Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Daytona 500 launches the Sprint Cup Series season, while the best in the NBA hit the hardwood for the All-Star Game.

The Daytona weather does call for a 60 percent chance of showers so it could delay the Daytona start time.

Tipping Off in the NBA

The NBA got all of its preliminary All-Star festivities out of the way on Friday and Saturday, which just leaves the East vs. West game itself for Sunday night (with tipoff set for 8:00pm ET). With the game being played on a Western Conference court in Phoenix the oddsmakers have the home side pegged as the favorite – the line was hovering between 4.5 points and 7.5 points heading into the weekend. The East topped the West 134-128 in New Orleans last season, with LeBron James picking up his second MVP award in the last three years. The last time the game was in Phoenix was back in 1995, with the West winning 139-112.

The March to Madness

No. 3 North Carolina will try to follow up their impressive win over rival Duke with a road victory against Miami on Sunday. The Tar Heels went to 22-2 on the season with a 101-87 pounding of the Blue Devils on Wednesday; Ty Lawson was good for 25 points for North Carolina in that victory. The Hurricanes also met Duke last time out, but they came out on the wrong end of a 78-75 OT decision.

The No. 6 Blue Devils are also back in action on Sunday, as they’ll be on the road to take on Boston College. As well, No. 5 Louisville will host DePaul, No. 12 Clemson will visit Virginia, No. 15 Butler will get a visit from Loyola Chicago, and Indiana will host No. 22 Illinois. As well, No. 18 Arizona State will be at home versus USC; the Sun Devils rolled to a 74-67 win over No. 11 UCLA last time out.

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Sports Headlines

Nate Robinson edged out Dwight Howard to win the NBA Slam Dunk Contest…Lance Armstrong is among those competing in the Amgen Tour of California…Tony Stewart won the NASCAR Nationwide Series…

A Trip Around the Rink

There are seven games on the National Hockey League’s schedule for Sunday, including an early 12:30pm ET matinee between the Flyers and Rangers at Madison Square Garden. Those two rivals last met on October 11, when the Rangers picked up a 4-3 road victory. Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and an assist in that win for New York, while Scott Hartnell had a shorthanded marker for Philly.

The Devils will have a tough home matchup on Sunday afternoon, as they’ll get a visit from Joe Thornton and the Sharks. A pair of 5:00pm ET contests has Colorado at Detroit and Washington at Florida, while the Hurricanes and Sabres will get going in Buffalo an hour later. There are then two matchups set for Sunday evening, with Atlanta visiting Anaheim, and Vancouver hosting Montreal.

Rounding Out the Slate

Sunday afternoon’s Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway is the first chance this season for Sprint Cup Series drivers to earn points for the standings. Martin Truex Jr. will be on the pole for the Daytona 500 this year, while Mark Martin will start from the No. 2 position on the grid. Gatorade Duel winners Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch will follow those two in the starting lineup. Tony Stewart is fifth on the grid, while defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson starts seventh, and fan-favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. will try to work his way up from 14^th.

Ryan Newman won the Daytona 500 last year, but he’s 36^th on the starting grid and entered the week back at 12/1 odds to grab the checkered flag once again. Kyle Busch was at 7/2 odds to visit victory lane, with Earnhardt Jr. at 9/2, Johnson and Jeff Gordon at 5/1, and Stewart and Carl Edwards listed at 8/1 to win the season-opening race. Coverage is set to get going at 2:00pm ET on FOX and the latest odds updated until race time.