Ravens re-sign WR Mason

Football Betting Lines

03/10/2010 - Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Ravens have agreed in principle on terms of a two-year contract with veteran wide receiver Derrick Mason.

Mason became an unrestricted free agent after his five-year contract with the team expired following last season. The Michigan State product caught 73 passes for 1,028 yards and seven touchdowns in 16 games last season for Baltimore.

"We know exactly what we're getting with Derrick and that's production," Ravens general manger Ozzie Newsome said. "Every Ravens fan knows what Derrick brings to this team. It's reliability, toughness, leadership, the fight to win, the want of the ball in the clutch times. He has a two-year history with Joe (Flacco) that says 'we know how to produce together.' They are on the same page."

The 36-year-old Mason is entering his 14th NFL season an has 863 catches for 11,089 yards and 59 touchdowns in 202 career games with the Ravens and Titans/Oilers franchise.

Mason's signing comes five days after the Ravens acquired three-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Anquan Boldin from the Arizona Cardinals.

Wwwgetabet Football Betting News

<< Rams re-sign TE Fells
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The St. Louis Rams re-signed tight end Daniel Fells on Wednesday. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Fells became a restricted free agent last Friday. The tight end caught 21

<< IndyCar kicks off season with first-time trip to Brazil
Sao Paulo, Brazil (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Series: IndyCar. Date: Sunday, March 14. Race: Sao Paulo Indy 300. Site: Streets of Sao Paulo. Track: 2.6-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. Start Time: 11:00 a.m. (et). Laps: 75. Miles: 195. Television

<< Mountain West Conference Tournament Recaps
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Grant Parker scored 15 points and Michael Lyons added 11 to help Air Force defeat Wyoming, 59-40, in the first round of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. Lyons also grabbed five rebounds and han

<< Dampier, Haywood back for Mavs; Barea out
DALLAS (AP) -Centers Erick Dampier and Brendan Haywood returned to the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night against the New Jersey Nets.Dampier missed the previous 12 games with a dislocated right middle finger. Haywood sat out two games with lower b

<< Islanders C Schremp out for season
Uniondale, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The New York Islanders announced that center Rob Schremp will miss the remainder of the season. The forward injured his right knee during Tuesday's game against Philadelphia. The diagnosis is a torn m

Bobcats handle Sixers >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Gerald Wallace led all scorers with 28 points on 9-of-10 shooting to push the Charlotte Bobcats past the Philadelphia 76ers, 102-87, at the Wachovia Center. Stephen Jackson added 24 points and 10 reb

Sabres continue winning ways against Stars >>
Buffalo, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Thomas Vanek scored the eventual game-winner midway through the second period, as the Buffalo Sabres continued their recent dominance over the Dallas Stars with a 5-3 victory at HSBC Arena. The Sabres have

Fleischmann, Capitals edge Hurricanes in overtime >>
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tomas Fleischmann scored with 1:40 remaining in overtime to lift the Washington Capitals to a 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes at Verizon Center. In the extra session, Fleischmann hamme

Devils double up Rangers >>
Newark, NJ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner was one of six different goal-scorers, as New Jersey doubled up the New York Rangers, 6-3, at Prudential Center. Langenbrunner, Brian Rolston, Travis Zajac and Rob Niede

Jazz continue mastery of Pistons >>
Auburn Hills, MI (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Deron Williams paced a balanced attack with 18 points and 12 assists, and the Utah Jazz trounced the Detroit Pistons, 115-104, at the Palace at Auburn Hills. Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap each added 18

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