Patrick making Sprint Cup debut in 2012 Daytona 500

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11/04/2011 - Fort Worth, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Danica Patrick's much-anticipated Sprint Cup Series debut will take place in the February 26 Daytona 500.

Patrick and Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner Tony Stewart revealed Patrick's limited schedule in Sprint Cup next year during a press conference held at Texas Motor Speedway, the site of this weekend's races in all three NASCAR national touring series.

The former IndyCar driver will compete in at least 10 races next season, with two of them to be decided at a later date. She will drive the No.10 Chevrolet for SHR, with GoDaddy.com sponsoring her efforts.

After the Daytona 500, Patrick is scheduled to race at Darlington (May 12), Bristol (August 25), Atlanta (September 2), Chicagoland (Sept. 16), Dover (Sept. 30), Texas (November 4) and Phoenix (Nov. 11).

Patrick is also running a full-time schedule in the Nationwide Series next year, driving the No.7 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports. She is competing in the final three Nationwide races this season -- Texas, Phoenix and Homestead.

"I'm excited," Patrick said. "There's a lot that I'm worried about, but on the other hand, as I've felt with my Nationwide races so far, it's that expectation levels at some times are not quite as high. You have the ability to make mistakes. There's going to be mistakes, and there's going to be learning curves. It's about making the most complete future possible with the limited schedule of experience."

Prior to the start of his NASCAR career in 1998, Stewart captured four USAC championships and the 1997 IndyCar Series title. He is a two-time Sprint Cup champion (2002 and '05) and has claimed 42 career race wins, with his most recent victory last Sunday at Martinsville Speedway. Stewart is currently second in the championship Chase standings, eight points behind leader Carl Edwards.

"It's been a fun journey for me, and I think that what's going to make such a fun journey for Danica, knowing the things that she's going to be experiencing from the Indy cars to the Cup cars, the same thing that I had to go through, too," Stewart said. "It's a nice feeling for me knowing that when she talks about something I'm going to understand it, from first-hand experience."

SHR is currently looking for a crew chief for Patrick.

Whether or not Patrick will compete in next year's Indianapolis 500 has yet to be determined.

Stewart is hopeful Patrick's limited schedule next year will prepare her for a full-time effort in NASCAR's premier series in 2013.

"I'm just worried about how far into this 10-race deal it's going to be before she absolutely hates me, because of where I'm sending her," Stewart quipped.

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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.

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.

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