Duke puts extended win streak on the line in Durham

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12/31/2008 - Durham, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The fifth-ranked Duke Blue Devils get a three- game homestand started today, as they welcome the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a non-conference affair.

The Blue Devils, who have won 65 straight games in Durham against non- conference foes, have been idle for well over a week now, most recently defeating Xavier 82-64 back on December 20th. The win was the second in a row, giving Duke a 10-1 start for 18th time and the 12th under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Winners of two straight, the Blue Devils now head back to Cameron Indoor Stadium, where they have gone a perfect 6-0 on the season.

As for Loyola, it was in action just this past Monday, dropping a heart- breaking 62-60 decision at NC State. The loss brought the team's modest two- game win streak to a close and marked its second loss to an ACC opponent this season. The Greyhounds, who are in the midst of playing five straight games away from home, have won just once in five true outings thus far.

Loyola and Duke have met just one time previously, with the Blue Devils notching a 92-68 victory all the way back in 1984.

Down by one on its final possession, Jamal Barney had a chance to give Loyola the lead, but his baseline jumper was short and the Greyhounds were defeated by NC State on Monday. It was a tough finish for Loyola, which used a late 14-1 pull back in the game after trailing by as many as 16 points in the second stanza. Barney finished the game with 20 points and three steals, while Marquis Sullivan posted 21 points on 5-of-9 three-pointers. On the year, Barney heads the club in scoring with 14.8 ppg and he ranks second with 5.3 rpg. Brett Harvey chips in with 13.8 ppg, and Sullivan nets 11.8 ppg on 42.4 percent shooting from the long range. Loyola, as a team, isn't shooting particularly well from three-point range (.322) and that has hindered its scoring average of 68.6 ppg.

Duke has thrived in just about every facet of the game and is currently scoring a hardy 83.3 ppg, in addition to outrebounding its foes by 9.9 rpg. Kyle Singler is both the squad's top scorer (15.9 ppg) and rebounder (7.8 rpg) and he is even handing out a team-best 3.5 apg. Jon Scheyer give Duke another scoring option at 14.2 ppg and he is also a factor on defense, recording a team-high 22 steals. Nolan Smith and Gerald Henderson each chip in 11.5 ppg to round out the double-digit scorers. In the team's last game, Scheyer tallied 23 points and Henderson had 19, as Duke handled Xavier. The Blue Devils shot an efficient 52.5 percent from the floor in the contest and also went a solid 9-of-19 from long distance.

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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.

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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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