Daily Sports Roundup
Sunday, January 3
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The NFL wraps up its regular season, while the Bobcats take on the Cavaliers, and the Blue Devils try to get past the Tigers.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The Cowboys will host the Eagles on Sunday afternoon to decide the NFC East champion in one of the 16 games on the NFL's busy schedule. Dallas (10-5 SU, 8-7 ATS) is one game behind Philadelphia (11-4 SU, 9-6 ATS) heading into their Week 17 matchup; the winner gets the division crown, while the loser settles for a wild-card berth. The Eagles are coming off a 30-27 win over Denver in their last game, with Donovan McNabb throwing for 322 yards and three scores. The Cowboys blanked Washington 17-0 last week, as Tony Romo had one TD strike.
Dallas is a 3-point favorite for that matchup. The rest of the NFL's season-ending slate and the attached lines: Indianapolis at Buffalo (-8.5), New Orleans at Carolina, Jacksonville at Cleveland (-1), Chicago (-3) at Detroit, New England at Houston (-8), Pittsburgh (-3) at Miami, the Giants at Minnesota (-9), San Francisco (-7) at St. Louis, Atlanta (-2.5) at Tampa Bay, Green Bay at Arizona (-3.5), Kansas City at Denver (-13), Baltimore (-10.5) at Oakland, Washington at San Diego (-4), Tennessee (-4.5) at Seattle, and lastly Cincinnati at the Jets (-10).
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has just five games on tap for Sunday, with Indiana at New York, San Antonio at Toronto, Philadelphia at Denver, Dallas at the Lakers, and Charlotte at Cleveland. The Bobcats and Cavaliers hooked up back on November 27, with Charlotte pulling out a 94-87 upset victory at home. Gerald Wallace led the way with 31 points and 14 rebounds for the Bobcats in that contest, while Stephen Jackson was good for 17 points. LeBron James had a team-high 25 points in that losing cause for the Cavaliers, and Mo Williams added 22 points and six assists.
The top game on the college hoops schedule for Sunday has No. 21 Clemson at No. 7 Duke. The Tigers improved to 12-2 on the season with a 70-67 win over South Carolina State on Tuesday night, while the Blue Devils sit at 11-1 on the season after blasting Pennsylvania 114-55 on New Year's Eve. Other games involving ranked teams on Sunday's college hoops schedule: South Dakota at No. 12 Kansas State, No. 23 Wisconsin at Penn State, No. 13 Georgetown at DePaul, UTEP at No. 20 Texas Tech, and finally No. 15 Ohio State at Michigan.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
As well, there are four games on the National Hockey League's schedule for Sunday, with Philadelphia at Ottawa, Pittsburgh at Florida, Anaheim at Chicago, and Buffalo at Montreal. The 21-19-3 Canadiens finished off a successful road trip with a 5-4 win over the Panthers in Florida on New Year's Eve. Michael Cammalleri scored his 20th goal of the season for Montreal in that win, while Andrei Markov picked up three assists. The Habs and Sabres last met December 14 in Montreal, with Buffalo scoring two third-period goals en route to a 4-3 win.
Today's Wagering Tips
Sunday, January 3
Buckin’ Broncos
Denver, who is in a must-win situation to have a chance to get into the postseason, will be without its two best wide receivers and tight end on Sunday.
Embattled wideout Brandon Marshall butted heads again with his head coach and has been benched for the game. Marshall tweaked his hamstring in Wednesday’s practice and prematurely ruled himself out of the game, much to Josh McDaniels’ chagrin.
"It will be a coaching decision," said McDaniels. "There's a number of factors that go into that. There's a lot of players that play with things that are more difficult to play with than what he has."
Tight end Tony Scheffler has also been benched because of an attitude problem, according to McDaniels.
Second-year receiver Eddie Royal will miss his second straight game with a neck injury.
The two wideouts combined for 138 catches and 1,465 yards this season while Scheffler hauled in 31 balls for 416 yards and two scores.
Denver opened as 11-point favorites over the Chiefs but that number has dropped to 10 at most books. The total has also decreased from an opener of 39 to 38. The over has cashed in four of the last five games in this series.
Back that as$ up
The Raptors have won a season-high five straight games coming into Saturday, but now find themselves in a back-to-back situation where the team has not faired well.
Toronto is 1-6 straight up and ATS in B2B scenarios this season. Their opponent, San Antonio, is also coming off a Saturday game and four out of their five B2B games this season have gone under the posted total.
The Spurs have won 10 of their last 12 but the team still isn’t satisfied with its consistency.
"I believe that we got a lot to improve to really become contenders and be respected as one of the best team in the league," Manu Ginobili said. "We're not that steady so far this season, but we're on the right track."
Hedo Turkoglu left Toronto’s game on Wednesday versus Charlotte after suffering a bruised right knee but was in the lineup on Saturday versus the Celtics. The sharp-shooting big man is averaging 13.5 ppg this season and is shooting better than 40 percent from downtown.
Backless G-Men
The Giants might not have a running back in the backfield on Sunday. Okay, somebody will play the position but bruiser Brandon Jacobs was placed on IR this week and it is highly unlikely Ahmad Bradshaw will play in the meaningless game versus the Vikings.
Bradshaw has been in and out of the lineup the last handful of weeks with ankle injuries.
The two-headed monster of Jacobs and Bradshaw combined to rumble for 1,600 yards and 12 touchdowns this season. Gartrell Johnson and Danny Ware are expected to see carries on Sunday.
The spread for the game opened at 9 points in favor of Minnesota. Despite the Giants losing their two primary backs, the number has remained at 9 at some markets and can be found as low as 7.5.
The Vikes are 1-8-1 ATS in their last 10 Week 17 games and could rest starters during the game.
No ace in the hole
Evansville may be without its leading scorer (14.9 ppg) and the MVC top rebounder against Creighton on Sunday.
Forward James Haarsma missed the Purple Aces last game versus Northern Iowa with tendinitis in his foot. Evansville lost that game, 65-46, and Haarsma’s inside presence was missed as the team was outrebounded 22-33.
The Aces are getting 5 points on their home floor to Creighton with a total of 136. Five of the last six games in this series have gone over and the underdog is 8-3 ATS in the last six meetings.
Notable Quotable
"I swear to God, I called Coach (Marvin) Lewis from after Sunday's game to this point at least 20 times. I asked him the same question, ‘Coach, please don't get me excited. How much are we playing?’ He gave me that little giggle and then he said, ‘We're playing the whole game. We're playing to win.’ I said, ‘OK. Now if you get me excited and you try to pull me out of the game, I'm not coming out. I will force you to use every time out just to get me off the field.’ That's what I plan to do. I'm not coming off the field. Period.”
-- Bengals enigmatic wide receiver Chad Ochocinco when asked how much he plans on playing in the game Sunday versus the Jets.