Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Bengals look for a win in San Diego, the Vikings meet the Panthers in primetime, and the Mavericks play host to the Cavs.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
The top matchup on the NFL schedule for Sunday will take place in San Diego, where the Chargers (10-3 SU, 7-6 ATS) will play host to the Bengals (9-4 SU, 6-7 ATS). San Diego won their eighth game in a row last week, slipping past the Cowboys 20-17 in Dallas. The Bengals were knocked for a loss last Sunday, falling 30-10 to Brett Favre and the Vikings in Minnesota. Oddsmakers have San Diego as a 6.5-point favorite for Sunday, with the total for the game at 43.5 points.
The other late-afternoon games on Sunday are Oakland at Denver (-14), Green Bay at Pittsburgh (-2), Chicago at Baltimore (-11), and Tampa Bay at Seattle (-6.5). Earlier NFL action has Cleveland at Kansas City (-1.5), Atlanta at the Jets, Miami at Tennessee, San Francisco at Philadelphia (-7.5), New England (-7) at Buffalo, Arizona (-12.5) at Detroit, and Houston at St. Louis. The lowly Rams (1-12 SU, 6-7 ATS) head into their Sunday matchup riding a five-game losing streak.
Finally, the Sunday nighter has Minnesota (11-2 SU, 8-4-1 ATS) at Carolina (5-8 SU, 6-7 ATS). Favre went just 17-of-30 for 192 yards passing in the Vikings’ win over the Bengals last week, with one TD and one INT. Adrian Peterson ran for 97 yards and two scores. The Panthers fell 20-10 in New England last Sunday, with Steve Smith catching two balls for 83 yards and a TD. The Vikings have been listed as 9-point road favorites for Sunday night’s game, with the total set at 43.
As well, there’s a single bowl game on the Sunday college football schedule, with Southern Miss (7-5 SU, 6-5 ATS) vs. Middle Tennessee State (9-3 SU, 9-3 ATS) in the New Orleans Bowl at the Superdome. Oddsmakers have Southern Miss set as the 3.5-point favorite for the matchup, with the total for the contest at 57.5.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA offers up seven games on Sunday, with New Orleans at Toronto, Denver at Memphis, Minnesota at Boston, the Lakers at Detroit, Portland at Miami, Charlotte at New York, and Cleveland at Dallas. The Cavaliers picked up an 85-82 home win over Milwaukee in their last game on Friday night, as LeBron James scored 26 points. The Mavericks fell 116-108 in overtime to Houston on Friday, with Dirk Nowitzki leaving in the second quarter with a cut on his elbow.
And there are two games involving ranked teams on the college basketball schedule for Sunday, with UCF at No. 14 Connecticut, and Florida State at No. 22 Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets (8-1 SU, 5-1 ATS) have won five games in a row, most recently beating Arkansas Pine Bluff by a score of 65-53 on Wednesday night. The Seminoles (9-2 SU, 2-6 ATS) got past Auburn 76-72 in their game on Thursday night; Solomon Alabi scored 22 points for Florida State.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, there are just two games on the National Hockey League schedule for Sunday, with St. Louis at Vancouver and Detroit at Chicago. The Red Wings and Blackhawks haven’t met since way back on October 8, when Detroit pulled out a 3-2 home victory. Nicklas Lidstrom, Kris Draper, and now-injured Johan Franzen had the goals for the Wings in that win, while Chris Osgood made 32 saves and was the game’s First Star. Patrick Sharp and Kris Versteeg had the Hawks goals.
