Pac-10 title up for grabs in Los Angeles

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03/13/2010 - Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pac-10 Tournament title is up for grabs this evening, as the top-seeded California Golden Bears face off against the third-seeded Washington Huskies in the finals at the Staples Center.

California, which won its first regular-season title in 50 years, is now out for the program's first-ever Pac-10 Tournament championship. The Bears are making their second appearance in the finals and first since losing to UCLA in 2006. Winners of six straight, Cal finds itself playing for the title after defeating eighth-seeded Oregon, 90-74, in the quarterfinals and fifth-seeded UCLA, 85-72, in the semifinal round last night.

On the flip side, the Huskies are just as hot as the Bears, having also won six consecutive decisions. Washington made its way to the finals courtesy of wins over sixth-seeded Oregon State (59-52) in the quarterfinals and seventh- seeded Stanford (79-64) in the semifinals last night. This is the first finals appearance for the Huskies since they captured their lone Pac-10 Tournament title in 2005.

As for the all-time series, California holds a slim 77-75 edge over Washington after the teams split a pair of meetings during the regular season.

Terrific free-throw shooting and outstanding defense did the trick last night, as the Huskies converted 25-of-29 attempts and held Stanford to a dismal 31.3 percent shooting effort from the field in a 79-64 triumph. Quincy Pondexter led the way with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Isaiah Thomas had 17 points. The duo combined to go a perfect 16-of-16 from the stripe. The two have also carried Washington this season, combining for nearly 37.0 ppg. Pondexter leads the squad in scoring (19.8 ppg) as well as rebounding (7.6 rpg), while Thomas checks in with 17.1 ppg and 4.1 rpg.

The Bears shot a blistering 60.0 percent from the floor and made 19-of-21 free throws en route to an 85-72 besting of UCLA last night. Jerome Randle scored 24 points and handed out six assists to lead the way, while Theo Robertson turned in a 20-point performance. The Pac-10 Player of the Year, Randle paces the Bears in both scoring (18.9 ppg) and assists (4.5 rpg) for the season and he also shoots 41.0 percent from three-point range and 93.3 percent at the foul line. Patrick Christopher, who had 16 points last night, follows with 16.1 ppg and he also collects 5.5 rpg. Robertson brings 13.7 ppg to the lineup, while Jamal Boykin adds 11.7 ppg and a team-high 6.5 rpg.

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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.

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