Hoops aim to rebound from "crap" effort against TFC

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09/07/2007 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas will try to bounce back from an effort defender Clarence Goodson said was "complete crap" on Saturday against Toronto FC.

Dallas was blown out in its last Major League Soccer game against D.C. United, 4-0, spoiling an anticipated showdown between two of the top teams in MLS.

Dallas rebounded on Tuesday to advance to the U.S. Open Cup final, and returns to MLS play with a chance to move into the top spot in the Western Conference.

If Dallas, just three points behind Houston, could pick an MLS team to bounce back against, Toronto would be the obvious choice.

Toronto, which is last in the Eastern Conference, has been shutout in seven in a row and hasn't scored in an league record 642 minutes. Toronto is winless in eight straight overall.

TFC has been decimated by injuries and learned Friday that top scorer Danny Dichio will miss two to four weeks with a foot injury. In addition, the club lost midfielder Andy Welsh to Blackpool of England's Championship this week, taking another option away from the club.

Dallas defender Chris Gbandi warned after the D.C. loss that the team usually gets down after losses, which could set the team up for a letdown against TFC. Toronto did win the teams' previous meeting, 4-0, on June 17.

"People are probably going to get mad at me for saying this but we get too crazy after a win and get way too down after losses around here. It was a bad loss," Gbandi said. "This season is a long season and it all depends on how well we bounce back from losses. The last few times, we haven't bounced back from them very well."

Brazilian playmaker Denilson should make his first start for Dallas, which is trying to snap a two-game losing streak. Denilson made his debut last week as a substitute.

Denilson will add another weapon to Dallas' potent attack, but it could also open more chances for Toronto to snap its scoring drought. The Hoops regularly push players forward and as a results have actually allowed three more goals this season than they've scored.

Although Toronto is missing some of its best players, it has created plenty of chances in its last few games but "we just couldn't get a break," TFC coach Mo Johnston said.

"I think it's most frustrating than anything. When you do work hard and you think you deserve something and you don't get it, it's frustrating," Toronto captain Jim Brennan said. "Now, the thing is we're a good group of guys we work hard for one another, we're all sticking together and we know it's going to come - it's a matter of just when."

"We're going through a little sticky patch at the moment," said Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson, who will miss the FC Dallas match while on national team duty with Wales. "Performance-wise I think we're playing well. Goals-wise we obviously cannot score. We're throwing kitchen sinks at teams and not scoring. It's that type of luck we're having at the moment."

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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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