Revamped Coyotes host Ducks in Pacific clash

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03/06/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes will try to record consecutive wins when they welcome the Anaheim Ducks for tonight's Pacific Division battle at Jobing.com Arena.

The Coyotes were dealt their third straight loss when they emerged from the Olympic break with Tuesday's setback against St. Louis. However, Phoenix rebounded two days later with a home victory over Colorado.

Thursday's win helped Phoenix move ahead of Los Angeles in the Western Conference standings. The Coyotes are currently fourth in the West with 81 points, just one more than the Kings.

Wojtek Wolski was the hero for Phoenix in his first game with the Coyotes, scoring with 23.7 seconds left in regulation to beat his former Colorado club in a 3-1 final. Wolski was dealt from the Avalanche to the Coyotes on Wednesday for forwards Peter Mueller and Kevin Porter.

Phoenix veteran Shane Doan found Wolski set up at the left circle for a one- timer to further the storyline and break a 1-1 tie. Radim Vrbata added an empty-net goal to account for the final margin.

"It was great, we got a lot of chances and I think it will only get better with each game," said Wolski of working with his new teammates. We're all excited about playing with each other."

Fellow newcomer Lee Stempniak, brought in from Toronto on an exceptionally busy day for the Coyotes at the deadline, scored in his first game as well. Goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov came up with 23 saves for the win.

The Coyotes are playing the fourth test of a five-game homestand tonight. Phoenix, which is 23-10-2 as the host this year, will complete the residency Wednesday against Vancouver.

Anaheim has played just one game since the Olympic break and it was also against Colorado, which handed the Ducks a close regulation loss on Wednesday. Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists to lift the Avs to the 4-3 decision in Anaheim.

Teemu Selanne and Jason Blake each had a goal and assist for the Ducks, who are currently outside of the playoff picture with 67 points.

Scott Niedermayer also scored in the loss, while Jonas Hiller made 21 saves.

The Ducks have a poor 11-17-5 record as the guest this year. Following tonight, however, Anaheim will play its next seven games on home ice.

Tonight marks the sixth and final regular season meeting between Anaheim and the Coyotes in 2009-10. Phoenix has won three of the five prior matchups and posted a 4-0 home victory the last times the clubs met on December 23.

The Ducks still have six wins in the last 10 overall meetings between the teams, but they have dropped three straight and five of their last eight in Glendale.

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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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