The No. 1 USC Trojans will be looking to hold on to that lofty ranking on Thursday night when they go to Oregon State to battle the Beavers. Here’s your Daily Sports Roundup.
The Gridiron Spotlight
The Trojans are coming off a convincing 35-3 win over Ohio State which solidified their No. 1 ranking. USC quarterback Mark Sanchez went 17-of-28 for 172 yards passing in that contest, with four TD strikes and one interception. Oregon State is coming off a 45-7 win over Hawaii, but that was their first victory in three attempts this season. Lyle Moevao threw for 268 yards and three scores for the Beavers against the Warriors.
The oddsmakers don’t expect the Trojans/Beavers matchup to be close; USC has been pegged as a 25.5-point favorite. The other game on the college football docket for Thursday is expected to be a bit tighter, as Tulane is favored by 18 points versus SMU.
Other Notable Events
The fight over the final playoff spot in the American League continues on Thursday night, with the White Sox at rival Minnesota. Chicago will send Gavin Floyd (16-8, 3.84 ERA) to the mound in that contest, while the Twins will counter with Kevin Slowey (12-11, 3.85 ERA). The first pitch for that game is set for 8:10pm ET at The Metrodome.
As well, THE TOUR Championship gets underway at East Lake Country Club in Atlanta on Thursday, with the Top 30 golfers in the FedExCup standings all participating. Vijay Singh is the 6/1 Vegas favorite to win the tournament, followed by Sergio Garcia at 7/1, and Phil Mickelson at 8/1. Jim Furyk is just behind that top three at 10/1 odds to win.
The Rest of the Schedule
The Cubs and Mets will finish out their series in New York on Thursday night, with Rich Harden (5-1, 1.66 ERA in the National League) going up against Pedro Martinez (5-6, 5.50 ERA). Also on the NL schedule for Thursday: Arizona at St. Louis, Florida at Washington, Cincinnati at Houston, Pittsburgh at Milwaukee, San Diego at the Dodgers, and Colorado at San Francisco.
Making up the rest of the AL schedule on Thursday: Tampa Bay at Detroit, Cleveland at Boston, the Angels at Seattle, and the Yankees at Toronto. That last matchup will see the Blue Jays pulling out all the stops to get Roy Halladay his 20th win of the season.
Finally, the WNBA’s Western Conference Finals get underway on Thursday night, with San Antonio at Los Angeles. The Eastern Conference Finals will start on Friday night.
News from the Wire
Yankees starting pitcher Mike Mussina won his 19th game of the season on Tuesday night against the Blue Jays, giving him a shot at win No. 20 on the weekend . . . Packers quarterback Brett Favre hurt his ankle on Monday night, but he’s expected to be able to play this weekend against the Cardinals. . . Blues defenseman Erik Johnson could miss up to nine months after suffering a knee injury during a golf tournament.
A Peek at the Future
Notable series for the last weekend of baseball’s regular season: the Yankees at Boston, Tampa Bay at Detroit, Kansas City at Minnesota, Cleveland at the White Sox, Washington at Philadelphia, Florida at the Mets, and the Cubs at Milwaukee . . . Kyle Busch, Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, and Jimmie Johnson are all listed as the 6/1 Vegas co-favorites to pick up a Sprint Cup Series victory at Kansas Speedway on Sunday.
