Bruins send Morris back to Phoenix

Hockey Betting Lines

03/03/2010 - Glendale, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Phoenix Coyotes have acquired defenseman Derek Morris from the Boston Bruins in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.

Morris spent parts of five seasons with the Coyotes before being dealt to the New York Rangers at last year's trade deadline.

After becoming an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of last season, Morris signed a one-year deal with Boston in July. He has three goals and 22 assists in 58 games this year.

"We are very excited to have brought Derek Morris back to the Coyotes organization," said Coyotes general manager Don Maloney. "Derek is a talented, versatile defenseman who will strengthen our blue line. His leadership and tenacity will be welcomed in our dressing room."

Over 851 regular season contests, the 31-year-old Morris has compiled 79 goals, 286 assists and 820 penalty minutes with Calgary, Colorado, Phoenix, the Rangers and Bruins. The blueliner has also appeared in 14 playoff games and has five helpers.

Mlifw Hockey Betting News

<< 2010 Sun Belt Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held entirely at neutral sites, as Convention Center Court and Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas will serve as the venues for the event. All 13 teams are se

<< 2010 Sun Belt Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The 2010 Sun Belt Conference Tournament will be held entirely at neutral sites, as Convention Center Court and Summit Arena in Hot Springs, Arkansas will serve as the venues for the event. All 13 teams are se

<< 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament Preview
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The pairings are set for the 2010 Northeast Conference Tournament, which kicks off with four quarterfinal-round matchups on Thursday, March 4th. The remaining teams will be reseeded for the semifinals on Sund

<< Mavs try for ninth straight win vs. T'Wolves
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The surging Dallas Mavericks aim for a season-high ninth straight victory Wednesday when they take on the lowly Minnesota Timberwolves in Big D. Dirk Nowitzki scored 16 of his 27 points in the second half

<< Ovechkin, Miller set to return as Caps battle Sabres
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's safe to say that Alex Ovechkin didn't get the results he was looking for in the recent Winter Olympic Games. He'll now get back to chasing his first Stanley Cup championship. Ovechkin and the NHL-leading Washington Ca

Maple Leafs flip Skoula to Devils for draft pick >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Defenseman Martin Skoula is on the move again, this time from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the New Jersey Devils. The Maple Leafs acquired Skoula, along with forward prospect Luca Caputi, from the Penguins late

2010 West Coast Conference Tournament Preview >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the 10th year in a row, the Gonzaga Bulldogs won the West Coast Conference regular-season title, as they finished 12-2 within the league. The Bulldogs are out to repeat in this tournament after winning th

Greece moves into top 10 in FIFA Rankings >>
Zurich, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The latest edition of the FIFA/Coca- Cola Men's Rankings was released on Wednesday, and for the first time since June 2008, Greece has returned to the top 10. The top four teams remain unchanged

Macclesfield's Alexander dies at 53 >>
Macclesfield, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Macclesfield Town manager Keith Alexander has passed away at the age of 53. He died after returning to his home following his side's 1-0 League Two defeat at Notts County on Tuesday evening.

Sabres' Gaustad sidelined with upper-body injury >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff said on Wednesday that center Paul Gaustad will miss at least a week of action because of an upper-body injury. Gaustad was hurt in Tuesday's 3-2 loss to the Penguins d

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