Kiessling leads Leverkusen over Hamburg

Soccer Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Leverkusen, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Stefan Kiessling scored twice and Bayer Leverkusen rebounded from its first loss of the season to beat Hamburg 4-2 on Sunday at the BayArena.

Leverkusen opened the season unbeaten in 24 straight before losing to Nurnberg 3-2 last weekend. Kiessling increased his season scoring total to 16 to retake the Bundesliga lead and helped move Leverkusen back within three points of the league lead.

Bayern Munich passed Bayer two weeks ago, and topped Freiburg 2-1 on Saturday to maintain first. Schalke is second after its 2-1 win Friday over Stuttgart.

Hamburg was passed by Borussia Dortmund for fourth place Saturday, and is now 13 points behind Bayern in fifth.

Kiessling scored in the 22nd minute off a long pass from Tranquillo Barnetta. Kiessling converted from just outside the penalty area to beat Hamburg goalie Frank Rost.

Ze Roberto answered for Hamburg in the 33rd to send the match into the break tied at 1, but Leverkusen responded with two goals early in the second half.

Eren Derdiyok handed Leverkusen the lead 10 minutes after half, then Kiessling was set up in the 62nd by Renato Augusto for easy finish from close range.

David Rozehnal scored in the 83rd to give Hamburg hope, but Gonzalo Castro had an answer just one minute later as Leverkusen held on for its 14th win.

Claudio Pizarro scored in the 80th as Werder Bremen closed within one point of Hamburg in sixth with a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim at Rhein-Neckar-Arena.

Hoffenheim its second straight home match and has dropped to 11th.

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Pacific-10 Conference odds

Teams that should be in: Stanford

Oregon and USC get their tickets punched after taking care of business this weekend. Yes, the Trojans' computer numbers aren't great, but there's no way the third-place team in this league is getting nixed. Grudgingly, I added Arizona after consultation with our Bracketologist. I don't know that Arizona will lose its last three (including a Pac-10 quarterfinal game), and even if the Cats do, I still can't see how they'd be left out, given the overall profile. That said, it bears watching, as three more L's would leave them at 18-12 (9-9) and on a 6-11 skid entering the Dance. It would be nice to see the Wildcats get at least one W in the Bay Area next week, as Cincinnati (albeit without Armein Kirkland and with a worse profile) was axed after a similar slide last season. I just couldn't rationalize having some of the other teams as locks and not having Arizona in that category -- there just aren't enough good teams behind the Cats to threaten their spot, it seems. Stanford has its fate in its own hands with the Arizona schools coming to the Farm to close out the regular season next weekend.

Should be in:

Stanford [17-10 (9-7), RPI: 40, SOS: 21] No shame in not getting a win in L.A., but that makes the home game against Arizona State a must-win ahead of what could be an intriguing meeting with Arizona should the Cats lose at Cal. Getting to 11 Pac-10 wins would make Selection Sunday much more comfortable, but 10's probably more than enough this season. The Cardinal have nonconference wins over Texas Tech and at Virginia to lean on, although they also lost badly to Air Force and Santa Clara at home.

Southeastern Conference odds
Work left to do: Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State

It looks more and more possible that no one from the SEC West will make the NCAAs. How weird is that? Tennessee and Vandy move into the locks category after more good work this weekend. Kentucky stays there, although it would be smart for the Cats to handle Georgia at home Wednesday ahead of a trip to the Swamp. Could a disaster scenario (two more L's and a first-round SEC tourney exit) somehow dislodge the Cats despite their incredible computer numbers? Still unlikely, but not worth chancing it.

Work left to do:

Alabama [19-9 (6-8), RPI: 43, SOS: 47] The tough L at Tennessee was understandable, and even created some hope. Unfortunately, that hope was dashed by a home loss to Auburn, which leaves the Tide in some real trouble. There's still no signature win on the profile (no, Kentucky doesn't count), and the computer profile is weakening rapidly. The Tide conceivably could beat Ole Miss and win at Miss. State to get to 8-8 and clinch at least a share of the West crown, but that's probably not enough right now. The Tide will need to do some work in the SEC tourney.

Georgia [16-10 (8-6), RPI: 52, SOS: 23] This is the team with the best chance to make it from this section right now. The Bulldogs rebounded from a terrible performance at Ole Miss to beat down Miss. State. Now they are at Kentucky (king of the RPI 51-100 win) and home to Tennessee. That would be worth a lot of computer points to get both (which is doable), as both teams are in the top 11 in RPI. Finishing at least 9-7 is an absolute must, and I would feel much better about the Dawgs' chances if they got both to get to 10 SEC wins. They also beat Gonzaga, but lost to ACC bubblers Georgia Tech and Clemson.

Mississippi [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 63, SOS: 79] Like everyone else in this division, Ole Miss gacked up a chance to stake a claim, losing by double figures at South Carolina. Even 9-7 likely is not nearly enough with a nonconference profile devoid of anything notable.

Mississippi State [16-11 (7-7), RPI: 66, SOS: 37] With a chance to get in the mix, these Bulldogs were leashed by their Georgia counterparts. Could they get to 9-7? I guess -- although winning at Arkansas, then beating Alabama is no lock -- but would that mean all that much for a team with this overall profile? Probably not. There's nothing of note (on the good side) in the nonconference profile.

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