2010 Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Preview

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

03/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jackson State has played in the last three Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament Championship games and the top- seeded Tigers have a strong chance to reach that point again in the 33rd- annual SWAC Tournament, starting on Wednesday.

Jackson State, which collected a 17-1 ledger in conference play this season, lost in the final game the last two seasons, but claimed its fifth title back in 2007. The second seed went to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, while the third seed was corralled by last season's SWAC tournament champion, Alabama State. The Golden Lions only finished 14-15 overall on the season, but in conference play the team was an impressive 14-4. As for the Hornets, they hoisted the SWAC trophy for the third time in their history last year, but this season might be a tough challenge for Alabama State, which finished with a 12-6 league ledger. Prairie View A&M and Texas Southern come into this event as the fourth and fifth seeds, respectively, after both posting an 11-7 mark against SWAC opponents. The final three seeds are rounded out by Alabama A&M (8-10), Mississippi Valley State (8-10) and Grambling State (4-14).

Quarterfinal action will begin Wednesday when the second-seeded Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions battle the seventh-seeded Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils. These two schools closed out the regular season against each other and the meeting was claimed by Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 84-68. The Golden Lions earned the second spot with a 14-4 league mark, and caught fire down the stretch, winning eight of the last nine matchups. As for the Delta Devils, they tallied only nine victories on the season, but eight of those wins came in league play. MVSU, which won its fourth SWAC title in 2008, closed its regular season with five losses in its last eight matchups.

The Tigers will be let out of the cage in the second quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, as the top-seeded Tigers of Jackson State tangle with the eighth- seeded Tigers of Grambling State. Jackson State rolls into this event with a 13-game winning streak, and is the favor to not only win this matchup, but earn a spot in its fourth straight SWAC Tournament title games. The success for Jackson State clearly makes this an uphill battle for Grambling State, which finished just 4-14 in league play and comes into this contest with a seven-game slide. Jackson State won both meetings this season, but Grambling State was able to force overtime in the second matchup, which could give the team some type of confidence.

The other two quarterfinal matchups will take place on Thursday, beginning with a meeting between the sixth-seeded Alabama A&M Bulldogs and the third- seeded Alabama State Hornets. The Bulldogs fell into the sixth seed with an 8-10 record in conference play. Alabama A&M snapped a three-game slide in its regular-season finale, but claiming its second tournament title could be a tough task. As for the Hornets, they claimed their third SWAC Tournament title this past season with a victory over Jackson State. This season Alabama State finished 12-6 in conference play, but ended its regular season with a loss to Jackson State that snapped the team's six-game winning streak. In the two meetings between the schools this season, the Hornets were victories twice.

The final quarterfinal battle will pit the fifth-seeded Texas Southern Tigers against the fourth-seeded Prairie View A&M Panthers. The Panthers won their lone SWAC Tournament title back in 1998, and the team will have to be at its best if it plans on ending the drought. Prairie View A&M lost two of its last three regular-season games, but still finished with a respectable 11-7 mark in conference action. As for the Tigers, they also posted an 11-7 mark and roll into this event with a three-game winning streak. Texas Southern, which has won this championship four times, last reigned supreme in the SWAC back in 2003. Although these two teams both finished 11-7 in conference action, the Panthers defeated the Tigers twice during the regular season.

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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch

Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.

Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.

"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."

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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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