Matt Josephs
Richmond vs. Massachusetts
Play: Richmond -2½
The Spiders can clinch a top 4 spot in the A-10 with a win on the road at UMass on Wednesday. Richmond is 6-5 on the road and 7-3-1 against the spread. They are 11-5 ATS in the Atlantic 10 and have taken care of business on the road against lesser teams. TJ Cline and ShawnDre Jones are two of the better players in the conference. UMass is on the opposite end of the spectrum going 4-12 in conference and 4-12 against the spread in those contests. The Spiders have won two straight in this series and have the more consistent scorers. The Minutemen have lost three of their last four with two of those being absolute blowouts. I think the Spiders come out focused and win this one easily.
Teddy Davis
Virginia Comm vs. Dayton
Play: Dayton -5
This is a lot bigger rivalry in the A10 than what most people realize. Dayton wants revenge from an earlier loss. Dayton has a big homecourt advantage that people often over look. They are 14-1 @ home. Dayton has also covered 4 of their last 5 games.
David Banks
Rockets @ Clippers
Pick: Clippers -1.5
The Clippers (35-23) have found the going tough after the All-Star. Los Angeles has dropped two straight, albeit to the Western Conference’s two best teams. The Clippers did get point guard Chris Paul back from a thumb injury. He scored 17 points and had six rebounds and five assists in a loss to San Antonio last Friday night. With Paul back in the lineup, Los Angeles looks to put together a late season push and improve upon its current fifth seed in the Western Conference.
Houston (42-18) won its first two games after the All-Star break, but the wins were over New Orleans and Minnesota, two teams that currently in the bottom half of the West. If the Clippers plan on beating the Rockets, they are going to have to find a way to slow down leading scorer James Harden. If it was any other season, Harden would be the league MVP. He leads Houston in points (28.9), assists (11.3), and rebounds (8.1). Houston recently acquired veteran guard Lou Williams from the Lakers and in two games with the Rockets Williams is averaging 22 points a game.
The two teams have played just once so far this season. The Clippers allowed Harden to put up 30 points in a 140-116 blowout victory. Harden had a triple-double that night with 13 rebounds and 10 assists. The Clippers did play without Paul and their other star Blake Griffin who is back from a knee injury and averaging nearly 22 points per game.
Wunderdog
Washington @ Toronto
Pick: Toronto -4
This is a great spot for Toronto, which catches Washington coming off a huge win over Golden State and now playing a back-to-back and on the road. The Raptors have won four in a row and they have beaten the Wizards the last five meetings while covering the spread the last three times. Bradley Beal scored 25 points and Markieff Morris added 22 points against the Warriors, which made only 8-of-28 three-point attempts. The Raptors beat the Knicks 92-91 on Monday with DeMar DeRozan pouring in 37 points. The favorite has covered five of the last seven meetings and Washington hasn't beaten Toronto since the 2015 playoffs. The Raptors have covered four straight against winning teams.
Kevin Rogers
Auburn at Georgia
Play: Auburn +5
Georgia has been a great team to back as an underdog in SEC play, but an awful team to bet on as a favorite inside the conference. The Bulldogs host Auburn tonight as UGA owns a 1-6 ATS mark when laying points against conference foes. The Tigers held an eight-point halftime lead the last time they faced Georgia, but the Bulldogs outscored them 53-33 in the second half. Auburn has put together a 3-5 record against SEC foes on the road, which includes blowing a 20-point halftime lead in a loss at Ole Miss.
Brad Wilton
My comp play release for Wednesday is Auburn plus the points at Georgia.
Both teams sport identical 17-12 marks, but truth be told, it is Georgia that is playing the better brand of basketball, as the Bulldogs have only lost once in their last 5 games, and enter with a 2-game winning streak.
Auburn on the other hand has lost 4 of their last 5 both straight up and against the spread.
Problem is, UGa sure looked like they missed Yante Maten in their game on Saturday, as the Dawgs had to go right down to the bitter end at home before pulling out the win against conference doormat LSU. That spread loss dropped Georgia to just 3-9 against the spread at home for the season.
Georgia handled Auburn by a dozen in their first conference meeting before the new year, but the Tigers have covered in 5 of the last 6 series meetings, and Auburn is also 9-6 against the spread in their lined road games this campaign.
With both looking to build their stock before the conference tournament, let's grab the points and side with Auburn.
4* AUBURN
Jack Brayman
I won't even elaborate more than a couple of paragraphs on tonight's freebie, as Utah State will walk into a building it'll be inside next week for the Mountain West Conference Championships, and warm up to the atmosphere by desstroying a team that is suffering through the worst season in program history. UNLV is, in a word, terrible.
Now mired in a nine-game slide, the Runnin' Rebels look more like a crawling team that can't get out of its own way, and can't wait for the season to end. First-year coach Marvin Menzies has struggled to build chemistry with the team, which isn't his fault, since his recruiting didn't start til May last year, after he was hired during one of the oddest hiring practices college basketball has ever seen.
UNLV has been knocked off by 1, 4, 3, 20, 27, 2, 13, 23 and 36 points during its losing streak. And four of the losses came inside the Thomas and Mack Center. The Rebels are lame ducks, and will see an early exit next week in the tournament.
Utah State, on the other hand, has won two straight with an offense that is getting warmed up. The Aggies have averaged 85 points in their last two games, and this is their season-finale. Last game before enjoying a week off.
Lay the road points here, as this is an free pick.
1* UTAH STATE
STEVE JANUS
Nets +2½
Play On - Road teams where the line is +3 to -3 (BROOKLYN) - off 2 or more consecutive road losses, well rested team - playing 6 or less games in 14 days. This system is 64-22 (74%) against the spread since 1996.
BRANDON LEE
Michigan State vs. Illinois
Play: Michigan St +2½
No surprise here, Izzo has the Spartans playing their best basketball of the season at crunch time. Michigan State comes in having gone 6-2 in their last 8 games and are fresh off an impressive 84-74 win at home over Wisconsin as a 3-point dog. Clearly the books aren't giving this team enough respect for them to be a dog at home and I still think they are being slow to adjust with them as a dog at Illinois. Sure the Illini have won 4 of 5, but it's not as impressive as it looks. Let's not forget this is a team that lost at home to Penn State by 13, Minnesota by 9 and Wisconsin by 14. As big of a game as this is for Illinois, I just think the Spartans are the better team and will prevail with a win.
JOHN MARTIN
76ers +9
The Philadelphia 76ers continue to lack the respect they deserve from oddsmakers despite going a perfect 8-0 ATS in their last eight games overall. Now they find themselves catching 9 points on the road to the Miami Heat tonight, and this is simply too much. The Miami Heat are getting too much respect right now due to winning 16 of their last 19 games overall. They shouldn't be favored this heavily against anyone as they are still just 27-33 on the season and a mediocre squad. Philly is 11-2 ATS when playing 4 or less games in 10 days this season. The 76ers are 22-6 ATS in their last 28 games overall. Philly is 4-1-1 ATS in its last six trips to Miami.
MIKE LUNDIN
Wizards vs. Raptors
Play: Raptors -4
Massive let down spot for the Washington Wizards here as they're coming off a 112-108 win against Golden State last night. While it's true that the revenge angle is in their favor after the Raptors beat them at Washington back in November, keep in mind that this is the first game of a home-and-home set so I think the Wizards will throw this game and put all their focus on the rematch home in Washington on Friday.
DAVE PRICE
Pacers vs. Spurs
Play: Pacers +10
The Key: The San Antonio Spurs will be playing their first home games since January 4th. They just completed their 8-game Rodeo Road Trip that happens annually. These players have missed their families and won't totally be focused in their first game back home. Now they'll being asked to cover a double-digit spread against an improving Indiana Pacers team that is fighting for their playoff lives. Indiana is 19-9 ATS when playing 4 or less games in 10 days over the last 2 seasons. The Pacers are 4-1 ATS in the last 5 meetings.
JIMMY BOYD
Texas vs. Texas Tech
Play: Texas +8
I really like the value here with the Longhorns catching a decent sized number on the road against the Red Raiders. Texas Tech has the much better overall record, but there's not a lot that separates them when it comes to their performance in the Big 12. The Red Raiders are 5-11 and have lost 3 straight and 5 of 6 overall. Texas is 4-12 and has lost 5 in a row. The Longhorns average 67.6 ppg and allow 73.1 ppg in league play, while Texas Tech averages 69.9 ppg and allows 74.1 ppg.
These two played at Texas earlier this season and the Longhorns won 62-58 as a pick'em. I believe the line should be a lot close to a pick'em this time around. Key is that Texas hasn't covered the spread in 5 straight and are undervalued because of it. Texas Tech on the other hand is 5-2 ATS in their last 7. We are also seeing a little bigger number than we should due to this being the Red Raiders home finale.
Longhorns are 20-9 in their last 29 road games after playing their previous game at home and 12-3 in their last 15 off a home loss by 10 or more.
CHASE DIAMOND
Auburn vs. Georgia
Play: Auburn +5
This game features the 17-12 Auburn and the 17-12 Georgia. Auburn comes in with revenge on the brain from their loss to Georgia at home 96-84 . The crunch is on to try and make the big dance and with 17 wins I love getting this many points with a team fighting hard for a spot in the big dance. Only 33% of the bets have come in early on road Auburn but this line is holding steady at 5. Take Auburn plus the points as I think this one will go down to the buzzer.
TONY GEORGE
Nevada vs. San Jose State
Play: San Jose State +7
The Wolfpack remain 1 game behind Colorado State for the Conference title and Nevada has Colorado State this Saturday in a Big Game and this is a serious sandwich spot, and tough team to play despite a losing record, the Spartans compete in all games. Nevada 4 losses in conference action find that they lost 3 out of those 4 on the road, and with a huge game on deck, this one is going to be a struggle to cover this number in my opinion.
As a matter of fact, San Jose has only lost 1 home game this season this by double digits, and they have covered 4 out of their last 5 games as an underdog. They are at home, it is senior night and they have no pressure, while Nevada is in a dogfight for the conference regular season title and have all the pressure on them, and nothing comes easy in early March, especially with a huge “look ahead” game on Saturday.