Khedira helps Stuttgart steal point against Bayern

Soccer Betting Lines

12/13/2008 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Sami Khedira scored twice, including the tying goal in the 90th minute, and Stuttgart tied 10-man Bayern Munich 2-2 in the German Bundesliga on Saturday.

Bayern, which got goals from Tim Borowski and Luca Toni, still moved into first place with Hoffenheim idle but wasted a chance to put more pressure on the new Bundesliga club.

Hoffenheim hosts Schalke on Sunday needing just a tie to lead the league at the winter break.

Defending league champion Bayern was in great shape to take all three points at Mercedes-Benz Arena, but defender Massimo Oddo was red carded in the 85th. That helped Khedira add his second goal in the dying seconds of a half - he also had a goal on the last play of the first half.

Stuttgart slipped one spot to 10th, but is still just 10 points behind Bayern. The top five clubs - Bayern, Hoffenheim, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg and Leverkusen - are separated by just three points.

Khedira handed Stuttgart the lead off a corner in the last seconds of the first half, running onto a flicked on header from Matthieu Delpierre to head the ball into the left side past a diving Bayern goalie Michael Rensing.

Borowski, starting in place of injured French star Franck Ribery, tied the game in the 48th minute with a tap-in goal from close range. Bayern played a corner kick short and got the ball to Bastian Schweinsteiger on the top right edge of the area.

Schweinsteiger unleashed a shot that forced Jens Lehmann to make a diving save, but he gave up a rebound and Borowski picked up the easy goal for his fifth of the season.

Borowski set up the tying goal in the 66th, delivering a cross from the left to pick out Toni on the right. Toni didn't get a great touch on the ball, but his shot bounced in front of Lehmann and hoped over the diving goalie. Toni's goal was his ninth of the season.

Bayern was cruising toward the win until Oddo got a red card in the 85th minute for trying to win the ball with his studs inches from the face of Stuttgart's Christian Trasch.

Stuttgart pushed everyone forward in the final minutes, including Lehmann, but Khedira was the hero. He ran onto to a short punched corner from Rensing to hit a rocket just under the crossbar, a nearly unstoppable tying goal, in the 90th.

Bayern still extended its unbeaten streak to 16 straight games, including five Champions League games, but has to watch the scoreboard Sunday to see if it can hold onto the lead for the winter break.

Hertha Berlin quietly continued to take care of business and remain with close range of the top two clubs, getting three late goals to defeat Karlsruhe 4-0.

Maximilian Nicu opened the scoring for Hertha in the eighth minute, and Valeri Domovchiyski (74th), Fabian Lustenberger (86th) and Raffael (88th) capped the win to pull Hertha within two points of the top spot.

Hamburg also moved with two points of Bayern, getting a goal from Mladen Petric in the 59th minute to edge Eintracht 1-0.

Bayer Leverkusen's slide down the standings continued when Jiayi Shao scored in the 90th minute to give Energie a 1-1 draw. Bayer, which led the league a few weeks ago, is fifth.

Werder Bremen got a goal from Per Mertesacker and an own goal to edge Wolfsburg 2-1 to move up seventh, one spot ahead of Wolfsburg.

Nine-man Koln got goals from Kevin McKenna and Manasseh Ishiaku to edge Bochum 2-1 and Artur Wichniarek scored in the 59th and Arminia Bielefeld earned a 1-1 tie with Hannover to wrap up Saturday's matches.

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NCAA Football Betting

Many fans thought it was the best side in the nation by the end of last season. This year, the polls have built on Georgia's momentum and granted it the No. 1 preseason ranking, followed by Ohio State and USC. (The Associated Press has the Buckeyes at No. 2; USA Today took the Trojans.)

"To have people believing we have one of the best teams in the nation going into this thing, it's exciting for us," Bulldogs coach Mark Richt told the AP. "I don't think anything is guaranteed, but we certainly have put ourselves in position where at least the college football world thinks we're pretty good."

Georgia Bulldogs - 9.5 wins

There's no question they're good, but the Bulldogs have one of the toughest 12-game schedules in the nation, mostly because they play in the powerhouse Southeastern Conference. Away games at No. 15 Arizona State, No. 7 LSU and No. 10 Auburn loom large, with contests between the hedges versus No. 24 Alabama and No. 18 Tennessee as well as the World's Largest Cocktail Party in Jacksonville versus No.5 Florida.

Ohio State Buckeyes - 10 wins

Like the Bulldogs, the Buckeyes also have a number of tough road contests in 2008. After two scrimmages dressed up as real games versus Youngstown State and Ohio, it's off to face USC. Other tough away games include No.13 Wisconsin in October and No. 20 Illinois in November. Granted, it should be pretty easy sledding at the Horseshoe. In fact, the only ranked team that travels to Columbus is No. 22 Penn State, in October.

USC Trojans - 10.5 wins

A similarly light schedule awaits the Trojans of Southern California, which is why the oddsmakers' total is one win more and the over is currently commanding -150 odds. Pete Carroll's troops only play three ranked teams in 2008, and all of those games are at home. After what should be an easy trip to Virginia to start things off on Aug. 30, the Trojans get two weeks to prepare for Ohio State in Los Angeles. Their two other ranked opponents, No. 21 Oregon and No. 15 Arizona State, visit in consecutive weeks to start the month of October. After that, the competition eases up. Of course, this is the same highly-touted school that lost to Stanford in 2007 and Oregon State in 2006. And don't discount the fact that USC plays its biggest rivals, Notre Dame and UCLA, back-to-back to close out the regular season. On paper, the Trojans are far superior, but motivation will be high for the Irish and Bruins, especially if their historic foes are in national-title contention.

Odds to Win the Heisman Trophy

Tim Tebow, Florida - 7/2
He won it last year, so it's no surprise he's the favorite to do it again, making him just the second player to go back-to-back. Ohio State's Archie Griffin turned the trick in 1974 and 1975, and Tebow's coach, Urban Meyer, is pretty sure his star quarterback can match the Buckeyes legend.

"There has never been anyone quite like him," Meyer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I am very lucky to be his coach."

Chris Wells, Ohio State - 5/1

The man they call "Beanie" was a star recruit out of high school, so it's not like nobody knew who the star tailback was before he rushed for 576 yards as a freshman in 2006 and 1,609 as a sophomore. But perhaps his finest moment came last year versus Michigan when he rumbled for 222 yards and two touchdowns in the Buckeyes' 14-3 victory over the hated Wolverines.

Knowshon Moreno, Georgia - 8/1

If the Bulldogs are to live up to expectations, they'll need a huge effort from their sophomore running back. This might be the last year of college ball for Moreno, who rushed for 1,334 yards and for 14 touchdowns as a freshman, while adding 253 receiving yards on 20 receptions, so expect big things for the man from Belford, N.J.

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