Earthquakes hope to shake up West against L.A.

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07/21/2010 - Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - San Jose slumped into the World Cup break last month on a three-game winless streak, but the Earthquakes have resembled their early-season form since Major League Soccer resumed in late June.

In addition to two ties and a win in its last three MLS games, San Jose took a break from league play to post an impressive draw against England's Tottenham.

"I'm very impressed with them," Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp said on the MLS website after the 0-0 draw on Saturday at Buck Shaw Stadium.

The Earthquakes (6-4-4) visit the Los Angeles Galaxy on Thursday night at The Home Depot Center, and midfielder Bobby Convey believes San Jose has no reason to fear the MLS overall leader.

"Obviously, L.A. is one of the best teams in the league right now. If we can play against [Tottenham], I don't see why we shouldn't be able to play against L.A.," Convey, second in MLS with eight assists, said on the MLS website.

San Jose is fifth in the Western Conference, 17 points behind Los Angeles, but has played fewer matches than every team in the division. The Earthquakes have played three fewer matches than L.A., and can make another statement in league play this week.

Coach Frank Yallop has guided the Earthquakes to 22 points already, just eight less than all of last season in 16 more matches. San Jose has played well away from home so far, posting a 3-2-2 mark - identical to its home record.

Yallop was extremely pleased with the performance against Tottenham, and hopes San Jose builds on the result against L.A.

"Obviously this is preseason for [Tottenham] and we know that, but I think a few years ago you see teams get beat in these types of matches. We're not easy to beat now," Yallop said on the league's website.

L.A. (12-2-3) has set the standard this season in MLS under Bruce Arena, going unbeaten at home in seven matches to accumulate the best record in the league.

The Galaxy even survived a stretch without stars Landon Donovan, who leads MLS with 10 assists, and Edson Buddle, who leads MLS with 11 goals. Both were with the United States for the World Cup.

L.A. won just one of four matches from June 9 to July 10, the last a 2-0 loss to the New England Revolution, but Donovan and Buddle both scored Sunday night as the Galaxy rebounded with a 2-1 win at D.C. United.

"You're going to lose games along the way, and the way you respond in the next game is important," Arena said. "Our response was really good."

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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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