The NBA tips off the 2008/09 regular season on Tuesday night with three contests, with a pair of college football games also on the schedule. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.
The Gridiron Spotlight
It’s Buffalo at Ohio and Houston at Marshall in the two college football games on Tuesday night. The Bulls are coming off a 27-24 win over Army to improve to 3-4 (and 4-3 against-the-spread) on the season, while the Bobcats fell 14-10 to Temple last time out to drop to 2-6 (and 4-2-1 ATS). Ohio opened as a 2.5-point favorite for this matchup.
Meanwhile, the Cougars have won three games in row, and they’re coming off a 44-38 victory over Southern Methodist which boosted their record to 4-3 (2-4 ATS). The Thundering Herd have been tagged with the loss in each of their last three games to slip to 3-4 (1-5 ATS) on the season. Houston was opened as an 8-point favorite for this one.
Other Notable Events
The NBA offers up a trio of games on Tuesday night, including the defending-champion Celtics at home against LeBron James and his Cavaliers. The oddsmakers expect a Boston win in that one, as they opened as 7-point favorites (with the total at 179.5 points). The other two matchups are Milwaukee at Chicago (-6), and Portland at the Lakers (-7.5). Greg Oden will make his NBA regular-season debut for the Trail Blazers.
The Rest of the Schedule
The National Hockey League has seven games on tap for Tuesday night as they try and share the sporting stage with their counterparts from the NBA. The top matchup will take place on the west coast, with the 5-2-2 Penguins playing against the 7-2-0 Sharks. Also on the schedule: Nashville at Washington, Philadelphia at Atlanta, Carolina at Montreal, Tampa Bay at Toronto, Colorado at Calgary, and also Boston at Vancouver.
News from the Wire
Celtics guard Rajon Rondo has a sprained ankle, but is probable to play on Tuesday; Cavaliers guard Delonte West is probable as well despite an ankle injury . . . Bulls forward Luol Deng is questionable for Tuesday because of a sore back, guard Larry Hughes (shoulder) will miss the game, and guards Ben Gordon (toe) and Derrick Rose (hip) are both probable to play; Bucks center Andrew Bogut is questionable with a sprained ankle . . . Lakers guard Kobe Bryant is probable for Tuesday despite a sore knee, while Trail Blazers guard Brandon Roy (knee) is also probable to be on the floor.
A Peek at the Future
The first ranked college football team in action this week is No. 14 South Florida, who plays on the road at Cincinnati on Thursday night. No. 1 Texas plays at No. 8 Texas Tech on Saturday, while it’s No. 24 Florida State at No. 21 Georgia Tech and No. 5 Florida at No. 9 Georgia in two other ranked weekend matchups . . . Notable Week 9 NFL matchups include Green Bay at Tennessee, Dallas at the Giants, and New England at Indianapolis, while it’s Pittsburgh at Washington in the next Monday nighter.
