The Soccer Expert
Monday NCCAB
Furman at Wofford over 133
Citadel at Georgia Southern under 141
Citadel -5.5
NBA
Oklahoma under 96.5
Donnie Black
New Orleans/Philadelphia Under 189
Teddy June
Notre Dame
Executive
300% Notre Dame -2'
300% New Orleans +2
Dr. Bob
College Best Bet
**Citadel (-6) over GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Georgia Southern was a bad team to begin with and the Eagles are even worse now due to an injury to their leading scorer Willie Powers (out since January 10th) and due to the suspensions of their best overall player Julian Allen and solid contributor Antoine Johnson (as well as backup F Trumaine Pearson). Allen, Johnson and Pearson have been out the last 8 games and Georgia Southern has lost by an average margin of 12 points in those games against a schedule of teams that is a combined 4 points worse than The Citadel on average. The Citadel struggled early in the season, but they improved significantly when freshman F John Brown was inserted into the rotation in January. Brown has averaged 7.9 rebounds per game while making 58% of his shots in 18 games as part of the rotation and you can see by those numbers why the Bulldogs have 14-4 in those 18 games (13-4 ATS). The Citadel is coming off a loss to Wofford on Saturday, but they should bounce back today on the road against a horrible Georgia Southern team. The Citadel is 11-0-1 ATS on the road this season and my ratings favor the Bulldogs by 10 ½ points. I’ll take The Citadel in a 2-Star Best Bet at -6 points or less.
NBA Opinion
OKLAHOMA CITY (+6) over Dallas
In Saturday’s analysis of the Thunder I mentioned that I thought that Oklahoma City would be better without leading scorer Kevin Durant because of how much better the team is defensively when he is not on the floor, which more than makes up for the lost offense when he isn’t playing. That certainly was the case on Saturday as the Thunder’s good defense lead to a 99-92 win at Memphis as a 7 ½ point dog. Oklahoma City also nearly won at Dallas, losing 108-110 as a 9 point dog, in the game in which Durant was injured and played just 8 minutes, so it’s pretty clear that my hypothesis that the Thunder are better without Durant may be true. Durant is still out and the oddsmakers continue to adjust the wrong way for his absence, but I’ll resist making Oklahoma City a Best Bet in this game since Jeff Green is also out. Green is worth a couple of points and the Thunder should play at their usual level with Green out (a negative) and Durant out (a positive), so there is still some value in siding with Oklahoma City as a big home dog against an unrested Mavericks team that beat Toronto last night night. My ratings favor the Mavs by just 2 points in this game with both Durant and Green out and Oklahoma City is 15-2 ATS in their last 17 home games. I would have played the Thunder as a Best Bet if not for a negative 41-95-3 ATS general situation going against them, but I’ll still lean with the Thunder at +6 points in this game since the line value is more significant than the general situation going against Oklahoma City.
College Opinion
Boise State (+6) over NEW MEXICO STATE
Boise State has lost their last 3 games, but the Broncos have generally performed well after a loss under coach Greg Graham (48-30-1 ATS, including 27-15-1 ATS as a dog or pick) and they are 5-2 ATS after 3 or more consecutive losses. Boise also applies to a solid 111-43-2 ATS road bounce-back situation but the fair line on this game is 6 ½ points and the line has come down from +6 ½ to +6. I’m not going to give up the line value to make the Broncos a Best Bet, but I’ll lean with them at +6 or more and I’d take Boise State in a 2-Star Best Bet at +7 points or more.
Stu Feiner
100 Dime Southern Conference No Brainer
The Citadel (-6) @ Georgia Southern
The Citadel has much to play for tonight in Statesboro, Ga and the Bulldogs will cover this price over the Eagles. Georgia Southern is down to the thinnest rosters as injuries have taken their toll in 2009 for this team that is 0-9 SU and 1-8 ATS in its last nine Southern Conference games. They're coming off a 43-point loss at Davidson Saturday as coach Jeff Price's bunch is limping to the finsih. The Bulldogs need a win tonight to secure just their second 20-win season in school history. More importantly, The Citadel needs a win to gain a first-round SoCon Tournament bye. A loss and they don't, simple as that. They had won 11 straight before Saturday's home loss to season thorn Wofford. They're 11-0 ATS on the road this year and disposed of this Eagles by nine in early February when Georgia Southern was much healthier. Tonight, the disciplined Bulldogs, looking to bounce back from their first loss in a dozen games, will control this game early and cruise to an easy double digit win.
Chris James Sports
3* New Mexico State -6
2* Villanova +2.5
1* New Mexico St/ Boise OVER 154.5
DAVE MALINSKY
4* New Orleans +2.5
Jefferson-Sports
Citadel -6.5
SMTM Sports Picks
3* Notre Dame -2 1/2 buy the 1/2 to -2
2* Hawks -3 1/2
1* George Southern +7
1* Elon +15
Cole Landon
Hornets +2
Hornets O 189.5
Wizards U 198
Cavs -3.5
Spurs O 184.5
SPORTS UNLIMITED
5* New Orleans Hornets
3* Baylor
SPORTS BANK
300 Washington
KBHoops
5* Washington UNDER 198.5 -105 **POD**
5* Miami Heat +3.5
(Note that this is the Cavs 4th game in 5 nights, Back to back nights on the road, and the Cavs team plane was delayed in Atlanta all night due to snow. The team didn't arrive in Miami until after 6 AM,
and didn't get to their hotels until after 8 in the morning)