Bobby Maxwell
300-Unit College Football E-Z Winner - West Virginia Mountaineers
The Big East takes center stage on Friday night and I’m going to go ahead and lay the points with West Virginia on the road tonight at UConn.
The Mountaineers have won six straight against the Huskies dating back to 2004 and they have cashed in five of the six games, including four with lines that were seven or more. West Virginia has won three straight at UConn and none of the three have even been close, with the narrowest margin of victory being 12 points, and that was way back in 2004.
West Virginia last played on October 23 when they were stunned at home by Syracuse, losing 19-14 as 13 ½-point favorites. So you know the Mountaineers have been anxious to get back on the field and pulverize someone. QB Geno Smith has thrown for 1,536 yards to go with 15 TDs and just five INTs. He has been playing great and I don’t think UConn can stop him tonight.
UConn has just flat-out not looked good against any team that puts up a fight. They lost to Michigan, Temple, Rutgers and Louisville. It was a 26-0 loss in Louisville back on Oct. 23 where they didn’t come close as three-point ‘dogs.
The Mountaineers come in on some positive ATS runs, including 4-1 in Big East play, 4-1 overall and 11-0 on the road against teams with losing records. The favorite has cashed in five of the last six meetings between these two and I’m expecting more of the same today.
Lay the chalk with West Virginia and we’ll be counting our profit at the end of the night.
100-Unit NBA Smart Play - Atlanta Hawks
Atlanta coach Larry Drew tweaked the offense in the offseason and it certainly looked like it worked with a 119-104 victory as 2 ½-point road favorites in Memphis.
This might be the year when the Hawks make a little more noise in the playoffs, as they are a year more mature and they really seem to enjoy playing together. Atlanta demolished the Bucks with All-Star center Al Horford playing just 18 minutes and managed just 2 points and 7 rebounds. The Hawks were led by Mr. Steady Joe Johnson and his 22 points. Also chipping in was guard Mike Bibby (19 points), Zaza Pachulia (17 points and 11 rebounds) and Marvin Williams (15 points).
The Hawks shot 52.5 percent from the floor on opening night and as long as they are spreading the ball around, Atlanta could do some damage in the Eastern Conference.
Philadelphia opened the season at home and fell 97-87 to the Heat as eight-point underdogs. The Sixers had no starter with more than 12 points, but they had four bench players with double-digit points, including rookie Evan Turner who had 16 points and 7 rebounds in his debut.
Atlanta is on several ATS streaks, including 14-5 against Atlantic Division teams, 14-4 after a straight-up win and 6-2 after a spread cover. Philadelphia is terrible at the betting window, on skids of 19-39-1 at home, 7-18-1 as a home underdog, 8-21-1 against Eastern Conference squads and 5-16 against the Southeast Division.
Look to go ahead and lay the points with the Hawks in Philly tonight. I’ll play Atlanta in this one to completely dominated Philadelphia. Lay the points with play Atlanta.
Scott Rickenbach
10* Buffalo Sabres Money Line (-) @ Atlanta
The Thrashers are off of an upset win at New York on Wednesday as they knocked off the Rangers 6-4. As for the Sabres, they are off of a disappointing 6-3 road loss at Philly on Tuesday. That sets this one up perfectly. Buffalo will be hungry and has the rest edge here after the disappointing effort against the Flyers on Tuesday. Even though Atlanta is seeking revenge for a 4-1 home loss to the Sabres last week, it will be tough to avenge that loss with the focused effort we expect from Buffalo in this one. First off, the Sabres have a huge edge in goal as goalie Chris Mason gets this start for the Thrashers. He’s 4-4-1 this season but has a 3.59 GAA and has allowed 4 goals or more in 5 of his last 8 games. Also, Mason is 0-4 with an ugly 4.78 GAA in his four career games against Buffalo. As for the Sabres, they are likely to have Ryan Miller between the pipes tonight and he’s 9-2-4 with a 2.54 GAA versus Atlanta in his career. Also, coming off of an ugly outing at Philly on Tuesday, we fully expect Miller to respond here. He had allowed a total of just 8 goals in his last 5 starts prior to struggling against the Flyers. Note that Buffalo had been 3-1 in road games this season before losing at Philly. Also note that the Thrashers are 29-47 the last three seasons when they are off of a game where they allowed four goals or more. Play Buffalo on the money line as a 10* Top Play selection.
Christian Alexander
West Virginia at Connecticut
Pick: West Virginia -6.5
UConn is 3-4 on the season and three of their four losses have been by at least 14 points.
Meanwhile, West Virginia is 5-2 but coming off by far their worst game of the year as they laid a stinker in a loss to Syracuse, 19-14. Their only other loss of the year was by six on the road at LSU.
With the way the Huskies have struggled this season on offense, if WVU can score a couple touchdowns, that might be enough to cover this spread. The Mountaineers rank fourth in the nation in total defense, sixth in scoring against and second in first downs allowed. The defense has allowed no more than 21 points in any game and has given up 20 or more only twice.
Teddy Covers
Charlotte Hornets
Brandon Lang
Orlando +3
Jeff Benton
15 Dime NY Knicks
10 Dime Orlando Magic
5 Dime Orlando Magic ML
John Fina
3 Units WVU/UConn Under 45.5
Power Play Wins
West Virginia -6
Nets -2
Celtics -9
Phoenix Suns +5.5
Golden State -5.5
Red Zone Sports
2* UConn/WVU Over 44.5
Coach Ron Meyer
10* Connecticut +6
Tim Trushel
UConn
Wunderdog
5 Units Detroit Pistons +6
By default, the Pistons will be better this year with a healthy Richard Hamilton and some players that gained valuable experience last year. It should be more noticeable especially at home. They did a lot of good things on the road, especially sharing the ball with seven of the Pistons reaching double-digits. Oklahoma City came on hard and fast last year and have a 30+ point scorer in Durant, but the road is another animal all together. Are they ready to be laying this kind of number this early? They are just 1-5 ATS on the road in their last six as a favorite of 5-10.5, while the Pistons are a perfect 7-0 ATS as a dog. I like Detroit in this one.
Anthony Redd
100 Dime UConn / WVU Under
ATS Lock Club
3 Units West Virginia
California Sports
3* Oklahoma City