Thursday Rundown

College football goes head-to-head with another day of baseball playoffs on Thursday. Here's a glimpse at the six contests (three in each sport) in your Daily Sports Roundup.

The Gridiron Spotlight

The top college football team in action on Thursday night is No. 10 South Florida, who will play host to Pittsburgh. The Bulls are 5-0 so far this season, with their most impressive win coming against then-No. 13 Kansas on September 12 (by a score of 37-34). The Panthers were beaten by Bowling Green in their season opener, but they've got the job done since then with wins over Buffalo, Iowa, and Syracuse. South Florida is pegged as a 13.5-point favorite in this contest, with the game's total sitting at 48 points.

No. 15 Utah will also take to the field on Thursday night; they'll get a visit from Oregon State. The Utes are 5-0 on the season as well, picking up five straight victories over Michigan, UNLV, Utah State, Air Force, and Weber State. Oregon State is only 2-2 on the season, but they managed to pull off a huge upset versus Southern Cal on September 25. If the Beavers plan on knocking off another ranked team on Thursday night they'll have to do it as 11.5-point underdogs. The game's total is set at 53 points.

The final game is a Conference USA dud between 2-3 Memphis and 1-4 UAB. Both the Tigers and the Blazers are looking for their first conference victory of the season, and Memphis is pegged as a 3.5-point road favorite to secure that win. The total sits at 57.

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Vice Presidential Debate

Will Sarah Palin prove to Joe Montana of politics or the Wang Chung? Can she come through in the clutch again or is she a one-hit wonder who will eventually replace Elisabeth Hasselbeck on the View? One thing is for sure that all politicos will watch the Vegas betting odds for president, the ultimate precursor to who wins the presidential election.

It will be all Palin all the time. We know Sean Hannity and Anne Coulter will say she walks on water, while Jack Cafferty and Keith Olbermann will attack her personally and relentlessly, but the political betting odds will measure what Main Street America thinks.

Will pro-Obama Gwen Ifill remain the moderator? Of course the Wachovia, Washington Mutual bailout will affect the race, but most political handicappers such as Grandmaster sports handicapper Joe Duffy agree that in recent history no Vice Presidential candidate will affect the election like Sarah Palin. 

Other Notable Events

The Rays will host their first-ever postseason contest on Thursday afternoon (2:30pm ET), and they'll be looking for James Shields (14-8, 3.56 ERA) to pitch them to a victory over the White Sox. Shields' last real outing came on September 23 against the Orioles, and he picked up a win after allowing just two earned runs over seven innings of work. In his last 10 outings Shields has a 5-1 record with four no-decisions. Javier Vazquez (12-16, 4.67 ERA) will get the start for Chicago, although he hasn't been effective lately; the righthander has surrendered 18 earned runs and 18 hits over his last 12 innings.

Both National League playoff series continue on Thursday, with Milwaukee at Philadelphia at 6:05pm ET, and the Dodgers at the Cubs at 9:35pm ET. The Brewers will send CC Sabathia (11-2, 1.65 ERA in the NL) to the mound against Brett Myers (10-13, 4.55 ERA). Sabathia has surrendered just two earned runs over his last three starts, and Milwaukee is 8-2 in his last 10 outings. Myers, on the other hand, has been pounded for 14 earned runs over his last two trips to the mound. Still, he pitched well against the Brewers on September 14, allowing two hits in a complete-game victory.

Thursday's Dodgers/Cubs matchup will feature a duel between Los Angeles' Chad Billingsley (16-10, 3.14 ERA) and Chicago's Carlos Zambrano (14-6, 3.91 ERA). Billingsley hasn't been tagged with a loss since August 25, and the Dodgers are 5-1 in his last six trips to the mound. Zambrano threw an impressive no-hitter against the Astros on September 14, but since then he's been knocked around for 13 earned runs over just 6 1-3 innings of work in a pair of rough starts versus the Cardinals and Mets.

The Rest of the Schedule

Don't like those half-dozen options above? That's all you're going to get on Thursday.

News from the Wire

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett (oblique injury) is on track to start for the team in Game 3 of their ALDS . . . Brewers pitcher Ben Sheets is not on the team's roster for their NLDS because of his elbow injury . . . Rays outfielder Carl Crawford will try to play through his finger injury this week . . . the Bengals signed running back Cedric Benson to a contract.

A Peek at the Future

The two American League series continue on Friday night, with games in Tampa Bay and Los Angeles . . . there are also two more college football games on Friday night: No. 8 BYU at Utah State, and Cincinnati at Marshall . . .Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Busch, and Tony Stewart are all pegged at 5/1 Vegas odds to win the Sprint Cup event at Talladega on Sunday, with Jimmie Johnson at 7/1, and Jeff Gordon sitting back at 8/1.