Scott Delaney
40-Dime UTAH STATE AGGIES
Yesterday's 40 dime winner was on Washington as a slight underdog against Marquette; the Huskies won outright. For Friday, I'm grabbing the points with another pup, Utah State, against Texas A&M in a battle of Aggies.$)[ The bunch from Utah State had won 17 in a row before losing to fellow tournament member New Mexico State in its conference final. I love them in this spot.
And who wouldn't?
The Aggies are your prototypical disciplined basketball team that is well-coached. They shoot the ball well and take good care of the rock. And though Utah State isn't overly athletic and lacks size and depth, it's not going to necessarily have to worry about a rather bleak offensive game by A&M.
What the Lone Star Aggies like to do is lay on its opponent and get their foes deep into the shot clock, and make note Utah State is the best three-point shooting team percentage-wise in this tournament, draining an amazing 42.1 percent. Slowing the pace what bother Utah State one bit, as it is quite methodical on offense.
Fact is, this is a great spot for Utah State, which might have struggled with an athletic opponent. But against A&M, the fundamentally sound Aggies out of Logan, Utah have the edge.
Utah State turns the ball over on just 16.3 percent of offensive possessions, it ranks 13th in offensive efficiency overall, as well as a very good 52nd in defensive efficiency.
Utah State was 10-6 away from home, while A&M was just 8-8 away from College Station. I would have liked to seen a better non-conference schedule, but the Aggies did beat first-round victor BYU back on Dec. 2. They also played fellow mid-major entry St. Mary's, who won yesterday.
Both are in on a bevy of ATS runs, but I'm most intrigued by the fact USU is 9-2 as an underdog, 4-1 on neutral courts, 8-2 when catching points in this range and 13-4 overall. And also make note, A&M is on 1-4 ATS slides versus non-conference teams and as a favorite on neutral courts.
Take Utah State today.
RAS
Temple Ov 118.5
Geo Tech Ov 138
Mich St Ov 148
ATS LOCK CLUB
6 Units New Mexico State +13.5
5 Units Siena +4.5
5 Units Mississippi -4
4 Units Maryland -9.5
4 Units Louisville +1
Underground Sports Connection
300* Purdue -4.5
200* Wofford +10
200* Florida St -1.5
100* Cal -1
500* Minnesota U -1
Ron Raymond
Minnesota +1
Georgia Tech +1
Texas A&M -3
Billy Coleman
4* Boston -1.5
4* Cal Santa Barb +17
3* OK ST -1.5
3* Gonz +1.5
3* Louis pk
Bob Valetino
40 Dime Utah State
Rocketman
4* Ark PB +23
3* NY Knicks -3
3* Calgary -125
TIM TRUSHEL
California Over
New Mexico St
Teddy June
10* Minnesota
10* Utah St.
10* Clemson
10* California
Larry Ness
Gonzaga +1.5 vs Florida St.
It's offense vs defense when eight-seed Gonzaga takes on nine-seed Florida St. Toney Douglas (21.5) was FSU's lone double-digit scorer last year and he's gone. The 7-1 Alabi (11.6-2) and the 6-9 Singletary (10.3-7.1) were the team-leaders this year, spearheading a defense which has allowed a modest 60.2 PPG while holding opponents to a nation-best 37.4 percent FG percentage. The Bulldogs are weak defensively and will leave openings for the Seminoles but can FSU take advantage without Douglas around, who was the team's "go-to" guy in crunch time last year? The saying goes "defense wins championships" but FSU was only able to score 52 points (made 38.5 percent, including 3-of-18 on threes) vs NC St in its first ACC tourney game last Friday. This year's Gonzaga team is nowhere near as good as many of the school's previous 12 straight NCAA teams but the Bulldogs did go 26-6. This year's team was expected to be in a major rebuilding mode as big men Heytvelt (14.9-6.5) and Daye (12.7-6.8) plus guard Pargo (10.2-3.4-4.9) and the versatile 6-8 Downs (9.6-4.2) all moved on after last year's team won 28 games (lost in Sweet 16 to eventual champ North Carolina). The 6-5 Bouldin (15.8-4.6-4.1) stepped with a HUGE season (WCC player-of-the-year), joined in the backcourt by another big 6-5 guard in Gray (13.7-4.1). The 7-0 Sacre played just five games last year (3.0-2.8) but averaged almost 25 MPG thi•s season, averaging 10.0 PPG and 5.7 RPG. Then there is 6-7 freshman Harris, who added 14.7 PPG and 7.2 boards. Gonzaga's tourney may not last more than two games but this team has too much offense (77.6 PPG / 49.4 percent FGs which ranks 6th in the nation) for the offensively-challenged Seminoles. This is Gonzaga's 13th straight NCAA appearance and while the number 13 is usually associated with bad luck, I'll note that the number 11 is considered a lucky one. This is Mark Few's 11th season at Gonzaga and he takes an incredible 290-72 (.801) mark into this contest. No luck needed at all for the Zags in this one as they roll past the Seminoles. 10* 1st Round GOY on Gonzaga.
Jeff Benton
15 Dime - Temple
5 Dime - Oakland
Seabass
200* Steam - Utah St.
Psychic
2 Units Gonzaga +1.5
2 Units Oklahoma St -1
2 Units Oakland +10
3 Units Vermont +16 (BEST BET)
3 Units Clemson -1.5 (BEST BET)
3 Units Cornell +4 (BEST BET)
3 Units Duke -23 (BEST BET)
4 Units California -1 (MAJOR)
4 Units Purdue -4 (MAJOR)
5 Units Houston +9 (WISEGUY)
BEN BURNS
10* BEST BET ATS ROUT - Toronto Raptors
REVENGE Game of the Week - Philadelphia 76ers
EARLY O/U SHOOTOUT - Knicks/76ers Over
1st Rd TOTAL OF THE YEAR - Maryland/Houston Over
BLUE CHIP - W Virginia/Morgan St Over
ANNIHILATOR - Minnesota