Teddy June
College Basketball Game of the Day (2-0 Yesterday)
My 10* College Basketball Game of the Day is the Memphis Tigers minus the points over the Texas Longhorns. Chalk, Chalk, Chalk has been the story of this year's tournament as all of the #1 seeds still remain and favorites have cashed over 70% of the time in this 2008 tournament. Since the tournament has started there has never been a final four in which all four number one seeds were a part of it. Well today I expect history will be made as we will roll with the Tigers to get the job done and advance to the final four. The reason it will be happen this year is something I have stated all year long there are four teams that are just leaps and bounds better than the rest of the country with both personnel and coaching. That is UCLA, UNC, Kansas and Memphis; teams like Tennessee, Louisville and Texas are close to that level but not there. There are two teams that have flat out impressed me in this tournament, North Carolina, who we cashed a ticket with yesterday over Louisville and the Memphis Tigers. The Tigers are coming off a sweet 16 blowout over Michigan State in a game in which they put together probably the best half (1st half) of any team I have seen in college basketball this season. They held Michigan State to 20 points and were up 30 at the half and mind you this was a very solid Spartans squad who spent most of the season in the top 15. The much maligned free throw shooting situation was silenced at least for one game as Memphis shot 26 of 35 for 74.3%. This team just looks very determined when they step on the floor, most of that probably has to do with their embarrassing exit last year to Ohio State in which they were wiped out. Memphis will refuse to let that happen again and Coach Cal I am sure has this team very amped to get into the final four. It seems they are getting no respect from anyone in the media and that will only motivate this team even more and motivate Coach Cal to use the no respect card with his kids. Texas wins from the perimeter especially behind the 3 point line, Memphis is a team that has been very good defensively this year and can shut teams down around the perimeter, ranking 23rd in the nation in points allowed at 61.4, 9th in the nation in 38.9% and 8th in the nation at 30.2% from 3PT range. Anderson will shut down Abrams here as he did with Neitzel (2-8 FG, 6pts) and Lofton (7pts) while I expect the Derrick Rose vs. DJ Augustin matchup to be fantastic the biggest key for Memphis is CDR who will continue to be unstoppable. Rose and CDR will be able to take their men of the dribble all day long and Dorsey, Dozier, and Taggart will dominate the paint versus the short depth of the front court of Texas. I expect the depth of Texas to catch up with them a bit here along with Memphis's ability to play defense along with dominate the boards and points in the paint will be the difference. I realize this game is in Texas's backyard in Houston but the bottom line for me is Memphis is more determined, playing great, has more talent, better defensively and has a better coach to get the job done this afternoon. I currently have this line at -3.5 and have this rated at 10* up to -5.
My 10* College Basketball Game of the Day is the Memphis Tigers minus the points.
Drew Gordon
1. 200,000* Davidson
2. 50,000* 76ers
3. 50,000* Mavericks
BEN BURNS
NHL
WILD
Game: Colorado Avalanche vs. Minnesota Wild
Prediction: Minnesota Wild Reason: I'm laying the price with MINNESOTA. Both teams have picked up their level of play down the stretch but the Avs may come in "patting themselves" on the back a bit, as they were very fortunate to avoid a loss in their last game. In fact, they were six seconds away from losing until Sakic scored the tying goal to force OT. Sakic, who went on to score the winner in the shootout, said: "We knew if we won this one we put ourselves in pretty good shape..." Coach Joel Quenneville went on to say: "The point was like a win, and capping it off with the extra point was gigantic..." Not exactly the comments of a "desperate" sounding team. Regardless of whether or not the Avs experience a 'letdown' from Friday's dramatic win, they've really struggled here and I expect them to find the going difficult again today. Minnesota has won all three meetings here this season, outscoring the Avs by a 10-4 margin in those games. The Wild have now earned at least one point in eight straight home meetings with Colorado, going 6-0-2 during that stretch. The Wild, who have won their last two games by a combined score of 7-1, are one of the league's best teams at preserving a lead. That's due to their defensive system but also due to their stellar goaltending. Niklas Backstrom comes off a shutout in his last game and is now 5-0-1 with a 1.39 goals-against average and two shutouts in his last seven starts. That brings him to an impressive 16-2-6 with a 1.62 GAA in his career in games played after March 1. Note that Backstrom is also 6-1-1 with a 2.09 GAA in eight career starts vs. the Avs. Aiming for their first division title in franchise history, look for another strong effort from the Wild as they continue their home ice domination in this series, improving to 7-2 the last nine times they played on a Sunday. *Annihilator
CANUCKS
Game: Calgary Flames vs. Vancouver Canucks
Prediction: Vancouver Canucks Reason: I'm laying the price with VANCOUVER. This is a really big game for Calgary. However, it's an absolutely huge game for the Canucks. I expect them to respond with a massive effort. It's true that the Canucks are currently dealing with some injury issues. However, as center Ryan Kesler noted: "There's a lot of character on this team. Right now we're going through a little adversity, but that's when we're at our best." Its true that goalie Roberto Luongo, perhaps distracted by the recent birth of his daughter, has struggled lately for Vancouver. He's one of the best in the game though, as well as one of the most competitive. He's also 4-2 with a 2.32 goals-against average against the Flames this season. I expect him back in goal this evening and I also expect him to return to his 'normal' high level of play. Luongo will face a Calgary team which is coming off a disappointing loss, in its home finale, to its hated provincial rival (Edmonton) last night. Vancouver, which had last night off, is a profitable 32-20 (+11.6) the past few seasons after scoring one goal or less in its previous game, including a 10-6 mark in that situation this season. Look for the Canucks to improve on those stats here, moving to 5-0 since November when playing a home game on a Sunday. *Personal Favorite
Lenny Stevens
10* Texas
10* Kansas
INDIAN COWBOY
MORE LATER
Timberwolves +5.5 (3 units)
Sometimes you take a look at a line and you just know that it is essentially a trap or a bait set up for the public. Such is the case here and the line has consistently been going down despite the public hammering the Jazz. If this was at 7 points, that would have been great, but it has come down to 5.5. In fact, I nearly took the ML in this play for 1 unit instead of the full ATS - I nearly did the same with the Wizards. But, the Twolves are notoroious for playing close ballgames and Minny actually beat this team outright back on February to which the Jazz then got revenge recently by blowing them out by about 30 at home. I look for the Twolves to win this game outright, there is no Okur for this ballgame, the public is likely to get buried here and the Twolves come off a tough road trip at San Antonio and Houston losing by double-digits and are 10-2 ATS coming off a loss of 10 points or more.
Timberwolves +205 ML (1 unit)
I like the idea of taking the Twolves with revenge, coming off a 10 point loss or more to back to back teams on a tough road trip to Houston and San Antonio where they are 10-2 ATS afterwards of such a double-digit loss, they beat this team outright in February, no Okur and they are in a good spot today so I will take the ML here for just a unit as it does yield 2.05:1 which any time in basketball I can get 2 to 1 odds, I will drop a unit to increase profit margin - similar to baseball.
Sportsbank
500 Kansas
VEGAS RUNNER
3* ELITE 8 GAME of the YEAR
Memphis -3.0 (-120)
Guys, do to the fact that we touched upon yesterday where we felt that UCLA was deserving of a Game of the Year label, we will stay with the Units we worked with this weekend and make a 3Unit Wager on this one....
Bottom line is that prior to the tournament, this number would have been closer to 5, if not higher and now with so many feeling that Memphis can't win a close game, and Texas playing more or less a home game...the market has offered us some good value with the Fav in this one....
Going to keep it short due to all the work that also needs to be done to have us ready for the big MLB board in the morning...so lets just go ahead and buy the hook and lay the 3 with Memphis as our Elite 8 GOY
NBA 3* BEST BET of the DAY DALLAS +5
2* Memphis / Texas Under 145
2* Toronto
2* SAC -5.0 BUY the 1/2 Point
2* Davidson + 10
1* Rockets
Mike Neri
3* Kansas
3* Texas
LT Profits
2* Texas