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Michigan St. -2.5FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Buckeyes just knocked Michigan from the unbeaten. They have struggled when stepping up in class away from home with losses to Duke and Illinois. Buckeyes are a good rebounding team as are the Spartans, which negates a usual Ohio State edge.
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Michigan State prefers to play a grinding type of contest beating you on the boards and playing excellent defense. The Spartans are a perfect 11-0 SU at home. Spartans had two players involved in a fight Wednesday and neither started against Penn State, yet they were able to gain the victory.
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Missouri +13.5 over FLORIDA: Even without Bowers in this one I like the Tigers to keep I close. The Gators have allowed 47.6 ppg in their first 3 SEC games, but Georgia, A&M and LSU all don’t possess great or even good offenses. Missouri does as they come in scoring 77 ppg on 45.3% shooting. Defensively the Gators allow just 51.2 ppg overall on 36.8% shooting, but the Tigers have played pretty good defense this year, allowing teams to shoot just 38.3% from the floor, while allowing 64.6 ppg. Yes the swamp is a tough place for teams to play and this will be Missouri’s first ever trip here, but I d feel that they make a good showing of it in this one. They have more than enough offense to keep this one in single digits, even without Bowers.
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TOWSON STATE -3.5 over James Madison: The Tigers have struggled at home going just 1-3, but the Dukes have struggled even more on the road, going 1-6, while being outscored by 11.1 ppg. The Dukes shoot just 38.9% on the road and 65.5% from the charity stripe away from home. The Tigers also get a big edge on the boards as they are 37th in rebounding, while the Dukes are 271st. JMU is having problems scoring overall as they have averaged just 60.6 in their last 5 games, while Towson comes in putting up 75.4 ppg in their last 5 games. The Tigers have too many edges and they are are 13-6 ATS the last 19 in the series. Look for them to win by at least 8 points in this one.
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Kansas/ Texas Over 125: Yes the Jayhawks play great defense and Texas can't score right now, but i still see this one hitting at least 130 here. This has been a pretty high scoring series anyway. In the last 10 meetings each game put up at least 136 points, while those 10 games averaged 151.7 ppg. Texas is having problems scoring, but they still put up 66.1 ppg on their home floor. I do expect the Longhorns to get out in run in this game so they don't have to face the Kansas halfcourt defense. The Kansas offense is having no such scoring problems, as they have averaged 76.8 pg overall and 75.2 ppg in their last 5. they have also put in 67 ppg on the road. Texas does allow 52.2 ppg at home, but have only play one good offense at home (North Carolina) and they allowed 67 points in that game. I see no reason, why both teams can't hit the mid 60's in this one.
More later
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NIAGARA -9 over ManhattanFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Jaspers have one conference win in their past four games and it occurred against the last place (1-6) Marist Red Foxes. Manhattan hasn't been the same team since leading scorer George Beamon got hurt in December. They've now lost nine of 12, scoring production is way down and this team doesn't just miss shots, they're three-feet off target. That spells big trouble against this up-tempo Niagara squad that is putting up some impressive numbers.
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The Purple Eagles have been getting great guard play from Antoine Mason and Juan'ya Green on both ends of the floor, they've played a tougher schedule than the Jaspers and they're primed to run Manhattan out of the gym.
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LOUISVILLE -6½ over SyracuseFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Syracuse swept the season series last year and it's rare to see them receiving this many points or any points for that matter. Since the beginning of last year, the Orange have only been a pooch one time and that occurred in the Elite Eight round against Ohio State. Combine that with the Orange's 16-1 record and they look rather appealing taking back this many. We're not so sure as Syracuse's 4-0 conference record has come against Villanova, Rutgers, USF and Providence, not exactly the cream of the crop.
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Watching Louisville overwhelm just about every team they play, including UConn is convincing enough for us to spot these points. The Cardinals are dominating on both ends of the court and their four Big East wins have all come by 15 points or more. Syracuse has not seen a defense that pressure the way the Cardinals do. Louisville is rarely underpriced but as single-digit chalk at home, they are here and we're on it.
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IOWA -106 over WisconsinFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Hawkeyes aren't ranked, they're 1-3 in the conference and that has them at a playable price here against a Badgers team that is coming off a huge win at Indiana. When we look at the Hawkeyes we see a team that just fell short in two previous home games against Big-10 powers Michigan State and Indiana. Iowa is a solid all around team that ranks high in assists, points per game and rebounding.
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The Badgers are 4-0 in the conference and this game is sandwiched between that aforementioned win against Indiana and Michigan State at home on Tuesday. The Badgers are a team that Fran McCaffery's squad won't be intimidated by or overmatched against and they catch Wisky at precisely the right time.
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Anaheim +156 over VANCOUVERFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT Included. We'll have to take a wait and see approach before we trust this Canucks team to be as good as year's gone by. We don't know the impact of last year's first round playoff exit to the Kings in which they went down without a fight. The previous year they were destroyed by Boston in a deciding 7th game. Now the Canucks come in with plenty of key injuries and question marks regarding the second, third and fourth lines. They also had only three players overseas during the lockout while Ducks had five. Vancouver did very little in the off-season other than picking up d-man Jason Garrison but they lost other key defensemen in Aaron Rome, Sami Salo and Marc-Andre Gragnani. The window of opportunity is closing and this group could be fragile and overvalued.
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The Ducks are without question one of the most undervalued teams in the NHL. Bruce Boudreau wasn't the problem in Washington and Anaheim gets the benefit of him being the scapegoat there. With Boudreau behind the bench, the Ducks had the fifth-best record in the Western Conference from Jan. 1 to the end of the season and went 14-6-1 in their last 21 games at home. Offensively, the “big three” need no introductions. Keep your eye on Peter Holland, Kyle Palmieri and Devante Smith-Pelly, as Boudreau will give all three the opportunity to shine and all three are capable. Daniel Winnik is one of those pesky forwards that every team would love to have. Defensively, they'll be tougher, bigger and more skilled, as Toni Lydman and Francois Beauchemin are both healthy (unlike last season), Luca Sbisa and Cam Fowler are on the verge of all-star status, and Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen are a couple of nice veteran additions. Finally, there's Jonas Hiller in net and he's among the best in the game. Early in the year, there are some teams that offer tremendous value and we're suggesting the Ducks are among that group.
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Ottawa +112 over WINNIPEGFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. To begin, the Jets had five players overseas during the lockout but one was a goaltender. The Senators had 9 overseas and when you combine that with John Maclean's system, based heavily on conditioning and relentless skating, we expect the Sens to come out very sharp. They're led by Jason Spezza and Erik Karlsson, they have a solid mix of vets and youth, they added Guillaume Latendresse and Kyle Turris while not losing anyone significant. The difference between those who have played real games the past few months and those just working out in scrimmages could be noticeable in some cases. Ottawa gets a bit of an edge here early in the season by having so many players in game ready mode.
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The Jets start the year with some injuries and perhaps some distractions too. Evander Kane signed a six-year deal worth $31.5 million and now that his contract is secured, there are signs of trouble. Kane didn't play well in Russia, lasting just 12 games with Dinamo Minsk, for whom he scored just once. He was seen in Las Vegas flaunting stacks of money and that rubbed a lot of his teammates the wrong way. Goaltending and defense remains a potential liability as well. Ondrej Pavelec signed a five-year, $19.5-million deal in the offseason before the team found out about his drunk driving charge in the Czech Republic, stemming from a traffic accident in his hometown of Kladno last May. There's some baggage here and while the Jets do have some nice pieces in place, we're not ready to back them just yet as the chalk in this spot against this undervalued and very dangerous guest.
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NY ISLANDERS +109 over New JerseyFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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OT included. The Devils could be in trouble. They didn't fare well without Zach Parise when he missed most of the 2011-12 season (they missed the playoffs) and now he's moved to Minnesota. The Devils were counting on Adam Henrique for production but he will start the season in street clothes. They didn't pick up anyone of note in the off season. Martin Brodeur at 41 is a year older and a year slower. His rapid decline started two years ago. Brodeur was awful in more games than he was good last season and it's incredible that Lou Lamoriello hasn't addressed this liability. The Devils had only three players working overseas during the lockout.
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By contrast, the Islanders had 10 skaters playing overseas during the lockout. They lost P.A. Parenteau to free agency but Brad Boyes in new surroundings can be just as productive. Several other forwards including Michael Grabner, Kyle Okposo, Matt Moulson and Frans Nielsen have all shown spurts of great promise and production in the past and then of course there's the Isles’ star player in John Tavares. The Islanders could be a live pup all year, especially at home and fading the Devils on the road with Brodeur in net will offer value until linesmakers catch up.
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TAMPA BAY -½ +151 over WashingtonFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Regulation time. In this year's NHL future odds, the books have the Capitals listed as slightly better than a 2½-1 favorite to win the Southeast. That is based on history and pedigree and should be completely ignored. All of the Southeast residents are improved with the exception of Winnipeg. The Caps’ decline started last season and we're suggesting it won’t stop yet. Washington’s biggest off-season acquisition was Mike Robeiro from Dallas. Nine players departed including Alexander Semin and Dennis Wideman. Throw in a rookie coach and the third coaching change in a year and we just can't get on board with this club. The Caps are decent up the middle and could be very good in goal but they're simply not on par with this host.
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The Lightning have upgraded. They added a new starting goaltender (Anders Lindberg), two top-four defensemen (Matt Carle and Sami Salo) and a couple of everyday depth forwards to a lineup that already includes the game's most dangerous scorer in Stephen Stamkos and some top notch secondary scorers. The game is sold out, the Bolts are excited about their chances of going all the way and we expect them to set the season’s tone right out of the box.
Black Widow
Utah Utes +10.5
Plays on road underdogs of 10 or more points (UTAH) - a poor offensive team (63-67 PPG) against a good defensive team (63-67 PPG), after allowing 75 points or more 2 straight games are 31-6 (83.8%) ATS over the last 5 seasons. While the Utes are 0-5 SU in Pac-12 play, four of their five losses have come by 10 points or less. That includes a 54-55 loss at ASU, a 57-60 loss at Arizona and a 53-57 home loss to UCLA. This team is hungry for its first conference win tonight, and Washington needs to be on upset alert. Take Utah and the points.
Dave Price
Iowa Pk
Wisconsin won at Indiana last game but largely hasn't been the same team away from home where it lost by double digits to Florida, Creighton and Marquette and struggled to beat Nebraska. Plus, that big win sets the Badgers up for a letdown. Iowa is 9-2 at home with those losses coming to Indiana and Michigan State by narrow margins. The Hawkeyes gave Wisconsin problems last season with their uptempo style and won both meetings. The Badgers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games while the Hawkeyes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games. The Hawks are also 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games following a win. The home team is 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings, and the Badgers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 meetings at Iowa. Bet Iowa.
Dave Price
Iowa Pk
Wisconsin won at Indiana last game but largely hasn't been the same team away from home where it lost by double digits to Florida, Creighton and Marquette and struggled to beat Nebraska. Plus, that big win sets the Badgers up for a letdown. Iowa is 9-2 at home with those losses coming to Indiana and Michigan State by narrow margins. The Hawkeyes gave Wisconsin problems last season with their uptempo style and won both meetings. The Badgers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 road games while the Hawkeyes are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 home games. The Hawks are also 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games following a win. The home team is 6-1 ATS in the last 7 meetings, and the Badgers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 meetings at Iowa. Bet Iowa.
Jeff Alexander
New Orleans Hornets -5.5
These two teams are headed in opposite directions as the Warriors have lost 5 of 6 and the Hornets have won 6 of 7. I'll gladly take the team on the upswing. The Warriors won the season's first meeting by 7 points at home but the Hornets are an impressive 28-13 ATS when out for revenge for a same-season loss to an opponent over the last 2 seasons. New Orleans is also on a 10-0 ATS run the last 2 seasons when checking into a matchup with 3 wins in its last 4 games. Lay the points.
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Oklahoma + over Kansas StateFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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Kansas State is moving up in the national rankings, sitting with a 14-2 record and the Wildcats also own a perfect 8-0 record at home. Kansas State has started 3-0 in Big XII play, although the two toughest games featured very slim margins, winning by six at home vs. Oklahoma State and barely winning at West Virginia by a single point. K-State did blowout TCU on the road on Wednesday and now they head back home for a game with Oklahoma. This is a game that could get a bit overlooked as the Wildcats will host Kansas on Tuesday for certainly the biggest games of the season. The two Wildcats losses came by double-digit margins but both losses came away from home against high quality teams, Michigan, and Gonzaga. The big win for Kansas State was a 67-61 win over Florida at home in a game where Florida could not hit outside shots and oddly struggled rebounding. It is a win that will keep on giving for Kansas State's profile but there is little substance on the rest of the resume. Oklahoma is quietly 12-3 including a perfect 3-0 start in Big XII play as well. The Sooners beat West Virginia and Oklahoma State by far more convincing margins than Kansas State did and Oklahoma has not lost in over a month. Two of three losses came against suspect competition but Oklahoma has more quality wins overall, beating West Virginia in non-conference play as well, plus wins over UTEP, Texas A&M, and Ohio. Oklahoma is also 3-1 in road games this season and 3-1 in neutral site games. The statistics for these teams mirror each other in most areas as Oklahoma will be able to compete on the boards in this match-up but the Sooners are also a far better free throw shooting teams, hitting over 11 percent better than the Wildcats. Oklahoma won both meetings between these teams last season and the Sooners are an underrated team that could be catching Kansas State in a problematic spot with the Kansas game on deck.
Andrew Lange
Oregon State at USC
Play: Oregon State
Not sure that USC is ready to lay -5.5 in a conference game. The Trojans performed well and expended a lot of energy in Thursday's loss to Oregon. They played at a faster tempo and showed a variety of different defenses under interim head coach Bob Cantu. My issue is while practice may be more enjoyable to go to with Kevin O’Neill gone; this is still an average PAC-12 team void of a significant home court advantage or ability to pull away from teams of comparable ability. After beating UC Riverside 70-26, USC lost at home to UC Irvine, Cal, and Oregon. Their wins in LA were by two against Stanford and by two, in overtime, against Dayton. Oregon State is winless in PAC-12 play in part because they've played the best three teams in the league (Oregon, Arizona, and UCLA) and also because of suspensions. Tonight they’re expected to be at full strength with Eric Moreland (10.8 ppg, 11.1 rpg) returning. I see this being a close game and recommend taking the points.
Bob Balfe
New Orleans Hornets -5
New Orleans gets somewhat of a lucky break today playing a Warriors team minus Curry and Lee is iffy with a bad ankle himself. That is a lot of firepower to not have on the court at 100 percent especially when they allow over 100 pts a game on the road. Take the Hornets.
Charlie Sports
Wisconsin Badgers at Iowa Hawkeyes
Play: Iowa Hawkeyes
The (13-4) Wisconsin Badgers of the Big 10 Conference will take on the (12-5) Iowa Hawkeyes also of the Big 10 Conference in 2013 NCAA Basketball action. Wisconsin is coming off of a huge road win at Indiana, but are only 2-6-1 their last 9 meeting vs. Iowa. The Badgers are currently on a 7 game winning streak straight up. Iowa is 8-2 Against The Spread their last 10 Basketball games played on Saturday's. The Hawkeyes have also covered their last 3 ATS vs. Wisconsin. Iowa gets the home cover.
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Toronto at MontrealFOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
Pick: Toronto +120FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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It is hard to believe that after a long lockout, the NHL gets up and running today with a shortened 48-game season. Toronto quickly made a splash by firing Brian Burke as president and general manager, and teams often respond positively the first time on the ice after such a move, so the Maple Leafs may play at an elevated level here. Montreal has made some changes as well, as new coach Michael Therrien will take over, and with such a short prep time for game one, it may take him time to evaluate his team, and establish his own style. The Habs finished as have-nots last year, closing with a 5-16 mark against the East, and may take time to gel with their new coach. Play on Toronto.
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Penguins / Flyers Over 6FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Pittsburgh Penguins scored easily the most goals in the NHL last season with 282 goals for (the next closest was 269), and they did that without their star player Sidney Crosby for a lot of the year. Look out for Crosby, Neal and Malkin this year as they could put up some big numbers in the shortened season. Not far behind the Penguins were the Philadelphia Flyers who were #3 in the league with 264 goals for. These two teams played each other 6 times last season during the regular season playing to totals of 5, 6, 10, 5, 10, 6. And then they met in the playoffs and had more high scoring games with totals of 7, 13, 12, 13, 5, and 6. Last year only three of their thirteen meetings had fewer than 6 goals. Take note that the OVER is 33-15-5 in the Penguins last 53 games overall, and 14-4-4 in their last 22 road games. The OVER is 12-5-1 in the Flyers last 18 overall and 9-4-1 in their last 14 divisional meetings. When these two meet we see wide open games and, with a lot of hate for one another, usually a lot of powerplay opportunities. I expect another high scoring game between these two Eastern Conference rivals and I will go with the OVER 6 goals.
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Nashville Predators -1.5FOR FREE SERVICE PLAYS VISIT THESPREAD.COM
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The Nashville Predators finished the season in 4th place in the Western Conference last year with a 48-26-8 record (104 pts) while the Blue Jackets were dead last in the NHL with just 65 points and a 29-46-7 record. The Blue Jackets didn't do much to improve on their team, losing their star forward in Rick Nash to the Rangers who provided a lot of their scoring. The Predators lost an important piece in Ryan Suter but they should be fine with captain Shea Weber on the blue line. Take note the Predators were a solid 26-10-5 on home ice last year while the Blue Jackets were just 12-25-4 on the road. They met six times last year with Nashville winning 5 of the 6 meetings. Just 2 of those 5 wins came by more than 2 goals, but midseason it is tough to get up for games against the leagues worst team. Saturday is different as the Predators will be playing in their home opener and will be fired up regardless of the opponent. Take note that the Predators are 28-3-1 in their last 32 home meetings with Columbus. Getting +175 I will take the Preds on the puck line.
David Banks
Spurs / Hawks Over 189
The San Antonio Spurs (30-11, 24-16-1 ATS) are one of the highest scoring teams in the NBA and their defense has not been intense on the road, so look for a high scoring game vs. the Atlanta Hawks (22-16, 15-22-1 ATS) at Philips Arena in Atlanta Saturday at 7:05 ET. Each of these teams are playing the second game of a back-to-back, as San Antonio played host to Golden State at home Friday night while the Hawks were in Brooklyn to take on the Nets.
The Spurs have one of the most potent offenses in the league as they rank third in scoring at 104.8 points per game, second in field goal percentage at a blistering 48.7 percent and third in three-point shooting at 39.1 percent. The San Antonio offense is so hot that it even put up 103 points vs. one of the best defenses in the NBA in Memphis on Wednesday, making the Spurs just the fourth team all year to reach 100 points vs. the Grizzlies. San Antonio is tough to defend because it is so deep and so many of the Spurs can hit shots from anywhere on the floor, which is the main reason they have seven players averaging at least nine points per game. Now, the Spurs are playing better defense this year than they did last season, ranking 11th in the league in points against at 96.4 per game. However, there is a large disparity in San Antonio's points allowed at home vs. away, as the Spurs allow only 92.0 points per game at home but 100.1 points per road game. When you add in the 103.6 points the Spurs are scoring themselves away from home, it makes for a rather high road average of 203.7 combined points per contest.
Now the Hawks have been in an overall shooting slump lately that has seen them score 84 points or less in five of their last eight games, but most of those shooting difficulties have come on the road, as Atlanta has exceeded 100 points in each of its last two home games including putting an end to the Nets' seven-game winning streak with a 109-95 win on Wednesday in the first game of a home-and-home series. The Hawks are now down to 17th in the NBA in scoring overall at 95.8 points per game, but that average zooms all the way up to 100.1 points here at Philips Arena while plummeting to 91.5 points on the road. As a result, the 'over' has gone 12-7 in all Atlanta home games. Also, keep in mind that the Hawks scored 109 points against the Nets the other night without the help of leading scorer Josh Smith, who was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team. Smith was expected to rejoin the team on Friday night in Brooklyn.
The Spurs have tended to play high scoring games in the second of back-to-backs, as the 'over' is 10-4-1 in their last 15 games playing without a day off. The 'over' is also 7-3 in the last 10 Atlanta non-conference games.