11/19/2008 - Charlotte, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Days after capturing his third-consecutive Sprint Cup Series championship, Jimmie Johnson has returned to his home in North Carolina to relax and allow his record-tying accomplishment to finally sink in. Johnson, who finished 15th in last Sunday's season-ending race at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, matched Cale Yarborough's 30-year-old record of three titles in a row.
For Johnson, winning the championship included more than just the Sprint Cup trophy presentation and post-race media obligations at Homestead.
"Left the track around midnight, with the obligation, post-race obligations and stuff like that," Johnson said. "And then went out with my guys, went to a bar and they had a big party to celebrate the year and saw a bunch of drivers and team folks there and all my guys were there as well. It's nice to celebrate with them for a while.
"And maybe an hour and a half of sleep and was up and at it and on a plane to Bristol, Connecticut, to do the Car Wash at ESPN Studios. That was pretty much all day (Monday). And made it into New York City by about 8:00. Got up again at 6:30 (Tuesday) and had a full day of media obligations."
While making numerous appearances on various ESPN shows and radio programs, Johnson was overwhelmed just how big his achievement had become.
"Two cool moments at ESPN," he said. "I walked in and the first person I saw in the hallway of ESPN was Mike Ditka and introduced myself to him and he said, 'I know who you are, champ, and, by the way, you are a dynasty.'
"And it just shocked me that he had been paying attention to NASCAR and seeing comments where I've mentioned I couldn't say where I placed, it wasn't my place to say that. That one caught me off guard. Cris Carter was in the hallway a little later that day and he walked up to me said, 'I don't really follow NASCAR, but winning three titles in anything, in a row, deserves a lot of respect.'"
In New York, Johnson was a guest on "Live with Regis and Kelly" and visited Rachael Ray on her daytime talk show as part of his "Champion Media Tour" this week.
Johnson also appears on the cover of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated.
With the exception of the Sprint Cup "Champion's Week" the first week in December in New York, Johnson has plenty of downtime for the remainder of the year.
"We're not testing until January," Johnson said. "So I can probably expand on some type of trip. My wife and I have been interested in Eastern Asia to explore and see Thailand and Bali and a bunch of areas we're interested in seeing. I don't know much about these areas, but I see them in the magazines and have heard from friends who have traveled. I can't pronounce them now, but I know I'll come home much more in tune with it all and enjoying the experience."
One thing Johnson is hoping to do before "Champion's Week" is speak to Yarborough, who became the first driver to win three-straight Cup titles from 1976-78.
"I've not spoken to him, and I'd love to," he said. "I guess I haven't had time to stop and think about any of it to come across that thought. But I would love to talk to him. I talked to him earlier in the year a couple of times, and he couldn't have been more gracious and excited for me. When I have a chance to speak to him, I'll be real happy about that."
<< Ottawa recalls Binghamton center Bass
Ottawa, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Ottawa Senators recalled Cody Bass from
their American Hockey League affiliate, the Binghamton Senators, it was
announced on Wednesday.
Bass, who began the 2008-09 season with Ottawa, has one go
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Worcester, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Jose Sharks reassigned forward Brad
Staubitz to their American Hockey league affiliate, the Worcester Sharks, it
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Around FCS: November Nail-Biters >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - From Maine to Montana, FCS teams will be
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Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Atlanta Hawks center/forward Al Horford is not
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Horford is listed as day-to-day.
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Chapel Hill, NC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - North Carolina freshman forward Tyler
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ending
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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MySportsbook.com Favors Fighting Irish to win College Football betting odds
According to odds makers at MySportsbook.com, on January 8, the Fighting Irish faithful may be toasting their 14th national title in Arizona – Notre Dame’s first national championship in close to 20 years.
Although MySportsbook.com has listed Notre Dame as the 5-1 favorite to win thecollege football College Football betting, fans in Columbus do not need to cancel their tickets to Glendale just yet. The Ohio State Buckeyes, listed right behind the Irish at 7-1, are also heavy favorites to win college football’s most coveted prize, while West Virginia, USC and the 2007 National Champion Texas Longhorns - all listed at 8-1 – are strong contenders as well.
MySportsbook.com has also posted gambling odds on the conference championships for the ACC, Big 12 and SEC. In the ACC – it could be anyone’s title, particularly for the two schools from the Sunshine State. Florida State and Miami, both listed at 2-1, are favored to win the ACC Championship Game odds, with the ‘Noles hoping to finish in the nation’s top 10 for the first time in five years, and the ‘Canes looking to avenge their 10-7 loss against FSU in last year’s ACC Championship betting.
Moving west to the Big 12, MySportsbook.com has betting lines listing Texas as 7-5 favorites to repeat as conference champions, even though the Longhorns lost their national championship-winning quarterback Vince Young to the NFL. In the south, the Auburn Tigers – led by Heisman-hopeful senior running back Kenny Irons – have been given the best odds to win the SEC Championship odds at 5-2.
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| Notre Dame Ohio State West Virginia Texas USC Florida California Auburn Oklahoma Iowa Louisville Florida State Michigan Miami (FL) LSU Penn State Virginia Tech Nebraska Tennessee Georgia Arizona State Oregon Clemson Texas A&M Texas Tech Alabama Arkansas Boston College Michigan State Maryland South Carolina Colorado Purdue Georgia Tech TCU UCLA Arizona Pittsburgh Iowa State Wisconsin North Carolina State Virginia North Carolina Fresno State Hawaii Northwestern BYU Oregon State UNLV Field (Any Other Team) |
5-1 7-1 8-1 8-1 8-1 12-1 15-1 15-1 18-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 20-1 25-1 40-1 40-1 50-1 60-1 60-1 60-1 70-1 70-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 100-1 150-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 200-1 250-1 250-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 300-1 400-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 500-1 1000-1 1000-1 40-1 |
| Miami (FL) Florida State Virginia Tech Clemson Georgia Tech Boston College Maryland Virginia North Carolina State North Carolina Wake Forest Duke |
2-1 2-1 3-1 7-1 15-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 30-1 50-1 500-1 |
| Texas Oklahoma Nebraska Texas Tech Colorado Iowa State Texas A&M Kansas State Missouri Kansas Baylor Oklahoma State |
7-5 9-5 9-2 12-1 14-1 15-1 15-1 30-1 30-1 35-1 100-1 100-1 |
| Auburn Florida LSU Georgia Tennessee Arkansas Alabama Mississippi South Carolina Mississippi State Kentucky Vanderbilt |
5-2 11-4 4-1 6-1 7-1 7-1 9-1 20-1 28-1 75-1 100-1 300-1 |
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