{"id":3477,"date":"2009-02-07T10:02:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-07T15:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/02\/saturday-sports-rundown\/"},"modified":"2009-02-07T10:02:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-07T15:02:00","slug":"saturday-sports-rundown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2009\/02\/saturday-sports-rundown\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Sports Rundown"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we approach March Madness betting time, the conference and even non-conference action is heating up. <\/p>\n

Syracuse<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> takes on Villanova in which BetUs Sportsbook<\/a> has the Wildcats laying 5.5 points. It’s Mississippi<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> at Vanderbilt and Notre Dame-UCLA on CBS regional. Bookmaker<\/a> has the Commodores laying 6.5 and the Bruins 10.5. Texas<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> is a three-point road favorite at Nebraska<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> according to the Vegas sportsbooks<\/a>. Arizona<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> is laying 4.5 at Oregon<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE>. <\/p>\n

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Rockets try to blast past the T-Wolves, the top-ranked Huskies take on Michigan<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE>, and NASCAR hits the track in Daytona. Check out the Daytona 500 betting odds<\/font><\/a> for Feb. 15. <\/p>\n

Tipping Off in the NBA<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Rockets will be trying to get back into the win column on Saturday night when they play host to the Timberwolves<\/span>. Houston<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> fell 104-93 to Memphis<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> on Wednesday to slip to 30-20 straight-up and 22-27-1 against-the-spread on the season. Minnesota<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> also lost their last contest, a 94-86 decision versus the Hawks. The T-Wolves now rest at just 17-31 SU but 24-23-1 ATS on the season.<\/p>\n

Atlanta<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> is back in action on Saturday as well, as they’ll get a visit from the Clippers. Dwyane<\/span> Wade and the Heat will play in Philadelphia<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, while the Nuggets will try to pick up a victory in New Jersey<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE>. Rounding out the NBA<\/span>‘s Saturday night slate: <\/span>Toronto<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at <\/span>Memphis<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, <\/span>Chicago<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at <\/span>Dallas<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, and also <\/span>Detroit<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at <\/span>Milwaukee<\/span><\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Headlines <\/o:P><\/b><\/p>\n

Swimmer Michael Phelps was contrite and accepted his three-month suspension\u2026.Kevin Garnett was sensational in his return with the Boston<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> Celtics\u2026The Kansas City Chiefs hired Todd Haley as their head coach. Haley was the offensive coordinator for the Arizona<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> Cardinals\u2026Chris Webber will have his number retired by the Golden State Warriors. <\/o:P><\/p>\n

The March to Madness<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top-ranked Connecticut<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> will try to hold that position on Saturday when they play host to Michigan<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> at Gampel<\/span> Pavilion. The Huskies sit at 21-1 SU and 11-7 ATS after knocking off Louisville<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> 68-51 in their last outing. The Wolverines beat Penn<\/st1:PLACENAME> State<\/st1:PLACETYPE><\/st1:PLACE> 71-51 last time out, and they’re at 15-8 SU and 9-8-1<\/st1:DATE> ATS so far this year.<\/p>\n

No. 2 Oklahoma gets a visit from Colorado<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> on Saturday, while Virginia<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> is at No. 3 North Carolina, and No. 4 Duke hosts Miami<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>. As well, it’s No. 6 Pittsburgh at DePaul, No. 9 Xavier at Duquesne, and Florida<\/st1:PLACENAME> State<\/st1:PLACETYPE><\/st1:PLACE> at No. 10 Clemson. There are also two ranked matchups<\/span> on the college hoops slate for Saturday, with No. 20 Syracuse meeting No. 17 Villanova, and No. 18 Gonzaga hosting No. 14 Memphis. As well, slumping Notre Dame will travel west to take on No. 15 UCLA.<\/p>\n

A Trip Around<\/span> the Rink<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Flyers and Bruins will meet for the second time in a week on Saturday afternoon in a 1:00pm ET<\/st1:TIME> contest in Boston<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>. The Flyers fell 3-1 to the conference-leading Bruins when the two teams met on the ice on Wednesday night. Tim Thomas made 26 saves for Boston<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> in that contest to pick up the win, and Martin Biron<\/span> stopped 30 of 33 Bruins shots while getting stuck with the loss.<\/p>\n

There are two other afternoon games on the NHL’s slate for Saturday, with Anaheim<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at Calgary<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> and Edmonton<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at Detroit<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>. The evening slate features nine more matchups<\/span>, including the rival Maple Leafs and Canadiens<\/span> meeting in Montreal<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>. As well, it’ll be Florida<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE> at Washington<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE>, San Jose<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at Columbus<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, Buffalo<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at Ottawa<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, Los Angeles<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at New Jersey<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:STATE>, the Islanders at Tampa Bay<\/st1:CITY>, Colorado<\/st1:STATE><\/st1:PLACE> at St. Louis<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, and Carolina<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY> at Phoenix<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>, while the Blackhawks<\/span> will play in Vancouver<\/st1:PLACE><\/st1:CITY>.<\/p>\n

Rounding Out the Slate<\/strong><\/p>\n

Finally, the Sprint Cup Series stages its first event of the season on Saturday night as the drivers hit the track at Daytona International Speedway for the annual Budweiser Shootout. Dale Earnhardt<\/span> Jr. opened as the 4\/1 Vegas favorite to win the non-points race; he won this event both last year and in 2003. However, Paul Menard is sitting on the pole, while Dale Jr. will start in ninth spot.<\/p>\n

Kyle Busch was second on the opening Vegas odds for the Budweiser Shootout at 9\/2, with Jimmie Johnson at 5\/1, Denny Hamlin at 7\/1, and Jeff Gordon at 8\/1. Gordon, though, drew the last spot on the grid and will have to start in 28th<\/sup> place.<\/p>\n

OffshoreInsiders.com<\/b><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As we approach March Madness betting time, the conference and even non-conference action is heating up. Syracuse takes on Villanova in which BetUs Sportsbook has the Wildcats laying 5.5 points. It’s Mississippi at Vanderbilt and Notre Dame-UCLA on CBS regional. Bookmaker has the Commodores laying 6.5 and the Bruins 10.5. Texas is a three-point road … Continue reading Saturday Sports Rundown<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3477\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}