Hofstra names Cassara new hoops coach

NCAA Basketball Betting Lines

05/05/2010 - Hempstead, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Hofstra University named Mo Cassara head coach of the men's basketball team on Wednesday, just two days after Tim Welsh resigned following his DWI arrest.

Cassara spent the last four years as an assistant at Boston College, where he was heavily involved with recruiting, scouting, off-season workouts and scheduling.

"We have had the opportunity to see Mo's dynamic leadership, energy and enthusiasm in action," said Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz. "His experience with college basketball, his passion for the game, and his desire to work with student-athletes in all facets of their development, will serve our basketball team well and help take our program to the next level of excellence."

Prior to joining Boston College, Cassara served as the head coach at Clark University, a Division III program, for two years (2004-06). He also had a one-year stint as an assistant at Dayton in 2003-04.

Cassara agreed to a multi-year contract to replace Welsh, who was reportedly arrested on the morning of April 30.

According to the New York Daily News, the 49-year-old Welsh was found asleep at the wheel at a green light. He registered a .18 on a breath test, more than twice the legal limit, and was charged with driving while intoxicated. He later pleaded not guilty at his arraignment.

Welsh had been hired on March 31 to succeed Tom Pecora.

Bestonsports NCAA Basketball Betting News


<< Spurs lock up Champions League place
Manchester, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Peter Crouch scored eight minutes from time to give Tottenham a 1-0 win over Manchester City on Wednesday that clinches a spot in the Champions League for Harry Redknapp's men. Both sides create

<< This Week in Auto Racing May 2 - 7
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series teams spend this Mother's Day weekend at Darlington Raceway, while Formula One competes in Europe for the first time this season with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barc

<< AP Source: Hornets interview Fratello
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -A person familiar with the meeting says the New Orleans Hornets have interviewed Mike Fratello, the third candidate to meet with the club about its vacant head coaching job.Hornets executives met with Fratello in Cleveland on Wedne

<< Temple's Golden, Dunphy get new contract extensions
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Temple University head football coach Al Golden and head men's basketball coach Fran Dunphy received lengthy contract extensions on Wednesday. For Golden, it is a five-year extension, while D

<< Serena, Venus reach Rome quarters
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Reigning world No. 1 Serena Williams and her former top-ranked big sister Venus were a pair of third-round victors Wednesday at the $2 million Italian Masters, a clay-court French Open tune-up

Who will tame Darlington this time? >>
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup. Date: Saturday, May 8. Race: Showtime Southern 500. Site: Darlington Raceway. Track: 1.366- mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 367. Miles: 501. 2009 winner: Mark Martin. Tel

Keselowski looking for third win in a row >>
Darlington, SC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: NASCAR Nationwide. Date: Friday, May 7. Race: Royal Purple 200. Site: Darlington Raceway. Track: 1.366-mile oval. Start time: 7:30 p.m. (et). Laps: 147. Miles: 200.8. 2009 winner: Matt Kenseth. Televisi

Motherwell rallies for draw in 12-goal thriller >>
Motherwell, Scotland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lucas Jutkiewicz scored in stoppage time to cap a four-goal rally in the final 23 minutes of a thrilling 6-6 draw with Hibernian at Fir Park Stadium on Wednesday, keeping the Steelman in fourth

No Bradley in Mariners' starting lineup >>
SEATTLE (AP) -Milton Bradley is not in the Seattle Mariners' starting lineup one day after he left the stadium following his benching by manager Don Wakamatsu.Ryan Langerhans is listed as the starter in left field for Wednesday's game against Tampa

Ainge comes clean in Cleveland towel incident >>
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) -Danny Ainge says he regrets tossing a towel in the air to distract a Cavaliers player during a free throw attempt.The Celtics GM told WEEI-AM in Boston he behaved unprofessionally during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifina

Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL BETTING

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.

Get the latest 2009 BCS Championship odds at MySportsbook.com.

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.

Get free Sports Betting lines RSS feeds from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com