Brad Diamond Sports
20* Penn State over Baylor
Make no mistake, the Bears have more natural talent than the group from Mount Nittany. However, can't help using the Lions in this key spot for the Blue and White. Remember, Penn State has a huge contingent of graduates in the New York area as the Lions bring the largest Alumni base in the country. Home court advantage (?), you bet! Realize Baylor is far away from their Big-12 roots and they play against the most effective half-court unit thus far in the tourney. In addition, I fully expect a controlled effort from the Penn State guards to keep the Bears run and gun mindset under control. Finally, Baylor plays out of character this evening knowing they board at 1-7 ATS as a chalk in this price range. Finally, this could be a historic game for Penn State on the basketball court.
Brandon Lang
20 Dime Baylor
5 Dime Nuggets
FREE - Sixers
Stephen Nover
Denver -4
Maybe the Jazz can prove worthy on the road, but I doubt it in this spot.Utah is 0-10 against the West's top nine teams when not playing in Salt Lake City. Denver is playing its best ball.The Nuggets are 9-1 in their last 10 games, 13-2 in their past 15 games at the Pepsi Center. They are precariously holding on to the No. 2 seed in the West.Denver has been eliminated in the first-round of the playoffs during each of the past five seasons. Each time the Nuggets had to open their playoff series on the road.They don't want that to happen again.Utah is 1-5 straight-up and against the spread in its last six away matchups. Its only road win during this span was versus Oklahoma City.Carmelo Anthony is heating up for the Nuggets, averaging 30.9 points in his last seven games.The Nuggets' confidence is up. They should be fully focused as their next three games are against the Clippers, Timberwolves and Thunder.
Dr. Canada
Senators/Bruins over 5.5
San Jose Sharks -145
Phoenix Coyotes -120
Tim Trushel
20* Utah / Denver Under 208
Raging Bull
Washington Wizards +10.5
Las Vegas Sport Picks
NBA:
2* Nuggets -5
NCAA:
1* Penn State +4
Beat Your Bookie
100* Play Baylor (-4) over Penn State (NCAA)
Baylor is 12-4 ATS when playing on a neutral court the last 3 seasons
Baylor is 6-1 ATS when playing their 2nd road game in 3 days
Baylor is 15-5 ATS in all tournament games over the last 3 seasons
Other Hoops & Hockey Plays
50* Play Utah (+5) over Denver (NBA)
30* Play Boston (-240) over Ottawa (NHL)
Joe Wiz premium parlay
Baylor & Denver
Frankie Euro late phone lock - Jazz
Qing the Asian Executive - Baylor
Antony Dinero
UTAH at DENVER
Pick: OVER 209
Utah's last trip to Denver ended in a 117-97 loss on Jan. 25, even with Carmelo Anthony out with a broken hand. The Jazz simply struggle away from Salt Lake City, and are a little banged up and humbled after getting trounced in Portland. That will help them start well and focused against the Nuggets, but over the course of 48 minutes, look for Denver to disrupt the Jazz enough with ball pressure in the backcourt and solid rebounding up front to sail away with a convincing win. Take the Jazz and the over.
Bill Marzano
Utah at Denver
Play: Denver -5
I really like Denver in this game @ home vs Utah...The Northwest Division-leading Nuggets are looking for the 5th win in a row and move closer to securing home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs...the second and seventh seeds are separated by just 2 1/2 games...Denver has won 9 of 10...they've won a season-high six straight and 13 of their L15...Utah has lost 5 of 6 on the road...the Jazz are 1-10 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog....0-9 ATS in their last 9 games as a road underdog...Denver is a LOCK
Maddux Sports
Hockey
3 units on Ottawa +200
3 units on Anaheim +150
3 units on Los Angeles +105
Passing Basketball
Marc Lawrence
Milwaukee at Philadelphia
Play: Philadelphia -7.5
The Sixers host the Bucks in an Eastern Conference clash in Philadelphia Thursday evening in a terrific scheduling spot.That occurs as Milwaukee takes to the road of a home game last night after having been on the road their previous four games. That's very favorable for the 76ers considering teams in this role are just 10-25 ATS if they own a win percentage of .475 or less and their opponent was home in its last game. Look for Philadelphia to improve to 14-5-1 ATS in this series when playing with same season revenge here tonight.Lay the points with the Sixers.
Karl Garrett
20 DIMER - BAYLOR BEARS
As impressive as Penn State was in rocking Notre Dame on Tuesday, I don't think they will be able to do it again against the senior-laden Bears.
Yes, Penn State will have another 16 busloads or so of fans in the stands, but Baylor won't mind being in the "underdog" role here, as the Bears have been road-bound for quite some time, and they have come out of each roadie with the win.
Loved what I saw from the Bears on Tuesday night, as they just shredded San Diego State. You can see in their eyes they will not be satisfied without leaving NYC without this NIT title.
I have no issue laying a few points with Baylor tonight, as I suspect this one will be close for a while, but come final buzzer, the Bears will be wearing the crown both straight up, and against the spread.
Lay the points.