Giants top 49ers on FG in OT, win NFC title

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01/22/2012 - San Francisco, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - For the second time in five seasons, New York Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes got a chance to win the NFC Championship in overtime.

He's 2-for-2.

The extra minutes at Candlestick Park provided a crueler dose of deja vu for the San Francisco 49ers.

Tynes kicked a 31-yard field goal after the 49ers fumbled a punt in overtime, lifting the Giants to a 20-17 victory on Sunday and sending them to Super Bowl XLVI to face the New England Patriots.

In 2008, Tynes kicked a 47-yarder in overtime to beat the Green Bay Packers in the NFC title game and the Giants went on to down the Patriots in a memorable Super Bowl, ending New England's perfect season.

This time, the Giants were gifted a chance to kick the game-winner after 49ers return man Kyle Williams fumbled a punt deep in San Francisco territory when he was stripped by Jacquian Williams.

The ball was recovered by New York's Devin Thomas, his second such heads-up play of the game. In the fourth quarter, Thomas jumped on a ball that hit off Williams' knee in a muffed punt that led to a Giants touchdown.

Eli Manning, who has played years his older brother's shadow, passed for 316 yards and two touchdowns and will get a chance to beat Tom Brady's Patriots yet again on February 5 in Indianapolis.

"It feels great. That was a tough game. We had to fight for every yard we got," said Manning. "They're a good team. Their defense is stout."

Alex Smith threw for 196 yards and two touchdowns for the 49ers, but the NFC West champions couldn't overcome two crippling special teams mistakes in their bid to make the Super Bowl for the first time since 1994.

Both of Smith's touchdown passes Sunday went to last week's hero Vernon Davis, including a 73-yarder down the right sideline in the first quarter that had second-seeded San Francisco on top in front of its home crowd.

Williams' muffed punt in the fourth quarter led to Mario Manningham's 17-yard touchdown catch for a 17-14 Giants lead. Williams returned the ensuing kickoff 40 yards and the 49ers tied the game on David Akers' 25-yard field goal.

Both teams punted on their first overtime possessions, giving the Giants a chance to win in sudden-death.

Tynes' game-winning kick -- on a low snap handled by punter Steve Weatherford -- moved the NFC East-champion Giants to 5-0 all-time in the NFC title game.

New York returned to the playoffs after a two-year absence and is 3-1 in the Super Bowl, their last championship coming over New England on a game-winning drive orchestrated by Manning.

Earlier Sunday, the Patriots held on to beat Baltimore, 23-20, for the AFC title after Ravens kicker Billy Cundiff shanked a 32-yard field goal that could have tied the game.

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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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