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01/29/2012 - Syracuse, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No. 3 Syracuse snuck past West Virginia, 63-61, but Saturday's finish at the Carrier Dome was marred by controversy.
With West Virginia down by two, Darryl Bryant missed a three-pointer for the Mountaineers. Deniz Kilicli grabbed a big offensive rebound and went up for a layup. However, Baye Keita pinned the ball against the glass in what seemed to be an easy goaltending call.
The whistles stayed silent on the court, however, and West Virginia kept the ball with 6.2 seconds to go after Kris Joseph fell out of bounds. But Kevin Jones' shot from beyond the arc was off the mark as time expired.
Afterward, West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins was frustrated by what he though was a blown call at the end of the game. No one needed to tell him whether it was goaltending or not.
"Did I think it was? No. I know it was. I just saw the replay," Huggins said.
Brandon Triche had 18 points for the Orange (22-1, 9-1 Big East), who have won two in a row since a loss to Notre Dame on January 21. Kris Joseph added 13 points and seven rebounds.
Syracuse improved to 15-0 at the Carrier Dome this season.
"We did a good job defensively and then when Kris got the ball I don't know what he was thinking," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "I don't know, I have no clue. He just has to hold the ball and the game is over. The offense, and based on that play alone, we probably should have lost the game. We played good defense and we challenged. With that loose ball the game should have been over."
Jones ended with 20 points and eight boards for the Mountaineers (15-7, 5-4), who have dropped two straight. Bryant and Gary Browne donated 12 and 11 points, respectively.
With the score tied at 56, the Mountaineers turned the ball over on a shot clock violation. Joseph recorded a three-point play at the other end to give the Orange a 59-56 edge with three minutes to play.
Jabarie Hinds' floater in the lane got WVU within one, but Joseph's layup off Dion Waiters' missed three-pointer put Syracuse ahead by three again.
Jones responded with a three-pointer from the corner to tie the game at 61 with 1:37 left. Triche made two free throws at the opposite end to put the Orange back on top.
Hinds and Jones each missed shots from beyond the arc for the Mountaineers. Waiters failed to make a fadeaway jumper for the Orange, leading to the final chain of events.
West Virginia led for most of the first half and held a 22-16 margin on Jones' three-pointer with 7:36 remaining.
But Syracuse finished the frame on a 12-2 run to take a 28-24 lead at the break.
Triche's three-pointer and layup early in the second half gave the home team a six-point lead, 33-27, which proved to be the largest difference the rest of the way.
Game Notes
Syracuse leads the all-time series by a 34-16 margin. West Virginia fell to 3-22 at Syracuse and 1-10 against the Orange in the Carrier Dome. WVU's only win at the Carrier Dome against Syracuse was a 101-79 decision on December 4, 1996...Syracuse center Fab Melo missed his third straight game due to academic issues...WVU turned the ball over 17 times.
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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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