Thursday News and Notes

Thursday, November 16, 2006

 

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CFB

West Virginia-Pittsburgh

Beaver County Times

The Panthers won’t be throwing the ball every down in tonight’s Backyard Brawl.
But you may see them air it out more than usual. With quarterback Tyler Palko playing well and the running game’s inability to run out the fourth quarter in a loss at Connecticut, coach Dave Wannstedt may let loose a little on offense. And since West Virginia’s run defense is better than its pass defense, Palko becomes the focal point of Pitt’s upset bid. WVU is ranked last in the Big East in passing yardage allowed. By popular request, check out our new “Bet It Trinity” full year pass! You get the top three sports services, every play in every sport for 365 days.

 

Patriot News

After three straight losses—two against teams perceived to be inferior—the University of Pittsburgh football team faces apparently insurmountable odds.

Akron-Ohio

Sports Network

The Ohio Bobcats will try to clinch their first-ever MAC East Division title when they host the Akron Zips this Thursday night at Peden Stadium in Athens. The Zips come into the contest with victories in three of their last four games. Akron has started to show signs of life over the past few weeks, however, it could be too late for the Zips to make a push for the division title. The Zips are scoring just 22.9 ppg this year behind 338.3 total ypg. A big reason for the sudden improvement on offense is the progress of the ground game. In the recent victory over Buffalo, the rushing attack continued its positive strides, accounting for 144 yards on 37 carries. MasterLockLine.com has the top plays from the top sports service in their highest ranked sports.    

Post Online

A win Thursday will give the Bobcats (7-3, 5-1 MAC) their first-ever MAC East Division crown and all but guarantee a spot in one of the three bowl games MAC teams are eligible to make, regardless of what happens in the MAC championship game Nov. 30. After a surprising 2005 campaign in which they defeated Northern Illinois for the MAC championship, the Zips were picked to repeat as East Division champions in the preseason poll. Early struggles in its conference schedule, however, have left Akron (5-5, 3-3 MAC) in a position where it would need to win out, along with a little help, to fulfill the prediction. Led by a balanced offense and a stingy rush defense, the Zips are winners of three of their last four and seem to be looking like the team those polled, and Solich, expected it to be. “It’s obvious that they’ve got talent and it’s obvious that they’re playing good football right now,” Solich said. “The combination of those two things can make things difficult for the team.” In its last four games, the Akron offense has averaged 377.5 yards per game thanks mostly to the efforts of quarterback Luke Getsy and tailback Dennis Kennedy. Getsy currently ranks second in the MAC, averaging 230.3 passing yards per game while Kennedy is the conference’s third best rusher, gaining 95.3 yards per contest.Unlike many of the quarterbacks Ohio has faced this season, Getsy is a more traditional passer, letting his arm do most of the damage and only running for yards when absolutely necessary. Muncy said that the team is aware of Getsy’s throwing abilities and stressed that the team can not underestimate his ability to scramble. The 11 players the Zips line up on defense aren’t slouches either, particularly against the run, ranking fourth in the MAC by allowing just 131.7 yards on the ground per contest. This could spell trouble for the Bobcats, as a strong reliance on the ground game has keyed the team’s current five-game winning streak. Ohio is averaging 218.2 rushing yards while gaining just 87.6 yards per game through the air over the past five games.  Joe Duffy’s sports betting selections are at www.GodsTips.com   

CBB

Michigan State-Texas

Press Notes

After capturing the East Lansing Regional of the College Hoops Classic with victories over Brown and Youngstown State, the Spartans are ready to play the Championship Rounds in New York City. Michigan State and Texas are very similar in that they both lost a lot of their experience, scoring and rebounding from last year. MSU fills the void with a mix of returners and freshman, while UT leans heavily on first-year players. Michigan State defeated Brown (45-34) and Youngstown State (86-61) to advance to the Championship Rounds of the College Hoops Classic. In the season opener, MSU managed to score just 45 points, but held Brown to 34, the lowest total by a Spartan opponent since Northwestern scored 29 on Jan. 27, 2000. The next day, the Spartan offense erupted for 86 points. Through three games, Michigan State leads the Big Ten in scoring defense (45.3 ppg) and field-goal percentage defense (.320), while ranking tied for second in blocked shots (5.33 bpg) and third in 3-point field-goal percentage defense (.281). Texas advanced to New York with two victories in the Austin Regional by an average margin of victory of +42.5 points. In the regional semifinal, UT defeated Alcorn State, 103-44, behind 20 points from freshman Kevin Durant. In the second game, the Longhorns used a 28-point effort from A.J. Abrams to defeat Chicago State, 92-66. Stevie Vincent’s BetOnSports360.com is pioneer in forensic handicapping and part of OffshoreInsiders.com    Like Michigan State, Texas had three players drafted in the 2006 NBA Draft (LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker and Daniel Gibson). The Longhorns return just 14 percent of their scoring, 10 percent of their rebounding and 17 percent of their minutes played from last season. Texas’ roster features seven true freshmen and the probable starting lineup consists of three freshmen and two sophomores.

South Carolina-USC

Press Notes

The USC men’s basketball team (0-0) opens the season vs. South Carolina (1-0). Two-time defending NIT champion South Carolina returns two starters and five lettermen from a team that went 23-15 during the 2005-06 season. They have added seven newcomers, including three transfers that are eligible for action this season. USC returns four starters from a team that went 17-13. Things would really be looking up for the Trojans if not for the tragic shooting death of freshman point guard Ryan Francis last May and for junior All-Pac-10 guard Gabe Pruitt being academically ineligible for the first semester. All-Pac-10 swingman Nick Young, however, does return to lead the Trojans. By popular request, check out our new “Bet It Trinity” full year pass! You get the top three sports services, every play in every sport for 365 days.  Last season he was one of three players in the Pac-10 to rank in the top 10 in the conference in both scoring and rebounds (17.3 ppg. 6.6 rpg) and is the leading returning scorer. Also back are senior guard Lodrick Stewart, who is the top returning career scorer in the Pac-10 and senior center Abdoulaye N’diaye, who had 47 blocks and averaged 4.5 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in his first year at USC. The Trojans have brought in a strong recruiting class which features seven freshmen and is expected to give the Trojans the depth that they lacked a year ago. The Trojans lead the Pac-10 in returning production with 83.7 percent of their scoring and 86.5 percent of their rebounding from the 2005-06 season returning (includes Pruitt’s numbers). USC also leads with 96 percent of their blocked shot producers returning. The Trojans return the conference’s top two scorers from last season (Young - 17.3 and Pruitt 16.9) and the fourth-leading rebounder in Young (6.6). Senior Lodrick Stewart is the top active career scorer in the Pac-10 with 956 points.

NC Greensboro-Duke

Scout.com

This will be the seventh overall meeting between the Blue Devils and Spartans, with Duke holding a perfect 6-0 record against UNCG. The teams have met in each of the past two seasons with the Blue Devils. Don’t expect the Spartans to be impressed when they line up across from the Blue Devils. UNC-G returns all five starter’s from last year’s team that pushed Duke for most of the first half before J.J. Redick’s shooting display (35 points) proved to be too much. In addition to Hines, the Spartans return scoring guard Randy Hickman, who scored 23 points (9-of-15 shooting) a season ago.

Bowling Green-Arkansas State

ASUIndians.com

Arkansas State opened its season against some tough competition at the Cox Classic last weekend, falling to Clemson, Old Dominion and Monmouth.  By popular request, check out our new “Bet It Trinity” full year pass! You get the top three sports services, every play in every sport for 365 days.  All three teams won at least 19 games last season and competed in either the NCAA Tournament or the Postseason NIT.  While ASU played its first three games away from the Convocation Center, it will play three of its next four games at home. Bowling Green State, coming off a 9-21 year, won its season opener 89-52 over Denison.  They were led by four players scoring in double figures, inlcuding Brian Moten and Martin Samarco with a team-high 15 points each.  The Falcons return four starters and eight lettermen from last year’s team. The Indians have won their last six home openers and are 10-1 all-time in home openers under head coach Dickey Nutt.  ASU holds victories over teams such as Southeast Missouri State, Baylor and McNeese State in home openers under Coach Nutt.