01-23-10 |
Oklahoma City Thunder +8 v. Cleveland Cavaliers |
|
99-100 |
Win
|
100 |
5 h 10 m |
Show
|
Oklahoma City comes in off a 2-point loss last night at Memphis. But the Thunder have been at their best this season when playing off a loss. In games directly following a loss, the Thunder have gone 15-3 ATS so far this year. As an underdog in that role, they
|
01-23-10 |
Illinois State v. Southern Illinois -2 |
|
80-81 |
Loss |
-110 |
6 h 47 m |
Show
|
Illinois St comes into today
|
01-23-10 |
Wichita State v. Drake +5.5 |
|
64-78 |
Win
|
100 |
7 h 27 m |
Show
|
Wichita St comes in off their huge, spotlight win over Northern Iowa on Tuesday night. That win for the Shockers was big, and now that they have to take to the road and lay a price is certainly not a good situation for them. And the fact that they just beat the top team in the MVC means they may overlook their lesser opponent this afternoon.
And that would be a big mistake. Drake continues to be an undervalued team as they are playing their best basketball of the season right now; they
|
01-23-10 |
Ohio State +6.5 v. West Virginia |
|
65-71 |
Win
|
100 |
7 h 32 m |
Show
|
Ohio St has turned it on recently as they got their best player back from injury. Evan Turner did not play in three of the Buckeyes
|
01-21-10 |
Butler v. Loyola Chicago +12 |
|
48-47 |
Win
|
100 |
8 h 47 m |
Show
|
Butler comes into tonight
|
01-20-10 |
Texas El Paso +8.5 v. Memphis |
|
72-67 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 21 m |
Show
|
UTEP has played second fiddle to Memphis over the last four years. Memphis just had the superior team over that time, but despite the talent difference, UTEP always gave the Tigers fits. In fact, the last four games between these two have all been decided by 11 points or less. But tonight, things are a lot different.
Memphis has won 64 consecutive C-USA games, but that streak is in serious jeopardy against UTEP. The Miners may actually be the more talented team, and they want this game in the worst way. "We're not worried about their streak," head coach Tony Barbee said. "We're worried about us. It's an opportunity. It's an opportunity to go on the road and steal one against a very good team."
Five UTEP players come from Memphis which adds to their desire to win. "I grew up watching them and always dreamed of playing for them," Myron Strong said. "I never thought about playing against them. It will be great, seeing my family and having them see me play. I'm sure it will make me even more aggressive. I'm sure we will have a crowd of fans there, too." And Jeremy Williams echoes those same thoughts. "This is an experience you live for. You come to college with dreams. My dream is going back to play in front of that crowd. But now nothing would be better than to go back and beat them, to end their streak."
The Miners also have the confidence that can win on this court as they had Memphis on the ropes in their last trip here. Memphis was ranked # 1 in the nation, but UTEP led 60-58 with 3:45 to play, trailed by one, 63-62, with 1:18 to go, before falling 70-64. "We've just got to do like coach always says; go out and punch them in the mouth; be aggressive."
Play UTEP (+).
|
01-20-10 |
Drake +1.5 v. Evansville |
|
72-65 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 45 m |
Show
|
Drake continues to be an undervalued team right now. The Bulldogs have covered four straight games as an underdog, and they
|
01-19-10 |
Indiana Pacers +6.5 v. Miami Heat |
|
83-113 |
Loss |
-105 |
8 h 30 m |
Show
|
Indiana is a much different team right now because they
|
01-19-10 |
Tennessee v. Alabama +2.5 |
|
63-56 |
Loss |
-108 |
10 h 43 m |
Show
|
Tennessee has played a lot better than expected since the suspension of four players because of their marijuana and gun possession bust. The Vols have won all four of the games they
|
01-17-10 |
Utah Jazz +7 v. Denver Nuggets |
|
112-119 |
Push |
0 |
9 h 40 m |
Show
|
Utah is playing some good basketball right now. The Jazz have won four straight and five of their last six games overall. They
|
01-17-10 |
Illinois State v. Drake +5 |
|
59-69 |
Win
|
100 |
6 h 29 m |
Show
|
Illinois St comes into tonight
|
01-17-10 |
New York Jets +8 v. San Diego Chargers |
|
17-14 |
Win
|
100 |
12 h 28 m |
Show
|
The New York Jets come into this game playing some of the best football right now. They
|
01-17-10 |
Saint Louis +8.5 v. Charlotte |
|
61-63 |
Win
|
100 |
3 h 31 m |
Show
|
Saint Louis came through for us the other night in their 79-75 double overtime win at Duquesne. And we
|
01-17-10 |
Dallas Cowboys +3 v. Minnesota Vikings |
|
3-34 |
Loss |
-125 |
9 h 49 m |
Show
|
Dallas is playing the best football of any team in the league right now. The Cowboys have been absolutely dominating opponents over their last four games; they are a perfect 4-0 SU/ATS after out-scoring them 99-31. They are playing with a tremendous amount of confidence, and they
|
01-16-10 |
Southern Illinois -6 v. Evansville |
|
65-57 |
Win
|
100 |
6 h 57 m |
Show
|
Southern Illinois is on a 4-game losing streak. Prior to their game at Creighton on Wednesday night, we detailed the reason why the Salukis were struggling. During a walk through prior to their game at Illinois St, their best player, Tony Freeman, suffered a broken nose. Freeman is the Salukis best player, and his broken nose has been a big reason why this team has struggled in their last few games. But Freeman had surgery on the nose since, and he came back to play a full game (13 points in 34 minutes) in SIU
|
01-16-10 |
USC v. UCLA |
|
67-46 |
Win
|
100 |
5 h 28 m |
Show
|
|
01-16-10 |
Arizona Cardinals v. New Orleans Saints -7 |
Top |
14-45 |
Win
|
100 |
23 h 6 m |
Show
|
Arizona played in a wild, high-scoring game last week against the Green Bay Packers. The Cardinals scored 51 points in the overtime win, but off that huge effort, it
|
01-16-10 |
Mississippi +7.5 v. Tennessee |
|
69-71 |
Win
|
100 |
9 h 49 m |
Show
|
Ole Miss is a very good team that has played the much tougher schedule to date, so they have a big advantage coming into this game. They
|
01-15-10 |
Oklahoma City Thunder +5 v. Dallas Mavericks |
|
98-99 |
Win
|
100 |
11 h 10 m |
Show
|
Oklahoma City comes in off an overtime home loss to the Spurs. But the Thunder have been at their best this season when playing off a loss. In games directly following a loss, the Thunder have gone 13-3 ATS so far this year. As an underdog in that role, they
|
01-14-10 |
Cleveland Cavaliers +1 v. Utah Jazz |
|
96-97 |
Push |
0 |
11 h 34 m |
Show
|
Cleveland comes into this game pistol hot; they
|
01-14-10 |
Wright State v. Wisc. Green Bay +3.5 |
|
66-68 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 15 m |
Show
|
Wisconsin Green-Bay returns home off a dismal 3-game road trip in which they lost two of the three games. The two losses were in blowout fashion; a 23-point loss at Butler and a 20-point loss at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. And off a couple of terrible games, we expect the Phoenix to come out tonight with great urgency on their strong home court. They
|
01-13-10 |
Southern Illinois +4.5 v. Creighton |
|
69-71 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 55 m |
Show
|
Southern Illinois is on a 3-game losing streak, but they
|
01-13-10 |
St Louis +7 v. Duquesne |
|
79-75 |
Win
|
100 |
8 h 25 m |
Show
|
Saint Louis is a difficult to team to play because of the system they run under head coach Rick Majerus. The Billikens run complex offensive sets that just frustrate opponents into half-court games. And Saint Louis is most effective when they are playing a team that loves to run up and down the court at a frenetic pace. Majerus is too smart of a coach to allow his team to get caught-up in a running game tonight, and he
|
01-12-10 |
Missouri State v. Drake +6 |
|
77-88 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 4 m |
Show
|
Missouri St has been the surprise of the Missouri Valley Conference this season. The Bears were one of the worst teams in the league last year, and they
|
01-11-10 |
Oklahoma State v. Oklahoma |
|
57-62 |
Win
|
100 |
11 h 1 m |
Show
|
|
01-11-10 |
Villanova v. Louisville -3 |
|
92-84 |
Loss |
-110 |
9 h 1 m |
Show
|
Villanova is in a tough spot for this game tonight. Because of their small lineup, the Wildcats are guard heavy with little height in the paint. And small, guard-orientated teams are the ones Louisville matches-up well against.
|
01-10-10 |
Oregon State +8 v. Oregon |
|
64-57 |
Win
|
100 |
12 h 28 m |
Show
|
Oregon State enters off their worst home loss in the history of the program. The Beavers lost 99-48 to the Seattle on Wednesday night, and head coach Craig Robinson took it to his team in practice. "Making practice so unbearable that they forget about it," Robinson said. "It's got to be shock treatment. They have to be treated like when I first got here: like they can't play. It has to be painful enough that they don't want to go through this again."
While the Beavers are going through rigorous practices, Oregon is fat and happy off their back-to-back road wins at Washington State and Washington. The Ducks won both of those game as significant road underdogs, but now they return home and have to lay a stiff price into their arch rival that is hungry to erase an ugly blowout loss.
In last year
|
01-09-10 |
Gonzaga v. Portland +2.5 |
|
81-78 |
Loss |
-107 |
14 h 34 m |
Show
|
The consensus on Gonzaga coming into this season was that the Zags were going to regress after losing a ton of talent from last year
|
01-09-10 |
BYU v. Texas El Paso -2 |
|
83-77 |
Loss |
-105 |
10 h 34 m |
Show
|
UTEP is a very good team out of Conference-USA. The Miners won 23 games a season ago and went to the finals of the CBI tournament, and they return four starters from that team. They also added two high-impact transfers in Derrick Caracter (Louisville) and Christian Polk (Arizona St). This year
|
01-09-10 |
Utah Jazz +8 v. Dallas Mavericks |
|
111-93 |
Win
|
100 |
9 h 16 m |
Show
|
Both teams played last night, but only one team put energy into their game. Dallas played at San Antonio in a spotlight game that always gets the best out of both teams. The Mavs wanted that game after losing the two previous meetings this year. But after three quarters, they found themselves down by 10. Dallas played a monster fourth quarter in out-scoring the Spurs 42-23 to snag a misleading 9-point win. The Mavs exerted a ton of energy in that comeback, and that will leave them empty in this game tonight.
Utah was playing a home-and-home set with Memphis last night. The Jazz waxed the Grizzlies by 23 points in the first game so with such a quick turnaround, Utah was going to get Memphis
|
01-09-10 |
Philadelphia Eagles +4 v. Dallas Cowboys |
|
14-34 |
Loss |
-109 |
20 h 45 m |
Show
|
This will be the third meeting of the season between these two teams, and the second in as many weeks. The Cowboys have won the first two including last week
|
01-09-10 |
Oklahoma +8 v. Baylor |
|
60-91 |
Loss |
-110 |
7 h 35 m |
Show
|
Oklahoma has some serious motivation for this game tonight. Head coach Jeff Capel was so disappointed with his team
|
01-09-10 |
Duke v. Georgia Tech +7.5 |
|
67-71 |
Win
|
100 |
9 h 11 m |
Show
|
This will be just the second true road game for Duke this season. In their only other game played on an opponent
|
01-08-10 |
Orlando Magic -7 v. Washington Wizards |
|
97-104 |
Loss |
-110 |
5 h 5 m |
Show
|
|
01-07-10 |
Texas +4 v. Alabama |
|
21-37 |
Loss |
-105 |
25 h 29 m |
Show
|
Texas was flying under the national championship radar all season long. The Longhorns were not getting mentioned as a potential team to play in this game until the week before their Big 12 championship game with Nebraska. All the talk was about Alabama and Florida, and could TCU, Boise St, or Cincinnati stay unbeaten and climb up the BCS polls and sneak into the title game. Texas was an afterthought, but in all actuality, the Longhorns were probably playing the best football of any team in the country at the time.
Coming into tonight
|
01-06-10 |
UNLV +8 v. BYU |
|
73-77 |
Win
|
100 |
8 h 57 m |
Show
|
UNLV head coach Lon Kruger is one of the best in the country. Kruger doesn
|
01-06-10 |
Troy +3 v. Central Michigan |
|
41-44 |
Push |
0 |
9 h 1 m |
Show
|
Troy was once again the class of the Sun Belt; the Trojans won their second straight conference title. Previously known for their strong defenses, Troy
|
01-05-10 |
Iowa +5.5 v. Georgia Tech |
|
24-14 |
Win
|
100 |
18 h 47 m |
Show
|
Iowa was a strong team all season, but the Hawkeyes flew way under the radar on the national scene. And they were even undervalued in their own conference of the Big 10 as Ohio St and Penn St got all the attention. But Iowa played well in their head-to-head games; they beat Penn St on the road as a 9 ½-point underdog and almost won at Ohio St (27-24 loss as a 16 ½-point underdog) despite playing with their backup quarterback, a freshman making his first road start.
So, even though Iowa went toe-to-toe with the perceived two best teams in the conference, they still didn
|
01-04-10 |
Boise St v. TCU -7 |
|
17-10 |
Loss |
-100 |
16 h 18 m |
Show
|
Boise St once again had a monster year going 12-0 in the regular season with another shot at going unbeaten for the second time in four seasons. The Broncos have cruised all season, but that fact is going to lead to trouble tonight. Since their toughest competition came way back on September 3rd in their opener against Oregon, the Broncos haven
|
01-04-10 |
NC Wilmington +9 v. William & Mary |
|
62-61 |
Win
|
100 |
15 h 55 m |
Show
|
William & Mary has been a big surprise this year; the Tribe have jumped out to a 10-2 start this season. They are a perfect 8-0 ATS, but all of those wins have come in the role of an underdog. This is their first game in which they are favored, and it
|
01-03-10 |
Baltimore Ravens v. Oakland Raiders +11 |
|
21-13 |
Win
|
100 |
11 h 25 m |
Show
|
This game is simple for the Baltimore Ravens. All they need to do is win, and they are in the playoffs. But NFL teams in this situation have been historically bad against the pointspread because the lines are simply much higher than they should be. The true line should be about 3 points lower, but with Baltimore
|
01-03-10 |
New York Giants +9 v. Minnesota Vikings |
|
7-44 |
Loss |
-115 |
9 h 34 m |
Show
|
This game is a classic example of the trickiness of handicapping week 17 in the NFL. We have one team, the Giants, who have absolutely nothing to play for. And another team, the Vikings, who can improve their playoff position significantly with a win and a Philadelphia loss later in the afternoon. If the Vikings win and the Eagles lose, Minnesota would jump them and earn the second seed and a first-round bye.
So the common sense thing to do would be to take the Vikings because they will be playing to win. But that
|
01-03-10 |
Jacksonville Jaguars +2 v. Cleveland Browns |
|
17-23 |
Loss |
-110 |
9 h 30 m |
Show
|
These two teams come into today
|
01-02-10 |
Michigan State v. Texas Tech -7 |
|
31-41 |
Win
|
100 |
14 h 25 m |
Show
|
Michigan State is just 6-6 on the season, and if not for an overtime win against Michigan and a 3-point win over Purdue, this team would not be playing in this game. And as if the mediocre on-field play isn
|
01-02-10 |
Utah v. LSU -4 |
|
61-59 |
Loss |
-110 |
6 h 9 m |
Show
|
Utah is an extremely young team this season, and that youth has been exposed in their road games. The Utes are just 1-3 away from home with all three losses coming by at least 7 points or more. And their win came on a neutral court over Illinois in a game in which they trailed 32-16 at the half, so they actually should be winless on the road. Tonight they are going to run into a fired-up LSU team looking to avenge their worst loss of last year, a 91-61 defeat at Utah.
LSU is a perfect 8-0 at home this year, and off back-to-back road losses, we expect a peak performance from the Tigers in this spot. They
|
01-02-10 |
Northern Illinois +7 v. South Florida |
|
3-27 |
Loss |
-110 |
7 h 39 m |
Show
|
Northern Illinois has proven to be a sticky team this season. The Huskies opened their season at Wisconsin and hung tough in an 8-point loss (28-20). They then played at Purdue two weeks later and won that game 28-21 as a 12½-point underdog. Those two games alone are impressive, and considering the Big 10 is a better conference than the Big East, there
|
01-01-10 |
Cincinnati +13 v. Florida |
|
24-51 |
Loss |
-110 |
24 h 12 m |
Show
|
Brian Kelly did some great things at Cincinnati; he led them to back-to-back BCS bowl games. But with all of the success he had, there comes attention, and that attention got Kelly the Notre Dame head coaching job. Kelly is certainly one of the better coaches in the country, and he can
|
01-01-10 |
Ohio State +4.5 v. Oregon |
|
26-17 |
Win
|
100 |
21 h 42 m |
Show
|
Ohio St went 10-2 SU and 9-3 ATS this year as quarterback Terrelle Pryor has come into his own. Pryor had some big games this season; he had 372 total yards against Toledo and 343 against Minnesota. He had over 200 yards in five other games this season and when compared to having just 3 games with more than 200 yards last year, it
|
01-01-10 |
Florida State +3 v. West Virginia |
|
33-21 |
Win
|
100 |
17 h 47 m |
Show
|
Bobby Bowden will be retiring after this game, and we expect a huge game from the Florida St players this afternoon. Bowden has been one of the most respected coaches in all of college football for the past 34 years, and he
|
01-01-10 |
Northwestern v. Auburn -8 |
|
35-38 |
Loss |
-110 |
20 h 58 m |
Show
|
Northwestern went 8-4 this season, but that win/loss record looks a lot better than it actually is. Of those eight wins, six of them came against teams with losing records. The other two wins were big upsets over Iowa and Wisconsin. Turnovers were key in those wins as the Wildcats were + 4 in that department.
Northwestern ended the regular season with three consecutive straight-up underdog wins, the two mentioned above and another over a downtrodden Illinois team. The fact that they were even an underdog to Illinois late in the season shows what little respect the oddsmakers have for Northwestern.
The Wildcats were a below average offensive team this season. They averaged 25 points (versus teams that allowed 28 ppg) and 386 yards of offense per game. Their running game was virtually non-existent as they averaged just 120 yards and 3.1 yards per rush on the ground. Their passing game looks okay with 266 yards per game on 7.0 yards per pass attempt, but that was against opposing defenses that allowed 7.4 yards per pass attempt. Overall, they average only 5.0 yards per play (versus teams that allow 5.4 yppl).
Auburn
|
12-31-09 |
Tennessee +6 v. Virginia Tech |
|
14-37 |
Loss |
-110 |
13 h 21 m |
Show
|
For all of the controversy that Tennessee head coach Lane Kiffin started over the summer, you have to give him credit for backing up his words. Kiffin led the Vols to a 7-5 record, and although that doesn
|
12-31-09 |
Navy +7 v. Missouri |
|
35-13 |
Win
|
100 |
9 h 26 m |
Show
|
|
12-31-09 |
Stanford +10 v. Oklahoma |
|
27-31 |
Win
|
100 |
8 h 56 m |
Show
|
|
12-31-09 |
Air Force +5 v. Houston |
|
47-20 |
Win
|
100 |
26 h 25 m |
Show
|
Air Force and Houston played each other in this bowl game a season ago with Houston winning 34-28 as a 5 ½ point favorite. In fact, this will be the third time these two have met over the last 15 months as they also played during the regular season last year. Air Force won that game 31-28 as a 6 point underdog. So these two teams are very familiar with each other, and that means Air Force will be well prepared for the high-powered Houston offense.
Houston
|
12-30-09 |
Atlanta Hawks +5.5 v. Cleveland Cavaliers |
|
101-106 |
Win
|
100 |
5 h 52 m |
Show
|
Atlanta was really pumped for last night
|
12-29-09 |
Marquette v. West Virginia -12 |
|
62-63 |
Loss |
-110 |
6 h 50 m |
Show
|
If you just look at West Virginia
|
12-29-09 |
UCLA v. Temple +4.5 |
|
30-21 |
Loss |
-103 |
13 h 2 m |
Show
|
UCLA was the last team to get a bowl bid, and they had to wait for the results of the Army/Navy game to see if they were even going to be playing. Had Army beat Navy, then they would be playing today, and not UCLA. The Bruins are not exactly excited to be here, and the administration has been quoted as saying:
|
12-27-09 |
Dallas Cowboys v. Washington Redskins +7 |
|
17-0 |
Loss |
-101 |
16 h 34 m |
Show
|
These two teams come into tonight
|
12-27-09 |
Denver Broncos +7 v. Philadelphia Eagles |
|
27-30 |
Win
|
100 |
12 h 8 m |
Show
|
Denver enters off back-to-back losses, and at 8-6, they are in desperate need of a win if they want to get into the playoffs. And after last week
|
12-27-09 |
Houston Texans +3 v. Miami Dolphins |
|
27-20 |
Win
|
100 |
9 h 9 m |
Show
|
The Texans are fighting for a playoff spot, and in a game in which they need to win, they couldn
|
12-26-09 |
Charlotte Bobcats +6 v. Oklahoma City Thunder |
|
91-98 |
Loss |
-110 |
7 h 5 m |
Show
|
Charlotte appears to be a terrible road team as they are just 1-12 away from home this season. But the win/loss record actually creates some tremendous value in taking this team in the role of a road underdog because they simply do not lose many games by big margins. Of their 12 road losses, eight of them have come by 6 points or less. So with a bounce here or there, the Bobcats could actually have a decent win/loss record on the road, and not the unimpressive one they have.
Tyson Chandler will miss tonight
|
12-26-09 |
Boston College +7 v. USC |
|
13-24 |
Loss |
-106 |
14 h 28 m |
Show
|
|
12-26-09 |
North Carolina +3 v. Pittsburgh |
|
17-19 |
Win
|
100 |
12 h 34 m |
Show
|
Pittsburgh is highly disappointed to be playing in this game today. The Panthers appeared to be on their way to a BCS bowl game (most likely the Sugar) as they led Cincinnati by 21 points in their season finale. After Cincinnati tied the game at 38 late in the fourth quarter, Pittsburgh drove the field to retake the lead and go up 6 (missed the PAT) with just over a minute left to play. But they allowed Cincinnati to score the game-winning touchdown and grab the BCS bowl bid.
That loss is not something they
|
12-26-09 |
Ohio -3 v. Marshall |
|
17-21 |
Loss |
-100 |
8 h 21 m |
Show
|
The Ohio Bobcats return to Detroit just three weeks after playing Central Michigan in the MAC Championship game. Ohio lost 20-10, but much of that had to due with the fact that quarterback Theo Scott was hobbled by a bad ankle throughout the entire game. Scott was valiant in playing through the pain, but his injury really hampered Ohio
|
12-25-09 |
San Diego Chargers v. Tennessee Titans -3 |
|
42-17 |
Loss |
-100 |
21 h 1 m |
Show
|
|
12-25-09 |
Boston Celtics +5.5 v. Orlando Magic |
|
86-77 |
Win
|
100 |
16 h 60 m |
Show
|
The Celtics will be without Paul Pierce for this game as he had to have his knee drained because of an infection. And when news broke of Pierce being out, the pointspread quickly shot up. But that only gives us a couple of extra points to take Boston in this spot. We see this happen all the time in sports; the best player is out and the line gets inflated yet that team brings their best effort. The team knows they need to step-up their game because they are shorthanded, and they do, and play a much closer game than expected.
Kevin Garnett missed Boston
|
12-24-09 |
SMU +13 v. Nevada |
|
45-10 |
Win
|
100 |
17 h 28 m |
Show
|
SMU head coach June Jones is returning to Hawaii where he built and turned Hawaii into a respectable football team for nine seasons. Jones
|
12-23-09 |
Cleveland Cavaliers v. Sacramento Kings +6 |
|
117-104 |
Loss |
-105 |
8 h 27 m |
Show
|
This looks like a prime spot to play-against Cleveland. The Cavaliers enter off a big 18-point win at Phoenix on Monday night. They shot the lights-out in that game; they shot 52.6% (41-78) from the field and 41.7% from three-point land. Off that spotlight win, and with a big Christmas Day game at the Lakers on deck, it
|
12-23-09 |
Utah Utes v. California Golden Bears -2.5 |
|
37-27 |
Loss |
-110 |
16 h 47 m |
Show
|
Both of these teams have been to their share of bowl games over the last few years, so there
|
12-23-09 |
Mississippi +11.5 v. West Virginia |
|
66-76 |
Win
|
100 |
5 h 5 m |
Show
|
The two coaches know each other real well as Mississippi head coach Andy Kennedy worked for four years as an assistant under West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins at Cincinnati. Kennedy implemented the same schemes and systems that he learned under Huggins when he took over at Ole Miss, so both teams are familiar with what the other team is running.
|
12-22-09 |
Oklahoma City Thunder +10 v. Los Angeles Lakers |
|
108-111 |
Win
|
100 |
10 h 2 m |
Show
|
This is a tough scheduling spot for the Lakers. They return home off a successful 5-game road trip in which they went 4-1. This first game back at home is a spot where we typically see teams not bring their best effort. And the Lakers are fully aware of that being the case. "That first game back is always the toughest, probably because of all the travel and your body still getting acclimated to the time zone," Kobe Bryant said. "You're trying to get back into a routine, and get a handle on all the stuff that goes on when you're home. There is the potential for distractions"
Kobe is also dealing with the broken finger on his right shooting hand, which he says, still hurts. "It's probably going to bother me for the next month or so," he said. The Lakers also have a much bigger game on deck as they
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12-22-09 |
Portland Trail Blazers +5 v. Dallas Mavericks |
|
85-81 |
Win
|
100 |
8 h 3 m |
Show
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Dallas played an inspired game on Sunday night as they were without Dirk Nowitski who was out because of an elbow injury. The Mavs beat Cleveland 102-95 as they got a total team effort with six players scoring in double digits. But we often see that happen when the star player is out, but in the next game, the team usually misses their key guy and cannot match their production from the previous game. Nowitski is doubtful for tonight, so Dallas figures to regress off the big Cleveland win.
The Trail Blazers have won three of their last four after going through a stretch of injuries of their own. Portland is finally learning how to play without some of their guys, and this team just fights in every game they play. "We've got a number of reasons why we could put our heads down, but no one's even talking about that," guard Brandon Roy said. "Coach McMillan is still coaching as if we've got all our guys and we should win every game. And that's just the approach we've taken as players. There's no quit in here."
Portland matches up well with Dallas as the last four games in this series have all been close. They only have one win in those four games, but the Blazers three losses have only come by 8, 5, and 4 points. And Nowitski was a big part of those wins as he scored 29, 16, and 30 points. So without him on the floor tonight, Portland has the edge and takes this game down to the wire.
Play TRAIL BLAZERS (+).
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12-22-09 |
BYU +3 v. Oregon State |
|
44-20 |
Win
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100 |
18 h 20 m |
Show
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Las Vegas is like a second home for BYU. The Cougars will be playing in their fifth consecutive Las Vegas Bowl, and it
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12-21-09 |
New York Giants v. Washington Redskins +3 |
|
45-12 |
Loss |
-120 |
20 h 9 m |
Show
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Washington has quietly been playing good football over the last month. Although they
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12-21-09 |
Utah Jazz v. Orlando Magic -7.5 |
|
99-104 |
Loss |
-107 |
5 h 13 m |
Show
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Orlando has been dominating teams at home this season. The Magic are 10-2 SU at home, and eight of those ten wins have come by 8 points or more. As good as the Magic are at home, the Jazz are as bad on the road. Utah is only 5-7 SU on the road, but five of those seven losses have come by 9 points or more. So when we combine the in-season spread results of these two teams based on their home and away results, we get a 13-4 ATS number that favors Orlando.
The Magic also want to atone for their poor showing out in Utah 11 days ago. Orlando jumped out to a 35-22 first quarter lead, but then they fell apart as the Jazz out-scored them by 22 points over the second and third quarter to win the game by 9 (120-111). The Jazz shot 50% from the field in that game and also shot 14 more free throws. But expect those numbers to reverse here as the Magic are much better offensively and defensively on their home floor. Utah has won two of their road games on this current trip, but they
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12-20-09 |
Middle Tenn St v. Southern Mississippi -3.5 |
|
42-32 |
Loss |
-102 |
14 h 11 m |
Show
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Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora has done a great job in his two years in Hattiesburg. Fedora has taken the Golden Eagles back to the New Orleans bowl after beating Troy last year 30-27 in this same game. Fedora has some excellent offensive schemes, and his offense was tough to stop as they averaged 33 points and 420 yards of offense per game. And their offense will prove to be a tough challenge for a Sun Belt team that faced a weak slate of offenses all season long.
Middle Tennessee St
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12-20-09 |
Minnesota Vikings v. Carolina Panthers +9 |
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7-26 |
Win
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100 |
14 h 3 m |
Show
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This looks like a pretty good spot to play-against Minnesota. The Vikings enter off a home blowout win over the Bengals, but they now must travel and play an outdoor game in less than ideal weather conditions. For a team that hasn
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12-20-09 |
Green Bay Packers v. Pittsburgh Steelers -1 |
|
36-37 |
Push |
0 |
18 h 14 m |
Show
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NFL Game of the Week
The Steelers have lost five straight games, and they certainly are desperate for a win. And today
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12-20-09 |
Cincinnati Bengals +7 v. San Diego Chargers |
|
24-27 |
Win
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100 |
10 h 50 m |
Show
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The tragedy of Chris Henry will certainly have an impact on this game. His sad passing last week has changed the Cincinnati team going forward, but we historically see teams in this situation play an inspired and emotional game in the first one, and that
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12-19-09 |
Dallas Cowboys +9 v. New Orleans Saints |
|
24-17 |
Win
|
100 |
28 h 39 m |
Show
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As the season winds down, the pressure continues to mount for the undefeated teams. The Colts felt that pressure on Thursday night as they were in a back-and-forth game with Jacksonville before escaping with a close, 4-point win. And tonight, the Saints find themselves in a similar situation as they look to remain unbeaten.
New Orleans has been feeling the pressure for awhile now as they
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12-19-09 |
Texas Tech v. Wichita State -5 |
|
83-85 |
Loss |
-110 |
8 h 57 m |
Show
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Wichita St has quietly won seven straight games after losing to Pittsburgh back in late November. The Shockers are a very good team, and they play on a very strong home court. And their home court will be a difficult test for a Texas Tech team that hasn
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12-19-09 |
Wyoming +10.5 v. Fresno State |
|
35-28 |
Win
|
100 |
13 h 59 m |
Show
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Wyoming is ecstatic to be playing in this bowl game. The Cowboys haven
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12-18-09 |
Los Angeles Clippers +2 v. New York Knicks |
|
91-95 |
Loss |
-105 |
10 h 6 m |
Show
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These two teams are coming into tonight
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12-18-09 |
Villanova -2 v. Montana |
|
23-21 |
Push |
0 |
24 h 31 m |
Show
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Montana might be the #1 seed in the I-AA playoffs, but this is because they play in an overrated Big Sky conference and they did not face any I-A opponents this season. Villanova plays in a much stronger conference as the CAA had four teams in the quarterfinals this season (Villanova, William & Mary, Richmond, New Hampshire). Appalachian State won three straight I-AA titles from 2005-2007, but the other two recent champions have both been from the CAA with James Madison in 2004 and Richmond in 2008. In fact, the Spiders defeated this same Montana team 24-7 in last year
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12-17-09 |
Indianapolis Colts v. Jacksonville Jaguars +3 |
|
35-31 |
Loss |
-100 |
16 h 60 m |
Show
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After beating the Broncos last week, Indianapolis has everything wrapped up. The Colts have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, so they have absolutely nothing to play for in their last three games. And the consensus is that they are going to start resting their players. And with the history of this team doing that, there
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12-16-09 |
Dallas Mavericks v. Oklahoma City Thunder +2 |
|
100-86 |
Loss |
-110 |
10 h 3 m |
Show
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Oklahoma City enters off back-to-back losses, at home to Cleveland 102-89 and at Denver 102-93. In that Cavs game, the Thunder actually held a 5-point lead at the half and only trailed by a bucket heading into the fourth quarter. But after a bad shooting quarter and only 13 points scored, the final score looked a lot worse than how the game actually played out. And the loss at Denver can be excused because the Thunder were playing the next night in thin air and altitude after a disappointing end to the Cleveland game.
After a loss this season, Oklahoma City has bounced back strong. In a game following a loss, the Thunder have gone 9-1 against the spread. As an underdog in that role, they
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12-16-09 |
Texas El Paso +7 v. Mississippi |
|
81-91 |
Loss |
-101 |
6 h 29 m |
Show
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UTEP is a very good team out of Conference-USA. The Miners won 23 games a season ago and went to the finals of the CBI tournament, and they return four starters from that team. They also added two high-impact transfers in Derrick Caracter (Louisville) and Christian Polk (Arizona St). This year
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12-15-09 |
Murray State +2 v. Louisiana Tech |
|
81-87 |
Loss |
-105 |
9 h 9 m |
Show
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Murray St is the class of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Racers are off to a fast start at 8-1 with the lone loss coming by just 5 points at Pac-10 favorite California. There
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12-14-09 |
Arizona Cardinals v. San Francisco 49ers +4 |
|
9-24 |
Win
|
100 |
18 h 16 m |
Show
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San Francisco won the first meeting 20-16 as a 5-point road underdog at Arizona way back in week 1. The 49ers
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12-13-09 |
San Diego Chargers v. Dallas Cowboys -3 |
|
20-17 |
Loss |
-130 |
12 h 31 m |
Show
|
|
12-13-09 |
Green Bay Packers v. Chicago Bears +4 |
|
21-14 |
Loss |
-100 |
9 h 36 m |
Show
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Chicago snapped their 4-game losing streak last week in a 17-9 win over the Rams. And the Bears should be able to carry over some momentum from that win into today
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12-13-09 |
Carolina Panthers v. New England Patriots -13 |
|
10-20 |
Loss |
-100 |
9 h 30 m |
Show
|
|
12-12-09 |
Los Angeles Lakers v. Utah Jazz +1.5 |
|
94-102 |
Win
|
100 |
16 h 24 m |
Show
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The Jazz possess one of the strongest home court edges in the league and this advantage is amplified when an opponent is playing without rest in the thin air and altitude of Salt Lake City. That will be the case tonight for the Lakers as they just played in Los Angeles last night and Kobe Bryant suffered a broken finger which could leave him less than healthy tonight.
Utah is 10-3 SU (9-4 ATS) at home this season compared to just 3-6 SU/ATS on the road. The Jazz are coming off a solid 120-111 home underdog win versus a strong Orlando squad on Thursday and the Jazz should carry the momentum into tonight
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12-12-09 |
Siena v. Northern Iowa -4.5 |
|
65-82 |
Win
|
100 |
6 h 53 m |
Show
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Northern Iowa has been pointing towards this game since last season. The Panthers traveled to Siena for a Bracket Buster game, but left with a 6-point loss (81-75). Northern Iowa was overwhelmed in the first half and they trailed 40-19 at the break. But once they settled down, they were able to out-score Siena by 15 points (56-41) in the second half. And that high-paced game is not the way the Panthers want to play, and with this game on their home court, they
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12-12-09 |
Appalachian State +4 v. Montana |
|
17-24 |
Loss |
-104 |
10 h 46 m |
Show
|
Montana might be the #1 seed in the I-AA playoffs, but this is because they play in an overrated Big Sky conference and they did not face any I-A opponents this season. Appalachian State plays in the more difficult Southern Conference and the Mountaineers actually rate as the better team in this game.
Appalachian State has won 3 of the past 4 national championships and they are currently playing their best football of the season after a slow 0-2 SU start this year. The Mountaineers were without their star QB Armanti Edwards in the first game of the season versus East Carolina and Edwards is one of the best quarterbacks in the nation. Edwards accounted for 30 touchdowns this season while throwing only 6 interceptions. Appalachian State is an explosive offensive team that is averaging 34.5 points per game and 463 total yards per game (6.5 yards per play). They also have a balanced attack with 211 rushing yards (5.0 ypr) and 251 passing yards (8.7 ypp) per game.
Appalachian State is coming off an impressive road underdog win at Richmond last Saturday, 35-31, in which the Mountaineers held a solid 444-347 total yard edge (6.4-4.9 yards per play). Richmond is the defending I-AA national champions and easily defeated Montana 24-7 last year.
Montana has been fortunate in both playoffs wins this season as they overcame a 48-21 deficit against South Dakota State in the first round and then benefited from an incredible 10 turnovers by Stephen F. Austin last week.
Play APPALACHIAN STATE (+).
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12-11-09 |
William & Mary +3.5 v. Villanova |
|
13-14 |
Win
|
100 |
17 h 13 m |
Show
|
Despite what the records or national polls might say, these are the two best teams in the nation in I-AA college football and the winner of this game will be favored in the championship game next Friday versus either Montana or Appalachian State. Both Villanova and William & Mary play in the CAA which is the strongest conference in I-AA football and had four of the eight teams in the quarterfinals last week.
Villanova defeated William & Mary in the regular season meeting on October 3rd, but the 28-17 final score was extremely misleading as William & Mary actually outplayed the Wildcats. The Tribe had a dominating 27-15 first down edge and a 472-283 total yard advantage. The reason William & Mary lost the game was a 2-0 turnover deficit and 8 penalties for 75 yards. The Tribe also allowed a 57-yard flea-flicker touchdown pass on the first play of the game which is unlikely to occur tonight.
William & Mary qualifies as a strong defensive underdog as they possess the best defense in I-AA football. The Tribe allows only 11.9 points per game and perhaps the most incredible stat is the fact they have allowed only one score all season in the third quarter of play. William & Mary has a very strong rush defense that permits just 53 yards per game and only 1.8 yards per carry. This is an important matchup advantage against a Villanova offense that runs the ball on 70% of their plays for 61% of their total offensive yards and averages 237 rushing yards per game and 5.1 yards per carry.
This strong W&M defense was evident last week when the Tribe upset #1 ranked Southern Illinois on the road 24-3 and outgained the Salukis 22-11 in first down with a 373-187 total yard edge.
Play WILLIAM & MARY (+).
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12-10-09 |
Orlando Magic -2 v. Utah Jazz |
|
111-120 |
Loss |
-110 |
9 h 53 m |
Show
|
Orlando has been one of the best road teams in the NBA over the past few years. And their record on the West Coast has been outstanding over that time as well. The Magic have gone 15-5 straight-up in those games which includes a current 10-1 run against Western teams. On this current trip, Orlando beat the Warriors by 8 and beat the Clippers by 11 points on Tuesday night.
The Magic also hold a couple of key advantages for tonight
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12-10-09 |
Pittsburgh Steelers -10 v. Cleveland Browns |
|
6-13 |
Loss |
-105 |
15 h 18 m |
Show
|
|
12-09-09 |
Kentucky v. Connecticut |
|
64-61 |
Loss |
-110 |
10 h 37 m |
Show
|
Kentucky is an extremely talented team, but they are also a young team that is learning a new system under new head coach John Calipari. And they are in a very difficult scheduling spot for tonight
|
12-08-09 |
Xavier v. Kansas State -5 |
|
56-71 |
Win
|
100 |
11 h 23 m |
Show
|
The Kansas St players have been looking forward to tonight
|