Wayne Root
Millionaire - Central Florida
Millionaire - Boston Celtics
igz1 sports
3* Philadelphia -5
3* Chicago +8.5
3* New Orleans +6.5
3* Boston +120
Anthony Redd
25 Dime - C Florida
BIG AL
Houston Cougars
This is the biggest game of the Conference USA schedule-to-date, as Houston is tied for first in the West Division (along with June Jones' SMU squad) with a 4-1 conference record, while Central Florida sits atop the East Division with a 4-0 record. The winner will get a leg up in the race for the Conference's best overall record, which brings with it the bonus of playing the Championship game at one's home field. Overall, Houston is 5-3, and comes into this game off 2 huge, blowout road wins at SMU (45-20) and Memphis (56-17). So, even though Houston lost its top two quarterbacks earlier in the season, and is now starting freshman David Piland, it really has not skipped a beat. Now, coach Kevin Sumlin is running the ball a bit more out of his spread offense, and his RBs (e.g., Bryce Beall) and WRs (Patrick Edwards, Tyron Carrier and James Cleveland) are still very athletic, and can make big plays. Houston is ranked 8th nationally in scoring offense (41.6 ppg), and as faithful followers know, I love playing on offensive-minded home dogs. Houston falls into several of my best systems, with records of 19-0, 18-0, 16-0, 10-0, 20-0, 42-7, 98-36, 87-26, 123-57 and 117-49. Let's take a quick look at our 10-0 angle. What we want to do is play on any .300 (or better) revenging team in conference games that comes home after 3 straight road games, if it is off back to back wins, and it's playing a .401 (or better) foe off a SU win. Additionally, Central Florida falls into a negative 24-54 ATS system which plays against road teams off three straight ATS wins as a favorite, if they're not favored by 3+ points. The Cougars are a perfect 6-0 ATS at home off a road game the past 3 seasons, and the home team is also a perfect 3-0 in this series. Take Houston.
Pro Tech Sports
5* Western Michigan +3
5* NY Knicks -6
The Duke's Sports
Chicago (+8) for 1.5 Units
The road team has gone 7-3-1 ATS in this series and we'll look for the Bulls to respond favorably off an underachieving effort yesterday. Former Celtics' assistant coach -- Thibodeau, now head man on Chicago's bench, benched Rose for most of the 4th quarter yesterday. We'll look for a better defensive effort from him and his mates tonight. The Bulls are 11-1 ATS following a SU loss, 5-1 ATS unrested, and 7-2 ATS as a road dog in this spread range. The Celtics are a money burning 8-21 ATS as a home favorite in this spread range and just 2-5 ATS on Fridays. We'll look for Thibodeau to work the master plan effectively vs his former boss - Rivers.
Evan Altemus
3 Units Central Florida -2
This game comes down to defense. Central Florida has a very dominant defense and has been able to shut down almost every team they have faced, including Kansas State. The Knights also have proven that they can play well on the road. Meanwhile, Houston has their third string quarterback playing after injuries, most notably to starter Case Keenum. Houston's rush defense is very porous as well, giving up almost 200 yards per game to their opponents. That's not good news for them because Central Florida has a dominant rushing attack. The Knights need this game to stay well ahead of East Carolina in Conference USA's Eastern Division. Look for Central Florida to win this road game.
Ben Burns
Pho/Dal Under
Wunderdog
Pittsburgh -140
Buffalo/ Atlanta Over
New Jersey +105
Bruce Marshall
Clippers at Nuggets
Pick: Nuggets -10.5
Denver has dominated Los Angeles, winning 9 of last 10 straight-up against the Clippers. L.A. looked alive in winning its first game of the season (against 4 losses) at home on Wednesday against OKC, but that might’ve been a desperation effort, as L.A. faces a grueling 4-game road trip beginning tonight and continuing with visits to Utah, New Orleans and San Antonio...Clips might’ve been facing an 0-9 start if they hadn’t upset the Thunder. Nuggets were led, naturally, by Carmelo Anthony’s 29 ppg & 51% shooting against L.A. last season, and Denver would love to get C Nene Hilario (out Wednesday due to a groin injury) back for this match, as he scored 16 ppg on 66% shooting in the series last year. Play Nuggets