U.S. Open Cup preview as Revs, Hoops square off

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09/14/2007 - Foxborough, MA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas travels to New England Saturday for a Major League Soccer fixture between two teams that are virtual locks for the upcoming MLS Cup playoffs.

The Revs are currently second in the East, seven points back of leaders D.C. with a game in hand while the Hoops are third in the West, within striking distance of the top two teams - CD Chivas USA and the Houston Dynamo.

In the second and final league match between the two clubs, they will be battling for playoff position as well as sending a message for an upcoming game for the U.S. Open Cup championship, which will be played between the Revs and Hoops at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas - the home of FC Dallas - on Oct. 3.

The first meeting saw the Revs pull out a 1-0 win in Frisco behind a Taylor Twellman tally in the first month of the season. Both teams have evolved since that early season contest, meaning it should have no relevance to Saturday's fixture.

The Revolution are coming off a 4-2 loss to D.C. United, the current league leaders. Coach Steve Nicol was ejected from that game and will be suspended for Saturday's contest after arguing a non-call that led to D.C.'s go-ahead goal Sunday.

"I'm not talking about a hairline decision one way or the other," Nicol said. "I'm talking about a free kick that everybody within 20 yards could see what it was. Not one of them saw it? That's what they'll probably tell you. And if they did see it - are you kidding me?"

FC Dallas is coming off a 2-0 win over Toronto FC, but head coach Steve Morrow wasn't happy that it took two penalty kick goals to best the expansion franchise.

"I didn't think it was our best night," Morrow said. "We're happy to get the win and I think we deserved to get three points. It's often the sign of a good team when you don't play your best, win 2-0 and keep a clean sheet."

The Hoops will have to step up their game considerably to be successful at Gillette Stadium against the second highest scoring team in the league. TFC, currently on a league-record 732 minute scoreless streak and the lowest scoring team in the league, had numerous quality chances on a shaky Dallas defense last week.

"We certainly gave up a few more opportunities than I would have liked and at times, it was a bit uncomfortable," Morrow said of the Toronto fixture. "They got the ball into the box a lot. I thought we needed to get a little more pressure on that first ball and stop the delivery in the first place. We could have done a better job in those situations of marking in the box. I thought we dealt well with their direct style for the most part."

The Revs have a number of attacking options with Twellman and his team-leading 12 goals leading the way. Andy Dorman, Pat Noonan, Adam Cristman, Shalrie Joseph and Steve Ralston are just a handful of players who can find the back of the net on the New England roster.

New England will also have to be wary of the Dallas attack that features Juan Toja, Carlos Ruiz and Denilson among others. Denilson, the league's latest designated player signing, scored his first MLS goal last week against Toronto and is slowly finding his groove with his new team.

"He nearly got on the end of a few things," Morrow said. "We just have to get used to the way Denilson plays. When he gets on the ball, we have to make runs. I think it will take a few games to adjust to that."

After Saturday's fixture, New England will travel to Eastern rival Red Bull New York for a Sept. 22 fixture while the Hoops host playoff bubble team, Chicago, on Thursday.

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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.

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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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