The No. 1 USC Trojans will be looking to hold on to that lofty ranking on Thursday night when they go to Oregon State to battle the Beavers. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The Trojans are coming off a convincing 35-3 win over Ohio State which solidified their No. 1 ranking. USC quarterback Mark Sanchez went 17-of-28 for 172 yards passing in that contest, with four TD strikes and one interception. Oregon State is coming off a 45-7 win over Hawaii, but that was their first victory in three attempts this season. Lyle Moevao threw for 268 yards and three scores for the Beavers against the Warriors.

The oddsmakers don’t expect the Trojans/Beavers matchup to be close; USC has been pegged as a 25.5-point favorite. The other game on the college football docket for Thursday is expected to be a bit tighter, as Tulane is favored by 18 points versus SMU.

Betting on Tonight’s NCAA Football

GodsTips says that you are right. Humiliating the bookmaker in college football betting and the NFL is not enough. We go 5-0 last night including the Braves +240 as a Wise Guy and the Cards on the runline -1.5 +170. In the midst of easily the greatest football season of any handicapper—again—we have the side and total for Southern Methodist-Tulane. Click now to purchase GodsTips, the top college football handicapper ever.

More Nominees Coming In

We continue to get suggestions for the top OffshoreInsiders.com hottie. Some of the latest include Gina Carano, known as Crush to fans of American Gladiators. Apparently Maxim is showing some nude pics of her. We have to admit that SMU lesbian former hoopster Jennifer Colli is also quite the attractive babe.

Other Notable Events

The fight over the final playoff spot in the American League continues on Thursday night, with the White Sox at rival Minnesota. Chicago will send Gavin Floyd (16-8, 3.84 ERA) to the mound in that contest, while the Twins will counter with Kevin Slowey (12-11, 3.85 ERA). The first pitch for that game is set for 8:10pm ET at The Metrodome.

As well, THE TOUR Championship gets underway at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta on Thursday, with the Top 30 golfers in the FedExCup standings all participating. Vijay Singh is the 6/1 Vegas favorite to win the tournament, followed by Sergio Garcia at 7/1, and Phil Mickelson at 8/1. Jim Furyk is just behind that top three at 10/1 odds to win.

The Rest of the Schedule

The Cubs and Mets will finish out their series in New York on Thursday night, with Rich Harden (5-1, 1.66 ERA in the National League) going up against Pedro Martinez (5-6, 5.50 ERA). Also on the NL schedule for Thursday: Arizona at St. Louis, Florida at Washington, Cincinnati at Houston, Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, San Diego at the Dodgers, and Colorado at San Francisco.

Making up the rest of the AL schedule on Thursday: Tampa Bay at Detroit, Cleveland at Boston, the Angels at Seattle, and the Yankees at Toronto. That last matchup will see the Blue Jays pulling out all the stops to get Roy Halladay his 20^th win of the season.

Finally, the WNBA’s Western Conference Finals get underway on Thursday night, with San Antonio at Los Angeles. The Eastern Conference Finals will start on Friday night.

News from the Wire

Yankees starting pitcher Mike Mussina won his 19^th game of the season on Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, giving him a shot at win No. 20 on the weekend . . . Packers quarterback Brett Favre hurt his ankle on Monday night, but he’s expected to be able to play this weekend against the Cardinals. . . Blues defenseman Erik Johnson could miss up to nine months after suffering a knee injury during a golf tournament.

A Peek at the Future

Notable series for the last weekend of baseball’s regular season: the Yankees at Boston, Tampa Bay at Detroit, Kansas City at Minnesota, Cleveland at the White Sox, Washington at Philadelphia, Florida at the Mets, and the Cubs at Milwaukee . . . Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Jimmie Johnson are all listed as the 6/1 Vegas co-favorites to pick up a Sprint Cup Series victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.

BetUs Sportsbook will likely post odds on whether Yves Rossy, the rocket man or flying man, will cross the English Channel.

Entertainment Betting Line

The latest rumors have both radio shock jock the Greaseman as well as Criss Angel dead. Angel’s reported death is considered a publicity stunt as David Blaine is getting all the attention.

Also check out the latest Hollywood and entertainment betting odds. Speaking of Hollywood, come on now David Letterman. John McCain was excoriated because he didn’t know how many houses his wife had. But Letterman, with 10s of millions of dollars in the bank, believes McCain should appear on his show rather than protect Americans against a Depression.

Among the latest speculation is that Sarah Palin will make a surprise appearance on Saturday Night Live. Of course how surprising can a Palin SNL appearance be if it’s so heavily rumored? Than again, the media scribes called Tina Fey as Palin a “surprise appearance”.  See the latest political betting odds