Both conference finals to start Sunday

Hockey Betting Lines

05/13/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League announced that both the Eastern and Western Conference finals will begin on Sunday.

In the West, the top-seeded San Jose Sharks will host the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 1 at 3 p.m. (et). The game will be broadcast on NBC.

The opener of the East finals will be at 7 p.m. (et) with Boston or Philadelphia being the home team and facing the eighth-seeded Montreal Canadiens. That game will be televised on VERSUS.

The Bruins and Flyers will go to a deciding seventh game of their semifinal series Friday night in Boston. Philadelphia is trying to become just the third team in league history to overcome a 3-0 deficit and win a best-of-seven playoff series.

The remaining conference finals schedule will be released Friday.

Gamblong Hockey Betting News

<< Hillman dismissed as Royals manager; Greinke gets first win
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Alberto Callaspo hit a three-run homer and Zack Greinke threw six effective innings to pick up his first win of the season, as the Kansas City Royals snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 6-4 vi

<< Longhorns' Ward, Williams granted medical waivers
Austin, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Texas Longhorns guard Varez Ward and forward Shawn Williams have each been granted a medical hardship waiver by the Big 12 Conference for the 2009-10 season. As a result, Ward will be a redshirt sophomore

<< Warriors' Azubuike has successful knee surgery
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Golden State Warriors swingman Kelenna Azubuike underwent successful arthroscopic knee surgery on Wednesday. The procedure addressed patella tendonitis in his right knee. Azubuike will begin rehabilitation i

<< Sharks downplay regular season results vs. Chicago
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) -Evgeni Nabokov views his 45-save masterpiece in Chicago the same way he does the seven-goal outburst the Blackhawks had in San Jose during the regular season.Both are absolutely irrelevant once the Western Conference finals be

<< Twins become players in international scouting
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -Miguel Angel Sano wasn't just a prized Dominican prospect to the Minnesota Twins.Plenty of teams were in hot pursuit of the 16-year-old shortstop last fall, including heavy hitters on the international market like the New York Yank

Munoz leads by one in Alabama >>
Mobile, AL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Azahara Munoz fired a seven-under 65 Thursday to grab a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Bell Micro LPGA Classic. Munoz, a tour rookie, is not only looking for her first win, but also her firs

Nationals minor leaguer Bynum suspended >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington National minor league infielder Seth Bynum was suspended 50 games after testing positive for an amphetamine, a performance-enhancing substance, in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevent

Jones the early leader in Texas >>
San Antonio, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Australian Matt Jones posted a six-under 66 Thursday to take a one-shot lead after one round of the Texas Open. Jones, who is looking for his first PGA Tour title, is coming off back-to-back top-10 finishes

Marlins score on wild pitch in ninth to edge Mets >>
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Cody Ross scored on a wild pitch with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Florida Marlins beat the New York Mets 2-1, in the opener of a four-game set at Sun Life Stadium. Ross scampered home af

Celtics advance to East finals; LeBron faces big decision >>
Boston, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Boston Celtics are moving to the Eastern Conference finals for the second time in three years. LeBron James is headed to the off-season again without a championship and has possibly played his last ga

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com