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10/23/2007 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson continue their two-man battle for the Nextel Cup title at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. But don't forget the Craftsman Truck Series championship where Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. have been throwing haymakers at each other since the first race in Daytona.
NASCAR
Nextel Cup
Pep Boys Auto 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA
There are just four races left in the 2007 Chase for the Nextel Cup and barring a complete collapse it appears to be an intra-team battle between four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon and defending series champion Jimmie Johnson.
In the six "Chase" events to date, Gordon has won twice (Talladega, Lowe's) and collected five top-fives. His worst finish in the "Chase" was a still respectable 11th place at Dover.
Johnson, 53 points behind his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, is coming off a win last week at Martinsville. It was his third consecutive win at the half- mile short track that used to be Gordon's bailiwick. Johnson has three top- fives in the "Chase," but two 14th-place finishes, at Dover and Lowe's, have left him with a sizeable deficit to overcome.
On the other hand, Johnson was the winner at AMS in March where he led 135 of 325 laps en route to a 1.311-second victory.
In that race, Stewart built a 1.314-second margin with 25 laps remaining. Johnson's pit crew was telling him to conserve fuel, but he also needed to catch Stewart. Johnson caught a huge break when a sixth caution flag, for debris, came out with 16 laps to go.
The leaders came in for fresh rubber and a splash of fuel to guarantee they could reach the finish. Stewart won the race off pit road with Kenseth, Johnson and Montoya just behind. The No.20 Chevy got a great jump and left a lapped car between himself and second place. But Johnson got around both Kenseth and the lapped car and still had eight laps to run down the leader.
Johnson was driving at the bottom of the track and closing on Stewart. Six laps to go and he was just two lengths back. They were side-by-side with five to go, but Stewart fought him off. Johnson tried it again on lap 323 and squeezed Stewart into the wall, slightly. Stewart regained control, but he lost all his momentum.
Johnson took off and Stewart, now with a damaged right-side fender, had to settle for second spot. He had nothing for Johnson. The 2006 Nextel Cup champion took the checkered flag without challenge.
Since March 2004, Johnson has two wins and five top-5s in seven starts at AMS while Gordon has just two top-5s and one DNF.
The only wild card that could possibly ruin the Hendrick Motorsports party is if Clint Bowyer and his No.07 Richard Childress Racing come up with a "miracle."
Following a ninth-place finish at Martinsville, his best ever on the flat half mile track, he sits 115 points behind Gordon. But the Emporia, KS native doesn't quite seem ready to challenge the to Hendrick Motorsports cars.
"We were just hoping that we could be within a hundred points of (Gordon and Johnson) coming out of Charlotte and here, because we know they 'own' these two places," said Gil Martin, Bowyer's crew chief after Martinsville.
"I'm really enjoying our situation where we're at - it's fun," said Bowyer. "I'm really proud of the way we've been able to step up our program. It's neat to see how far we've come in just a few races."
The difference between winning a championship and merely competing for one is that you would never hear Gordon or Johnson being satisfied to be "staying close" to the leaders. They both "need" to win too badly to be satisfied to just being close.
That's why this year's champion will be either Gordon or Johnson.
Busch
Sam's Town 250 - Memphis Motorsports Park - Millington, TN
Carl Edwards had to put the champagne on ice last week when an incident on lap 133 collected Edwards and three others. It was the first time in Edwards' Busch Series career that he had back-to-back DNFs (did not finish).
Not to fear however, Edwards still holds a commanding 638-point lead over second-place David Reutimann and 753 points over Kevin Harvick, the third- place driver and defending series champion.
Edwards can clinch the crown by leaving Memphis with a lead of 585 points or more over the second-place driver in the point standings.
The season's second half hasn't been kind to Edwards. In the first 15 races of the year, he posted four wins, 11 top-fives and 13 top-10s. However, in the 16 races since, he has failed to earn even one win and finished 20th or worse eight times. In fact, he has failed to finish on the lead lap in six of the last eight races.
Last year's race was won by Harvick, with Clint Bowyer and Edwards just behind.
On the final restart, Edwards, in the lead, seemed to spin his tires slightly and Harvick ducked to the bottom of the track. He gave Edwards a nudge up the track and both he and Bowyer slipped by. Harvick held off his teammate for another win en route to a record setting championship.
"I just didn't get a good restart," said Edwards.
"Both of us were sideways, loose, our tires wore out on the last laps," said Harvick. "What more can you ask for, to come down to the last couple of laps."
This year's race may come down to the last lap, however, the championship should be wrapped up this weekend.
Craftsman
Easycare Vehicle Service Contracts 200 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - Hampton, GA
Like it's "big brother" the Nextel Cup Series, the Craftsman Truck Series appears to be a two-man race.
With four races left in the season, Mike Skinner and Ron Hornaday Jr. are locked in a titanic struggle of former champions. Skinner, the 1995 champion, had been the series leader for most of the season. After winning three of four races to start the season, the Bill Davis Racing Toyota driver has led the series for 16 of 21 weeks.
But Hornaday Jr. (1996 and 1998 Craftsman Series champion) has also had a great season and last month caught Skinner. After finishing second at the Dodge Dealers Ram Tough 200 at the Gateway International Raceway, the Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet driver grabbed the lead from Skinner and has held it for three of the last five events. But despite finishing a solid third last Saturday, Hornaday Jr. lost the championship lead as Skinner won for the fifth time this year and the 24th time in his truck career.
Skinner will bring an 11-point lead to the Atlanta Motor Speedway for this Saturday's Easycare Vehicle Service Contracts 200. Neither driver was particularly good in last year's race - Skinner finished eighth and Hornaday Jr. 13th. But in the March race, Skinner was a relatively easy winner while Hornaday Jr. again finished outside the top-10.
Skinner started on the pole and led the first 17 laps before yielding to Todd Bodine, who would finish second to Skinner. The race would come down to an 16- lap shootout between Skinner, Bodine, Clint Bowyer and Rick Crawford.
Bowyer got the jump on the restart, but Skinner and Bodine caught him within a lap. Bodine was looking high and low to find a spot around Skinner, but couldn't find one. A record ninth caution flag (Allmendinger) set up a very short finishing run.
Bowyer didn't get as good a restart this time and Skinner nudged him pulling his Toyota around the outside for the lead. Bowyer fell all the way to seventh and with two laps remaining it was Skinner and Bodine. Skinner's lead was eight lengths as they saw the white flag signifying one lap to go and he made no mistakes en route to the victory.
Expect another battle between Skinner and Hornaday Jr. on Saturday.
<< Falcons place OT Foster on injured reserve
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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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Underdog bettors love the Super Bowl and, history suggests, the underdogs love them back. And the big dogs bite harder.
Even so, there is a warning in store for Super Bowl gamblers who must love dogs: The Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl betting lines might not be enough of a Cinderella to make it worth your while.
Although the Cardinals were widely panned as one of the worst division winners and least playoff-worthy teams in recent memory, their trip to Super Bowl XLIII Jan. 31 in Tampa against the Pittsburgh Steelers Super Bowl betting lines comes with a little more respect from the oddsmakers than you might imagine. They are a 7-point underdog at most sports books.
If you count yourself among those who covet the big dog in the big game, this isn’t exactly great news. You should have been hoping for more points. This is because the facts show that the bigger the dog, the better the bet in the Super Bowl.
Case in point: Over the past 13 seasons, double-figure underdogs in the Super Bowl are 4-0-1 ATS and have won the past three outright. In fact, the last double-digit chalk to do the deed for bettors was the 1995 San Francisco 49ers, who managed to beat the astounding 19-point spot afforded backers of the San Diego Chargers in the 49-26 romp in Super Bowl XXIX.
By contrast, 7-point favorites are 2-1-1 ATS in the same span, the last such contest resulting a cover grinded out by the Colts in their 29-17 win over the Bears two seasons ago in Super Bowl XLI.
In 2004, the Patriots failed to cover the number in their 32-29 triumph over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl props while the Rams and Titans gave everyone a refund in 2000 after the Rams posted a 23-16 win as a seven-point favorite.
So while Arizona’s run has included impressive upsets as a 10-point road underdog to the Carolina Panthers and Sunday’s 32-25 win in the NFC championship game to the 4-point favored Philadelphia Eagles, their long-shot story lacks a bit of the David vs. Goliath storyline of past Super Bowl underdogs.
While the seven-point spread represents a significant gap in the perception of strength between the two teams, it is far from monumental. For example, last season the Giants were the wild-card afterthought turned road-warrior buzzsaw, with stunning wins over the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers to earn their place in the Super Bowl.
There, they played spoiler to New England’s bid to become the first 19-0 team in NFL history and cemented their place in sports betting lore with a 17-14 win as a 12.5-point underdog.
In other words, the Cardinals appear to have their work cut out for them as a mid-range underdog. But in homage to the spread beaters who have come before them, here is a brief look back at recent colossal upsets in the Super Bowl:
SB XLII -- 2008 -- New York Giants 17, New England Patriots 14 (Giants +12.5) – Eli Manning’s 13-yard touchdown pass to Plaxico Burress in the final minute clinched the historic upset for the Giants, who used a masterful defensive plan to slow down Tom Brady and the previously undefeated New England Patriots.
XXXVI -- 2002 -- Patriots 20, Rams 17 (Patriots +14) – This was the coming out party for the aforementioned Brady, who went from obscure sixth-round draft pick to Super Bowl hero in one fell swoop. He led the game-winning drive in the final minute – eschewing analyst John Madden’s advice to take a knee and play for overtime – leading to Adam Vinatieri’s memorable 48-yard field goal that split the uprights as time expired.
XXXII 1998 Broncos 31, Packers 24 (Denver +12) – The first of John Elway’s two consecutive Super Bowl titles to put an end to his Hall of Fame career was an upset for the ages. The Broncos used the determination of Elway and a 157-yard, three-touchdown performance from Terrell Davis to turn back Brett Favre and the heavily favored Packers.
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