Dr Bob
3* George Mason -2
3* San Diego st -8.5
2* Marshall -7
2 Wichita State -12
Executive
400 Nebraska
300 New Mexico
250 Wyoming
250 S. Alabama
Sports Bank
500* Kansas State
Sebastian
Steam - Boise St
100 - Army
50 Bulls, Nuggets
50 Minnesota, Va Tech, Kansas State, Nebraska, N Iowa
100 St Marys
200 Providence
Special K
Super 20* K-Bomb
Norther Iowa -4
Kelso
5 unit Army +
RON RAYMOND
Boston Bruins (-130)
New Jersey Devils (-135)
Nashville Predators (-130)
ATS Lock Club
20* BOISE STATE (early season college Game of the Year)
Dave Malinsky
4* Utah -1.5 (CBB)
4* Wis -5.5
BLACK WIDOW
5* Wiseguy CBB Game of the Day on Purdue -4
Purdue is one of the best teams in the country, opening the season 8-0 with 5 returning starters from last year. They should be a much heavier favorite Saturday as they take on the Alabama Crimson Tide, a team with 2 losses this season coming against Cornell and Florida State. The Boilermakers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games following three or more consecutive home games. This team is anxious to hit the road again and improve to 9-0 on the season. Take Purdue and lay the points.
6* Widow Wiseguy NBA GAME OF THE WEEKEND on Chicago Bulls +10.5
The Bulls are finally back on track after their overtime win against the Warriors yesterday. This team is much better than they've shown over the last month, and with their struggles comes some very nice line value here against the Boston Celtics. Boston is a good team, but they are being overvalued here after winning 9 straight contests. The Bulls have won their last 2 home meetings with the Celtics, and after last year's 7-game playoff series with them, Chicago feels they can play with Boston. Boston is 1-9 ATS (-8.9 Units) in road games after covering 5 or 6 of their last 7 against the spread over the last 2 seasons. Take the Bulls and the points.
4* on Suns/Nuggets UNDER 226
The Suns have gone UNDER the total in 7 straight games, and the Suns are 11-2 UNDER in their last 13 games overall. Time and time again the odds makers set Phoenix Totals much higher than they really should be. Denver has finally bought in to playing defense, allowing a respectable 101.7 points/game this season. Both teams average just over 108 points/game, so really this total tonight is not justified as it has been set far too high once again. Phoenix is 8-0 UNDER (+8.0 Units) after allowing 100 points or more 3 straight games this season. Take the UNDER 226 points.
Al Demarco
10 Dime - Washington State
You have no idea how tempting it was to back Washington against Georgetown today, especially with the Huskies just one game removed from a double-overtime loss at Texas Tech and the Hoyas coming off a wire-to-wire rout of Butler. But, how many times have I said over the past 25 years that the marquee games are the toughest to win because their lines are always the sharpest? There's a reason that contest is priced right around 1 to 1 1/2 points and that's enough reason for me to stay away.
I used the same philosophy on Tuesday when the world was on Butler against Georgetown - and lost. Instead, I turned to the Lone Star State that night and produced a 5 dime winner on Texas Tech against TCU.
Same thing on Wednesday when I considered Connecticut versus Kentucky, but opted instead to travel to Tucson and back Arizona as a 5 dime play in a rout of Louisiana Tech.
Forget about my 5-0 NFL run that's produced 85 dimes profit the past two weeks; today it's all about taking the profit from this week's two college winners and putting it right back on the best game on today's board, another relatively obscure match-up between Washington State and Air Force in Spokane.
Remember when I said on Wednesday Louisiana Tech was overrated at 7-1 because of its weak schedule? That was one of the many reasons I went against the Bulldogs that night at Arizona and the Wildcats rolled in a rout. If Tech was overrated at 7-1, I don't know what adjective I can apply to Air Force's 5-2 record heading into today's game in Spokane against Washington State.
On the surface, 5-2 sounds impressive for the Service Academy school, but when those five wins come against the likes of Western State Colorado, Dickinson State, Charleston Southern, North Carolina Central and Prairie View - all at home no less - I can't get too excited. The Falcons' two losses? They got drilled at home by Northern Colorado, 70-46, and lost their only road game at Missouri State, 58-48. And here's something to chew on: in those two losses, they committed 17 and 16 turnovers, respectively. That's troubling when you consider Washington State forces on average 15.8 turnovers a game. And it's fair to say the Cougars are a bit better than Northern Colorado and Missouri State.
Air Force is a young team that regularly plays four freshman. And its starting center, Sammy Schafer, is expected to miss his fifth straight game today because of a concussion. But in keeping with the youth movement, the team hopes another freshman center - Taylor Broekhuis, who is a game-time decision after missing the last four games with a leg injury - might be able to help in the pivot.
What do I know about Washington State? They've got one of the best shooters in college - the nation's second-leading scorer - in 6-6 guard Klay Thompson, who is averaging 25.8 points on nearly 49% shooting from the field, including 44% from beyond the arc. He's also second on the team in rebounds (5.6 pg) and first in steals (2.1 pg). Perhaps you didn't know, but he also has the pedigree; his father is former Laker Mychal Thompson, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick in the NBA by Portland in 1978.
Washington State is not the methodical, low-scoring team that you've grown accustomed to over the years with the Bennett's - first Dick and then his son, Tony - in charge. First-year coach Ken Bone - who previously led Portland State to Big Dance appearances the past two years - allows his squad to run the floor a bit and it's reflected in the 80.2 points per game it averages.
The Cougars have lost two games this season. The first came at Gonzaga, 74-69, as a 10-point dog. Not surprisingly, three days later in Manhattan, Kansas, they played their worst game of the season, getting destroyed by K-State 86-69. Clearly they came out flat following the Gonzaga game and subsequently had no answer for the Wildcats' quickness and speed as they were buried by 20 early.
Quickness and speed; those are two factors Washington State won't have to worry about from Air Force today. For years the Falcons have relied on slowing down the pace of the game, using a strong half-court game, tough defense, and accurate three-point shooting to compete with more athletic foes. This year, they've shown a tendency to run a bit more, but this is still a team that went 0-16 in Mountain West Conference play a year ago and one that relies heavily on freshmen to contribute this season.
Air Force's toughest opponent this season has been Northern Colorado, and it was hammered in that game with its leading scorer, Grant Parker (18.2 ppg), held to just one point on 0-for-10 shooting from the field. This game might be on a "neutral" court in Spokane, but it's as much of a home game as one can possibly be for Washington State. And considering the Cougars, just one game removed from consecutive losses, took the foot off the pedal late in their last game against Idaho, I don't expect a repeat performance today. Although they easily covered as a 7-point home chalk in the 76-64 win versus Idaho, they allowed the Vandals to make a late charge that cut the deficit to seven in the closing minutes.
Today I expect a wire-to-wire effort this time with no slacking off near the end as the Cougars take advantage of a soft spot in their schedule and continue to prepare for their Pac-10 opener against Oregon in Pullman on New Year's Eve.
SPORTS UNLIMITED
7* NEBRASKA
5* TOWSON ST
4* KANSAS ST
4* GEORGETOWN
3* JAMES MADISON
Pure Lock
Navy
Pitbull
20 unit GOY Washington +2
Texas Sports Wire
5* Navy