16, 2006
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CFB
West Virginia-Pittsburgh
Beaver County
The Panthers won’t be throwing the ball every down in
tonight’s Backyard Brawl.
But you may see them air it out more than usual. With quarterback Tyler Palko playing well and the running game’s inability to run
out the fourth quarter in a loss at Connecticut, coach Dave Wannstedt may let
loose a little on offense. And since
run defense is better than its pass defense, Palko
becomes the focal point of Pitt’s upset bid. WVU is
ranked last in the Big East in passing yardage allowed. By popular request,
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Patriot News
After three straight losses—two against teams perceived to
be inferior—the
football team faces apparently insurmountable odds.
Akron-Ohio
Sports Network
The Ohio Bobcats will try to clinch their first-ever MAC
East Division title when they host the Akron Zips this Thursday night at Peden Stadium in Athens. The Zips come into the contest with
victories in three of their last four games.
has started to show signs of life over the past few weeks,
however, it could be too late for the Zips to make a push for the division
title. The Zips are scoring just 22.9 ppg this year behind 338.3 total ypg. A big reason for the sudden improvement on offense is
the progress of the ground game. In the recent victory over
the rushing attack continued its positive strides, accounting for 144 yards on
37 carries. MasterLockLine.com has the top plays from the top
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Post Online
A win Thursday will give the Bobcats (7-3, 5-1 MAC) their
first-ever MAC East Division crown and all but guarantee a spot in one of the
three bowl games MAC teams are eligible to make, regardless of what happens in
the MAC championship game Nov. 30. After a surprising 2005 campaign in which
they defeated
championship, the Zips were picked to repeat as East Division champions in the
preseason poll. Early struggles in its conference schedule, however, have left
(5-5, 3-3 MAC) in a position where it would need to win out, along with a
little help, to fulfill the prediction. Led by a balanced offense and a stingy
rush defense, the Zips are winners of three of their last four and seem to be
looking like the team those polled, and Solich,
expected it to be. “It’s obvious that they’ve got talent and it’s obvious that
they’re playing good football right now,” Solich
said. “The combination of those two things can make things difficult for the
team.” In its last four games, the
offense has averaged 377.5 yards per game thanks mostly to the efforts of
quarterback Luke Getsy and tailback Dennis Kennedy. Getsy currently ranks second in the MAC, averaging 230.3
passing yards per game while Kennedy is the conference’s third best rusher,
gaining 95.3 yards per contest.Unlike many of the
quarterbacks Ohio has faced this season, Getsy is a
more traditional passer, letting his arm do most of the damage and only running
for yards when absolutely necessary. Muncy said that
the team is aware of Getsy’s throwing abilities and
stressed that the team can not underestimate his ability to scramble. The 11
players the Zips line up on defense aren’t slouches either, particularly
against the run, ranking fourth in the MAC by allowing just 131.7 yards on the
ground per contest. This could spell trouble for the Bobcats, as a strong
reliance on the ground game has keyed the team’s current five-game winning
streak.
rushing yards while gaining just 87.6 yards per game through the air over the
past five games. Joe Duffy’s sports
betting selections are at www.GodsTips.com
CBB
Michigan State-Texas
Press Notes
After capturing the East Lansing Regional of the College
Hoops Classic with victories over Brown and
play the Championship Rounds in
and
that they both lost a lot of their experience, scoring and rebounding from last
year. MSU fills the void with a mix of returners and freshman, while UT leans heavily on
first-year players.
defeated Brown (45-34) and
Championship Rounds of the College Hoops Classic. In the season opener, MSU managed to score just 45 points, but held Brown to 34,
the lowest total by a Spartan opponent since Northwestern scored 29 on
Spartan offense erupted for 86 points. Through three games, Michigan State
leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (45.3 ppg) and field-goal percentage
defense (.320), while ranking tied for second in blocked shots (5.33 bpg) and third in 3-point field-goal percentage defense
(.281).
York
average margin of victory of +42.5 points. In the regional semifinal, UT
defeated
103-44, behind 20 points from freshman Kevin Durant. In the second game, the
Longhorns used a 28-point effort from A.J. Abrams to
defeat Chicago State, 92-66. Stevie Vincent’s BetOnSports360.com is pioneer in forensic
handicapping and part of OffshoreInsiders.com
Like Michigan State, Texas had three players
drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft (LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson). The Longhorns return just
14 percent of their scoring, 10 percent of their rebounding and 17 percent of
their minutes played from last season.
roster features seven true freshmen and the probable starting lineup consists
of three freshmen and two sophomores.
South Carolina-USC
Press Notes
The USC men’s basketball team (0-0) opens the season vs.
Carolina
Carolina
a team that went 23-15 during the 2005-06 season. They have added seven
newcomers, including three transfers that are eligible for action this season.
USC returns four starters from a team that went 17-13. Things would really be
looking up for the Trojans if not for the tragic shooting death of freshman
point guard Ryan Francis last May and for junior All-Pac-10 guard Gabe Pruitt being academically ineligible for the first
semester. All-Pac-10 swingman Nick Young, however, does return to lead the
Trojans. By popular request, check out our new “Bet It
Trinity” full year pass! You get the top three sports services, every play
in every sport for 365 days. Last season
he was one of three players in the Pac-10 to rank in the top 10 in the
conference in both scoring and rebounds (17.3 ppg. 6.6 rpg)
and is the leading returning scorer. Also back are senior guard Lodrick Stewart, who is the top returning career scorer in
the Pac-10 and senior center Abdoulaye N’diaye, who had 47 blocks and averaged 4.5 points and 4.7
rebounds per game in his first year at USC. The Trojans have brought in a
strong recruiting class which features seven freshmen and is expected to give
the Trojans the depth that they lacked a year ago. The Trojans lead the Pac-10
in returning production with 83.7 percent of their scoring and 86.5 percent of
their rebounding from the 2005-06 season returning (includes Pruitt’s numbers).
USC also leads with 96 percent of their blocked shot producers returning. The
Trojans return the conference’s top two scorers from last season (Young – 17.3
and Pruitt 16.9) and the fourth-leading rebounder in
Young (6.6). Senior Lodrick Stewart is the top active
career scorer in the Pac-10 with 956 points.
NC Greensboro-Duke
Scout.com
This will be the seventh overall meeting between the Blue
Devils and Spartans, with Duke holding a perfect 6-0 record against UNCG. The teams have met in each of the past two seasons
with the Blue Devils. Don’t expect the Spartans to be impressed when they line
up across from the Blue Devils. UNC-G returns all
five starter’s from last year’s team that pushed Duke for most of the first
half before J.J. Redick’s
shooting display (35 points) proved to be too much. In addition to Hines, the
Spartans return scoring guard Randy Hickman, who scored 23 points (9-of-15
shooting) a season ago.
Bowling Green-Arkansas State
ASUIndians.com
opened its season against some tough competition at the Cox Classic last
weekend, falling to Clemson, Old Dominion and Monmouth. By popular
request, check out our new “Bet It
Trinity” full year pass! You get the top three sports services, every play
in every sport for 365 days. All three
teams won at least 19 games last season and competed in either the NCAA Tournament
or the Postseason NIT. While ASU played its
first three games away from the
next four games at home.
its season opener 89-52 over
They were led by four players scoring in double figures, inlcuding
Brian Moten and Martin Samarco
with a team-high 15 points each. The Falcons return four starters and
eight lettermen from last year’s team. The Indians have won their last six home
openers and are 10-1 all-time in home openers under head coach Dickey
Nutt. ASU holds victories over teams such as
Baylor and
Nutt.