Rain postpones Cup race

Autoracing Betting Lines

08/19/2007 - Brooklyn, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sunday's NASCAR Nextel Cup race at the Michigan International Speedway was postponed due to rain. The 3M Performance 400 has been pushed back until Monday and the green flag is scheduled to drop, weather permitting, at 12 p.m.

When the flag drops, series points leader Jeff Gordon will lead the 43-car field. The No.24 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet was the last qualifier on the track on Friday and stole the pole from Greg Biffle's grasp.

Row two will consist of Kasey Kahne and Bobby Labonte.

Other drivers of note and their starting positions: Jimmie Johnson (seventh), Denny Hamlin (eighth), Clint Bowyer (ninth), Carl Edwards (13th), Jeff Burton (19th) and Tony Stewart (35th).

Just four races remain until the cutoff for the "Chase for the Nextel Cup." Following an eventful Sunday in upstate New York, the picture is becoming clearer as to who is a contender and who is just a pretender.

The race for the final position in the "Chase" appears to be coming down to Kurt Busch, his Penske teammate Ryan Newman, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Biffle.

Biffle, with his second-place starting position and great history at MIS, should make some headway this week, but still has a long road. He is 15th in the standings and 212 points out of the "Chase." But at MIS Biffle owns two wins and six top-10s in nine career starts.

After Michigan, the series travels to Bristol, California and Richmond where the 12 drivers who make the "Chase" will be decided.

Oddsmsker Autoracing Betting News

<< Devil Rays place Zobrist on DL
St. Petersburg, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Tampa Bay Devil Rays placed shortstop Ben Zobrist on the 15-day disabled list Sunday with a right oblique strain. Zobrist was hurt swinging at a pitch in the team's 8-1 loss to Cleveland

<< Hamburg wins again; Bechmann double carries Bochum
Hamburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rafael van der Vaart converted a penalty kick in the second half to help Hamburg to a 1-0 defeat of Bayer Leverkusen while Tommy Bechmann scored a pair of goals to lead Bochum to a 2-1 victory over En

<< Mets' Easley placed on DL
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Mets placed infielder Damion Easley on the 15-day disabled list with a Grade 3 left ankle sprain. Easley left the Mets' 7-4 victory against the Washington Nationals Saturday in the sixth i

<< Ilonen claims second win of '07
Stockholm, Sweden (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mikko Ilonen birdied the par-three 18th Sunday, then watched as Martin Kaymer closed with a double-bogey. Kaymer's closing double handed Ilonen his second win of the season. Ilonen completed the eve

<< Miller's double allows Celtic to slip past Aberdeen
Aberdeen, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kenny Miller scored two goals in the game's final five minutes to give Celtic a 3-1 win against Aberdeen at Pittodrie Stadium on Sunday. The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 heading into the

Blue Jays down O's on Hill's sac fly in 10th >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Aaron Hill hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 10th to lift the Toronto Blue Jays past the Baltimore Orioles, 3-2, in the finale of a three-game series at Rogers Centre. Vernon Wells scored the game-

Teixeira homers twice in Braves win over Arizona >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mark Teixeira blasted two home runs and drove in four runs, and John Smoltz hurled eight solid innings as Atlanta downed Arizona, 6-2, in the finale of a three-game set at Turner Field. Smoltz (11

Mets swat Nats to complete sweep >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carlos Beltran went deep twice and knocked in four runs as the New York Mets pulled away late to down the Washington Nationals, 8-2, and complete a three-game sweep at RFK Stadium. Shawn Green and Ma

Flanagan headed to PGA thanks to comeback win in Rochester >>
Rochester, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Nick Flanagan roared from behind Sunday with a seven-under 63 to overtake James Driscoll and win the Xerox Classic. Flanagan ended the tournament at 10-under-par 270, one stroke clear of Driscoll, w

Snedeker earns first PGA Tour win >>
Greensboro, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brandt Snedeker fired a nine-under 63 on Sunday to come from behind and win his first PGA Tour title at the Wyndham Championship. He finished the shootout at 22-under-par 266 and won by two over th

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com