Daily Sports Roundup
Friday, January 1
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Ohio State battles Oregon in the Rose Bowl, Florida meets Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, and Fenway hosts an NHL matchup.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The first day of the year offers up five bowl games, including No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 7 Oregon in the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes (10-2 SU, 8-4 ATS) topped Michigan 21-10 in their last game of the regular season, and starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor is expected to play through his knee injury. The Ducks (10-2 SU, 7-5 ATS) knocked off rival Oregon State 37-33 in their last game to clinch the Pac-10 title, with LeGarrette Blount rushing for 51 yards and a score on nine carries. Oregon is a 4-point fave for Friday's contest, with the total at 50.5 points.
The other four New Year's Day bowl games: Northwestern vs. Auburn in the Outback Bowl, No. 18 West Virginia vs. Florida State in the Gator Bowl, No. 11 Penn State vs. No. 13 LSU in the Capital One Bowl, and No. 5 Florida vs. No. 4 Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl. Urban Meyer will coach the Gators (12-1 SU, 5-6-1 ATS) in the Sugar Bowl despite the leave of absence he announced last week. Interim coach Jeff Quinn will guide the Bearcats (12-0 SU, 6-5 ATS), with Brian Kelly having taken the coaching job at Notre Dame. Florida is a 13-point favorite.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
New Year's Day has three games on tap around the NBA, with New York at Atlanta, Orlando at Minnesota, and Sacramento at the Lakers. The Kings played host to Los Angeles on December 26, and they came up on the wrong end of a 112-103 double-overtime decision. Kobe Bryant led the Lakers' attack with a game-high 38 points in that contest, while Pau Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Lamar Odom had 13 points and 15 boards. Beno Udrih had a team-high 23 points in that defeat for the Kings, and Tyreke Evans had 18 points.
As well, there are three games involving ranked teams on the college hardwood on Friday, with McNeese State at No. 20 Texas Tech, Dayton at No. 19 New Mexico, and No. 6 West Virginia at No. 4 Purdue. The Mountaineers slipped past Marquette 63-62 in their last game on Tuesday night, with Devin Ebanks tossing in 19 points in the win and Da'Sean Butler providing the game-winning jumper. The Boilermakers beat Iowa 67-56 on Tuesday, as E'Twaun Moore had 21 points.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are just two games on the National Hockey League schedule for Friday, with Atlanta at Buffalo and Philadelphia at Boston. The Flyers and Bruins will be participating in the league's annual Winter Classic event, with this year's game being played at Boston's Fenway Park. The two teams last met back on December 14 indoors at TD Garden, with Philadelphia rolling to a 3-1 road victory. Kimmo Timmonen scored twice for the Flyers in that contest, and James van Riemsdyk had the other Philly goal. Vladimir Sobotka had the Bruins' marker.
Today's Wagering Tips
Friday, January 1
Inclement weather rule
Most hockey games are played inside a climate-controlled arena but for the Winter Classic set to go off on New Year’s Day at Fenway Park, the unpredictable weather is in full effect.
The scheduled game between the Flyers and Bruins is in jeopardy of happening with Boston forecasts calling for heavy snow, and the game could even be cut short if needed.
The NHL has decided upon a contingency plan that would allow the game to go down in the books as official after two periods of play if the frozen precipitation became too great. This could greatly affect the game total which is set at 5.5.
Total bettors should check with their book before placing a wager to see how this would shake out if only two periods were played. A wager might be graded the same as a baseball game where eight innings must be completed in order for it to be official.
The over has cashed in four of the last five in this series.
On the road again
The Southeast Division-leading Magic will take to the road for eight of their next 10 games where they have lost three straight to elite competition.
The Timberwolves don’t fall under that category and aren’t a team with much home-court advantage with a 4-13 record at the Target Center.
The T-Wolves have one of the better frontcourt tandems in the league with big men Kevin Love and Al Jefferson, but those two will have to contend with Dwight “Superman” Howard down low.
Minnesota battled back from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter against the Jazz on Wednesday and got within four points with one minute to play after Love drained a three-pointer.
"It is a weapon, it is something that [Love] can use, that we can use, and I think it's going to be very valuable asset to him," said coach Kurt Rambis. "He is the type of player that I think eventually will be able to knock down outside shots as well as post up.”
The Timberwolves have covered in three of their last four games at home and are getting 8.5 points against the Magic.
Truckin’ along
West Virginia’s starting point guard, Darryl “Truck” Bryant, missed the Seton Hall game last Saturday and played sparingly in the 63-62 win over Marquette on Tuesday because of a lingering groin injury.
Bryant came off the bench and played 11 minutes in the game and made an impact with four assists and a blocked shot. The sophomore averages 9.0 ppg and is second on the team with 41 assists.
The No. 6-ranked Mountaineers are getting 4 points from the No. 4-ranked Purdue Boilermakers on Friday with a total of 136. It is likely Bryant will again play in a reserve role off the bench.
Notable Quotable
“Of course, if we were playing in the national championship, it would be 100 times more intense. I’m not going to lie to you. We’re preparing to win the football game and coming out and practicing as hard as we can, but if we were playing in the national championship, would it be more intense? Would people have more of a sense of urgency? Yeah, I think so.”
-- Florida Gators linebacker Ryan Stamper on finding motivation heading into the Sugar Bowl after losing to Alabama in the SEC Championship.