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<< Italy's Pirlo hopes to be ready for final group game
Rome, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo is hoping to be fit for his team's final group stage match against Slovakia on June 24. The AC Milan veteran sustained a calf injury in Italy's recent 2-1 friendly defeat aga

<< Lakers' win earns top ratings for ABC
BOSTON (AP) -The Los Angeles Lakers' victory in Boston in the NBA finals earned the highest television ratings for a Game 3 since 2004.The Lakers' 91-84 win earned an 11.5 overnight rating, 14 percent better than the Lakers and Orlando posted in Gam

<< Fisher and Bryant, friends and champions
BOSTON (AP) -Derek Fisher has earned a place of prominence while winning four NBA championships in two stints with the Lakers lasting 11 seasons.He's the one who can tell Kobe Bryant what's what.Fisher and Bryant have developed a friendship during t

<< Ravens FB McClain signs tender
Owings Mills, MD (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Baltimore Ravens fullback Le'Ron McClain signed his one-year tender with the club on Wednesday. McClain, 25, has rushed for 1,100 yards and 12 touchdowns in 48 games -- 41 starts -- with the Ravens

Rachel Alexandra versus four in Fleur de Lis >>
Louisville, KY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, goes after her first win of 2010 on Saturday in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs. The 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares will be the fir

ESPN hoops analyst Phelps recovering from cancer surgery >>
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former college basketball coach and ESPN analyst Digger Phelps is recovering from successful prostate cancer surgery he underwent on Tuesday. The legendary coach was diagnosed on April 28 and had the

'Turfbreaking' set for EWU's red field >>
Cheyney, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tennessee Titans All-Pro tackle Michael Roos will be in attendance for a "turfbreaking" ceremony at Eastern Washington on Saturday, as the Big Sky Conference university moves toward installing a red turf field.

Hewitt lands in Halle QFs >>
Halle, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt was an easy second-round winner Wednesday at the Gerry Weber Open, a grass-court Wimbledon tune-up. The two-time major champion Hewitt humbled Dutchman Thiemo De B

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.