Montana ascends to No. 1
NCAA Football Betting Lines
09/06/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The move was only one spot, but it was a big one for the University of Montana football team as the Grizzlies advanced to No. 1 in The Sportsbook Betting Lines/Fathead.com FCS Top 25 on Monday.
Montana was selected second in the preseason poll, but moved to No. 1 following its 73-2, season-opening rout of Western State and preseason No. 1 Villanova's 31-24 loss to FBS opponent Temple.
Villanova, the defending FCS national champion, didn't fall far as it was voted second in this week's poll by a panel of sports information and media relations directors, broadcasters, writers and other dignitaries. Montana had 57 of the 126 first-place votes and 3,052 points, while Villanova collected 46 first-place votes and 2,886 points.
Montana opened its season by tying an NCAA record with four interception returns for touchdowns against Western State. The Big Sky Conference power has finished as the national runner-up in each of the past two seasons, including a 23-21 loss to Villanova last December, and has a new head coach in Robin Pflugrad.
Appalachian State remained at No. 3, and Southern Illinois moved up one spot to No. 4. The biggest mover in the Top 25 was Jacksonville State, which rose 12 spots to No. 5 following its 49-48, double-overtime win at Ole Miss. Coach Jack Crowe's Gamecocks received nine first-place votes for their victory over an FBS program.
The rest of the Top 10 was New Hampshire at No. 6, followed by Richmond, Elon, South Dakota State and Stephen F. Austin.
In an opening week in which many FCS programs took on FBS programs, William & Mary was the only team in the Preseason Top 25 to fall to a fellow FCS program, a 27-23 loss to CAA Football rival Massachusetts. William & Mary, a national semifinalist last year, fell seven spots to No. 11. Massachusetts broke into the poll at No. 18.
James Madison was No. 12, followed by McNeese State, Northern Iowa, South Carolina State, Delaware, Eastern Washington, Massachusetts, Liberty and Weber State.
North Dakota State joined UMass as the other new entry into the Top 25, grabbing No. 21 after its 6-3 win at University of Kansas. The Bison were followed in the Top 25 by Prairie View A&M at No. 22, then Eastern Illinois, Montana State and Colgate.
The two teams that fell out of the Top 25 received the next-highest vote totals - Holy Cross, which won its opener, and Penn, which was idle.
The Top 25 will be released every Monday afternoon during the regular season, apart from the final weekend when it will be released on Sunday, Nov. 21, due to its use as an official tool by the NCAA Division I Football Committee in selecting the 20-team playoff field.
The Sportsbook Betting Lines and Fathead.com will release a final Top 25 following the FCS championship game, which will be held Jan. 7 at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas.
The night before the FCS championship game, The Sportsbook Betting Lines will present the Walter Payton (outstanding FCS player) Buck Buchanan (outstanding FCS defensive player) and Eddie Robinson (outstanding FCS coach) awards, which are sponsored by Fathead.
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Kurt Warner to start, Matt Leinart to watch
Despite the debate that's swirling , Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, coach Dennis Green said today. The Arizona Cardinals are the +7 point underdog at online sportsbook MySportsbook.com for this Sunday's game.
Green's comment came in a statement released by the team following an ESPN report that Green decided that rookie Matt Leinart would replace Warner as starter for Sunday's game at Atlanta.
"Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green told the AP. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear. We're disappointed after last week, but we still expect to be a playoff football team and we fully expect Kurt Warner to be the quarterback that leads us. That has not changed."
To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs.
Big 12 Conference betting odds
Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State
Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.
Work left to do:
Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.
Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.
Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.