Boilermakers visit Spartans in clash of ranked Big Ten foes

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03/08/2009 - East Lansing, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In a game that was supposed to be for the Big Ten title, the 19th-ranked Purdue Boilermakers battle the eighth-ranked Michigan State Spartans in a less meaningful matchup at the Breslin Center today. This game was designed for the top two teams in the conference to clash for the regular season championship, but it didn't work out that way. Instead, Purdue dropped a couple of games down the stretch and MSU used a four-game winning streak to win the outright title.

The Boilermakers meanwhile, still have something to play for, as they are trying to lock up sole possession of second place with a win today. Purdue could have accomplished that feat on Wednesday, but was instead knocked off by Northwestern, 64-61. Despite the loss, Purdue is already assured a first-round bye in the upcoming league tourney and that is certainly a positive.

As for MSU, it defeated Indiana, 64-59, on Tuesday to secure its fifth regular-season Big Ten Championship under head coach Tom Izzo and its firs outright title since 1999. The Spartans are a healthy 24-5 overall and 14-3 within the conference and are making a strong push towards a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

MSU and Purdue are meeting for the 106th time today, with the Boilermakers holding a 62-43 lead in the rivalry. The Boilermakers knocked off MSU, 72-54, earlier this season, but the Spartans have won the last eight meetings between the schools at the Breslin Center.

The Boilermakers made just 40.8 percent of their attempts from the floor compared to a 49.1 percent shooting performance by Northwestern, as they were upended on Wednesday. Purdue, which was outscored 36-26 in the second half, received 14 points from both E'Twaun Moore and Keaton Grant in the setback. JaJuan Johnson contributed 11 points, and Robbie Hummel had eight and six boards in the loss. On the season, Moore leads Purdue in scoring at 14.0 ppg and he is also grabbing 4.9 rpg and dishing out 2.9 apg. Johnson turns in 13.2 ppg and 5.9 rpg, while Hummel adds 12.4 ppg and a team-best 6.7 rpg to the lineup. As a whole, Purdue has thrived on defense, holding opponents to a mere 58.9 ppg and just 38.9 percent shooting from the field.

The Spartans knocked down 51.2 percent of their field goal tries and 5-of-11 three-point chances, as they clinched the outright title with a win over Indiana on Tuesday. MSU also went 15-of-22 at the foul line, in addition to holding a 29-22 edge on the glass. Kalin Lucas led the charge with 15 points and five assists, while Raymar Morgan had 14 points and seven rebounds. On the season, Lucas paces the Spartans in scoring at 14.6 ppg and he has also been in charge of setting up his teammates, handing out a team-best 4.6 apg. Morgan checks in with 11.4 ppg and 5.8 rpg for MSU, which is outrebounding foes by a healthy 9.8 rpg on the season.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

NEW YORK (AP) -By staying away from the cupcakes, Southern California earned itself a slim new ranking.

No. 1 always seems to fit USC.

Southern California jumped two spots to No. 1 in The Associated Press Top 25 on Tuesday, rewarded by voters for opening the season with a dominant performance on the road against a BCS conference opponent.

Georgia and Ohio State, the preseason Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, started their seasons with glorified scrimmages at home against FCS (formerly I-AA) teams. USC, however, traveled across country to face Virginia and could not have been more impressive in a 52-7 victory.

Georgia fell to No. 2 and Ohio State to No 3.

"We realize that rankings so early in a season are certainly fluid. But rankings do help establish a pecking order for things later in the season," USC coach Pete Carroll said in a statement. "As for moving into the No. 1 spot, it's nice to know that people think highly of our team."

Since reaching No. 1 on Dec. 7, 2003, the final-regular season AP poll of that season, USC has been No. 1 in 39 polls, by far the most of any team during that time.

"Some have said the voters are taking our schedule into consideration," Carroll said. "Our philosophy has always been to schedule outstanding opponents. We need to play challenging games like we just did, traveling across the country to open the season at Virginia. Games like that bring out our best and make us stronger as a team."

The latest voting was close. USC received 21 first-place votes and 1,539 points from the 65-member media panel. Georgia had 20 first-place votes and 1,506 points. Ohio State got 15 first-place votes and 1,497 points.

"I'd say we've evolved as pollsters," said Stewart Mandel of SI.com, who moved USC up to No. 1. "In the past, voters just kind of automatically moved teams up and kept teams where they were if they won."

Georgia beat Georgia Southern 45-21 on Saturday and Ohio State opened with a 43-0 win over Youngstown State.

"There's a bit of a growing backlash for the amount of teams that open with I-AA cupcakes," said Mandel, whose book "Bowls, Polls and Tattered Souls" chronicles college football's controversies. "To see a team [USC] go on the road and play a New Year's Day bowl team from last season, and not only play them but destroy them, how could you not reward that team?"

USC also jumped past Georgia to No. 1 in the USA Today coaches' poll, which has the same top five as the AP poll.

"It's definitely a privilege to be No. 1. But it's not heartbreaking to me if we drop," Georgia offensive lineman Josh Davis said. "It doesn't matter right now what we're ranked. What matters is our next game and right now, that's Central Michigan. The only time the polls matter is in December. That's when the polls matter."

While the Bulldogs opened easy, their schedule ultimately should be as difficult as any team's. Georgia's big nonconference test is at No. 15 Arizona State on Sept. 20. The Bulldogs also face six Southeastern Conference rivals that've been ranked in the first two polls.

As for Ohio State, the Buckeyes play at USC on Sept. 13 before getting into the Big Ten schedule.

But of the teams in this week's top 10, USC and Texas are the only ones that don't play an FCS opponent, and the Trojans are the only team that doesn't play a team from a non-BCS conference.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

The last team to drop from No. 1 after a victory was USC last season. LSU jumped from No. 2 to No. 1 when it beat Tulane 34-9, the same week the Trojans edged Washington 27-24 on the road.

The last preseason No. 1 team to lose the top spot after winning its opening game was Florida in 2001. The Gators beat Marshall 49-14, but preseason No. 2 Miami opened with a 33-7 victory over Penn State and the Hurricanes jumped to No. 1 with Florida slipping to second.

The next four teams in the new Top 25 stayed the same: No. 4 Oklahoma (two first-place votes), No. 5 Florida (five first-place votes), No. 6 Missouri (one first-place vote), No. 7 LSU (one first-place vote) and No. 8 West Virginia.

No. 9 Auburn and No. 10 Texas each moved up a spot, taking advantage of Clemson's big drop. Clemson, ninth in the preseason, fell out after losing 34-10 to Alabama on Saturday.

Also falling out after losses were Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh and Tennessee.

Moving into the rankings were No. 21 Fresno State, No. 22 Utah, No. 23 UCLA and No. 24 South Carolina.

Alabama moved up 11 spots after its big victory over Clemson.

The second 10 started with No. 11 Wisconsin, followed by Texas Tech, Alabama and Kansas. BYU and Arizona State were tied for 15th. Rivals BYU and Utah are both ranked for the first time since 1996.

South Florida was No. 17, ahead of Oregon, Penn State and Wake Forest at No. 20.

The final five were all the teams to move into the ranking, except for Illinois, which dropped four spots and tied South Carolina for No. 24.

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