Underground Sports Connection
200* Denver Nuggets -9
Dominic Fazzini
20 Dime - Army
The Midshipmen have won seven straight against their military academy rivals, and probably will win again today, but the Black Knights have some new ammunition for today's 110th meeting between the teams.
Freshman quarterback Trent Steelman is a real tough, talented kid and has started every game this season for Army. He is only the second plebe every to start at QB against Navy, and he leads the Black Knights with 690 yards and five touchdowns rushing this year. He also has completed 52.2 percent of his throws for 560 yards and three TDs with just one interception, but passing is not a big part of Army's offense.
Instead, the Black Knights run the same triple-option attack that the Midshipmen utilize, which should have both defenses quite familiar with what each offense is coming with today. And that should help keep the game close.
First-year Army coach Rich Ellerson has helped his team move within one win of a spot in the Eagle Bank Bowl, where they would face Temple. And while that's not exactly a BCS bowl, any bowl bid would be quite a big deal at West Point.
Ellerson has the Black Knights playing good ball, and he learned the triple option from former Navy coach Paul Johnson while the two were working at Hawaii, so Navy won't be doing anything offensively he hasn't coached his players to defend.
And while Army doesn't pass the ball much, when it does it has a big advantage -- literally -- in wide receiver Ali Villanueva. The senior stands 6-10 and was moved from left tackle, where he started 12 games last year for the Black Knights, to wideout before the season started. He leads the team with 29 catches for 460 yards (15.9-yard average) and five TDs.
Most of the ATS trends favor the Midshipmen, but they are 0-4 ATS in their last four games as a favorite. I think Army easily stays within two touchdowns today. Go with the Black Knights to cover the points.
10 Dime -- WICHITA STATE (minus points vs. Texas Christian)
WICHITA STATE
The Shockers are a far more physical team than the Horned Frogs are, especially at home, where they are 5-0 this season.
Seven-foot center Garrett Stutz is going to be a big obstacle for TCU to overcome if he can avoid foul trouble, and he helps lead a Wichita State defense that is allowing just 53.9 points per game.
The Shockers have played a relatively easy schedule so far in going 8-1, only playing three lined games, but they have won by an average of nearly 20 points per game. And they can get scoring from a variety of players, led by guard Toure' Murry, who is averaging 13.6 ppg.
Wichita State is 13-4 ATS in its last 17 nonconference games, 5-2 ATS in its last seven games overall and 4-1 ATS in its last five against Mountain West teams. The Horned Frogs are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games against a team with a winning record, 1-5 ATS in their last six nonconference games and 1-5 ATS in their last six games overall. Take the Shockers to win by at least a dozen points tonight.
RAS
E. Mich -5' 1.5 Units
1 Unit
Towson +5
S. Miss -1'
Boise St. -5
Tim Trushel
UNLV
Evan Altemus
3 units ATS: Indiana Pacers +7.5
Washington has no business being this high of a favorite against anyone at home. The Wizards have routinely played to the level of their competition this season and last season. Washington hasn’t defeated any recent opponents by this margin at home recently, despite playing lower quality opponents like Toronto, Philadelphia, and Charlotte. The Wizards are also coming off of a disappointing home loss to Boston. The Pacers played well without Danny Granger last night, and they have the offense to keep this game close. Look for Indiana to get the point spread cover.
Great Lakes Sports
3* Jazz
3GWins
COLLEGE HOOPS
10* BUTLER
10* GEORGETOWN
5* Kansas St
5* TCU
5* Purdue
NBA HOOPS:
4* Utah Jazz
ICEMAN HOCKEY:
5* NHL Game of the Week: ATLANTA
Ohio St is coming off a huge 44 pt win and now faces a tough Butler team. Butler has five returning starters from last year’s teams finds the Braves hosting the Buckeyes in a battle of two NCAA tourney teams last year. It’s safe to say Butler enjoys playing at Hinkle Fieldhouse where they are 55-5 SU since the 2005 season. They are also 11-4-1 ATS in battles with the Big 10, including a 54-51 cover-loss at Ohio State last season. This is Ohio St's first true road game of the season, and playing without leading scorer F Evan Turner out for at least two months with a spine injury, as OSU drops to 3-15 SU and ATS in road openers here this afternoon.
Washington has a weakness playing without big man Jon Brockman. His absence down low has allowed teams with size to have their way in the paint. That will be a huge problem against a physical Georgetown team with a lot of size and bench play. In addition, the time of this game will help the Hoyas.GTOwn gets the call in this early game for the Washington players as it starts at 11am local time out west.
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
MINNESOTA -16.5
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this matchup is on the large favorite:
The Hawks are coming off a loss and I expect them to have a "letdown" in this game.
Villanova converted 30 of 31 second-half free throw attempts, including 29 in a row, to win for the 43rd time in 57 meetings against the Hawks.
After St. Joe’s pulled within one by hitting the first basket of the second half, Villanova went on a 16-7 run over the next 6 minutes, building a 10-point lead.
Not only is St. Joseph's 0-5 SU its last five overall, its also 1-4 ATS its last five on the road and 1-4 ATS its last five overall.
On the other side of the court: Blake Hoffarber had 18 points and Minnesota scored the first 18 points of the game in a 94-64 victory over Morgan State on Tuesday night.
Lawrence Westbrook added 14 points, four assists and four steals for the Gophers.
Minnesota led 9-0 before Morgan State even managed a field goal attempt and the Bears shot just 26 % in the decisive first half; look for Minnesota to build momentum off that convincing performance.
The Golden Gophers are 6-3 SU to start the year.
Bottom line: The Hawks do not matchup well against the Gophers in key positions; look for MINNESOTA to improve to 5-3 ATS when playing the roll of favorite and for St. Joseph's to fall to 2-5 ATS as an underdog!
*7* MINNESOTA.
Rocketman
GEORGIA SOUTHERN +17
NC State is scoring only 63.7 points per game at home this year. Wolfpack are 12-25-2 ATS in their last 39 games as a home favorite. Wolfpack are 8-18-1 ATS in their last 27 games as a favorite. Wolfpack are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a home favorite of 13.0 or greater. Wolfpack are 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games as a favorite of 13.0 or greater. Wolfpack are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games following a ATS win. Wolfpack are 9-23 ATS in their last 32 home games vs. a team with a losing road record. Wolfpack are 7-22 ATS in their last 29 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400. We'll play Georgia Southern for 3 units today!
Opposite Action Plays
ARMY +15.5
Tony Weston
40 Dime Navy
10 Dime Kentucky
NAVY - It's almost unfair at this point to even pit Army against Navy in football.
Army doesn't play the schedule Navy does and doesn't end up with the same athletes. Sure, it's still a great rivalry in spirit, but on the football field, it's a joke.
Today will be no different as Navy cruises to another easy victory over their service academy rival.
Surprisingly, from 1999-2001 this rivalry was actually competitive as Army took 2 of 3 SU and ATS. But since then, it's been all Navy.
The Midshipmen are riding a 7-game SU winning streak against the Black Knights and have gone 6-1 ATS in that stretch, including covers in their last 3 meetings.
In that stretch Navy has beaten Army by an average of 29 points per game. The last two meetings the Midshipmen have upped that number, beating the Black Knights by an average of 34.5 points per game.
It'll be another ugly one and Navy will cruise to another easy victory. Take the Midshipmen going away in this one.
KENTUCKY - When Kentucky and Indiana hooked up last year, the Wildcats destroyed the Hoosiers 72-54 as a 17 1/2 point favorite.
These two are getting together again today and it'll be even uglier as Kentucky rolls into Bloomington with arguably the best team in the country.
The Wildcats are a perfect 9-0 SU this season and have covered in 3 of their last 5 games but are coming off back-to-back SU victories over North Carolina and UConn.
For the year, Kentucky is beating its opponents, on average, by about 15 points per game (79.2-64.7).
Their last five games things have been slightly better as the Wildcats have beaten their opponents by an average score of 74.4-59.6.
Kentucky will continue to cruise and get over easily on Indiana.
Great Lakes Sports
NBA
4* Minn +7.5
3* Portland +3
3* Utah -1.5
College Hoops
5* GOM Mississippi State -6.5 ( GAME OF MONTH )
4* Wichita State -10.5
3* Purdue -4.5
RocketMan
5* Butler
3* Lois. Lafayette
3* Fresno St
3* Georgia Southern
Gameday Sports
3* Gonzaga
2* Tex A&M,Boise St.
1* Navy -14
3* New England -13
2* Denver+7,Dallas -3
1* San Fran +3
The Booooj
35 units on Navy (-15.5) over Army
10 units on Kentucky (-9) over Indiana
50 unit on Wichita State (-10) over TCU
20 units on Purdue (-4.5) over Alabama
15 units on Boston/NY Islanders over 5.5