Teddy Covers.
GAME: San Diego State @ Brigham Young
PICK: San Diego State
Offered at: 8.5 5Dimes
REASON FOR PICK: Yes, BYU has a strong homecourt, winning all nine previous home games this season. But to say that the Cougars have not been tested in Provo is something of an understatement, favored by at least 17 points in every previous lined home game this year. And one thing we haven’t seen from BYU this year is the ability to beat solid teams by margin. Much of their difficulties come on the offensive end. BYU’s big men lack toughness and muscle, unable to create their own shot in traffic. Their backcourt has been largely responsible for the 16 turnovers per game that they’ve suffered this season. And let’s not forget about the mediocre 65% free throw shooting that makes it difficult for the Cougars to pull away late; 59% from the charity stripe and under 40% from the floor in their last five games.
San Diego State has great athletes, a problem for a BYU team that is athletically challenged, to put it mildly. The Aztecs have been playing tremendous basketball in recent weeks, including an impressive outright win at New Mexico (in this exact same price range, +9.5) to open up Mountain West play on the road. We’ve seen Steve Fisher’s squad win outright on the road at Loyola Marymount, Fresno State and San Diego as well, with a competitive eight point loss at Cal. San Diego State has played well in this venue, with an outright win, an overtime loss and a competitive two point loss in their last five trips to Provo. They beat BYU by a dozen at home in their most recent meeting, last February. I give them a solid shot at taking this game to the wire, with a chance at the outright upset win. (#775) Take San Diego State.
Mitch Sargen
50* ST JOHNS
25* SPURS
10* Bradley and UMASS
Free Pick Mizzou
Savannah Sports
NBA
3 Stars Phoenix -8.5
College Cappers
NBA:
30 Dime - Washington +4
40 Dime - Boston -9
40 Dime - Pacers/Bulls UNDER 207
CBB:
30 Dime - Indiana State -8
30 Dime - William & Mary +3
25 Dime - Houston -13
50 Dime - UNC -7
FREE PICK - Florida -1
Seabass hockey
10* Tor
Frank Rosenthal
NBA
702 76ers Under 187.5
712 Hornets-6
714 Wolves+9
716 Bulls-3
718 Spurs-5.5
723 Kings-2
College Hoops
726 St. Joe-5.5
730 Rutgers+9
745 Iowa St+25
753 Georgia Tech+2.5
758 Penn St+2.5
764 So Fl+8
791 Smu+14
795 Florida-1
803 Ncu-7.5
807 Wyoming+17.5
Seabass hockey
College Hoops:
10* 's
Missouri St
Kent State
Florida St.
Miami-Fla
Rhode Island
MIKE LINEBACK
4* Phoenix Suns -4.5 First Half -110
4* Houston Rockets TEAM OVER 100.5 -110 *Strong opinion on OVER 195 for game.
4* Central Florida -3 -110
4* Purdue -1.5 -110
4* Connecticut -3 -110
Paul Leiner
25 STAR NBA TOTAL
Washington/Cleveland Over
10* Florida
5* NC State
Cannon
15 Dime –
NC STATE
Take NC State as the small home chalk tonight over Georgia Tech.
The Wolfpack aren’t getting much love from the linemaker here, as they should be able to handle Georgia Tech by more than a basket at home.
Georgia Tech hasn’t performed well on the road at all this year, going just 2-4 with three of those losses coming in conference play.
NC State bounced back nicely from a couple of blowout losses to Clemson and North Carolina with an overtime win over Miami (Fla). They’ve gone 8-1 at home this year and I have to think they’ll deliver again tonight.
Georgia Tech is just 2-7 ATS in the last nine meetings and the home team has gone 10-4 ATS in the last 14 matchups.
Take NC State as they grab the home win and cover.
5 Dime –
PITT
Take the Panthers as the road chalk tonight over St. John’s.
I like Pitt to bounce back tonight after a lackluster performance in a three-point loss at Cincinnati on Saturday.
Pitt hasn’t had much success against the Red Storm at MSG, but they should come in tonight with a renewed focus after their letdown against Cincinnati.
St. John’s has lost five of six overall, shooting under 40 percent from the field in each of the losses during that span. Pitt’s defense is good enough to keep that trend going tonight.
St. John’s is just 3-8 ATS in its last 11 home games.
Take Pitt minus the points as they grab the road win and cover.
SPURS
Take the Spurs as the home chalk tonight over the Lakers.
San Antonio is just too strong for the Lakers, even though the two have split their two games this year.
The Spurs crushed the Lakers at home, 107-92 in November. The Lakers got their revenge in the second matchup, 102-97.
But San Antonio was without Tim Duncan and Tony Parker in that game.
Now the Spurs are at full strength and Bruce Bowen is one of the few defenders that can frustrate Kobe Bryant.
Take the Spurs as the home chalk as they grab the win and cover.
ARMVIN SPORTS
CBB
CENTRAL FLORIDA -3.5
CBB
DELAWARE 4.5
CBB
PENN STATE 2
CBB
CINCINNATI 2.5
CBB
WEST VIRGINIA -13
TheRealAnimal
Wednesday free pick is Kent -2 1/2:
Kent returns five starters that remember three losses (triple revenge) against Akron last year. Golden Flashes 10-0 at home and outscoring foes by 15 points per game while limiting them to 58 ppg. Kent hit just 35 percent in the conference tourney loss to Zips last year and the same percentage in their rare home defeat on March 4th. This year Kent hitting 48 percent at home and 48 percent in five conference games while Zips on the road (4-3 SU) allowing 46 percent. Last year Akron had five double-digit scorers on the team. This year just three and that could make the difference tonight. My gut feeling tells me Kent has been looking forward to this for a long time.
Dr Bob
2 Star Selection
Orlando (-3) over MEMPHIS
23-Jan-08 05:05 PM Pacific Time
I’ll take Orlando in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 points or less.
2-Stars at -3 or less.
COLLEGE
2 Star Selection
MISSOURI STATE (-2 ½) over Southern Illinois
23-Jan-08 05:00 PM Pacific Time
I’ll take Missouri State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 points or less.
2-Stars at -3 or less.
3 Star Selection
Iowa (+16) over INDIANA
23-Jan-08 06:00 PM Pacific Time
I’ll take Iowa in a 3-Star Best Bet at +14 points or more and for 2-Stars at +13 ½ or +13 points.
3-Stars at +14 or more, 2-Stars at +13 1/2 or +13.
Dr Bob
2 Star Selection
Orlando (-3) over MEMPHIS
23-Jan-08 05:05 PM Pacific Time
Memphis is just 12-29 straight up this season and 5 of those wins have come against the league’s 3 worst teams – Miami, Minnesota, and Seattle. The Grizzlies are just 7-29 ATS against all other teams and only 4-13 ATS in those games when they are not an underdog of 6 points or more, including 0-5 ATS after a win (they’re coming off a home win over Chicago). One of the Grizzlies’ rare wins against a good team was a victory at Orlando on December 15th, which will assure that the Magic will be focused for this game despite coming off an upset win over Detroit on Monday. Orlando didn’t letdown earlier this season after beating the Celtics (they won at New Orleans in their next game) and coach Stan Van Gundy’s teams rarely letdown against bad teams. In Van Gundy’s career, his teams are an incredible 40-9-3 ATS when rested and facing a team that has a win percentage of less than .450 and is also 4 games or more below .500. Van Gundy’s record in that role this season is 8-4 ATS and his Magic are also 18-7 ATS on the road this year and have routinely beaten bad teams. There are 5 other teams besides Memphis that currently have a win percentage of .333 or worse and Orlando is 5-0 ATS on the road against those other 5 teams (Clippers, New York, Miami, Seattle, and Minnesota) with all 5 wins being by 7 points or more. My ratings favor Orlando by 4 ½ points and the fact that point guard Jameer Nelson is out shouldn’t be a factor given that the Magic are 4-0 straight up and 4-0 ATS in the games that Nelson has missed this season (including wins over Portland and Detroit in their last 2 games). I’ll take Orlando in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 points or less.
2-Stars at -3 or less.
COLLEGE
2 Star Selection
MISSOURI STATE (-2 ½) over Southern Illinois
23-Jan-08 05:00 PM Pacific Time
Missouri State has had a tradition of playing better once conference season starts under coach Barry Hinson, as the Bears are just 31-37 ATS in regular season non-conference games and a very profitable 85- 61-5 ATS in regular season conference affairs. The Bears have been especially good in conference play if they’re coming off a bad game against a conference foe, as Hinson’s team is 28-13 ATS against fellow MVC teams after a game in which they lost straight up and lost against the spread to a conference team – including 3-0 ATS this season. Missouri State has been at their best this season at home (4-3 ATS, 3-0 ATS conference after a loss), while going just 1- 7 ATS away from Springfield, and I expect the Bears to play well tonight at home after losing 55-70 at Northern Iowa on Sunday. Southern Illinois, meanwhile, is just 1-6 ATS on the road this season, with their only spread win coming against lowly Evansville. Southern Illinois has lost by 9 points or more against every decent team that they have visited this season (Charlotte, W. Mich, Drake, and Illinois St) and even lost at St. Louis and at Indiana State – teams that are both about 7 points worse than Missouri State. My ratings favor Missouri State by 4 ½ points and the Bears apply to a decent 329-182-8 ATS contrary indicator that plays on teams with bad spread records. Missouri State pointguard Spencer Laurie is not 100% with his strained hamstring, so I want some line value on my side just in case he doesn’t play as well as normal. Spencer’s brother Shane Laurie is out for a few games but the Bears played great without him in a 71-47 win over Wichita State a couple of weeks ago and it’s not too tough to replace his 39.8% shooting. I’ll take Missouri State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -3 points or less.
2-Stars at -3 or less.
3 Star Selection
Iowa (+16) over INDIANA
23-Jan-08 06:00 PM Pacific Time
Iowa was horrible early in this season under first year coach Todd Lickliter, but the return to health of pointguard Tony Freeman has the Hawkeyes playing much better basketball. Iowa is 1-7 ATS in games that Freeman did not play and they are 5-3 ATS with Freeman running the team, including 4-1 ATS as a double-digit dog. Iowa is tough to beat by a margin because they play good defense and they slow down the pace of the game – and less possessions makes it tougher for better teams to extend the margin. Coach Lickliter's teams at Butler also slowed the pace and were tough to beat and Lickliter is now 17-3 ATS in his last 20 games as an underdog of more than 3 points (5-1 ATS with Iowa). Iowa has lost just one game all season by 14 points or more and they only lost at home to Indiana by 3 points earlier this month. The Hawkeyes have also beaten Michigan State 43-36 and covered as an 18 point dog at Wisconsin (51-64), so they’re certainly capable of competing at decent level against elite teams. My ratings favor Indiana by just 13 ½ points in this game (after factoring in the recent loss of Iowa F Jarryd Cole) and the Hawkeyes apply to a very good 45-12-1 ATS subset of a 109-45-6 ATS big road underdog situation that won for me on Monday with USF at Gonzaga. I’ll take Iowa in a 3-Star Best Bet at +14 points or more and for 2-Stars at +13 ½ or +13 points.
3-Stars at +14 or more, 2-Stars at +13 1/2 or +13.
Gameday
3* Louisville
Seabass Inside Info
100* S.Car
100* BYU
Alatex
20*Superplay Bradley Over
KELSO
15 Cleve-3 1/2
CBB
5 Baylor + 9
4 Miami + 7 1/2
3 Kansas St - 4 1/2
Special K
20* Nc St -2
INDIAN COWBOY
Hornets -7.5
Have you wondered why this line has refused to budge being at -7.5 throughout the day? Well, that is due to New Orleans having double-revenge coming into this game as New Orleans beat this team with ease the first time they played them at home, and then Portland beat them in back to back ballgames at home in the Rose Garden. The Hornets are ahead in the West and one of the hottest teams in the NBA having won and covered their last 8 of 9 ballgames and the way they are winning at home has been striking scoring well over a 105 with Peja and Paul while playing great defense holding opponents to less than 95 points. This team has continued to blowout teams at home and although I think the Blazers are a solid team, and they very well could be competitive today, the Hornets have had this game marked for a while and I cannot see them not getting up against a team where they might lose 3 in a row to them and that being at home. The Hornets are 4-0 ATS at home as a favorite and the favorite is 6-0 ATS in this series of late.