Tom Freese
Oklahoma City Thunder at Sacramento Kings
Prediction: Oklahoma City Thunder
Sacramento is 12-37 straight up this year. The Kings are 18-37-2 ATS their last 57 home games. The Kings are 6-20-1 ATS their last 27 games when playing with two days of rest. The Kings are 4-12-1 ATS their last 17 Saturday games. The Kings are 10-21-1 ATS their last 32 games when their opponent scored 100 or more points in their last game. Oklahoma City is 33-18 straight up this year. The Thunder is 18-7-1 ATS their last 26 games as road favorites of 0.5 to 4.5 points. The Thunder is 36-15 ATS their last 51 games off a straight up loss. The Thunder are 9-3 ATS their last 12 Saturday games and they are 7-3 ATS their last 10 meetings in Sacramento.
Scott Spreitzer
Ohio State @ Wisconsin
PICK: Wisconsin -1
The Buckeyes have "escaped" in several instances this season, but the undefeated run comes to an end in Madison. Ohio State is a little short on depth and Wiscy has the players to expose the Buckeye's "weakness." Jon Leuer, at 6-10, can bring it from the perimeter on the offensive end. This means Jared Sullinger is likely going to have to extend his defensive play further out from the basket than he normally roams. Sullinger's rebounding will likely be affected as will the potential for foul trouble, something OSU has been able to stay away from more often than not. It must be noted that while OSU is the top ranked team in the nation, they're 104th in the nation in FG percentage allowed and 78th defending the trey. We have watched the Buckeyes slip past Penn State in Columbus. We have seen them slip by Illinois and Northwestern on the road. Last weekend, I laid the points and won with OSU at Minnesota. But this time, I'm backing the Badgers. Wisconsin, minus the short number on Saturday.
Great Lakes Sports
Missouri State at Illinois State
Play: Missouri State Bears
The road team is an outstanding 4-1 ATS the last five meetings in this series while Illinois State is a dismal 3-10 ATS their last thirteen home games. Illinois State is also 2-5 ATS their last seven Saturday games and they are a terrible 1-4 ATS their last five games following a straight up loss. We look for the Missouri State Bears to grab the road ATS Win & Cover tonight. TAKE: (631) Missouri State Bears
Tony Karpinski
NY Knicks vs. NJ Nets
Play: Under 206½
Today’s FREE WINNER is the Knicks over the Nets, by 10-15 points. To say these teams are struggling, is an understatement. The Knicks are putting up only 96/gm on the road, over the last 5 games. The Nets, at home over that same span are scoring 98, going 3-2 in their last 5 home games. The Nets haven’t been scoring the ball well over the last few weeks in general, only topping 100 twice, and putting up a meager 92 a night. The Knicks are still the better team and will show it this Saturday. Difference is Amare Stoudemire always good for 26/9. Devin Harris has been playing down lately, possibly with the Melo talks, who knows, but he’s an important cog in the Nets team. The UNDER looks tasty in this cross town rival.
Scott Delaney
On the heels of scoring an outright win with Canisius as my Friday night freebie, this time around I'm laying the number with BYU to cover a big number against Utah.
Normally this would be a big game, one to talk up and one that would fill BYU's home arena with hopes of a stellar showdown.
But Utah is no longer a perennial powerhouse, in fact, it's the complete opposite. And BYU, well, it's still BYU!
And the nation's leading scorer Jimmy Fredette is going to be on fire for a Saturday night home game against an intra-state rival.
The deadliest sharpshooter in the land is in the midst of a tremendous run that has seen him produce three 40-point games in four outings. And that includes a 47-point effort during a 104-79 rout of this same Utah team in Salt Lake City.
Need help with the math - that's a 25-point win on Utah's court.
On BYU's, ahem, Fredette's court, I can only imagine what this margin will be today! Lay it.
1♦ BYU
Derek Mancini
This is a very interesting match up, and no matter how hard oddsmakers try and entice you to bet the Blue Demons, you should lay the chalk. Why? Well for starters this line is an obvious attempt to steer you away from WVU. With the Mountaineers losing back-to-back games, it would seem ridiculous to lay this many point here, but that's exactly what the guys in Vegas want you to think! Those two losses came against two very good teams, things will be a lot different this afternoon.
Also, you have to factor in the perception that DePaul will cover this huge line. You see, following consecutive covers against Louisville and Cincinnati, it seems only logical that the Blue Demons can cover this number against a struggling West Virginia team. Notice I used the word "seems" because again its all about perception. DePaul is a bad team that got underestimated by two of the Big East's heavyweights, but that won't happen tonight on the road, as they Mountaineers are out for blood in this spot (off consecutive losses).
We all know WVU can defend with the best of them, which of course is a major problem for offensively inept DePaul. But the bigger issue is the WVU offense will finally get a chance to bust out of their slump after facing two very good defenses in Villanova and Pittsburgh. DePaul surrenders 74 ppg on the season, but more disturbing is the nearly 49% they allow their opponents to shoot. With Huggins starters coming off a terrible effort against Pitt (all but Jones that is), I expect the Mountaineers to really step on the gas in this one. Once they get ahead their defense will take care of the rest. Lay it with West Virginia over DePaul Saturday.
3♦ WEST VIRGINIA
STEPHEN NOVER
Wyoming laying points? I'll stand in line to fade the Cowboys when that is the case like it is in this matchup against TCU.
While this is another lost season in TCU basketball history, the wheels have completely come off in Wyoming with head coach Heath Schroyer losing his job this week. The Cowboys haven't been able to compete in the Mountain West Conference losing their past eight games.
The average loss during this eight-game span is 15.6 points. One of Wyoming's defeats during this time frame came to the Horned Frogs by a whopping 18 points, 78-60.
Wyoming has been favored only twice since Dec. 22 and lost both games straight-up falling to UW Green Bay, 68-62 at home, and losing to Utah, 68-51 also at home.
The Cowboys are shooting just 40 percent from the floor in Mountain West Conference action, including making less than 28 percent of their 3-point shots. They also are one of the poorest rebounding teams in the league.
The Cowboys simply don't have enough talent, athleticism and quickness.
The Horned Frogs are allowing opponents to make 46 percent of their field goals. That percentage is way too high, but at least the Horned Frogs have some promising young players in Amric Fields, Jarvis Ray and Garlon Green and are going against a poor shooting opponent.
1♦ TCU
Bobby Maxwell
For my comp selection, how insane is the Kohl Center going to be in Madison, Wisc. today? The nation’s only unbeaten college hoops team comes in with Ohio State and the whole state is still pumped up from Sunday’s Super Bowl win by the Packers. I have to go with the Badgers in this matchup as it’s just too much to ask of the Buckeyes to beat an entire state.
I know Wisconsin is just 1-19 when it faces a No. 1 team in the country. But this team just doesn’t lose at home, winning 16 straight at the Kohl and going 149-11 at home with coach Bo Ryan at the helm. The Badgers are 13-0 at home this season and they absolutely destroyed Michigan State there last time out, winning 82-56 as nine-point favorites. The closest anybody has come lately was Purdue’s seven-point loss back on Feb. 1, and Wisconsin is 7-2 ATS in front of the home fans.
The Badgers give up just 55.4 points per game at home and limit the opposition to 39.7 percent shooting. They shoot the ball better than 48 percent from the floor and if they get a lead late, their 83.9 percent free-throw shooting will certainly seal the deal.
Ohio State is just 2-5 ATS on the road as a ‘dog of up to 6 ½ points. On the opposite end, the Badgers are on ATS surges of 9-3 against winning teams, 5-1 at home, 5-0 after a non-cover and 5-2 as a home chalk of up to 6 ½-points.
Winning in Wisconsin is a tough task for anybody. Even tougher for a team with a bullseye on its back. I’ll go with the Badgers today. Play Wisconsin.
2♦ WISCONSIN
OC DOOLEY
Idaho +8.5
This is another in a long list of rivalry games this week being presented on the ESPN family of networks, but this particular late night contest has even more meaning. With Boise State switching to the Mountain West Conference next season, tonight may be the last time in awhile where that Idaho has a chance to take on a school that they truly hate. Even though the Vandals led most of the way, Boise State won on their home court last month creating a revenge situation that should come through considering that in this series the ROAD team (4-0 SU/6-1 ATS) long term has been successful. I will admit that Boise State is expecting a near sellout crowd tonight, but the Broncos are a very poor 0-5 SU/HOME the last five times they drew more than 9,000 fans to their on-campus facility. Visiting Idaho comes in with plenty of momentum after they snapped Utah State’s record 25-game league winning streak back on Wednesday in a Western Athletic Conference contest (ESPN2) that was seen by the entire country. In that stunning result Idaho’s defense held the Aggies to a season-low 34% shooting from the field (just 18% from long range). The Idaho defense also forced 13 turnovers from which they got an additional 17 points on the scoreboard. It was exactly one week ago on a Saturday when the Vandals snapped an 0-4 losing skid by hitting a season-high 56% of their offensive shot opportunities from the field. Odds are that offense will have another big night against a shaky Boise State stop-unit that is worst in their conference permitting that opposition to hit on average more than 46% of their shot opportunities. For the entire season to date Boise State has posted a disastrous league record (1-10 ATS) for investors and I expect that disturbing trend to continue in this late evening ESPNU national cable affair
Charlie Scott
Ohio State vs. Wisconsin
Play: Over 122
As long as the oddsmaker insist on placing low totals on Wisconsin Home games, I'll keep playing Over until I lose (Having cashed 2 straight Wisky Overs.) Wisconsin like other Big 10 teams play much better and at a faster pace at Home. Wisconsin has been shooting lights out at Home lately. Play Over this low Total !
Craig Trapp
San Diego State vs. UNLV
Play: San Diego State +1
UNLV is in must win but they just don't have the depth or talent to say with the most athletic team they play all year. SDSU wants to win league title and that means they must win today and they will.
Rob Vinciletti
Seton Hall vs. Rutgers
Play: Rutgers -3
Rutgers is off a dramatic home win over Villanova in a game where they hit a 3 pointer to tie and were fouled on the play. Now they get a Seton Hall teams that is just 5-13 vs winning teams, 4-9 with home loss revenge and 2-10 when the total is 130 to 140. Rutgers has won 17 of 20 as a favorite and has a solid home record this season. They have won the last 22 times vs teams with a losing record. If they don't come out flat off the big win there a winner again tonight. Lay the small number.
Joe Gavazzi
Kent State vs. Northern Illinois
Play: Kent State -5
After getting a big time shot at Colorado, Ricardo Patton was relegated to DeKalb where he’s failed to rejuvenate the NIU program. He had only 26 wins his first 3 seasons and stands just 7-15 SU this year. He sparked no interest in the program with less than 1,000 fans attending most home games. They are 23-23 SU on this court and his tenure, and just 1-6 ATS at home this year. A series of defections and suspensions greatly limited this year’s roster. I’ve written often in recent weeks about the advantages of the MAC East vs. MAC West in these crossover matches. This is the ultimate. Kent has long been the standard bearer of the East. As such, they are 20-1 SU vs. teams from the West division L4 seasons. They enter on a 5-0 SU run ,the last 4 of which have been against the West, all by 10+ points. That includes a 13-point road win at Ball State, the best the West has to offer. This could be no contest.
Dave Price
1 Unit on Auburn Tigers +2
Auburn will be out for revenge here after a very disappointing performance at Mississippi State last month. Auburn has won its last 2 home games in this series comfortably and I expect this trend to continue. The Bulldogs are just 5-12 ATS in all lined games this season, and 0-7 ATS if they are coming off a home win. This is an ideal spot to back Auburn, considering it is 12-2 ATS after 2 or more consecutive losses over the last 3 seasons. Off exactly 2 straight losses to SEC foes, Auburn is an impressive 8-1 ATS the last 3 seasons. Hitting the boards will be a major emphasis in this one after a pair of poor performances on the glass. Fortunately, the Tigers are a perfect 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games following 2 straight games of being outrebounded by 10 or more. Auburn is winning in this spot by an average of 6.2 points. Take Auburn.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Wisconsin Badgers pk
Ohio State has already had a number of close calls on the road. The Buckeyes were lucky to escape with wins at Iowa, Illinois, and especially Northwestern. I don't expect Ohio State to be as lucky today. The Badgers are 13-0 at home this season and 149-11 at the Kohl Center under Bo Ryan. Also, Wisconsin has won 8 straight at home in this series. The Badgers haven't had any trouble winning at home even against the best teams on their schedule. Since the beginning of last season, Wiscy is a perfect 7-0 ATS in home games when playing against a top-level team (Win Pct. > 80%), defeating these opponents by an average score of 71.3 to 56.3. Wiscy plays great defense, rebounds the ball well and doesn't turn it over. While the aforementioned teams crumbled against Ohio State down the stretch, Wisconsin will stand tall. Bet the Badgers.