ACC matchup pits top-25 foes in Chapel Hill

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02/11/2012 - Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coming off a deflating last second loss to rival Duke, the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels seek a quick turnaround, as the welcome the 19th-ranked Virginia Cavaliers to Chapel Hill this afternoon for a key ACC clash at the Smith Center.

It will be interesting to see if there are any lingering effects from Wednesday's 85-84 loss to arch rival Duke. The loss halted a five-game win streak for North Carolina and ended a 31-game homecourt winning streak as well. It dropped Roy William's squad to 7-2 in conference play, now tied with Duke and Florida State atop the standings.

Tony Bennett's Cavaliers are one of the surprise teams in the ACC this year. The team is just a game out of first place at 6-3, thanks to wins in four of its last five games, including a lopsided 68-44 win over Wake Forest on Wednesday.

UNC holds a sizeable 125-49 advantage in the all-time series with Virginia, including wins in six of the last seven meetings overall. The Tar Heels are 63-6 in the series in Chapel Hill, including a 21-3 mark at the Smith Center.

The Cavaliers will need to slow down the explosive Tar Heels, something they have done effectively in most games this season. Virginia ranks second nationally in scoring defense (51.1 ppg), holding opponents to a mere .391 shooting. Mike Scott is one of the conference's top frontcourt performers, shooting an impressive .603 from the field overall, while pacing the Cavaliers in both scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (8.3 rpg). Guards Joe Harris (12.7 ppg) and Sammy Zeglinski (8.5 ppg) provide perimeter balance. The pair have combined for 81 of the team's 117 three-pointers to date.

The Cavs were once again at their defensive best in the 24-point win over the Demon Deacons, holding Wake to a mere .341 shooting, while forcing 17 turnovers. The team got a balanced scoring effort with five double-digit scorers. Scott led the way with 19 points. Harris added 11, while Jontel Evans, Akil Mitchell and Malcolm Brogdon chipped in 10 points each.

Duke's star freshman Austin Rivers stuck a dagger in the hearts of the Chapel Hill faithful, as his three-pointer gave the Blue Devils the win at the Smith Center on Wednesday. The loss certainly spoiled terrific performances by Harrison Barnes and Tyler Zeller, who combined for 48 points. Barnes finished with 25 point, while Zeller posted a double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds. John Henson also recorded a double-double with 12 points and 17 rebounds, while Kendall Marshall almost made it a trifecta, registering 14 points and eight assists.

That formula has worked to UNC's advantage for the most part this season, as the Tar Heels are fueled by a dominant frontcourt. Barnes has the ability to score both inside and out, averaging a team-high 17.7 ppg. Zeller (15.6 ppg, 9.7 rpg) and Henson (14.2 ppg, 10.3 rpg) are a lethal duo in the paint. Marshall isn't much of a scorer (6.8 ppg) but is charged with running the nation's top scoring team (84.1 ppg), which he does to near perfection with almost 10 assists per game.

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

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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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