Jimmy Boyd
5* Chicago Bulls
3* Boise State
3* Charlotte Bobcats
Tom Freese
Lakers at T'Wolves
Pick: Lakers -9.5
Minnesota is 4-9 straight up this year. The Timberwolves are 17-35 ATS their last 52 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. Minnesota is 4-10 ATS after allowing 100 or more points in their last game. The Lakers are 10-2 straight up this year. Los Angeles is 5-1 ATS their last 6 games as favorites of 5.0 to 10.5. Kobe and company are 4-1 ATS their last 5 road games. The Lakers are 7-3 ATS after scoring 100 or more points in their last game. The Lakers are 4-1 ATS their last 5 games vs. the Timberwolves in Minnesota. 10* PLAY ON LA LAKERS
ATS LOCK CLUB
3 on Fresno St +30.5
RAS
George Mason +5
Lamar -6
Long Beach State +10.5
Added
Seton Hall -2
Portland State +7
Bob Balfe
Fresno State +30
This Fresno team has been under the radar all season. At 6-3, Fresno is already bowl eligible, but their real bowl game will be tonight. For starters, the Fresno offensive line is very big and, in tonight’s weather conditions, can really make a big impact if they get physical. This team was two points away from beating a very good Nevada team last week. Boise is a great football team, but they play cupcakes every single week, with their only real opponent being Virginia Tech in Week 1 of the season. If you remember that game, Boise was down and out until a few key calls by the refs allowed them to score with under a minute left. Could you imagine if Boise played teams like VTech every week? They would not be undefeated-that’s for sure. In the last two seasons, Fresno has gone into halftime with the score being very close. Boise has taken advantage of cheap touchdowns and gift points, courtesy of some teams that shouldn’t be in D-1 football. The Broncos will be missing their starting tight end and their starting middle linebacker. If Fresno can limit their mistakes, then I think this game could be very close going into the fourth quarter. Throw in the weather of freezing rain and snow and anything can happen. Broncos QB Kellen Moore is not the biggest of guys, so it will be difficult to hold onto the football in this weather (unless you have hands like Ben Roethlisberger). Fresno has a great coach in Pat Hill that will have his players ready for this game. Could Boise possibly be thinking to next week's showdown against Nevada? Clearly, if they win that game, they will have a perfect season and all the talk would be on for them to play in the National Championship Game. The BCS and all the top level guys do not want Boise playing for the title. Every year, they get snubbed and probably will this year, even if they run the table. Could tonight be the night that Boise goes down? The money line is 30/1. In these conditions, if these teams played 30 times, Fresno would win at least one game so I am going to throw down on the money line. A $100 bet wins you $3000! I gave you the Cowboys +425 over the Giants last week. I do not give out money line plays unless I really think there is a shot. If Fresno wins, its like winning 30 bets in a row! Look for Fresno to make this game very close. Let’s take Fresno getting the points and, if you are feeling lucky tonight, take the moneyline!
New Orleans Hornets -9
The Hornets are coming off a playoff atmosphere win against Dallas the other night and I look for them to continue that momentum against a Cavs team that is simply out-matched in this game. Look for the Hornets to shoot the ball very well and to get hot beyond the 3 point line. Take New Orleans.
Illinois -4.5
Illinois is always a good program, but in the past few years have been below average missing the NCAA tournament a few times. Maryland has gone through a lot of changes and I think turnovers will hurt them early in the year and not having a go-to 3 point shooter like Greivis Vasquez. Illinois is a little bit more advanced on defense so far and should get the big win tonight. Take Illinois.
Fairway Jay
15* Fresno State
Scott Rickenbach
8* Boise State / Fresno State Under
Rain/snow mix and temperatures just above freezing is the forecast for Boise, Idaho Friday evening. No matter how strong an offense is that is certainly not the ideal weather conditions for a team to excel in. That said, we feel this total is inflated and we’ll grab the value as it’s crept up from its opener. Note that Fresno State was held to just 10 points in its last visit to Boise. As for the Broncos, their offense has come up with huge games against the Bulldogs in recent seasons and that’s a big part of the reason they are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 meetings with Fresno State. However, Boise State has stayed under the total in three of their last four games entering this match-up. The Broncos most recent game saw them produce their lowest total for passing yards since their season opening win at Virginia Tech.
Boise State’s focus here is simply to “win and move on” as they have an even bigger game next week as they play at Nevada. Not only is that a road game but it’s against a team that has just one Mountain West loss on the season. The Broncos are 4-1 to the under in conference action this season. As for the Bulldogs, they have been an “over team” this season but they are off of an MWC loss in their most recent game and they stayed under the total earlier this season in their game that followed their only other MWC loss this season. Fresno State’s defense is focused on the challenge here and they actually had produced three straight solid defensive games before running into Nevada’s Pistol offense last week. Note that in a road game where the total is between 63.5 and 70 points, the Bulldogs are 3-0 to the under the last three seasons! Play UNDER the total in Boise State as an 8* Regular Play selection.
Wayne Root
Millionaire - Boise State -30.5
Northcoast
Marquee - Boise St Over
Nick Bogdanovich
Fresno St
Cavs
North Texas
The Duke's Sports
Fresno State (+30') for 1.5 Units
We realize that Boise wants to run up scores to continue to hold on to or elevate their BCS ranking; moreover, they've trashed Fresno in excess of 30 ppg the last 4 times in Bronco Stadium. What makes this time any different? We believe this year's Bulldogs are more mature with a solid offensive line that can open holes for RB Rouse and protect senior QB Colburn who has demonstrated accuracy and good judgement over the last two games. Fresno State, defensively, has done a decent job against the pass with a ball hawking secondary and a pretty good pass rush; of course, they'll need to be at their best tonight vs Heisman Trophy candidate Moore - who is extremely accurate. Fresno has covered 8 of the last 11 as road dogs and 6 of the last 7 vs winning home teams. Fresno State the call.
Young Guns Sports
4* New Jersey Nets
3* Milwaukee Bucks
Anthony Redd
50 Dime Fresno State
Power Play Wins
Golden State -3.5
Seabass
100* Fresno State
50* New Orleans
50* New Jersey
50* Chicago
50* Hoftsta
50* Rangers