No.1 Kentucky takes act on the road

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02/11/2012 - Nashville, TN (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top-ranked Kentucky Wildcats put their unblemished SEC record in harm's way this evening in Nashville, as they take on the dangerous Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gym.

John Calipari's Wildcats are young, but their abundance of talent has lifted them to a sterling 24-1 overall mark, including a 10-0 record in SEC play thus far. Kentucky was supposed to be challenged this week by nationally-ranked Florida, but the Gators became just another victim in a 78-58 rout in Lexington, marking the Wildcats' 16th straight victory.

Kevin Stallings' Commodores are a solid 17-7 on the season and are a decent 6-3 in SEC action thus far. The team did suffer recent back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Florida, but halted the skid with a 76-61 win over LSU this week.

Kentucky holds a 134-44 edge in the all-time series, but the Commodores have won five of the last six meetings in Nashville.

The Wildcats picked up their 16th straight win in rather easy fashion, disposing of Florida by 20 points this week. The team placed four players in double figures and two of them recorded double-doubles, with Michael Kidd- Gilchrist posting 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Marquis Teague finished with 12 points and 10 assists. Doron Lamb led the offensive charge with 18 points, while center Anthony Davis was his usual dominant self down low, with 16 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. Kentucky never allowed Florida to get into an offensive rhythm, while the Wildcats delivered on 52.7 percent from the floor, including 60 percent from behind the arc (9-of-15).

Davis may just be a freshman, but the 6-10 youngster has come on strong and has asserted himself as one of the top big men in the country. He currently leads Kentucky in scoring (14.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg), while leading the entire country in blocked shots (120). Three others are averaging double figures in scoring, giving the team plenty of options at the offensive end. Lamb is next in line at 13.6 ppg, followed by Kidd-Gilchrist (12.6 ppg) and Terrence Jones (12.1 ppg). Darius Miller (9.9 ppg) and Teague (9.7 ppg) provide even more depth and help the team to a national-best +20.5 scoring margin.

Vanderbilt will not shy away from turning this game into a shootout, as there is plenty of firepower on the roster. Two of the top three scorers in the SEC are Commodores, with John Jenkins leading the league with 19.7 ppg and Jeffery Taylor not far behind at third with 17.8 ppg. Both players are shooting well over 40 percent from behind the arc this year, with Jenkins 89 three-pointers leading the team. Frontcourt help comes in the form of center Festus Ezeli (10.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg) and forward Lance Goulbourne (9.3 ppg, 7.0 rpg).

Vanderbilt showed its offensive punch in the lopsided win over LSU this week, hitting 50 percent from the floor. Ezeli led the team with 21 points, thanks to 8-of-10 shooting from the floor. Jenkins hit four three-pointers en route to a 20-point outing, while Taylor added three from long range and finished with 19 points.

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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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