A top-25 SEC showdown on tap in Gainesville

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02/04/2012 - Gainesville, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Top-25 foes collide in Gainesville this afternoon, as the 12th-ranked Florida Gators play host to the 25th-ranked Vanderbilt Commodores in an SEC affair at the O'Connell Center.

Billy Donovan's Gators are peaking at the right time. Florida enters this contest with a six-game win streak in tow and moved to 6-1 in conference play with a 74-66 victory over South Carolina on Thursday. The win was also the 18th straight at the O'Connell Center, tied for the fourth longest streak in program history.

Kevin Stallings' Commodores are just a game behind the Gators in the SEC, following Tuesday's 82-74 loss at Arkansas. Vanderbilt has split its last four games and is 16-6 overall on the year.

This represents the 123rd meeting in this longstanding series. Vanderbilt holds a narrow 63-59 series advantage. These two teams have traded sweeps in the season series in each of the last three years. Florida is 12-3 against Vanderbilt at home under Donovan.

The Commodores have a fighting chance in any game thanks to the dynamic duo of John Jenkins and Jeffery Taylor. Jenkins leads the SEC in scoring at 19.9 ppg and is shooting .481 from the floor overall, including 82-of-186 from three- point range. Taylor is fourth in the conference in scoring at 17.4 ppg and can also hit the long ball at a .463 clip (37-of-80). Scoring depth can be found in the form of Lance Goulbourne (9.6 ppg), Brad Tinsley (9.4 ppg) and Festus Ezeli (9.0 ppg).

Vanderbilt shot a solid 50 percent from the floor at Arkansas, but fell victim to the Razorbacks' hot shooting in the second half (6-of-12 from three-point range) in an eight-point loss. Jenkins hit four three-pointers himself and was right on his season averaging with a game-high 19 points. Taylor poured in 18 points, Ezeli had 14 and Steve Tchiengang chipped in 10 in the loss.

One of the top offensive teams in the nation, Florida has a number of scoring options at its disposal, leading to an impressive 80.4 ppg. The Gators rely heavily on its long range acumen, delivering on 40 percent from behind the arc. Kenny Boynton plays a big role in that regard, averaging 17.5 ppg , fueled by a .438 clip from three-point range (74-of-169). Perimeter help comes in the form of Bradley Beal (14.2 ppg) and Erving Walker (12.7 ppg), who also serves as the team's primary distributor (5.1 apg). Center Patric Young (11.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and Erik Murphy (10.3 ppg) provide the frontcourt balance.

The Gators jumped all over the Gamecocks early, building a 17-point lead in the first half, but South Carolina battled back to trail by only nine at the break. UF was able to hold off USC however, to remain unbeaten at home. The Gators knocked down a season-high 23 free-throws in the win. Boynton led the way 24 points, while Beal recorded his fourth career double-double with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Walker tacked on 14 points and dished out seven assists. The team got the win despite shooting under 40 percent from the floor and a season-low .250 from three-point range.

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NCAA Football Betting : USC's reward: Top spot in Top 25

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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