Sports Headlines: Ole Miss-South Carolina, NY Nyets, McNabb Out, Matt Barkley In

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: No. 4 Mississippi takes on South Carolina, the Giants host the Cubs, and the PGA Tour begins its final playoff tournament.

Sports headlines…

USC starting QB Matt Barkley is now listed as probable against Washington State…The greatest postseason failure in sports betting history, Bobby Cox will return for one final year as Atlanta Braves manager…Bill Gould of ScoresOddsPicks.com is reporting that Michael Vick will be the No. 2 QB for the Philadelphia Eagles this Sunday as Donovan McNabb is very doubtful. Kevin Kolb starts behind center….It’s the New Jersey Nyets. Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov is purchasing the New Jersey NBA franchise>   

Colliding on the gridiron . . .

One time blue chip recruit Thamail won’t be on hand but the Ole Miss Rebels are a 4.5 point sportsbooks favorite tonight against the Gamecocks of South Carolina.

There’s one college football game on the Thursday slate, with South Carolina hosting No. 4 Mississippi. The ranked Rebels beat up on Southeastern Louisiana last week, getting three touchdown passes from Jevan Snead in a 52-6 victory. The Gamecocks are also coming off a win, as they put up three TDs in the third quarter to blow past Florida Atlantic 38-16..

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Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The Giants will send Brad Penny (3-1, 4.01 ERA in the National League) to the mound on Thursday night as they begin a four-game home series against the Cubs. Righthander Penny will be looking to bounce back from an ugly outing against the Dodgers in which he gave up seven runs over just 2 2-3 innings of work. Countering for the Cubs will be Ryan Dempster (10-8, 3.72 ERA). Righthander Dempster held the Cards to one run over eight innings last time out.

Also on the NL schedule for Thursday: Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, Philadelphia at Milwaukee, San Diego at Colorado, and the Dodgers at Washington. Los Angeles will go with Vicente Padilla (3-0, 2.96 ERA in the NL) in that last matchup; righthander Padilla took a no-decision against the Dodgers last time out, allowing four runs over five innings. J.D. Martin (5-4, 4.21 ERA) gets the nod for the Nats; the righthander has picked up the win in each of his last two outings.

Meanwhile, there are just four games on the American League schedule for Thursday, with Texas at Oakland, Seattle at Toronto, Boston at Kansas City, and Detroit at Cleveland. Ace Justin Verlander (16-9, 3.44 ERA) is slated to start for the Tigers; the righthander has surrendered 10 earned runs on 19 hits over his last 14 1-3 innings. The Tribe send Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 9.64 ERA) to the hill; righthander Carrasco has given up 15 earned runs over 14 innings this season.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the last event of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup begins on Thursday, with the top 30 players in the standings competing in The TOUR Championship at East Lake GC in Atlanta. Points leader Tiger Woods is the favorite to win both the tournament and the FedExCup this weekend. Four other players can also claim the FedExCup by winning at East Lake this week - Steve Stricker, Jim Furyk, Zach Johnson, and Heath Slocum. The other golfers will need Woods to stumble.