11/23/2008 - Mar del Plata, Argentina (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Fernando Verdasco was the hero on Sunday, as the lefthander outlasted fellow slugger Jose Acasuso to give visiting Spain an insurmountable 3-1 lead in its best-of-five Davis Cup final against Argentina. The Spaniards won their third Davis Cup title in nine years.
Sunday's schedule called for the reverse singles on Day 3 at Mar del Plata, and in the first, and only, rubber of the day, Spain got the huge victory from Verdasco, who was inserted into the lineup in place of David Ferrer. Acasuso also played as a replacement, as he got the call instead of rising 20-year-old star Juan Martin del Potro from Argentine captain Alberto Mancini, but things didn't quite work out for the stunned hosts.
The 25-year-old Verdasco needed 3 hours, 56 minutes to outlast a game Acasuso 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, as Acasuso finally ran out of gas in the fifth set. The Argentine required some medical attention early in the final stanza, one that was dominated by his talented Spanish counterpart.
Spain, captained by Emilio Sanchez, captured its third Davis Cup title this decade, with the other wins coming in 2000 and 2004.
The world No. 16 Verdasco won despite piling up nine double faults and being out-aced 14-5. He did, however, break the 48th-ranked Acasuso's serve a whopping nine times, compared to five breaks for the Argentine loser, who also tallied 16 more unforced errors (47-31) in the hard-fought setback.
Acasuso was removed from Argentina's doubles lineup in favor of David Nalbandian here on Saturday.
Sunday's scheduled fifth and final rubber between Nalbandian and Spaniard Feliciano Lopez was not played, as the tie concluded at 3-1 for Spain.
Spain headed into Sunday with a surprising 2-1 lead after winning the pivotal doubles rubber in four sets. A tandem of Verdasco and Lopez got the big point by handling an Argentine duo of Nalbandian and Agustin Calleri in four sets on Day 2 after the two nations split Friday's opening singles. On Day 1, Nalbandian whipped Ferrer in straight sets to get Argentina going, but Lopez then stunned del Potro in four to level the tie.
Including singles and doubles this week, both Verdasco and Lopez were a perfect 2-0 for the visitors on the indoor hardcourt at Estadio Islas Malvinas.
A disappointed Argentina is still seeking that elusive first-ever Davis Cup championship. The three-time finalists also had runner-up finishes in 1981 and 2006.
The Spaniards captured the title here despite playing without world No. 1 superstar Rafael Nadal, who pulled out last week due to a knee injury. Nadal was replaced on the team by Marcel Granollers, who did not play this week.
Spain is now 3-0 all-time versus Argentina, which was hosting for the first time ever in this series. The Spaniards prevailed at home way back in 1926 and also in 2003.
Team Spain, which is now 3-3 in its all-time Davis Cup finals and appeared in its fourth final this decade, reached this year's final by beating the 32-time and defending champion United States 4-1 in a semifinal in Madrid, while Argentina got past Russia 3-2 in Buenos Aires, with del Potro winning a fifth and deciding rubber.
The Argentines had won 13 straight Davis Cup ties as a host.
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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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