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09/19/2007 - Zurich, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings for the month of September were released on Wednesday, and they saw Italy regain the top spot by moving ahead of both Argentina and Brazil.
The Italians win over Ukraine in EURO 2008 qualifying was enough to knock Brazil from the top spot down to third, while Argentina remained in second.
Those top three teams have a comfortable edge on the rest of the field, which is lead by Germany, who moved up one spot into fourth. France fell two places after losing to Scotland in EURO qualifying, while the Netherlands took advantage and jumped up into the top five.
Spain sits in seventh, up one place, while Croatia and the Czech Republic both dropped. The Czechs fell two spots into 11th, while Croatia lost four places but stays in the top 10 at 10th. Capitalizing on this was Portugal, who is up two rankings into eighth, while England moves back into the top 10 at ninth with a three-spot improvement.
The Scots used that win over France, as well as one over Lithuania, to climb to their highest ever spot in the rankings, up nine places to 14th.
Mexico dropped two spots to 13th, but still remains the highest rated team in CONCACAF because the United States moved down one spot to 18th after dropping a 4-2 contest to Brazil. Friendlies in October against Catalonia and Switzerland will give the Stars and Stripes a chance to improve on that ranking.
There was plenty of movement outside of the top 50 teams, but Colombia and Guinea both enjoyed big jumps within the top 50. The South American club climbed seven spots to 24th, while Guinea enjoyed a 12-spot improvement to reach 30th.
The biggest drop in the rankings was suffered by Bosnia-Herzegovina, who lost 14 spots down to 39th. Cameroon also had a tough month, dropping nine places to 25th.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings will be released on October 24.
Points are accumulated based on the results of a team's matches over the past four years, the importance of each match, the strength of the opponent, the strength of the region and the number of matches per year that each team plays.
<< Lackey shines as Angels edge Devil Rays
Anaheim, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - John Lackey pitched eight-plus solid innings
as the LA Angels of Anaheim downed the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 2-1, in the
second of a three-game set at Angel Stadium.
Lackey (17-9) gave up just one run
<< Ibanez's grand slam lifts M's over A's
Oakland, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Raul Ibanez belted the fifth grand slam of his
career to lead the Seattle Mariners to an 8-7 win over the Oakland Athletics
at McAfee Coliseum.
Ibanez ended with five RBI for Seattle, which has captured t
<< Mets continue slide with loss at RFK
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ronnie Belliard's three-run go-ahead homer
highlighted a five-run fifth inning, as Washington defeated the struggling New
York Mets, 9-8, at RFK Stadium.
Belliard ended 3-for-4 with two runs scored and A
<< Padres maintain wild card lead in win over Pirates
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Khalil Greene went 3-for-3 with two RBI as
the San Diego Padres maintained their wild-card lead by winning the second
game of a four-game set with the Pittsburgh Pirates, 5-3.
Adrian Gonzalez went 2-
Davenport wins; Kuznetsova withdraws at China Open >>
Beijing, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lindsay Davenport continued her successful
comeback to singles play with another victory on Wednesday, while defending
champion Svetlana Kuznetsova withdrew from the China Open.
Davenport earned a 6-0,
With cameras rolling, Pats don't disappoint >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - In the wake of the New England Patriots cheating scandal
last week, pundits emerged on all sides of the issue to both defend and
condemn the team and its coaches. YouTube videos were crafted, past victims
cried bloody murder,
Ravens sign LB Greisen >>
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens signed free agent
linebacker Nick Greisen on Wednesday. Per club policy, terms of the deal were
not disclosed.
The 28-year-old Greisen was released by Jacksonville on September 1
Braves try to keep playoff hopes alive in finale with Marlins >>
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lefty Chuck James looks for his third win against Florida
in four decisions tonight when the Atlanta Braves close out a three-game
series with the Marlins at Turner Field.
The Braves, who won 4-3 on Tuesday, are still clin
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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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