Thursday Service Plays

Jimmy The Moose

Game: Vancouver Canucks at Phoenix Coyotes
Prediction: Vancouver Canucks

Reason: The Canucks won 3 in a row prior to last night's game while the Coyotes dropped 2 of their last 3. Both team's are in the playoff race and this game will be big for both. The only trend that either team has going for them is the Canucks dominance over the Coyotes. Vancouver is 13-3-2 in the last 18 meetings between the clubs. The Canucks are 6-2-1 in their last 9 trips to Phoenix. Play on the Vancouver Canucks

Vegas Sports Pics

Wake Forest Demon Deacons + 1.5 over Florida State Seminoles

Florida State (18-13, 7-9) vs. Wake Forest (17-12, 7-9) swept FSU this season, winning at home 74-57 on 01/20, and at FSU 78-70 on 02/14. The Deacons have won their opening round ACC game last two seasons including a 78-66 victory over FSU in '06.

Connecticut Huskies - 1.5 over West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia (23-9, 11-7) vs No.15 Connecticut (24-7, 13-5) enters on a roll going 13-2 last 15 games off beating Cincinnati 96-51 on Sunday, which set a Big East record for largest ever margin of victory. Teams met once this season, Huskies at home beat WVU 79-71 on 03/01.

Minnesota Golden Gophers - 9.5 over Northwestern Wildcats

Northwestern (8-21, 1-17) in Big Ten games ranks last in the league in scoring margin, scoring defense, and rebounding margin, while ranking second last in scoring. Minnesota (18-12, 9-10) under new coach Tubby Smith swept NW this season, winning at home 82-63, and at NW 92-72.

Florida Gators - 3 over Alabama Crimson Tide

Alabama (16-15, 5-11) vs. Florida (21-10, 8-8) has won 18 consecutive postseason games, winning the SEC tournament in each of the last three seasons. The Gators are 7-1 last eight meetings off posting a 90-83 win at Alabama on 01/08.

Oregon Ducks + 3.5 over Washington State Cougars

No.21 Washington State (23-7, 11-7) vs. Oregon (18-12, 9-9) the defending Pac 10 tournament champ has won its last five opening round league tournament games dating back to '02. The Ducks are 13-2 last 15 meetings off going 0-2 vs. WSU this season.

Marc Lawrence

Game: Oregon at Washington St.
Prediction: Oregon

Note: Ducks take on the Cougars in a PAC 10 Quarterfinal matchup with the majority of numbers in Oregon's favor tonight. For openers, OU is 10-3 SU and 10-2-1 ATS in this tournament while WSU counters at 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS in this event. More impressive is the Duck's 21-3 SU and 17-7 ATS mark in this series, including 5-0 as a dog. We'll back the numbers, and the better team here tonight. Grab the points.

Mike Rose

COLORADO STATE +18.0 (-110)

Quarterfinal action of the Mountain West Tournament kicks off this afternoon when the (7-24) Colorado State Rams lock horns with the #1 seed BYU Cougars and its gaudy 25-6 SU mark. BYU will look for its 14th win in 15 games when it faces Colorado State after the Rams found a way to get the job done in their play in game with Wyoming on Wednesday. The Rams hadn’t felt the thrill of victory in 2008 up until they somehow managed to beat Wyoming, 68-63, as 7-point underdogs. The win snapped their 17-game losing streak and allowed this bruised and battered club to notch one conference victory. Their the first team in the conference to go 0-16 in the regular season since the league expanded the regular season schedule to 16 games back in the 2005-06 season.

BYU had itself one heck of a season in the Mountain West this year. The 24th-ranked Cougars (25-6) set a school record for regular-season wins (25) and a conference record for wins in Mountain West play (14), earning the top seed in the league's tournament for the second straight season. They've likely already locked up an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, but they'll begin seeking their first conference tournament title since 2001.

As for CSU, there’s not much to talk about. Two of their seven wins this season came in games where a line wasn’t even posted, and they lost another non-lined game SU to Panhandle State in OT by a 97-91 final count. This club was ravaged with injuries, but that’s no excuse to lose to one of the funniest names a University could ever hold. CSU didn’t notch a road win in MWC play up until yesterday, but they did go 2-5-1 ATS in their previous eight MWC road games. As for BYU, they went 6-2 SU and 5-2-1 ATS as a visitor this season.

BYU held the upper hand in both of their meetings this season. They upended the Rams by a 92-73 final count at home pushing the 19-point spread, but then made their backers happy when they paid Fort Collins a visit and left with a 79-65 road win and cover. Both games went over the posted ‘total’ as well.

If you’re thinking about grabbing the points with the Rams, be sure to keep an eye out for big man Stuart Creason’s availability. He’s the team’s second leading scorer, but didn’t play a single minute in their win yesterday. He dropped 24 on the Cougars the one time he faced them this season, and allowed the Rams to stay a bit closer than their first meeting.

Dave Cokin

Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech

Play: Texas Tech +3.5

Wow, it's Sutton vs. Knight in the opening Big XII Tournament contest. Oh wait, this is Sean vs. Pat, not Eddie vs. Bobby. So maybe it's not such a scintillating duel of coaching legends. But I do think it's a good spot for a winning play. Despite a couple of really dreadful showings late in the season, Texas Tech can win this game. It's a good physical matchup for the Red Raiders as Oklahoma State doesn't present the type of defense that will stymie Tech. This game looks like a tossup with my matchup numbers giving a slight edge to Texas Tech. Add in the spread, and the underdog Red Raiders are a solid value play.

John Martin

NBA Portland vs. Sacramento
Take Portland Trail Blazers

1 Unit on Portland Trail Blazers +3.5 Portland is a team that knows they still have a shot at making the playoffs with a strong finish. The Blazers play a Sacramento team that knows their hopes of making the postseason have gone out the window. It has shown with Sacramento losing 7 of their last 9 games overall. The Blazers have been fighting hard and find themselves great at the pay window against the spread as of late. Portland is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall. Portland is 15-4 ATS after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread this season. Portland is 8-1 ATS off a win against a division rival this season. Portland has some momentum rolling we expect them to continue to play well tonight as they have all season with a little confidence under their belts. Cash in with Portland as the underdog.

Larry Cook

NCAAB Florida State vs. Wake Forest
Take Wake Forest Demon Deacons

3* on Wake Forest +1 Wake Forest has won both meetings with Florida State this season in dominant fashion. The Seminoles match up very well with this squad and a season sweep is on the way Wednesday. There is no reason the Demon Deacons should be the underdog here. Wake Forest held the Seminoles to 38% and 35.7% shooting in each meeting. Wake shot a blistering 56% from the field in a 78-70 road win over FSU. It’s the Seminoles lack of defense that will kill them yet again this afternoon. Wake Forest is 8-2 ATS when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games this season. Florida State is 2-12 ATS after successfully covering the spread in 2 or more consecutive games over the last 3 seasons. Bet Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament.

Kelso

5 units Conn -2.5 v. WVU
4 units Villanova +7 v. Georgetown
3 units Alab-Birm -3.5 v. Tulsa

Gold Sheet LTS Report #1

All 1.5* plays

Villanova, Xavier, LSU, Miami Florida

Black Magic Sports

1 Unit on Portland Trail Blazers +3.5

Portland is a team that knows they still have a shot at making the playoffs with a strong finish. The Blazers play a Sacramento team that knows their hopes of making the postseason have gone out the window. It has shown with Sacramento losing 7 of their last 9 games overall. The Blazers have been fighting hard and find themselves great at the pay window against the spread as of late. Portland is 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games overall. Portland is 15-4 ATS after covering 3 of their last 4 against the spread this season. Portland is 8-1 ATS off a win against a division rival this season. Portland has some momentum rolling we expect them to continue to play well tonight as they have all season with a little confidence under their belts. Cash in with Portland as the underdog.

Black Widow Sports

1* on UAB -3.5

The UAB Blazers are on the outside looking in when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament. They are very capable of making the finals of the Conference USA Tournament and it all starts today. UAB is 11-2 ATS when the total is 130 to 139.5 this season. UAB is 17-3 ATS after allowing 90 points or more since 1997. UAB is 8-1 ATS after playing a road game this season. After a poor road performance against #3 Memphis, look for UAB to bounce back in a big way against a team they have already dominated this season. The Blazers beat Tulsa by a final of 84-70 on March 5th just a week ago. Take UAB and lay the points.

Brandon Lang

20 DIME PLAY
Florida

15 DIME PLAYS
Connecticut
LSU

10 DIME PLAY
Virginia

5 DIME PLAYS
Nebraska
Penn State

Free Picks - Miami of Florida and Ole Miss

Tom Scott

NC State vs Miami Florida
Play ON: MIAMI FLORIDA minus the points

We have two teams going in opposite directions here and the one that's going in the right direction has both need and motivation to succeed. NC State finished the regular season with eight straight losses with its only cover coming in its sellout last home game against Duke. Miami, on the other hand, finished 6-2 in its last eight games and appears to be hitting the stride that sent the Canes off to a brilliant 12-0 start. AT 21-9 overall and 8-8 in ACC play, Miami needs at least this win to make the NCAA tourney. That alone would insure Miami's focus here but, the sting of that bitter two-point loss in Raleigh cinches an intense effort. By the way, in those final eight losses, the Wolfpack allowed a whopping 80 points per game. Miami is 9-0 ATS in its last nine games scoring 75 or more.

PREDICTION: MIAMI FLORIDA 80 - NC State 65

Bryan Leonard

Villanova @ Georgetown
PICK: Villanova

There is a bit of payback in store for the Wildcats who lost the earlier meeting 55-53 in Georgetown on a controversial foul call with 0.1 seconds remaining. Villanova knows that if they win that game the Big Dance invite is secure. Without that win they have had to play with extra pressure the remainder of the year.

What was most impressive in that previous meeting was that the Wildcats shot 24.6% from the floor and 13% from 3 point range and still was in position to win. That shows the Villanova players that with defense they can compete with this Big east giant.
The Wildcats are coming off an easier than expected 19 point win over Syracuse. In that game only three players played 30 minutes or more. In fact, nine Wildcats saw action against the Orangemen. It was their only game since playing on March 8th so fatigue should not be a factor.

Villanova is 9-3 ATS in this series and always gives the Hoyas trouble. With Georgetown secure with their anticipated #2 seed in the big dance we take the points with a team on a mission.

PLAY VILLANOVA