Erin Rynning
Playmaker: Dallas Under 217.5
Washington Over 204.5
New Jersey Over 187
Indiana Over 204.5
New York Over 201.5
Big Al
3* NY Knicks NBA ROADKILL
3* Fordham
3* Colorado State Mid Western Conference Underdog of year
3* Miami Florida TV Game of the week
3* Illinois Chicago
3* Morehead State
WAYNE ROOT
SLAM DUNK - Purdue +3½
PERFECT PLAY - NC State +4½
MILLIONAIRE - Iowa State +2
Billionaire - Marshall -4.5
DR BOB
Opinions
OHIO STATE (-3 1/2) over Purdue
Ohio State already beat Purdue in West Lafayette and my ratings favor the Buckeyes by 6 points here in Columbus. Ohio State is 13-7 ATS in games with star Evan Turner playing (0-6 ATS in the 6 games he missed), including 9-3 ATS at home. Ohio State has won all 15 of their home games by 9 points or more and that 9 point win was against a very good Wisconsin team. Purdue hasn't been as good on the road as they've been at home over the years (3-4 ATS on the road this season) and the Boilermakers are just 5-15 ATS under coach Painter in road games against teams with a win percentage of .600 or better if they're not getting at least 9 points. Ohio State's defense is designed to force teams to take outside shots (they allow a mediocre 34.4% 3-pointers), but Purdue is not a good 3-point shooting team (just 31.6%), so this is not a good match-up for the Boilermakers, who made a solid 10 of 27 3-pointers (37%) at home against the Buckeyes and still lost that game. I'll lean with Ohio State at -4 or -3 1/2 and I'll take Ohio State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 or less.
Illinois-Chicago (+23) over BUTLER
Butler is just 3-11 ATS as a favorite of 15 points or more under coach Brad Stevens, including 1-5 ATS this season and 1-8 ATS after consecutive victories, and the Bulldogs apply to a very negative 20-81-1 ATS big home favorite letdown situation that won last night going against Murray State. Illinois Chicago hasn't been very good as a big do (2-11 ATS as a dog of more than 14 points), so the team trends cancel each other out. However, that still leaves the strong general situation that favors the Flames in this game. I'll lean with the Flames at +23 points and I'd take Illinois-Chicago at +24 points or more.
WESTERN MICHIGAN (-9) over Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois coach Ricardo Patton is just 31-61-3 ATS in his coaching career as a conference road underdog, including 5-14 ATS with the Huskies. Western Michigan coach Steve Hawkins, meanwhile, is 41-20-1 ATS as a conference favorite of more than 3 points (3-2 ATS this season). The Broncos are also 17-9 ATS after consecutive losses under Hawkins, including 12-4 ATS at home. Northern Illinois, a 29.8% 3-point shooting team, made a randomly good 12 of 20 (60%) 3-pointers in their 87-77 home win over Western Michigan but I doubt that the Huskies will be so lucky on the road. My ratings favor the Broncos by 11 points and I'll lean with Western Michigan minus the points.
MOREHEAD STATE (-8) over Eastern Kentucky
Morehead State head coach Donnie Tyndale has improved his team every year and another sign that he's a good head coach is his great record when he has ample time to prepare for an opponents. Morehead State is 26-8 ATS in conference games when Tyndale has 3 or more days off to prepare his team (5-2 ATS this season), including the 69-53 win at Eastern Kentucky 4 weeks ago. Morehead State also applies to 21-0 ATS subset of a 53-10-2 ATS situation, so I fully expect the Eagles to play well tonight. However, my ratings favor Morehead by just 6 1/2 points and the line opened at -7 and has gone up. I'll still lean with the Eagles at -8 based on the very strong technical analysis, and I'd take Morehead State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -7 or less.
Dwayne Bryant
Chicago Bulls at New York Knicks
Bet: New York Knicks -2
This is one of my favorite situations. Actually, this is TWO of my favorite situations combined. First, the Knicks are coming off an embarrassing 33-point loss in Chicago last night. But this is also the back end of a home-and-home series, as they face the Bulls again tonight. In last night's matchup, the Bulls shot a ridiculous (in a very good way) 60.5% from the floor, while the Knicks shot a ridiculous (in a very bad way) 34.6%. Neither percentage is anywhere near their respective norms and I expect a return to normalcy tonight.
These two locked horns three times this season with the home team winning all three contests. I see more of the same tonight. I talk a lot about embarrassment being a great motivator, and it doesn't get much more embarrassing than the shellacking the Knicks took last night. The Knicks are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 games following a SU loss of more than 10 points. Immediate payback coming up. Take the Knicks.
O.C. Dooley
3 Units Oklahoma State at Iowa State Over 144.5
The bottom line is that this contest features the top pair of shooters from the entire Big 12 Conference who were actually ROOMATES during the summer. Oklahoma State’s James Anderson is the #1 scoring option in the conference averaging more than 22 points per outing and not far behind is Iowa State’s Craig Brackins who has a grand total of 28 different career “double doubles” in both points and rebounds. Both Anderson and Brackins actually were both teammates and roommates this past summer for the USA squad that was participating in the World University games. This particular total has been kept in check due to the fact that Iowa State has had some recent shooting struggles and they were held to only 59 points Saturday on the road against #1 ranked Kansas. It was exactly one week ago when Iowa State lost a very low scoring 65-56 contest against Missouri where they just below 33% from the field. The big news is that in that contest the Cyclones dressed only EIGHT players due to injury and off-the-court issues involving a tragic family death. It was just a couple of weeks ago when Iowa State was ranked #2 in the entire country in successful per game “three point” percentage (42.6) from behind the arc. Even though they have hit only 20% long range in the past four games I am going to take full advantage of tonight’s “deflated” posted spot especially since Oklahoma State’s defense in the most recent five games has been torched for an average of 78 points per contest. On offense Oklahoma State leads their entire conference in successful average “three point” shots (8.3) made per game and they are #2 in free-throw percentage accuracy at the charity stripe
Teddy June
10* South Miss Pk
Marc Lawrence
Miami +7
When Miami hosts Duke in a key ACC showdown at the Bank United Center they will do so knowing the Canes are 11-1 straight up on this floor this season, with the sole loss by four points. Under head coach Frank Haith, Miami is rock solid against .769 or greater opposition, going 33-22-1 ATS - including 8-0-1 ATS when they own a win percentage of .570 or greater and are a dog of 5.5 or more points. With the Blue Devils 2-8 ATS away off a SU and ATS win in its last 10 games, including 0-5 ATS this season, look for the Hurricanes to pull off the upset here tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Miami Florida.
4 Units San Antonio Spurs -4.5
SPORTS UNLIMITED
5* PENN ST +7
PPP
5% UNLV -3
5% DETROIT UNIVERSITY +11.5
4% MIAMI, FLORIDA + 7.5
4% ILLINOIS-CHICAGO +23
4% OHIO STATE -3
3% TORONTO -7
Marty Otto
20* Arkansas -3.5
Primetime Sports Advisors
15 Units Missouri -2.5
10 Units Chicago +2
10 Units Phoenix +4.5
Executive
600% Illinois St -5
300% Oklahoma St -2
Jimmy Boyd
5* Phoenix Suns/Dallas mavericks Under 217.5
4* Nebraska +14.5
3* Penn State +7
Seabass
300 Det/Orl over
300 CBB Miami
100 UNLV, IowaSt (Steam)
50 Purdue