Keith Glantz
100* Marquette
25* Rutgers
25* Wisconsin Milwaukee
25* Rhode Island
Brian Gabrielle
Dayton at UMASS
Pick: UMASS +2
Only the Temple Owls have won the Atlantic 10 more times than the University of Massachusetts Minutemen. Five time champions indeed, but UMASS hasn't hoisted the title since 1996. They'll look to change that this year, starting with this game. In their favor, the Minutemen are the Atlantic 10's the top defensive team, limiting opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor. They've used that defensive demeanor to dominate Dayton, winning 5 of the last 6 in this series. We'll ride that trend - and one other - defense wins championships. Take UMASS
The Duke's Sports
St. Louis (+4) for 2 Units
Majerus has done a good job holding the Bilikens together with early season injuries and, most recently, the loss of Cody Ellis for the season. Nevertheless, St. Louis remains competitive and should find a way to beat the Rams, which are just 2-6 ATS as a home favorite. The Bilikens play better defense and have better shot selection than the Rams. And St. Louis' back court play has improved dramatically as the season progressed a necessity in post-season play. The dog in this series controls a 4-1 ATS mark and we surely won't disregard the Majerus' post-season experience.
Wayne Root
No Limit - Atlanta Hawks
ATS Lock Club
4 Units George Washington -7.5
4 Units South Florida +9.5
Kelso
50 Units Wis Milwaukee
5 Units Oakland
3 Units N Arizona
Chip Chirimbes
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Miami Heat
Play: Miami Heat -8½
Hey how about Le Brick James and the rest of the Miami Heat now playing the 'Crying Game' after Sunday's loss to the Bulls (their third straight). Difficult spot for Portland who beat the Magic (Megabucks winner) last night in Orlando and now face a squad that is up against it. Trailblazers have now won six straight on the road but will be with Brandon Roy tonight and that will hurt as the Heat beats Portland at home for the first time in their last three tries.
RAS
Weber State/Montana Over 126
Oral Roberts/Oakland Under 167.5
Princeton/Pennsylvania Under 126.5
Northern Illinois/Bowling Green Under 135
King Creole
2* 76ers +1
WRONG team favored in this one (based on the opening line)! The HOT 76ers take to the road playing their BEST basketball of the season. Philly comes in 6-1 SU in their last 7 games... and 15-5 SU in their last 20 games. They play their BEST when matched up against the dregs of the league. Since January, the Sixers are 9-1 SU against teams with a winning percentage of < .450 (like the Pacers). Philly is a great team playing on 1 day of REST (19-6 ATS on the year / 9-2 ATS on the road / 7-1 ATS vs non-div).... Also 6-0 ATS after allowing 100+ pts. Meanwhile, the Pacers are fading fast in the 2011 season. Indy comes in 0-3 SU in their last 3 games and 105 SU in their last 6. This is also a series in which the UNDERDOG has ruled (Dog in Philly / Indy series is 9-3-1 ATS last 13).
Let's look at the 2/1 REST advantage for the host Pacers. There IS none!
5-16 ATS this season: All home teams in a '2/1' REST situation (Indy) vs any opponent off a SUATS win (PHILLY). These teams are 2-10 ATS playing off a SU loss... and 1-7 ATS playing off 2 or MORE SU losses.
Indy plays at home off 3 straight road games... also a good 'play AGAINST' situation.
8-21 ATS this year: All non-div home teams playing off BBB road games (Indy)... with a DD SU loss in that last game. These teams are 2-8 ATS as favs... and 1-6 ATS as fav s of < 5 pts.
After tonight's game, Indy takes to the road for 3 MORE road games. So we have a home game sandwiched in between MULTIPLE road games.
0-6 ATS since 2005: All NBA home teams before AND after 3+ road games (indy)... versus any opponent off BB SUATS wins (PHILLY).
The SIXERS last game was an OVERTIME win and cover against the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
7-1 ATS last 3 years: All NBA road teams playing off a home OVERTIME Win and 'OVER' in their last game (PHILLY) versus any opponent playing with 2 days rest (Indy).
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
8* Northern Illinois +8.5
For a number of different reasons I believe the value in this contest is on Northern Illinois:
The Huskies are 14-11-1 ATS this year; on March 5th they lost 67-57 at Ball State, covering as an 11-point underdog.
Very important to take note here that Northern Illinois is 5-1 ATS this year when revenging a home loss vs. an opponent.
On the other side of the court: The Falcons are 13-15 ATS this year; on March 5th they beat Buffalo 73-63 as 4 1/2-point underdogs; that win snapped a six-game slide; suffice to say I expect this team to return to its usual sub-par form in this contest, just enough to let the Huskies sneak in through the back door.
Note that Bowling Green is 2-3 ATS this year when playing the roll of favorite.
Bottom line: These teams played on Februray 2nd in DeKalb and the Falcons won 73-70 in overtime.
The Huskies won two of their last three games to close the regular season. Tim Toler posted his second double-double of the season last time out against Ball State, scoring 17 points while grabbing 10 boards; Tony Nixon added 11 points, his first double-figure scoring game since Nov 16th.
Bowling Green is led by A'uston Calhoun offensive, averaging 12.2 points per game. Scott Thomas averages 11.4 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per contest.
In the final three games of the regular season, NIU has out-rebounded its opponents 136-90, pulling down an average of 15.3 more boards per game than its opponents; in four of its last five games, Northern Illinois has held its opponents at or under 40% shooting from the field.
I believe these two factors will be the difference in the outcome of this contest as the Huskies do just enough to sneak in through the backdoor; 8* play on Northern Illinois!
Helmut
Florida A&M Under 131.5
Sean Higgs
10* Butler Under
4* Wisc Milw
Maddux Sports
10 Units Phlly +1
10 Units Montana +2.5
10 Units S Carolina State +3
10 Units Boston +115
10 Units Colorado +153
10 Units Phoenix +114
OC Dooley
2 Units Indiana -1
Indiana is coming off a rough 3-game road trip where the defense was ripped to the tune of 113 points per game. After this evening the Pacers who are clinging to the 8th and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference will be going out on the road again for 3 consecutive contests which makes this particular outing arguably a “must win” affair. The bottom line is that Indiana has always matched up well with Philadelphia WINNING 13 of the most recent 19 battles in this series, including 3 of the past 4 chances in front of the HOME fans which is where they are this evening. So far this campaign Indiana is 2-1 against Philadelphia with Darren Collison putting up large per game averages (15 points, 6 assists, 2 steals) for the Pacers as he has dominated a battle against former UCLA college teammate Jrue Holliday. I will admit this is a dangerous pick as Philadelphia dating back to the 17th of November have one of the NBA’s best overall records (29-17). Philadelphia comes into tonight a full 2 games above the .500 mark which is something this franchise has not seen since back in the 2008/2009 campaign. In the past seven games the Sixers offense (109 ppg) has been lighting up the scoreboard. Despite all of their prosperity the Sixers are still a poor road squad (11-20) and they have NOT won 3 consecutive attempts on the highway this entire season. It seems like an eternity since Indiana went on a 7-1 tear when Frank Vogel was named head coach, going just 3-7 ever since. But the location of this particular contest is critical as Indiana in the past three years is an excellent 23-9 ATS/HOME after a negative stretch where lost 3 times outright in a four-game span
Trophy Club
Princeton