Falcons soar into Sin City

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02/20/2007 - Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - No longer the only member of the Mountain West Conference among the nationally-ranked, the Air Force Falcons put their three-game win streak on the line tonight as they visit the UNLV Runnin' Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Not only are the 14th-ranked Falcons not the only ranked program in the conference this week, the team isn't even at the top of the MWC standings, a position occupied by 21st-ranked BYU at the moment. On Saturday, the academy posted a 67-58 win at Clune Arena to extend the nation's longest home win streak to 30 games, one better than those aforementioned Cougars who don't play their next home game until tomorrow night versus Colorado State.

As for the Rebels, who had to clear out of Sin City when the NBA invaded with their annual All-Star game over the weekend, they took care of business in Salt Lake City on Saturday with a 70-57 decision over Utah. The win was the third in the last four games for UNLV, which is currently third in the conference with a record of 9-4.

Air Force won the first meeting between these two teams earlier this season, taking a 56-50 decision at home. However, the Rebels still own a comfortable margin in the all-time series, logging a 17-7 record versus the Falcons.

Although he was trying to fight through a nagging ankle injury, Dan Nwaelele still came to play as he and the rest of the Falcons dismissed the Rams over the weekend. Nwaelele finished with a team-high 18 points, thanks to 5-of-10 shooting beyond the arc, followed by Matt McCraw with 15 and four assists. Jacob Burtschi dropped in 10 points, as did Tim Anderson with the duo combining for 11 rebounds and seven of the team's eight steals on the afternoon. Nwaelele, who is shooting a sizzling 50 percent from three- point range and 56.4 percent from the floor overall this year, is tops on the scoring list for the Falcons with his 14.9 ppg, followed by Burtschi with 13.5 ppg and a team-high 5.7 rpg. Entering play this week, the Falcons had the seventh-best scoring margin in Division I at +15.7 ppg, basically because the defense is up to its old tricks again. Having led the nation in scoring defense for several years, the Falcons know better than anyone how to get the job done and they are doing it again with just 54.7 ppg allowed, second only to Princeton in all of college basketball at the moment. Offensively, the team is ranked fourth in the country in field goals shooting at 50.6 percent and is fifth nationally from behind the three-point line at 42.4 percent.

Operating with four guards, it shouldn't come as a surprise that Wink Adams ended up leading the Rebels in both scoring and rebounding in the win over Utah over the weekend, putting up 17 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. The only other player to score in double figures for the Rebels was Kevin Kruger who connected on 3-of-5 shots beyond the arc to finish with 11 points, to go along with his team-high four assists. In addition to shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 11-of-17 beyond the arc, the most impressive aspect of the victory was probably that the team had a mere four turnovers. Leading scorer Wendell White, who is averaging 15.4 ppg this season on 51.9 percent shooting from the field, made just one of his 12 shots. Adams is good for 14.8 ppg and Kruger another 12.3 ppg and a team- high 98 assists, that coming from someone who has missed six of the team's 28 games. UNLV enters the week ranked third in the conference in scoring at 75.1 ppg.

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After all the trouble that’s ensued since Braylon Edwards allegedly punched one of LeBron James’ homeboys in the face at a club, the Cleveland Browns have sent away their last remaining player of worth to the New York Jets. This is a great move for Dirty Sanchez and all, but it’s even better for the Knicks. Now Donnie Walsh can say, “You get to haunt Braylon Edwards with your posse if you sign here!” next summer.

Putting that aside for a moment, the move is a clear indication that the new-look Jets are gunning for the Super Bowl this year. I don’t think that New York thought that Dirty Sanchez was going to be such a rock star. With a 75.2 passer rating that was killed against the Jets, Sanchez is doing an admirable job of managing games and putting the Jets in a position to win. The defense has been the major story in New York thus far, but the acquisition of Braylon Edwards makes this offense loaded with talent that can dent any defense…as long as Dirty Sanchez continues his meteoric rise.

Thus far, Edwards has been a non-factor in the NFL piling up just 139 receiving yards on 10 catches. He has yet to find the endzone, and with the Browns mired in the most unsexy quarterback controversy of all time (Anderson vs. Quinn...yawn), there going nowhere fast. Edwards is two seasons removed from a career year which saw him catch 80 passes for 1,289 yards and 16 touchdowns when the Browns were the spread killing monsters of 2007. In 2008, injuries slowed the receiver down to just 873 yards and three touchdowns though he played in all 16 games.

So that being said, we really don’t know if Braylon Edwards is just a flash in the pan, or a legit threat. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he is a prototypical receiver. But he’s also shown a strange, and unwarranted, talent for dropping passes. Lining up opposite Jericho Cotchery, a speed demon with 23 catches, 356 yards and a single touchdown, may give Braylon the open looks he needs. A change of scenery may also rejuvenate the star receiver.

In return, the Browns will receive Chansi Stuckey, online football betting a special teams player you’ve never heard of and a pair of draft picks. That’s a tall order for a guy whose only real value right now is in his name, and it shows no promise to the Browns that they can rebuild around those acquisitions. Braylon was the only reason to hope for the Browns to go 3-14 SU this year. Without him, they don’t have a single guy on offense that can scare any team.

For the Jets, it’s a response to the pounding that they took at the hand of the Saints. Thomas Jones and Leon Washington have averaged around 4.0 yards per carry each on the ground, but striking a fair balance between the passing and rushing attacks in New York has been a struggle. You have to believe that the trio of Dustin Keller, Jericho Cotchery and Braylon Edwards will give Sanchez the weapons he needs to unleash through the air. Theoretically, that would open up holes for the rushing game. But the proposed public option health care plan works in theory too. We need to see the proof in the pudding before we start loading up mega bucks on the New York Jets to take the AFC.

The one wrinkle in this whole thing is that Braylon could very well be suspended by the league for disciplinary action due to his “brawl” with LeBron’s friend. If that’s the case, the Jets may have to bench him for a few games leaving them with a somewhat depleted receiving corps for a few games. Also, this is a guy who gets in fights with people at clubs. New York may not be the best place for him. Just sayin’.

The Jets have a long week before they meet the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football Betting in a virtual pick ‘em game. Braylon’s excess baggage may be a distraction, and his curiously low production may be what we should be expecting of him overall, but for the Jets, taking a chance to strike gold is well worth it. At the end of the year, they can simply just blame it on their rookie quarterback.

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