11/17/2008 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Annika Sorenstam moved back to No. 2 in the world rankings after tying for second place behind Angela Stanford at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational on Sunday.
Sorenstam moved up one position this week, bumping Yani Tseng to No. 3 and pulling into the second spot behind the top-ranked Ochoa. All three will play in the season-ending ADT Championship this week, when Sorenstam will make her final appearance on the LPGA Tour ahead of her scheduled retirement at the end of the year.
Paula Creamer moved up a spot to No. 4 in the rankings, kicking Suzann Pettersen down to fifth, while Ji-Yai Shin, Cristie Kerr and Helen Alfredsson remained sixth through eighth.
Stanford was up two places to No. 9 following her second win of the season, a move that dropped Karrie Webb to 10th and knocked Seon-Hwa Lee out of the top 10.
Jeong Jang, Yuri Fudoh, Maria Hjorth, Jee Young Lee, Momoko Ueda, Hee-Won Han, Morgan Pressel, Eun-Hee Ji and Inbee Park rounded out the top 20.
<< Drogba admits FA charge, faces suspension
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has admitted
a charge of violent conduct relating to the coin-throwing incident during last
week's Carling Cup defeat by Burnley.
The Ivory Coast striker was charged by
<< FCS weekly honors go to Gowins, Barnes, Parent and Warner
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Edwin Gowins, Ryan Barnes, Matt Parent and
Larry Warner have been named The Sportsbook Betting Lines's FCS national players of the
week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Edwin Gowins, Stony Brook, 5-10, 220, Freshman
<< Falcons' Dubnyk named AHL Player of the Week
Springfield, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Springfield Falcons goaltender Devan
Dubnyk has been named the American Hockey League Player of the Week for the
period ending on Sunday, it was announced on Monday.
In three starts this week, Du
<< Pair of Capitals lead list of NHL's Three Stars
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forwards Nicklas Backstrom
and Alexander Ovechkin, along with Nashville Predators goaltender Dan Ellis,
were selected as the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending November 16.
Backstrom
Huskies are unanimous No. 1; LSU unranked >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut remained the top team in the
latest Associated Press women's college basketball poll, but LSU's lengthy
streak in the rankings came to an end.
The Huskies (1-0) are a unanimous pick this
Runners-up Harrington and Els get bump in rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els got bumps
in the world rankings this week after they tied for second place behind Jeev
Milkha Singh at the Singapore Masters on Sunday.
Tiger Woods remained No. 1, of c
Pro Bowl safety John Lynch retires >>
Tampa, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Pro Bowl safety John Lynch announced his
retirement at a news conference Monday afternoon.
Lynch was selected to nine Pro Bowls at the safety position during his 15-year
career with Tampa Bay and Denver.
Guy out as Utah State head coach >>
Logan, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Utah State head football coach Brent Guy will
not return to the team next year.
Athletic director Scott Barnes announced Monday that Guy will step down
effective the end of the current season.
The
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
Sports Betting News: NFL Team History | Football Betting | Baseball Betting | Basketball Betting | Hockey Betting | Golf Betting | Tennis Betting | Auto Racing Betting | Horse Racing Betting | Soccer Betting