mastercard
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | NFL Football Betting | College Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | College Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting