Carlo Campanella
Louisville Cardinals at Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma defeated St. Joes in the first round action, 72-64, in a game which the Okies shot an incredible 57.1% as a team from the field! They now face a Louisville squad that's won 25 games this year behind a defense that held opponents to 61 points per game. Look for this one to turn into a defensive battle, as we find Oklahoma going "Under" in 11 STRAIGHT games after shooting 55% of their shots or better.
Play on: Under
VEGAS EXPERTS
Arkansas Razorbacks at North Carolina Tar Heels
Arkansas caught a couple breaks in its win over Indiana with White in early foul trouble and Gordon having an off night for the Hoosiers. The Hogs shot better than 54% from the field in the win. They have failed to put together back-to-back 50% or better nights the last five times they had the opportunity, three times shooting 43% or worse. North Carolina has allowed only one of its last 14 opponents to shoot 50%. Six times it held its opponents to 42% shooting or worse. The Tar Heels are quite capable of playing on both ends of the floor and will turn up the D a notch here after free-wheeling in their easy first-round win over Mt. St. Mary's.
Play on: North Carolina
James Patrick Sports
San Diego vs. Western Kentucky
A pair of upset winners in opening round NCAA Tournament action that had to work overtime in an effort to get the job done face of in Round Two action on Sunday. Although the Hilltoppers are a bit deeper on the bench, only one day off between basketball games is very difficult for any team other than the Georgia Bulldogs. Look for a pair of tired teams on Sunday as we call our complimentary selection on #703 San Diego –Western Kentucky to go UNDER the TOTAL in NCAA Tournament action.
Marc Lawrence
Golden State Warriors at Los Angeles Lakers
Play On: Golden State
Note: Warriors travel to Tinsletown to take on the Lakers in a key division clash knowing they are 9-4 SU and 103 ATS when playing with revenge in this series when Los Angeles is off back-to-back wins. Golden State improves to 9-2 SU and 10-1 ATS in this role when they own a win percentage of .275 or greater. With the Lakers just 1-9 ATS as favorites on Sundays versus a division foe seeking same season revenge, we'll grab the points with the Warriors here today.
Dave Cokin
Arkansas vs. North Carolina
Play: North Carolina -11
Arkansas was impressive in sending home Indiana on Friday, but this is a much tougher task for the Hogs. It's a virtual home game for North Carolina and the Razorbacks have not been a particularly reliable road team. Also, teams that score double digit wins as underdogs generally bounce somewhat in the next round, a trend that could befall Arkansas here. I'm siding with the Tar Heels minus the points to win it big.
Jimmy The Moose
Game: St. Louis Blues at Chicago Blackhawks
Prediction: over
Reason: The over is 5-1-1 in the Blues last 7 games. The Blues have played over the total in 12 of their last 14 games vs. a team with a losing record. The over is 4-0-1 in their last 5 games vs. conference opponents. Chicago has played the over in 5 of their last 6 games vs. a team with a losing record. The over is 4-1 in their last 5 vs. Central Division oppoents. The over is 4-1 in the Blues last 6 trips to Chicago. Play the over.
VEGAS SPORTS PICS
Butler Bulldogs + 4.5 over Tennessee Volunteers
No.5 Tennessee (30-4) vs. No.11 Butler (30-3) has set a school record for wins in a season. The Bulldogs, who rank fifth in the nation allowing 57.8 ppg, are 15-2 away from home this season. Teams met once last season, Butler beat Tennessee 56-44 in the NIT Season Tip-Off in MSG.
Texas Longhorns - 6 over Miami Hurricanes
Miami (23-10) vs. No.6 Texas (29-6) is 13-2 (10-5 ATS) last 15 games including a 72-69 home win over No.4 Kansas, holding opponents to 36.7 percent shooting over the 15 games. The Horns look to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time in the last seven seasons.
Siena Saints + 5 over Villanova Wildcats
Villanova (21-12) is 2-2 last four away games losing at No.13 Louisville 68-54 and to No.8 Georgetown 82-63 in the Big East tourney Siena (23-10) enters off a confidence building wire to wire first round 83-62 upset of No.19 Vanderbilt, which had made the Sweet 16 last season.
Ross Benjamin
Game Oklahoma vs. Louisville
Pick:Oklahoma +7.0
Any NCAA Tournament favorite of 2.5 or more, that is off a neutral site favorite ATS win by 26 points or less, versus an opponent off a neutral site favorite ATS win by 14 points or less, and they have a win percentage of less than .700 is 0-8-1 ATS since 1994. The underdog has won 4 of the 9 games outright. Play on Oklahoma.
Brian Graves
Game: Oklahoma vs. Lousiville
Pick: Lousiville - 7
Reason: I love this Cardinals team and I have them going to the Final game losing to UCLA. They are deep and they have 3 guys who can get them a double-double any game they play. If the Cardinals are going to shoot the way they did in the opening round they'll win the whole thing, but first things first. The Cardinals pressure should create alot of transition opportunities as Oklahaom can be carless with the ball. I can't see a scenario where the Sooners even stay clsoe in this game. Louisville wins 76-55!
Purelock
NBA
DETROIT @ WASHINGTON
PLAY ON: DETROIT (-) PTS
CBB
SIENA VS VILLANOVA
PLAY ON: SIENA (+) PTS
Free Pick Butler
Cajun-Sports NBA Sunday ESPN Special
Game:Detroit Pistons vs. Washington Wizards
Rating: THREE-Star
Selection: (705) DETROIT PISTONS -3
Analysis: The Verizon Center has not been kind to the Wizards of late posting a 3-9 ATS mark their last dozen times to post at home. The role of home underdog has not been much better for the Wizards as they are 71-99 ATS in that role and have failed to get the cash in eight of their last twelve when catching points at home. We also see that the Wizards struggle down the home stretch of the season as they are 8-24 ATS in home games the second half of the season over the last two years. Washington after winning two games SU and now installed as an underdog is 49-77-4 ATS. If Washington is coming in off two SU and ATS wins in their last two games and now installed as an underdog they are 30-54-3 ATS, if they are a home underdog the record is 6-17-2 ATS. One final negative situation we find the Wizards in for this game, they are 7-20 ATS coming in off two or more consecutive road wins for more than a decade. Not only do we have the technical advantage with the Pistons we also get a motivational one as well. The Pistons are coming off a loss to Cleveland 89 to 73 on Wednesday night and this was following a 134 point performance versus the Denver Nuggets. The Pistons have been solid following a SU loss posting a 12-6 ATS record their last 18. Detroit is 23-8 ATS versus teams who attempt 18 or more 3 point shots per game on the season this season and 14-4 ATS versus teams who commit <=14 turnovers per game this season. Lay the short price here as the Pistons come out ready to erase their poor performance versus Cleveland and get back to their winning ways.
THE SPORTS REPORTER
BEST BET TOTAL
GOLDEN STATE over *L.A. LAKERS by 6
These two squads begin what should be a raucous and entertaining back-to-back home-andhome set that may threaten to combine for 500 points in two nights. Like the Rockets, the Lakers are hurt by the anticipated absence of Pau Gasol, who can both score and grab rebounds over his shorter counterparts on the Warriors. Withouth the Spaniard, this should be a consummate track meet between the best teams that California has to offer. GOLDEN STATE 134-128
Right Angle Sports (RAS)
One Side play Sunday:
San Diego vs Western Kentucky (-5.5) - 11:50am Pacific - Sunday - Game #709-710
The Hilltoppers needed a buzzer beating 3 pointer in overtime to dispatch #5 seed Drake in round one, but the game should have never made it out of regulation. WKY out shot Drake .544 to .377 for the game and led by 16 with under 12 minutes to play but an uncharacteristically high number of turnovers helped Drake to a improbable comeback. WKY still prevailed and are now winners of 18 of 19 games giving them solid momentum entering this game. The Hilltoppers have far superior depth, backcourt talent, and are dominated by an upperclassmen lineup. They had only three players play over 30 minutes on Friday, and all under 40. San Diego meanwhile is down to a seven man rotation and saw two players hit the 40 minute mark, with two others going over 35+ on Friday. The Toreros have no seniors and just two upperclassmen in their rotation. They benefited greatly from early first half injury to UConn PG and leading scorer Price (0 points in 9 minutes) or likely would not have advanced. USD star guard Brandon Johnson (groin) was noticeably hobbled late in the game and could be less than 100% Sunday. Unlike UConn, a determined Western Kentucky team will be all out from the word go. Give the points.
Play: Western Kentucky -5.5 for 1 UNIT
Two Total plays Sunday:
11:50am Pacific
Davidson/GTown OVER 129.5 for 1 UNIT
1:45pm Pacific
Miss St/Memphis OVER 137 for 1 UNIT
Lenny Del Genio's 25* Tourney Top Dog
Play on Butler
We successfully played against one #2 seed yesterday (Duke) and feel that taking another #7 today is the right play. With Duke's outright loss yesterday, that made it four #2's to go down in the Round of 32 over the last three years and dropped them to 11-10 'straight up' over the last five+ tournaments! Tennessee is not a strong tournament team covering just 9 of 39 in conference and NCAA tourney play combined and they are just 14-34 vs. the number on a neutral court overall. Butler, on the other hand, is an incredible 8-0 ATS as an underdog over the last two years with six of those covers coming on a neutral floor. They are also 9-2 ATS vs. non-conference opponents this year. Look for the Bulldogs' defense to absolutely doom the Volunteers, who want to play this game in the 80's. Butler won't let them do that though with their clock management, and will find out like South Alabama did that when the Bulldogs get the lead, you die a slow and painful death.
Butler is our 25* NCAA Tourney Top Dog.
Al Mcmordie
3* Nova
3* West Kent
3* Georgetown
3* Texas
The Green Kings
Villanova -5
Georgetown -4
Louisville -7
Memphis -9
Winning Sports Plays
GEORGETOWN -4 -120
MISSISSIPPI STATE +9
ARKANSAS +12 -120