Daily Sports Roundup
Saturday, January 2
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Oklahoma State takes on Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl, while the Cavs play the Nets, and the Penguins meet the Lightning.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
There are five bowl games on the schedule for Saturday, with South Florida vs. Northern Illinois in the International Bowl, South Carolina vs. Connecticut in the Papa John's.com Bowl, Arkansas vs. East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl, Michigan State vs. Texas Tech in the Alamo Bowl, and Oklahoma State vs. Mississippi in the Cotton Bowl. The No. 18 Cowboys (9-3 SU, 5-5-1 ATS) are the only ranked team in action on Saturday, and they'll be looking to bounce back from a disappointing 27-0 loss to Oklahoma. Mississippi, though, is the 3-point favorite.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA's 12-game slate for Saturday includes a huge mismatch in New Jersey, with the Nets (3-29 SU, 10-21-1 ATS) playing host to LeBron James and the Cavaliers (26-8 SU, 18-16 ATS). Cleveland is coming off a 106-101 win over Atlanta on Wednesday night, with James pouring in 48 points to go along with 10 rebounds in that contest. New Jersey picked up a rare win in their last outing, beating New York 104-95 on Wednesday. Yi Jianlian had 22 points in that victory.
Also on the NBA hardwood on Saturday: Charlotte at Miami, San Antonio at Washington, Minnesota at Indiana, Toronto at Boston, Orlando at Chicago, Houston at New Orleans, Oklahoma City at Milwaukee, Denver at Utah, Golden State at Portland, Dallas at Sacramento, and Memphis at Phoenix. The Suns (21-12 SU, 19-13-1 ATS) won their second straight game last time out, getting past Boston 116-98 on Wednesday. Amare Stoudemire had 26 points on the day.
Top-10 teams in action around college basketball on Saturday include No. 5 Syracuse (vs. Pittsburgh), No. 10 Connecticut (vs. Notre Dame), No. 3 Kentucky (vs. Louisville), No. 8 Villanova (at Marquette), No. 2 Texas (vs. TAMU Corpus Christi), and No. 1 Kansas (at No. 18 Temple). As well, a second ranked matchup on the slate has No. 11 Michigan State at No. 25 Northwestern. The Spartans (10-3 SU, 3-9 ATS) got past Texas Arlington by a score of 87-68 last time out, and the Wildcats (10-2 SU, 6-3 ATS) fell 89-83 to Illinois on Wednesday.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the NHL has a dozen games on the Saturday schedule, with Carolina at the Rangers, Vancouver at Dallas, Washington at Los Angeles, Toronto at Calgary, Atlanta at the Islanders, Colorado at Columbus, Anaheim at Nashville, Detroit at Phoenix, Chicago at St. Louis, New Jersey at Minnesota, Edmonton at San Jose, and Pittsburgh at Tampa Bay. The 26-14-1 Penguins are coming off a 2-0 loss to the Devils in their last game on Wednesday night, while the 15-15-10 Lightning were beaten by a score of 2-1 in overtime by the Habs on Wednesday.