Sunday News and Notes

Sunday, January 14, 2006

 

Today’s top service plays OffshoreInsiders.com  

Temple-UMass

Press Notes

Coming off a tremendous 91-84 win over defending A-10 regular-season champion George Washington on Wednesday, the Minutemen host arch-rival Temple on Saturday at Noon at the Mullins Center. UMass comes into the game with a 12-4 record and a perfect 2-0 mark in A-10 play. The Minutemen are off the best start since the 1995-96 season when they won the first 26 games of the season and were ranked No. 1 most of the year. UMass is seeking its first 3-0 start in A-10 play since 1997-98 when they started 8-0. The UMass-Temple rivalry opens a new chapter as the Owls come to Amherst without their longtime Hall of Fame Coach John Chaney, for the first time in history. Under new coach Fran Dunphy, the Owls are 6-8 overall and 0-2 in the league, riding a four-game losing streak. The Minutemen reached the 10-win mark earlier than any point in a season since that year, when they were 10-0. UMass has been stellar away from the Mullins Center this season with an 8-2 record. Those eight road/neutral wins are tied for the most in the nation among all teams. No. 12 Butler is 8-1 away from Indianapolis and Virginia Commonwealth has an 8-2 mark like UMass. It is huge improvement for UMass, which was just 3-13 away from home in 2005-06. UMass has won eight of the 10 games away from home in the first two months. That includes a stretch of five wins in a row away from Mullins. UMass has won 14 of its last 18 at home.

Cincinnati-South Florida

Press Notes

The University of Cincinnati will seek its first BIG EAST Conference victory of the season and an end to a three-game losing streak when the Bearcats visit USF on Sunday, Jan. 14. Game time at the USF Sun Dome is 2 p.m. UC enters the contest with a 9-6 record but has been idle since its 54-42 loss to Rutgers on Jan. 7 in its league opener. USF is 9-8 overall and 0-3 in BIG EAST play. The Bulls lost to Louisville, 81-55, on Wednesday. Cincinnati and USF have played one common opponent. Both have lost to UAB. UC incurred a 59-57 setback to the Blazers on Dec. 4 while USF fell, 78-62, on Dec. 27. The Bearcats will be out to avert their longest losing streak in 19 seasons. UC last dropped four in a row in February of the 1987-88 season.

NFL

Seahawks-Bears

Boston Globe

WR Darrell Jackson (left toe) was forced out in the third quarter of the Seahawks’ 21-20 wild-card win. Coach Mike Holmgren didn’t expect D.J. Hackett (sprained right ankle) to even play vs. Dallas, but he contributed two catches for 8 yards .WR Deion Branch has four 100-yard receiving games in the postseason, all with New England . In QB Matt Hasselbeck’s seven games since returning from a right knee injury, the BC product has topped out at 243 yards passing. The Bears allowed more than 300 yards in each of their final six regular-season games. CB Marcus Trufant (ankle) is out .The Seattle run defense, which allowed an average of 152.7 yards the last six games, was ranked 22d. Holmgren has a 12-9 playoff record and is 14-3 vs. the Bears.

Courier News

At least on paper, the Seattle Seahawks look like the ideal opponent for the Bears’ running game. That’s because Seattle’s run defense has been paper thin. The greatest obstacle for the Bears’ running attack may have been removed Friday when fullback Jason McKie was given clearance to play by coach Lovie Smith in Sunday’s playoff game after missing most of two games with a sprained ankle.

Patriots-Chargers

Victoria Times Columnist

Tom Brady is 11-1 in playoff games as a starting quarterback. Philip Rivers is starting his first.

SF Gate

San Diego scored an NFL-high 492 points behind Tomlinson and first-year starting quarterback Philip Rivers. New England held its opponents to 237, second-lowest in the league. Defensive-minded coach Bill Belichick no doubt will throw something at Rivers that the QB hasn’t seen. While the Patriots will try to keep marching toward their fourth Super Bowl appearance in six seasons, the Chargers and their coach, Marty Schottenheimer, will try to erase some brutal playoff history. The Chargers haven’t won in the playoffs since stunning Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game on Jan. 15, 1995. Counting the Super Bowl wipeout that followed, they’ve lost three straight in the postseason. And of course, Schottenheimer is 5-12 in the playoffs, with Cleveland, Kansas City and San Diego. Should the loss column hit 13 short of the Super Bowl, he could be fired by general manager A.J. Smith.The Chargers, who won their last 10 games to finish an NFL-best 14-2, are well aware of the Patriots’ mystique.