Around the CFL: Improvements up front a big reason for Als success

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11/15/2008 - Toronto, ON (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - There's a big reason for the Montreal Alouettes' turnaround this season.

The Alouettes posted an 11-7 record this year to finish atop the East Division standings and earn the right to host the conference final. Last season, Montreal finished third with an 8-10 record and appeared to many to be headed in a downward spiral.

But the club, under the veteran leadership of quarterback Anthony Calvillo, returned among the league's contenders. Calvillo certainly played a part in that, finishing second in the CFL in passing with 5,633 yards and a league- leading 43 touchdowns.

However, the other consideration is this. After giving up a CFL-high 68 sacks last year, the Alouettes' offensive line surrendered a league-low 22 this season.

As a result, four Alouettes offensive linemen were named to the East Division All-Star team, with center Bryan Chiu and guard Scott Flory also being voted to the CFL All-Star squad this week. They were two of five Alouettes selected, joining Calvillo and receivers Ben Cahoon and Jamel Richardson.

Flory is also a finalist for the CFL's outstanding lineman award, the fourth time he has been nominated. Flory, though, is looking for his first victory.

INTERESTING PICKUP: The Montreal Alouettes made an interesting pick up heading into their East Division final showdown with the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday at Olympic Stadium.

Montreal added Keith Williams, a defensive back from Florida A&M to its roster. What makes this noteworthy is that Williams was released by Edmonton earlier this season.

Williams was with Montreal in 2007, attending the club's training camp. He began the '08 campaign with the Eskimos before returning to the Alouettes once again.

ODDS AGAINST ALS: The odds aren't on the Montreal Alouettes side in their quest to reach the Grey Cup.

Montreal will host this year's CFL final, with the hometown Alouettes needing a win Saturday over Edmonton to be the East Division representative in the contest. But only eight times in the last 55 years has the host team qualified to play in the Grey Cup.

And the last team to win the Grey Cup as the host city was the B.C. Lions in '94 when they edged the Baltimore Stallions, 26-23, on Lui Passaglia's late field goal at B.C. Place.

WINDS OF CHANGE: The Winnipeg Blue Bombers fired heard coach Doug Berry this week after posting an 8-10 record and losing in the East Division semifinal to Edmonton.

But more changes are in store.

Not only will Winnipeg be looking for a new head coach, but to secure the right candidate the CFL club is prepared to dangle the dual post of coach and GM to that person. That's bad news for Brendan Taman, who is currently the Bombers GM and vice-president of football operations.

After Berry was fired, Taman admitted to reporters that he's well aware his job title will likely change heading into the 2009 season. Instead of being in charge of all football matters, he's going to be more of a director of player personnel for the Bombers.

The leading candidate for the Bombers' coach/GM post is Edmonton receivers coach Mike Kelly.

Kelly is a former Bombers offensive coordinator who held the same position with the XFL's Orlando Rage and has previous head coaching experience at Valdosta State. He also has spent time in the personnel departments of the NFL's Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles.

Bombers president Lyle Bauer, a good friend of Kelly's, will spearhead the coaching search, with input from Taman.

PLAYOFF WOES: He led the Calgary Stampeders to first place in the West Division and the CFL's best regular season record at 13-5. He also set career highs for passing yards (5,094) and touchdowns (39) and is the Western nominee for the CFL's outstanding player award.

And yet it's easy to understand how there's a little apprehension surrounding Henry Burris heading into Calgary's West Division final game Saturday against B.C.

That's because given all of Burris' regular-season success, he hasn't won a playoff game for the Stampeders in three years.

Three years ago, Burris had two interceptions as Calgary lost a home playoff game to Edmonton. In 2006, he had four interceptions as the Stampeders dropped another home playoff contest to Saskatchewan.

Then last year in Regina, Burris fumbled twice and had an interception in a loss to the eventual Grey Cup-champion Roughriders.

But Burris arguably has his strongest supporting cast heading into Saturday's game. Calgary has the CFL's leading receiver in Ken-Yon Rambo, the league's top rusher in Joffrey Reynolds and its leading scorer in kicker Sandro DeAngelis.

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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.

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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.

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