09/05/2008 - Nyon, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The USA used its unlikely win in the 2008 Summer Olympics to extend its lead over Germany atop the latest FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Rankings.
The Germans, who won the 2007 Women's World Cup, fell an additional 33 points behind the Americans from the last rankings, while Olympic finalists Brazil (3rd, up 1) moved ahead of Sweden (4th, down 1).
There were a few other changes inside of the top 10 with Korea DPR (5th, up 1) swapping spots with Norway (6th, down 1), while France (7th, up 1) changed places with Denmark (8th, down 1) and Japan (9th, up 1) edged ahead of Canada (10th, down 1).
A good showing from Olympic hosts China (12th, up 2) vaulted them up two places while Australia (14th, down 2) dropped a pair of matches to Japan and Korea DPR in the AFC Women's Asian Cup.
The rest of the rankings did not see much in the way of change except at the end of the top 50 where Croatia (47th, up 1), Iran (48th, up 1), Ecuador (49th, 1) and Greece (50th, up 1) each moved up one spot.
The next FIFA/Coca-Cola Women's World Ranking will be published on December 19, 2008.
<< QB Drama Surrounds Colts-Bears Matchup
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Quarterback concerns have been nothing new for the Chicago
Bears in recent years. For the first time in nearly a decade, the Indianapolis
Colts may have some worries of their own at the all-important position.
Both teams w
<< Ravens' Flacco Ready For His Close-Up Vs. Bengals
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome labeled him as the
quarterback of the future, and even traded up in April's NFL Draft for his
services. Injuries, however, may be the only reason why Joe Flacco is getting
the starting nod
<< Bryans capture second U.S. Open doubles title
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The American twin Bryan brothers,
Bob and Mike, won Friday's men's doubles final at the 2008 U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Bryans defeated a seventh-seeded tandem of Czech Lukas
Dlouhy and I
<< Cowboys, Browns, Look to Avoid 0-1
(Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns will be entering
the 2008 NFL season with very high expectations, but only one of those playoff
hopefuls will be getting off to a desired start at the conclusion of Sunday's
intriguing
Bayern's Ribery returns to full training >>
Munich, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery returned
to full training Friday and is expected to make his first appearance of the
season later this month.
The 25-year-old France international has been sidelin
Grubb to serve as Stewart's crew chief in 2009 >>
Richmond, VA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stewart-Haas Racing named Darian Grubb on
Friday as the crew chief for driver Tony Stewart when Stewart moves over to
the No.14 Chevrolet team in 2009. Team officials made the announcement at
the Ri
TFC, Chivas face extreme hardships fielding teams >>
Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Chivas USA topped Toronto FC 2-1 last week in
Major League Soccer action, but when the two teams square off at BMO Field on
Saturday, both will be facing extreme hardships.
Toronto will be missing nine
Top-of-the-table clash as Crew host Revs >>
Columbus, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Columbus Crew host the New England
Revolution in a top-of-the-table Major League Soccer clash at Crew Stadium on
Saturday. The Crew have taken over the top spot in the Eastern Conference
afte
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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