ATS Lock Club
5* Akron
4* Middle Tenn St
3* Flor Atlantic
Locksmith Sports
1 Unit on Penn State +8.5
This is all she wrote for the Nittany Lions as seniors play their last home game. After coming off an embarrassing road loss to Wisconsin, they'll show some pride and give the Hoosiers a big time scare. Penn State has been very solid at home all year with a 12-4 mark. The Nittany Lions are 8-2-1 ATS in their last 11 games following a SU loss of more than 20 points and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS loss. Indiana is only 1-8 ATS after 2 straight games with 12 or less assists over the last 3 seasons. Indiana's coach Dakich is only 7-25 ATS in March games in all games he has coached since 1997. The Hoosiers haven't been sharing the ball as well down the stretch and the stats don't lie. We'll take the points.
Larry Ness-Las Vegas Insiders
NBA-Detroit Pistons
NCAA-Akron
LT Profits
Northern Illinois +8.5
The Northern Illinois Huskies may be just 6-20 straight up, but they have managed to go 12-11-1 against the spread and this seems like a lot of points for the Eastern Michigan Eagles to be laying.
After all, the Eagles are just 12-16 SU themselves, and while they are 9-4 at home, they are only winning those games by an average of +4.5 points, not nearly enough to cover a spread like this. Due to Eastern Michigan’s shortcomings, they have not been the best of favorites in recent years, going just 11-14 ATS the last 25 times they were cast in this role including 3-5 this season. They have lost outright as chalk to Brown, Detroit and Texas A&M-Corpus Christie this season, and the only time they were favored by more than six points, they nipped SE Missouri State 86-82 as 12-point favorites.
Now Northern Illinois may be a sentimental favorite followed the tragic campus shootings recently, but they are 0-3 SU since resuming play. That said, all three losses have been by seven points or less, and the Huskies are actually a nice 8-5 ATS on the road this season. If this game is close late, which we feel is an excellent possibility, UNI could use the inspiration of going for their first win since the tragedy to their benefit.
Finally, Northern Illinois is 8-3-1 ATS in the last 12 head-to-head meetings, and they have won three of their last five visits here outright.
Northern Illinois +8.5
Scott Rickenbach
1* (Regular Play) Orlando Predators (-) @ New Orleans
Both of these teams are coming off a rough start to the season last week. However, Orlando lost to a Philadelphia team that is one of the best in the league. Conversely, New Orleans lost to an LA Avengers team that is solid but not on par with the league's elite. The Voodoo are projected by many to be the worst team in the league this season. Already dealing with injury issues for QB Steve Bellisari and WR Derrick Lewis, things have gone from bad to worse for New Orleans!
The normally tough Predators defense is coming off of a very poor effort at Philly and that is more bad news for New Orleans here. That's because Orlando will undoubtedly "bring it" this afternoon in New Orleans. The Predators couldn't keep up with high powered Soul but they still have one of the better defensive units in the league and a Voodoo offense that is still in a 'state of flux' will make Orlando's defense look much better this week. The good news from last week's game for the Predators was an offense that was clicking! QB Shane Stafford played well and found a new weapon in rookie WR Chris Gessner as he had four TD receptions! Stafford got hit a lot by the Soul defense and, as a result, he even worked out of the shotgun at times. The Voodoo are not likely to generate the same pressure and, on the other side of the ball, New Orleans definitely has issues.
This Voodoo team is young and lacks multiple playmakers. A lack of explosiveness and consistency will continue to be a problem for New Orleans. Many books have this line at a 7.5 and they certainly are hoping for New Orleans money by dangling 'the hook' for added encouragement of Voodoo money. However, there are a few 7's out there and that is definitely the number you want to try to get here but, in our minds, the hungry Predators will take this game by double digits on Sunday afternoon. Play Orlando minus the points as a regular selection.
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on Bulls/Pistons OVER 195
When these teams face off in Detroit, we have come to expect high scoring contests. 6 of the last 8 games in this series played in Detroit have gone OVER the number and 16 of 23 games played in Detroit since 1996 have gone OVER. The Bulls have gone OVER the total in 8 of their last 10 games. The Pistons have gone OVER in 6 of their last 9. The OVER is 8-2-1 in Bulls last 11 road games and 6-2-1 in the Bulls last 9 vs. NBA Central. The OVER is 6-0 in Pistons last 6 games playing on 1 days rest and 4-0 in Pistons last 4 games as a home favorite of 5.0-10.5. Pound the OVER.
DOCS Sports Arena Football
4 Unit Play.Take Chicago (pk) over Philadelphia
The Rush opened with a dominating victory over defending champion San Jose and are ready to knock off another powerhouse @ DePaul on Sunday. They picked up future Hall of Famer Sid Bonner in the off-season from Arizona and he did not miss a beat in the opener, putting up 70 points. This will be a close game early, but the Force won it all two years ago and have the talent to do it again this year. Getting them at even when playing at home is a definite play, as Philly has struggled with prosperity throughout their existence.
4 Unit Play.Take New Orleans -7 ½ over Orlando
Both of these squads are still searching for a victory but the VooDoo is a much better squad when playing at home. They are looking to win their home opener for the fourth straight year and will have no problem taking this one by double-digits
Michael Cannon
15 Dime –
PURDUE
Take Purdue as the road chalk today over Michigan.
The Boilermakers will be looking to bounce back from Tuesday’s loss at Ohio State, and what better opponent than Michigan to accomplish that?
Purdue is still in line for a possible top-four seed in the NCAA tournament, so expect them to bring their A-game today.
Michigan has lost momentum is and limping into the conference tournament off back-to-back losses to bottom-feeders Northwestern and Penn State.
Purdue has a smothering defense that allows just 61 ppg. That falls nicely in line with Michgan’s sputtering offense that averages just 64 pgg.
The Boilermakers are a perfect 3-0 ATS as a road chalk, while Michigan is just 3-6 ATS as a single-digit dog.
Take Purdue minus the points as they grab the road win and cover.
10 Dime –
SPURS
Take the Spurs as the tiny road chalk today over the Suns.
Believe me; the Spurs shouldn’t have any problems with this game. Not after Phoenix went out and got Shaquille O’Neal at the trading deadline, which actually turned a fair defensive team into a poor one overnight.
San Antonio knows how to play team defense, so they shouldn’t have any problems holding the Suns high-paced attack in check.
On offense, the Spurs have far too many weapons for Phoenix to hang with.
Phoenix has allowed 113 points or more in six of the last eight games.
You aren’t going to beat a team like San Antonio when you allow that many points.
Take the Spurs as they grab the road win and cover.
5 Dime –
FLORIDA
Take the points with Florida when they travel to take on Kentucky.
I know the numbers don’t bear me out with this one, but I truly believe the Gators will rally and grab that all important road win here to improve their chances at getting into the Big Dance.
Kentucky will suffer from missing star freshman center Patrick Patterson, who is out for today’s game.
His absence will allow Florida’s Marreese Speights to control the paint. The freshman has recorded three straight double-doubles and had 20 points in the Gators overtime win over the Wildcats in the first meeting.
Florida has also tightened up its perimeter defense, holding its last three opponents to a combined 18 of 55 from 3-point range.
Take the points with Florida as they stay within the number on the road.
Sebastian
Insider
West.Michigan
Baskets NCAA
50* Ohio St, Michigan
20* Clemson, Midd. Tenn, Virg. Comm
Hockey
10* Pitts
Brandon Lang
10 Dime - Drake
10 Dime - Kentucky
5 dime - South Alabama
5 dime - Virginia Tech
5 dime - Western Michigan
Free Pick - Maryland
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Dave Cokin
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Joe Wiz
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Michigan St
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Bob Donahue
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Glen Mcgrew
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1 Unit on Michigan +5
Michigan played Purdue to within 7 points on the road and we look for the Wolverines to give the Boilers a major scare, if not pull off the shocker, on senior day. Purdue has lost back-to-back road games in conference play and I'm expecting to see the Boilers struggle here as well. Michigan is 12-3 ATS in home games when playing against a good team (Win Pct. 60% to 80%) over the last 3 seasons and 22-10 ATS as a home underdog of 6 points or less or pick since 1997. Michigan has won 2 straight home games over Purdue. The Wolverines are an impressive 4-0 ATS in their last 4 Sunday games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games following a SU loss. Take Michigan here.
BEN BURNS
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
MICHIGAN
Game: Purdue vs. Michigan
Prediction: Michigan Reason: I'm taking the points with MICHIGAN. Purdue has obviously had the much better season. However, I feel that the Wolverines are going to be the "hungrier" team, as this game means more to them. Yes, the Boilermakers can still technically improve their tournament seeding. However, even if they win today, they'd also need Penn State to beat Indiana. The Boilermakers know that's fairly unlikely though, as the Hoosiers are -8.5 point favorites and are 14-3 in conference play (25-5 overall) while the Nittany Lions are just 6-11 in league play and below 500 overall. Instead of thinking that they might have a chance at the second seed, I expect the young Boilermakers to be thinking about how they blew their opportunity to win the conference and resign themselves to the fact that they'll have the third seed in the Big Ten tournament. Off a tough loss and with far bigger and more important games on deck, it will be easy to get caught looking past lowly Michigan. Conversely, this is a big game for the Wolverines. Not only are they playing their home finale but they're looking to avenge a loss at Purdue and build momentum for the tournament. With a nationally ranked team coming to town, I expect coach Beilein to have his team extremely fired up. As Beilein had to say: "We're not going to let us take any spirit away from us. We're making great progress. We've got a nationally ranked coming to our place. We'll see if that can get our momentum back." The Wolverines, also a young team, have improved as they've gotten to know Beilein's system. They've now won three of their last four games here, including wins over Illinois and Ohio State, and the lone loss came by just two points. The Wolverines covered the earlier meeting at Purdue and they pounded the Boilermakers here last season. Look for them to close out the regular season with a huge effort, improving to 8-4 ATS when coming off a conference loss. *Main Event
UNDER CINCINNATI/UCONN
Game: Cincinnati vs. Connecticut
Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on Cincinnati and UConn to finish UNDER the total. I was all set to play these teams "under" yesterday but a winter snowstorm postponed the game until today. My reasons for liking the game remain the same. The Huskies allowed a whopping 83 points when they played at Cincinnati back on 1/23. That prompted the Huskies to elevate their defensive play in subsequent games. After the narrow win at Cincinnati, the Huskies traveled to Indiana and held the Hoosiers to only 63 points. That marked the first of five straight games they played which fell UNDER the number with none of those five opponents reaching 70 points. In fact, no opponent since Cincinnati had reached the 80 point mark until Providence did so on Thursday. Off that poor defensive effort, I expect the Huskies to once again bounce back with another huge defensive effort today. Note that the UNDER is 9-4 the past three seasons after the Huskies had allowed 80 or more points in their previous game. During the same stretch the UNDER has also gone 11-5 when the Huskies have been listed as home favorites of a dozen or more points. The Huskies are allowing 64 points per game at home on the season but I expect them to hold Cincinnati to even less than that here, as the Bearcats managed a mere 54 vs. Depaul last time out and are averaging just 60.8 points their past six games. Note that the Bearcats managed 59 points when they traveled here in 2006, losing 70-59. Look for another low-scoring affair here with the UNDER improving to 4-1 when the Bearcats were road dogs of greater than 12 points. *total of the year
NBA BASKETBALL
UNDER Raptors/Sonics
Game: Seattle SuperSonics vs. Toronto Raptors
Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on the Raptors and Sonics to finish UNDER the number. Early Sunday afternoon games in the Eastern time zone often don't sit too well with teams which are accustomed to playing on the West Coast. According to the players' "body-clocks," it's still only 10:00, instead of 1:00pm. Today's even worse than normal in that respect as there's an additional "lost" hour, due to daylight savings time. Playing such an early game, I won't be surprised if the Seattle offense is a bit "sleepy" out of the gate this afternoon. Unlike most teams, the Raptors play a lot of these early Sunday games. Although their most recent one (Knicks on 2/24) finished above the number, the UNDER remains a profitable 6-2 in their eight Sunday afternoon home games overall. The Raptors saw their most recent game finish above the number. That game was on pace to stay below the total after three quarters though (or at least to be very close) but the Raptors fell behind and were forced to rally for a tie, causing a high-scoring fourth quarter and then more points in overtime. The Raptors had seen their previous two games both fall below the number though and they held Miami to just 83 points before facing Washington. Note that with the Raptors listed as a double-digit favorite, its unlikely that we'll be seeing another overtime game. The Sonics managed only 83 points in their last game but gave up a whopping 118. They've seen the UNDER go 18-10 this season after allowing 105 or more points in their previous game though and I expect them to bounce back with a much better defensive effort here. They've also seen the UNDER go 4-2 when playing a road game with an over/under line ranging from 200 to 204.5. Additionally, the Sonics have seen the UNDER go 5-2 when listed as road underdogs in the +9.5 to +12 range on the season and 14-8 in that role the past three seasons. Overall, the UNDER is 10-5 the last 15 times they were underdogs of greater than eight points. With today's number roughly a touchdown higher than it was for the earlier meeting in Seattle, I feel that we're getting excellent value. *Annihilator
SUNS
Game: San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns
Prediction: Phoenix Suns Reason: I'm playing on PHOENIX. There are a couple major reasons why the betting public is going to largely favor the Spurs in this matchup. For starters, the defending champs just saw their 11-game winning streak snapped with a loss at Denver and the popular opinion will be that they'll immediately bounce back from that loss. Additionally, the general feeling is that the Suns can't win now that they've got Shaq in the lineup. I disagree on both counts. The Spurs have struggled on the road all season, going just 12-18 ATS. They've also got a "revenge" game vs. the Nuggets, the team that just snapped their streak, on deck for tomorrow night. Note that the Spurs are just 4-10 ATS the last 14 times that they played the front-end of back to back games. As for the part about the Suns not being able to win with Shaq, I just don't believe that to be true. Yes, they have struggled of late. However, that will only serve as further motivation this afternoon. What better way to silence the critics then to defeat the defending champs on national television. The Suns, who lost outright as -5.5 point favorites on Friday, are 14-2 SU the last 16 times they were coming off a SU loss when they'd been listed as a favorite. Look for them to build on those stats this afternoon, improving to 7-1 on Sundays this season and covering the small number along the way. *Contrarian GOM
Arthur Ralph
Superpick : Akron
Regular Play : Detroit Pistons
COMP : NEBRASKA
Gina
Seattle SuperSonics (16-46) at Toronto Raptors (33-28)
The struggling Sonics have lost three straight and have played awful away from home, just 6-25 on the road this season. Meanwhile, The Raptors are 18-13 at home this season, but have struggle without forward Chris Bosh in the lineup. Toronto has dropped four of its last five games.
The gloomy Sonics are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 road games and have covered the spread in the last 7 meetings in Toronto. Go with the dog to cover the double digit spread.
Seattle SuperSonics
Seattle SuperSonics + 12
San Antonio Spurs - 2