Foote returns to Pittsburgh

Football Betting Lines

03/15/2010 - Pittsburgh, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Pittsburgh Steelers have brought back a familiar face, signing linebacker Larry Foote to a three-year contract through the 2012 season.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Foote spent his first seven seasons with the Steelers before becoming a salary cap casualty last spring. He then signed a one-year contract with Detroit in May and led the Lions with 99 tackles, including 70 solo, last season.

A foot injury ended his 2009 season after 14 games, stopping a streak of 94 consecutive starts dating back to 2004. He also finished with two sacks and one forced fumble last year.

The Steelers selected Foote in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He started at inside linebacker in each of Pittsburgh's last two Super Bowl victories.

In 124 games, including 98 starts, the Michigan product has 612 tackles with 15 1/2 sacks, three interceptions, seven forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries.

Actioncitysportsbook Football Betting News

<< Hertha faces action from German Football League
Berlin, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The German Football League have vowed to take action after violent scenes erupted after the final whistle of Hertha Berlin's 2-1 home defeat to Nurnberg. The result left crisis-torn Hertha all but c

<< Lotina receives Deportivo extension
Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Coach Miguel Angel Lotina has penned a one- year contract extension to keep him in charge at Deportivo until the end of next season. The 62-year-old took the helm at the Riazor in 2007 and has help

<< Nesta set to miss remainder of season
Milan, Italy (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - AC Milan's veteran defender Alessandro Nesta is set to miss the rest of the season after being forced to undergo surgery on his injured right knee. The 33-year-old was injured in last weekend's goalless

<< Tottenham expecting Keane to return
London, England (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Celtic have been told that they have no chance of keeping loan striker Robbie Keane on a permanent basis. The 29-year-old has scored eight goals in eight games since joining the Bhoys from Tottenham, b

<< UConn unanimous in final poll
New York, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Connecticut finished as a unanimous selection as the top women's college basketball team in the final Associated Press poll. The Huskies (33-0), winners of an NCAA Division I women's record 72 straight game

Cardinals sign LB Lenon >>
Tempe, AZ (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Arizona Cardinals signed free agent linebacker Paris Lenon to a three-year contract on Monday. Lenon recorded 44 tackles and three forced fumbles in 15 games (10 starts) for St. Louis last season,

Arena: Beckham remains an important player for the Galaxy >>
Carson, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham suffered a devastating Achilles tendon injury while playing in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday. Beckham, who is on loan with the Italian Serie A squad

Tseng No. 6 after winning in Australia >>
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Yani Tseng won the Women's Australian Open on Sunday, but held steady in the sixth position in this week's women's world rankings. In fact, the top nine remained unchanged from last week as Lorena Ochoa s

49ers sign Carr; trade Hill to Lions >>
Santa Clara, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The San Francisco 49ers have signed quarterback David Carr and have agreed to trade Shaun Hill to the Detroit Lions. Hill spent the past four seasons with San Francisco and will head to Detroi

Fire sign pair of draft picks >>
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Chicago Fire signed defenders Kwame Watson- Siriboe and Steven Kinney, the Major League Soccer club announced on Monday. "We are pleased to add Kwame and Steven to the Fire family to help us bring a MLS Cu

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