11/24/2008 - St. Petersburg, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Zenit St. Petersburg has two games to put themselves in the knockout round of the Champions League, and while the Russian side still controls its own destiny, it will likely need wins against Juventus and Real Madrid to do so.
Zenit sits in third place in Group H, six points behind Juve and two back of Real. Dick Advocaat's team will begin the quest on Tuesday at home to Juve, which has already secured a spot in the next round and is coming off of a 1-0 loss to Inter Milan on Saturday.
Juve won the first meeting between the two teams in Turin in 1-0 fashion, but Zenit must reverse that scoreline to keep pace with Real, which will likely claim three points at BATE Borisov on Tuesday.
Advocaat's team finished up its Russian Premier League campaign with a 3-1 win over Spartak Moscow on Saturday, however the result left Zenit in fifth place and out of a place in the Champions League for next season.
Even if Zenit does fail to qualify for the knockout round, it still has a good chance of finishing in third and heading back to the UEFA Cup to defend its title.
Zenit does have virtually a full team set to meet Juve, with defender Sebastien Puygrenier as the lone absentee because of suspension.
Star winger Andrei Arshavin will also be able to use these two games against high-profile opposition to force a move away from Zenit to a bigger club, which he seems intent on doing.
With a motivated Arshavin and a relatively healthy squad, it is very possible for Zenit to come away with three points against the Serie A club, leaving everything up for grabs when the team travels to Madrid on December 10.
Juve will be without midfielder Tiago as well as goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, while midfielder Christian Poulsen is doubtful to take part in the match either.
Manager Claudio Ranieri is also expected to rest a few players with Juve needing only to beat BATE Borisov at home in the team's final group-stage match to secure the top spot.
Arsenal can ensure itself of a knockout-round berth with a home victory against Dynamo Kyiv in Group G action, while second-place FC Porto will also be through with a win over Fenerbahce and a Arsenal win.
Lyon and Bayern Munich appear to be safe bets to advance from Group F with both sides needing just a Lyon draw with Fiorentina to go through. Bayern Munich will host Steaua Bucharest, which can only hope to grab third place and a spot in the UEFA Cup.
The top spot in Group E will be on the line when Manchester United visits Villarreal in a game where both teams are pretty much safe, while Celtic's trip to Denmark to face AaB will likely determine third place.
Wednesday's slate of games is highlighted by the Group A action featuring Chelsea's trip to Bordeaux, while CFR Cluj hosts Roma. All four teams are separated by just three points with Chelsea holding a one-point edge on both Roma and Bordeaux, while Cluj can take over second place with a win against Roma and a Bordeaux loss.
Group B can be locked up by Inter Milan if the Nerazzuri can defeat Panathinaikos, while the battle for second place is extremely tight with the other three teams separated by just two points. Anorthosis is second with five points but they face a huge test at home against Werder Bremen, which can jump from last to second with a win and a Panathinaikos loss or draw.
Barcelona and Sporting Lisbon have dominated Group C and they will get together at Jose Alvalade to determine the group winner, while the other is all but assured of finishing second. Shakhtar Donetsk has the inside track on third place and it can secure a UEFA Cup berth with a win over Basel.
Atletico Madrid and Liverpool still must determine who wins Group D, but both can at least put themselves in the next round with draws against PSV and Marseille respectively.
<< Rivermen winger Conner joins Stars
Peoria, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars recalled left winger Chris
Conner from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Peoria Rivermen, it
was announced on Monday.
The 25-year-old Conner has scored 10 goals and six assi
<< Stars forward Ott to miss a month
Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Stars announced on Monday that
forward Steve Ott will miss at least a month with a broken right hand.
Ott suffered the injury in a fight against Anaheim Ducks defenseman Steve
Montador, an
<< Maypray, Klein and Gathof capture FCS Players of the Week
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tim Maypray of VMI, Terrence Klein of New
Hampshire and Brandon Gathof of Eastern Kentucky have been named The Sportsbook Betting Lines's FCS national players of the week.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tim Maypray
<< Blues deal Stempniak to Leafs for Colaiacovo, Steen
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Blues acquired defenseman Carlo
Colaiacovo and center Alexander Steen from Toronto in exchange for right wing
Lee Stempniak, team president John Davidson announced Monday.
"We feel we have im
New England trades Cristman to Kansas City >>
Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New England Revolution traded forward
Adam Cristman to the Kansas City Wizards in exchange for allocation money and
a third-round pick in the 2009 Major League Soccer SuperDraft, it was
announc
UCLA's Aboya listed as probable after undergoing MRI >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - UCLA forward/center Alfred Aboya injured
his left wrist in Friday's 77-60 win over Southern Illinois at the 2K
Sports Classic Benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer.
Aboya had an MRI on the wrist and
Kings F Zeiler suspended three games >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The National Hockey League handed down a
three-game suspension to Los Angeles Kings forward John Zeiler on Monday for
his actions during Saturday's 4-3 shootout loss to Colorado.
Zeiler, 26, was asses
RSL re-signs defender Olave through 2012 >>
Salt Lake City, UT (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Real Salt Lake agreed to a contract with
Jamison Olave that will keep the Colombian defender a member of the Utah side
through the 2012 Major League Soccer season, it was announced on Monday.
"We are ex
MySportsbook.com Releases World Series Championship Lines
New York Yankees and Chicago White Sox early favorites to win 2008 World Series
The Major League Baseball season starts this weekend and MySportsbook.com, a leading online sportsbook for over 8 years, is the first to offer baseball sports betting lines on who will win the 2007 World Series.
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Going in to this weekend, MySportsbook.com's favorites to win the World Series are the New York Yankees at 7-2 and last year’s winners the Chicago White Sox at 9-2.
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My fellow Americans, as tempting as it may be to don the coat and HD-ready tie in order to deliver this State of the Game address before the cameras, I know better. As Brad Paisley sings on his latest album, "I'm so much cooler online."
The ideas for this annual essay to kick off the MySportsbook.com college football betting preview flowed like frat-house beer, which is to say they were cheap and spilled all over the floor. The 2007 season will be better than 2007, if only because there will be more of it. A year ago, the NCAA Football Rules Committee made two rule changes in the interest of speeding up the game. These changes went over like Kobe burgers at a vegan banquet.
To its credit, the rules committee rectified its mistakes. This season the clock once again will start when a kickoff is received, rather than when it is kicked, and the clock will not start so quickly on a change of possession.
However, kickoffs have been moved back five yards, to the 30, which will force more returns. (Thus forcing the clock to run. Clever, huh?) Special teams might decide a lot of games, because coaching strategy will come straight out of another new Paisley lyric (almost), I'd like to check you for kicks.
Paisley sings with a twang, which is why he's appropriate for this college football season. The sun coming up over the 2007 college football betting lines season rises from the south. It's a Southern football world. As the Southeastern Conference begins its 75th year, the power shift is noticeable.
Eight-figure budgets, glamorous settings -- and that's just for the head coaches. The SEC has four coaches who have won national championships -- the greatest aggregation of coaching know-how since Eddie Robinson dined alone.
Steve Spurrier, Phil Fulmer, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer have given lie to the idea that a conference championship game is too daunting a hurdle on the road to No. 1. In six of the past 10 seasons, the national champions played and won a conference championship game -- three of the six (Tennessee, 1998; LSU, 2003; Florida, 2007) from the SEC.
There will be more of the same this season, if the preseason prognostications are correct. Six SEC teams are in the preseason coaches' poll, more than from any other conference. Only one conference has talent so deep that a team with 15 returning starters, including the best quarterback in the league, from an eight-win season is considered an afterthought. That may speak more to Kentucky's losing legacy than to the wisdom of the predictions, but there you have it. And seriously, keep an eye on Wildcats QB Andre' Woodson.
The reach of the South extends all the way to No. 1. Take a look at the team that is a consensus pick to win the national championship. The quarterback is from Shreveport. The best wide receiver is from Nashville. The top recruit is from New Orleans.
So what's the campus doing in Los Angeles? Hey, it is the University of Southern California.
USC lost two Pacific-10 Conference games a year ago, the first time that had happened in five seasons, and university officials withstood the urge to form blue-ribbon panels to unearth the cause of such a disaster. Instead, the Trojans gathered themselves and routed Michigan, 32-18, in the Rose Bowl.
USC's losses at Oregon State and at UCLA last year should have given pause to those who question the Pac-10's football prowess (such as, without naming names, L.M. from Baton Rouge). The league only got deeper this season; Dennis Erickson is taking over an Arizona State team that never quite got out of its own way under his predecessor, Dirk Koetter.
Erickson will resume his quest to become the first coach to win a national championship at two schools. Both he and Spurrier, now in his third season at South Carolina, returned to college football at schools with lower profiles than where they won their titles.
That isn't the case for the third coach looking for the national championship double. You may have missed this, but NASA reported the astronauts on the space shuttle last spring made contact with what can only be described as beings from another galaxy.
The leader of the aliens said, "We come in peace," followed by, "So how do you think Nick Saban will do at Alabama?"
The public is reacting to the new Crimson Tide coach as if he is the Barry Bonds of college football -- beloved at home for what his fans believe he is going to do, hated on the road for his intimidating attitude and for what his detractors believe he did (bend NCAA recruiting rules). I made this comparison from the dais at a charity dinner in Mobile, Ala., last month, and the chill that washed over me didn't come from the air conditioning.
Saban will attempt to prove that he can remake in Tuscaloosa what he built in Baton Rouge, much like another member of the national championship fraternity. Bobby Bowden is attempting to remake at Florida State what he built at, um, Florida State. Bowden rebuilt his offensive staff, bringing in four new coaches led by Saban's former offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, to jump-start an offense that has been dead for a couple of years.
The Atlantic Coast Conference is expected to show new signs of life, too. That is said with no disrespect toward last season's champion, Wake Forest, which provided one of the best story lines of 2007. The Demon Deacons begin this season in their customary position, overshadowed by the Virginia Techs, Miamis and Florida States.
It's not that Wake will find it difficult to duplicate its success in 2007 as much as the feeling that success engendered. Surprising success is the narcotic of sport. It never feels quite so euphoric the next time. Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese has figured this out. He refers to 2007, when a league looked down upon by fans and foes alike took three undefeated teams into November, as "Cinderella."
The fairy tale may be over, but the Big East has four genuine Heisman Trophy candidates in Louisville quarterback Brian Brohm, West Virginia tailback Steve Slaton and quarterback Pat White, and Rutgers tailback Ray Rice. Rutgers, as did Wake Forest and, of course, Boise State, proved last season that the have-nots in college football occasionally have quite a lot.
The Broncos' rousing 43-42 overtime victory over Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl has raised the profile of all schools in conferences that don't get automatic BCS bids. This season, TCU and Hawaii are the preseason favorites to burst through the BCS doors and earn an at-large bid. The Warriors return 14 starters from an 11-3 team, including quarterback Colt Brennan.
Brennan not only broke the single-season record with 58 touchdown passes in 2007, but he also led Division I-A in passing efficiency (186.0). The senior is expected to contend for the Heisman Trophy, and neither his success nor the rise of his team should come as any surprise in the 2007 season.
After all, Hawaii is the southernmost team in the country.
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