PowerPlaywins
PPOD
Houston Rockets -10
RINKPLAY SPORTS:
3* Toronto Maple Leafs
2* Pittsburgh Penguins & Montreal Canadiens Over
2* Philadelphia Flyers
Free Selection: St. Louis Blues
Vegas Runner Official "steam"
Over 166 Umass/ Rhode Island
Winning Points Online NCAAB.
**PREFERRED
Oregon over USC* by 4
Main issue reviews comments made by Tim Floyd regarding how USC plays without starting point guard Daniel Hackett. Toss in ''got to the free-throw line only single-digit times in both games without him thus far.''
If they're afraid to penetrate and either draw contact, finish or dish, then the Trojans will continue to have problems against opponents who can score. USC's per game assist to turnover averages are 12.5-to-15.0 so you have an immature offense laying points against a pretty veteran group on the other side. OREGON, 70-66
National Sports Service
4* Arizona +1
3* Michigan +8.5
3* Xavier -10.5
Jake Timlin
2000* ODDSMAKERS LINE MISTAKE
2000* Denver Pioneers
All Denver at home tonight by double digits without a doubt in my mind. Going back to the well the Pioneers have absolutely been money for me this season when playing at home as I have cashed with Denver twice over the last few weeks. Well thanks to being at home let’s make it three straight as the Pioneers continue to their red hot streak as Denver sits both 9-1 SU/ATS winning by an average of 10 ppg at Mile High. Even stronger numbers for the Pioneers is the fact that they are hot in Vegas having covered 11 of their last 14 overall games. Meanwhile, make the long trip to the this air of Denver will be the Blue Raiders who at 3-8 SU on the highway this year losing by 14 ppg and having lost 2 of their last 3 overall games will find a revenge minded Denver team to much to handle tonight. Bottom line is while Denver is awful on the highway they are just the opposite at home and will be once again tonight as cash once again. All Denver tonight minus the small home chalk as they get their revenge by double digits.
3G Sports
10* Georgia Tech
5* Notre Dame
5* Wash St.
Richard Cross Key Selections
Sapphire Selection – UCLA -27
Ruby Selection – Minnesota -8
Double Ruby Selection – Arkansas St. +6
Emerald Selection (Free Play) – Spurs -8
Odds on Sports
NBA
Miami +10.5
Under 189.5
San Antonio -7.5
Over 179
Seattle +8
Over 191.5
NHL
Tampa Bay -118
Under 5.5
Philadelphia -116
Over 5.5
Atlanta +120
Buffalo +101
Pittsburgh +153
Over 5.5
Ottawa -250
Over 5.5
Florida -131
Over 5.5
Nashville -120
Over 5.5
Los Angeles +102
Under 5.5
NCAA Hoops
La Salle +1.5
Massachusetts +5
Georgia Tech -6
Notre Dame -4.5
Western Kentucky -6
Arkansas-Little Rock -6
Montana St. -2
Weber St. -2
Southern California -4.5
Larry Ness
Las Vegas Insider
(30-12 CBB run the L15 days and 31-16 w/BKB Insiders since Jan 1)
My Las Vegas Insider is on Rhode Island at 7:00 ET. Travis Ford had a good second season at U Mass, leading the Minutemen to a 13-3 finish in the A-10 (tied for first with Xavier) and an overall 24-9 mark (team had won just 13 games in his first season). However, gone from LY's team are big men Freeman (14.7-8.3) and Lasme (13.5-9.5), as well as 6-5 guard Life (11.5). This year's team is led by 6-7 senior swingman Forbes (20.2-7.6-3.2) and sophomore guard Harris, who has upped his scoring average from 4.5 PPG as a freshman to 18.0 PPG this year. Lowe (12.3-3.2-5.7) has played well at the point while up front, two seniors, the 6-8 Brower (12.4-6.6) and the 6-9 Milligan (8.2-4.8), have tried their best to replace Freeman and Lasme (it hasn't worked). Ford's style is to "get out and run" and the Minutemen are averaging 82.2 PPG. However, the more IMPORTANT number for our purposes is the team's ATS mark. U Mass is 16-9 overall (just 5-6 in the A-10) but since Dec 15, the Minutemen are just 4-10 ATS in lined games. Rhode Island, in head coach Jim Baron's sixth year, opened 14-1 and moved into the top-25. However, in the team's showdown game at Dayton (also ranked at the time) on Jan 9, the Rams were beaten 92-83, which has started them on a recent 6-5 SU run. The Rams are just 6-5 in the A-10 this year but have HUGE home games here with U Mass and against St Joe's on Sunday. If the Rams were to win both games, they have winnable road games at GW and LaSalle plus another winnable home game vs Charlotte to finish the regular season. That means a 25-win season (or better with the A-10 tourney remaining) is a real possibility. The guard combo of Baron (14.8) and PG Bitee (11.6-5.1 APG) is superb, while the team's two 6-8 fowards, Daniels (18.6-6.8) and Seawright (9.1-8.7), are both excellent. Throw in swingman Cothran (8.1), the 6-6 Ulmer (7.8-5.1) and the 6-6 Mbang (6.8-4.3) and one can see why this team was ranked earlier TY. Rhode Island lost a 78-75 decision at U Mass back on Feb 7, a game in which the two guards made just 8-of 19 FGs, Daniels had 19-14 but made just 7-of-21 shots and Seawright had a dreadful 2-of-11 night from the floor. Here at home, where the Rams were a perfect 11-0 until losing to Xavier last Monday (81-77), I expect Rhode Island to control the flow of the game and of course, shoot must better than it did up in Amherst. Las Vegas Insider on Rhode Island.
Larry Ness' Oddsmaker's Error-CBB
(now 21-7 on the CBB season!)
My Oddsmaker's Error is on Denver at 9:30 ET. Regular followers should have anticipated this play on Denver, as I've ridden the Pioneers here at home for the better part of the last two months. Once again linemakers continue to undervalue Denver on its homecourt, as the 'overnight' line was Denver minus-1 1/2-points. It's moved slightly higher since but that won't change my play on Denver. Consider this. The Pioneers are 0-13 in true road games this year but 9-1 SU and ATS at home. Denver lost its second home game of the season to Colorado (Nov 27) but has followed that with eight straight wins, including posting a 7-0 SU and ATS at home in the SBC. Conference opponents are forced to make the long trip to Denver PLUS play at altitude and it has CLEARLY had an effect, although linemakers have just as CLEARLY ignored the results. Here's a recap of Denver's SBC home games. The Pioneers beat Denver (plus-6 1/2) 63-59, beat La-Monroe (minus-2) 66-50, beat Ark-LR (minus-1) 54-40, beat Ark St (minus-3) 59-52, beat Fla-Int'l (minus-1 1/2) 64-50, beat Troy (minus-4 1/2) 80-66 and beat La-Lafayette (minus-1 1/2) 63-44. Joe Scott has done a terrific job with this team as the Pioneers lost their best player from LY in the 6-6 Walker (14.9-4.8) and then their leading returning scorer, Bullock (11.0), left this year's team after just six games. This year's best player, the 6-6 Kummer (11.4-4.6), went down with a season-ending ankle injury NINE games ago, yet the Pioneers have maintained their ability to win at home without him. Rob Lewis (8.3-4.2), a 6-7 freshman, has really stepped up his play the last six games, averaging 15.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG, greatly diminishing Kummer's loss. Tanner, a solid 6-8 center, is averaging 10.3-3.5-2.8 and the 6-5 Rohnert (8.7-4.0) helps complete a still-effective frontcourt. Guards Kyle Lewis (8.8) and Jackson (8.8) have been solid with freshman McNally (3.1) getting some of the minutes Bullock would have taken. MTSU beat Denver back in Murfreesboro 68-50 on Jan 5 (so who doesn't beat Denver when the Pioneers are away from home?) but winning on the road, where the Blue Raiders are just 3-7 and losing by an average margin of 14 PPG, will be an entirely different story. MTSU has two decent frontcourt players in the 6-7 Yates (15.8-4.7) and 6-10 center Hudson (9.0-5.5) but as I've already mentioned, Denver's frontcourt is playing extremely well (at home, that is), even without Kummer. MTSU's backcourt of Green (12.0-4.5), Kanaskie (10.2-4.0-3.4) and Johnson (7.7-3.9-3.3) could be considered a stronger group than Denver's but in the end, the play here is on the home team AGAIN and AGAIN until either the Pioneers stop winning at home or the linemakers some MAJOR adjustments. Oddsmaker's Error on Denver.
Jim Kruger
All Bronze 3*
Denver -3
Mighigan +8
Oregon +4.5
Virginia +6
C&P Experts
Oregon POD
UMass Comp
Iceman GOW
4* Nashville
INDIAN COWBOY
Rhode Island -5.5 (POD)
winning 21 of 31 days in January, 2-1 yesterday. I know some of you may have gotten the Cavs/Pacers over at 203, but I have to take a loss on the game given the number that was available in the backend as it is automatic. Thus, some of you may have gone 2-0-1 but, for the records, it will be counted as 2-1.
This is a good opportunity for Rhode Island to pick up a big home win. They come off back to back losses for the first time this year and they look to avoid losing their 3rd straight game in a row after losing what was the largest crowd in school history to watch a game against Xavier where they fell short by a few points. RI lost to Umass by a bucket on the road earlier this year and Umass has shown to struggle on the road at times. RI is frankly not in the greatest of moods and I'm sure the gymnasium will be packed yet again for another big Atlantic 10 conference game and I wouldn't be surprised to see RI win by double-digits here. They started off the game against Xavier very flat so I expect them to come out and have a better start today. Rhode Island beat Dayton by 12 at home - a similar ranked team to Umass - so I would expect a similar game today. Umass is 1-5 ATS in the last 5 meetings between these 2 teams and Rhode Island is 4-1-1 ATS against a team with a losing road record.
Duquesne Dukes +10.5
I normally wouldn't take many teams on the road at Xavier, but the Dukes will be an exception. This team comes off a huge let down game at home against Richmond who is a top 150 team and the Dukes are a top 75 team. The Dukes had just won a big game on the road at Dayton and they even won at La Salle by 17 points on the road - La Salle is a top 175 team. This team also had the capacity to lose by just a bucket on the road at Rhode Island as well. I like the fact that the Dukes had a very disappointing game at home as they could have been looking ahead to Xavier. Xavier has won its last 4 games - all conference games by a total of 12 points - so I will take the Dukes here on the bounce-back, Xavier isn't dominating anyone necessarily right now in conference games and although I do think the Dukes lose - Xavier does have revenge from last year's Duquesne win by a bucket - I think they lose within the spread. The Dukes are 8-0 ATS as road underdogs of 8 to 12 points and Xavier has failed to cover their last 4 games as a favorite.
Seattle supersonics +7
A little gutsy of a play call given that the Blazers are coming home after a tough road trip, but I'm sure the Sonics remember their loss to the Blazers in the Rose Garden back on Christmas when the Blazers covered the -7.5 spread and won by 10. The Sonics have gotten a bit better since then and it seems the Blazers with injuries have become a bit stagnant - in fact, if the playoffs were held today, they would not make the playoffs despite their massive winning streak just over a month ago. Although the Sonics were spanked by a sound playing Utah team the other day at home, they did beat Memphis at home and covered yesterday, lost by 4 points to the Suns on the road and if you remember, beat the Kings outright on the road in Arco. The Blazers have lost 5 straight and frankly, I don't believe they deserve this much respect with the line as this is also the biggest public play as well. Who knows, I show a 30% chance that the Sonics could win this game outright. The Sonics have covered their last 7 of 8 games in the Western Conference and the Blazers have missed the cover in their last 6 western conference games.
Dr. Bob
Thursday Free 2 Star Best Bet
**San Antonio (-8) over MINNESOTA
05:05 PM Pacific - Rotation 701
Minnesota is coming off a win over the 76ers and they continue to perform well against bad teams. However, the Timberwolves have not fared well against good teams at home, as they are just 6-14 ATS as a home underdog of more than 3 points and their win over Philly sets Minnesota up in a very negative 108-200-10 ATS home underdog letdown situation (the record is 4-26-1 ATS versus San Antonio). San Antonio has a long history of playing well against bad teams on the road and the Spurs are now 72-35 ATS as a road favorite of 6 points or more when they didn't play the previous night. My ratings favor San Antonio by 8 points and I'll take San Antonio in a 2-Star Best Bet at -8 points or less and for 3-Stars at -7 or less.
Thursday Opinions
DENVER (-3) over Middle Tennessee State
Denver is 9-1 straight up and 9-1 ATS at home this season (7-0 SU and ATS in Conference games) and just 4-8 ATS on the road. That pattern of playing better at home goes back a few years and the Pioneers are 30-11-1 ATS at home the last 4 seasons. A big part of the reason that Denver plays so well at home, especially in conference play, is because all of their conference opponents are from sea level and aren’t used to the thin air at high altitude Denver. Unfortunately, the line moved quickly on this game from -1 ½ to -3 points, but I’ll lean with Denver at -3 points or less and I’ll take Denver in a 2- Star Best Bet at -2 points or less.
Oregon State (+27) over UCLA
UCLA applies to a negative 34-84-1 ATS big home favorite letdown situation following their win at USC and it may be tough for the Bruins to get up for an Oregon State team that is winless in Pac-10 play. Oregon State is 6-2 ATS as a road underdog this season and my ratings only favor UCLA by 26 ½ points. My only issue with this game is that UCLA is 8-3 ATS as a favorite of 20 points or more under coach Ben Howland and 2 of those spread losses came as favorites of more than 32 points (7-1 ATS favored from 20 to 32 points). I still think it will be tough for the Bruins to care that much about this game but I’ll resist making the Beavers a Best Bet. I’ll lean with Oregon at +26 points or more.
Ats Financial
3* Washington
3* Denver
National Sports Service
4* Arizona +1
3* Michigan +8.5
3* Xavier -10.5
Chicago Sports Connection
Michigan +8.5
Reddog Sports
4* Denver-3
3* Weber State -1
LAS VEGAS TECH REPORT (LVTR)
MINNESOTA OVER 179 (NBA)
ARKANSAS STATE +7
Spritzer
sun belt gom...................denver
insider............................uri
ko..........................gtech
5 star.........................mich
ko..........................spurs
Cokin
fat man plays........ariz, stlouis over 5.5
slammer....................denver
window....................south bama
under the hat............................weber st
3 star...................................dayton
3 star............................heat
Feist
serial game.........................denver
steam............................ark st
platinum.........................duquesene
inner circle......................mich
5 star...............................gtech
5 star..........................heat over