Kansas still No. 1, Syracuse slides up to No. 2

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

02/08/2010 - New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Kansas remained the top team in the latest Associated Press men's college basketball poll, while Syracuse moved up one spot to No. 2.

The Jayhawks (22-1) regained the top spot last week after spending the first eight weeks of the season atop the rankings before their lone loss of the season on January 10 at Tennessee. Kansas received 55 first-place votes, one more than last week, and a total of 1,613 points from a nationwide media panel.

Syracuse (23-1) moved up one spot, garnering eight first-place votes, while Kentucky also climbed one spot to third. The Wildcats, who spent one week at No. 1, picked up a pair of top tallies.

Villanova and West Virginia, combatants on Monday in Morgantown, round out the top five. The Wildcats were second last week, but suffered their first Big East loss on Saturday at Georgetown, while West Virginia moved up one spot from sixth.

Purdue jumped up two spots to sixth and this week is followed by Georgetown, Duke, Kansas State and Michigan State. The Spartans lost to Wisconsin and Illinois last week and dropped five places from fifth.

The second 10 consists of Wisconsin, Tennessee, Ohio State, Texas, New Mexico, Gonzaga, BYU, Butler, Northern Iowa and Georgia Tech. Wisconsin moved up five spots from 16th after beating Michigan State and Michigan, while Texas dropped five places after a loss Saturday at Oklahoma. The Longhorns were ranked No. 1 for two weeks, but have lost four of their last six games entering Monday's Big 12 tussle against Kansas.

Temple, Vanderbilt, UNLV, Baylor and Pittsburgh are the last five teams ranked this week.

UNLV is the lone newcomer, thanks to a five-game winning streak that included Saturday's 88-74 victory over BYU. The Runnin' Rebels were ranked for two weeks earlier this season.

Ole Miss was the only team to drop from the rankings. The Rebels were 25th, but lost to Kentucky last Tuesday before beating Alabama.

In addition to Monday's matchups of ranked foes, Tuesday's slate features an SEC showdown between Tennessee and Vanderbilt in Nashville and a Big Ten battle pitting Purdue and Michigan State in East Lansing. On Wednesday, UNLV will host New Mexico and a rare Friday top-25 contest has West Virginia at Pittsburgh in the second 2010 basketball edition of the Backyard Brawl. The two rivals squared off last Wednesday in Morgantown with West Virginia taking a 70-51 decision. Only one ranked matchup Saturday is a big one in the SEC, as Kentucky welcomes Tennessee.

Mysportsboo NCAA Basketball Betting News

<< Ovechkin heads NHL's Three Stars
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Washington Capitals forwards Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom, along with newly minted Maple Leaf goaltender Jean Sebastien Giguere, have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the week ending Februar

<< Patrick given green light for Daytona Nationwide race
Daytona Beach, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - IndyCar series star Danica Patrick will continue to be in the spotlight during Speedweeks at Daytona International Speedway. Patrick announced on Monday she will make her Nationwide Series debu

<< Lisicki rolls in Pattaya opener
Pattaya City, Thailand (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Second-seeded Sabine Lisicki highlighted Monday's first-round winners at the $220,000 Pattaya Open tennis event. The German Lisicki was pasting Akgul Amanmuradova 6-0 when the Uzbekista

<< Kostner to remain at Wolfsburg through season
Wolfsburg, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Caretaker manager Lorenz-Gunter Kostner will remain in charge at German champions Wolfsburg until the end of the season. Kostner took charge of the Wolves a couple of weeks ago when Armin Veh

<< City waits on Bellamy injury news
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester City are waiting to discover how long Craig Bellamy faces on the sidelines after the striker suffered a knee injury during the 2-1 defeat at Hull City. The 30-year-old Wales internation

Safina will skip Dubai >>
Moscow, Russia (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Dinara Safina will miss next week's WTA Tour event in Dubai because of a back injury. The currently world No. 2 star was forced to retire from her fourth-round match at last month

Connecticut continues to top women's poll >>
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut remained a unanimous choice as the top-ranked team in women's college basketball, as the Associated Press released its latest poll Monday. The Huskies (23-0) enter the week with a 62-gam

Gainey stepping down as Canadiens GM >>
Montreal, QC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Montreal Canadiens general manager Bob Gainey will reportedly step down from his post, as the team has scheduled a press conference for 4 p.m. (et). According to a report by TSN Canada, assistant general

Stricker up to second in world rankings >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Stricker's victory on Sunday at the Northern Trust Open moved the American to second in this week's world rankings. Tiger Woods remained in first, followed by Stricker, who was third last

Vesnina, Szavay advance in France >>
Paris, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eighth-seeded Elena Vesnina and Hungarian Agnes Szavay were Monday's first-round winners at the $700,000 Open GDF Suez tennis tournament. The Russian Vesnina vaulted past Romanian Alexandra Dulgheru 6

Police report: Terrell Owens hospitalized after attempt

Terrell Owens will address the media at a 3:15 p.m. ET news conference outside the Cowboys' practice facility after an internal police report indicated he tried to kill himself by overdosing on prescription pain medication, even putting two more pills into his mouth after a friend intervened.

The Dallas police report said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

Owens left the hospital late Wednesday morning, giving reporters a "thumbs up" but making no comment as he was driven away in an SUV.

Michael Irvin said that Owens denied he attempted suicide and said he was rushed to the hospital as a result of an adverse reaction to medication. And a source close to Owens told Michael A. Smith that Owens wasn't attempting suicide.

NFL Network analyst Deion Sanders said he spoke with Owens shortly before his release from the hospital and that Owens was in good spirits.

"The fact that it has been reported a suicide attempt, he's laughed at that notion. It was a case that medication that was taken wasn't accepted well in his system with the other vitamins he's on," Sanders said.

The series of events began a little before 8 p.m. Tuesday.

Owens' publicist, Kim Etheredge, said she was at Owens' home when he took pain medicine for his broken right hand. Concerned by how he began acting, Etheredge said in various interviews Wednesday with Dallas-area media that she called 911. Owens was taken to a hospital, with Etheredge saying it was an allergic reaction to the medicine.

But early Wednesday, several media outlets received a police report -- that had yet to be released by the authorities -- saying Owens had attempted suicide by overdosing on the painkillers, even putting two more pills into his mouth after an unidentified friend intervened.

The police document, first reported by WFAA-TV, said Owens was asked by rescue workers "if he was attempting to harm himself, at which time [he] stated, 'Yes.'"

When officially released by police, about half the document was blacked out, including the phrases "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication" and "a drug overdose," as well as the details of Owens having two pills pried from his mouth and Owens saying "Yes" when asked if he intended to harm himself.

Etheredge, who said she was the friend cited in the police document, told Dallas-area media Wednesday that the police got the story wrong.

The tape of the 911 call could help clear things up. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get its contents, but fire department officials said it would not be available before late Wednesday.

The police report said the 32-year-old Owens told his friend "that he was depressed." Details of the police report were first reported by WFAA-TV.

The friend, who is not identified in the report, "noticed that [his] prescription pain medication was empty and observed [Owens] putting two pills in his mouth," the police report said.

Using her fingers, the friend attempted to pry them out of Owens' mouth. Owens told police he had taken only five of the 40 pain pills in the bottle he'd emptied before the incident.

Etheredge told the Star-Telegram that Owens was "fine."

Etheredge said she called 911 because Owens was groggy and lethargic. After taking some supplements "it kicked in a reaction" with the painkillers, she told the Star-Telegram.

"Here's a person whose body is so clean, it really had a negative reaction to the medication and supplements he was taking," Etheridge told The Morning News. "Thank goodness someone was there to call an ambulance."

Police Lt. Rick Watson said he could only confirm that paramedics called police to say they were taking Owens to the hospital. He said no more details would come from the police because no laws were broken.

It is not a crime in Texas for a person to attempt suicide.

"This is a high-profile person. We looked into it and we determined it is not a criminal offense," Watson said. "This a medical type of situation that occurred."

Watson and fire department spokesman Joel Lavender cited privacy laws for the lack of information they could provide. Lavender said more details could come from the 911 call. The Associated Press filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act to get the contents of the call.

"Let's just look at the tape, review the tape," Lavender said. "I'll give you an honest answer once I know something."

At the police news conference, Watson released a version of the police narrative with certain sections blacked out. The full report was obtained by several news outlets and reported first by WFAA. The AP received the full version from WFAA.

According to the police report, Dallas Fire and Rescue was called regarding someone "attempting suicide by prescription pain medication." Officers arrived to find Owens being stabilized by ambulance workers, who then took him to Baylor University Medical Center.

Owens was hospitalized late Tuesday because of what his publicist said was an allergic reaction to pain medicine he was taking for a broken hand. Doctors reportedly tried to induce vomiting.

Owens, one of the league's top receivers during his 11-year NFL career, is best known for wild stunts on the field and other publicity-seeking antics off it.

When the Cowboys signed him to a $25 million, three-year deal in March, they said their background checks indicated no red flags. In fact, team consultant Calvin Hill -- who mostly deals with troubled players -- said during training camp that his department was not involved with Owens because he didn't have a history of those kinds of problems.

He missed most of training camp, and three of four preseason games, because of a hamstring injury. He was late for work during his recovery and was fined for it, but Owens laughed it off, saying he overslept. He said it had happened before, though not with Dallas, and would probably happen again.

Owens broke the bone leading to his right ring finger during a game a week ago Sunday. The next day, doctors screwed in a plate so the bone could heal without fear of further damage. Cowboys coach Bill Parcells said last week that the pain medicine made Owens ill.

Owens had not practiced since the injury, but because Dallas had a bye this past weekend he did not miss a game. He was expected to practice Wednesday, and Parcells had said there was a chance Owens could play Sunday against Tennessee.

Owens had been especially looking forward to the Cowboys' game after that -- Oct. 8, in Philadelphia, against the team that dumped him midway through last season only months after he helped them nearly win the Super Bowl.

Owens was seen laughing and joking on the practice field Tuesday morning. He chatted briefly with reporters in the locker room in the afternoon and seemed fine. A 2-inch scar on the top of his hand was puffy but not wrapped, and he said the swelling was doing down.

While in the locker room, he took a pill from a white paper bag and looked at another medicine bottle that was in the bag. He also called a business partner about a towel-wrap venture they're starting and joked to TV cameras that he wasn't talking until Wednesday and it was only Tuesday.

"My little boy knows better than that," he said, laughing, as he plopped onto a sofa in the middle of the locker room.

Also Tuesday, Owens was involved in launching a national campaign for the National Alliance to End Abuse, an organization aimed at helping at-risk youngsters. He appeared at a high school Tuesday morning and was scheduled to visit others but had to cancel because of changes in the team's practice schedule.

Owens has played two games for the Cowboys, catching nine passes for 99 yards and a touchdown. For updated football betting lines and Dallas Cowboy Superbowl odds visit online sportsbook MySportsbook.com

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your VISA Sportsbook needs.