Bob Balfe
West Virginia -3 over South Florida
USF is starting to show the effects of not having Matt Grothe in the lineup. USF has struggled to score which is not good with Noel Devine returning to his hometown area to play in a spot light game. West Virginia is not as explosive as they were the past few years but they still have fire power and this should be a classic case of WVU simply outscoring USF at the final horn. Take WVU.
Wizard +6.5 over Hawks
ATS Football Financial Club
3 Units So Florida / West Virginia Under
Freddy Wills
South Florida +3.5 (3.5 Dime POD)
I'm going with South Florida which may surprise a few people considering South Florida got exposed the last two games in the Big East after opening up 5-0 on the season with two straight losses to Pitt and Cinci. While I do think West Virginia fits into the top 3 teams in the Big East along with Pitt and Cinci they are a distant third. I don't see the balanced attack as they are ranked 47th in passing, but they have faced an average 70th ranked pass defense. Tonight they'll face South Florida's 25th ranked passing defense. In the last two games where South Florida got beat they faced the 10th and 57th ranked passing offense, but I think Pitt is much more balanced than West Virginia as Stull is well under rated at QB for Pitt. South Florida has the speed on defense to stop Noel Devine as they have in the past and George Selvie will spend a lot of time in the backfield on Friday night. It's a home game that is a tough environment to play in for West Virginia. Their pass defense will leave the door open for red shirt freshmen B.J. Daniels to come back with a strong effort. As they played 43rd and 54th ranked pass defense on Friday night they will face the 88th ranked pass defense that has played against bad passing attacks ranked 74th. I think South Florida should be able to move the ball enough to get the points they need to cover the spread and win this game outright. If Uconn's Cody Endres can throw for 378 yard I think B.J. Daniels can have a successful night as well.
Believe it or not it appears the strength of schedule is on South Florida's side they have played much tougher offenses an overall average rank of 58th, and their defense ranks 27th overall while West Virginia has benefited from facing an overall 76th ranked offense and has the 36th ranked defense. While their rushing defense is solid they have been exposed in the air particularly on crossing routes. Both teams won in similar fashion @ Syracuse 34-13 for West Virginia and 34-20 for South Florida. Again I just see these two teams as very close to even. The key will be to have a spy on Noel Devine because he changed the game against Uconn with a 177 yards in the second half last week to give them the 28-24 win. South Florida has stopped him before and I think they'll keep him under tap enough to get stops on defense. Thus being at home for South florida on a Friday night will hold a major advantage in my eyes.
The Duke's Sports
Dallas (+9) for 2 Units
The Mavericks should be competitive here after laying an egg at home Tuesday. The Mavericks are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 on 2 days rest under Carlisle. Dallas is also 13-3-1 ATS after a double-digit loss at home. The Mavericks have a solid bench in Barea, Terry and Gooden to go to early if needed. The road team in this series has gone 7-0-1 ATS with Dallas going 6-2-1 ATS in its last 9 meetings at Los Angeles. The Lakers have not been a good favorite in this spread range at 2-5 ATS and are overvalued here. Dallas the call.
BIG AL
Conf GOM Dallas Mavericks
Memphis Grizzlies
Cleveland Cavaliers
ATS LOCK
3 Units South Florida
Kelso
10 Units South Florida
Brandon Lang
15 Dimes S Florida
5 Dimes Magic
Free Heat
NSA
20* West Virginia -3
20* Celtics Under 187
10* West Va Over 47
10* Oklahoma City +5.5
10* Orlando Over 9
10* Phoenix Over 227
Fantasy Sports Gametime
100* Play Oklahoma City (+6.5) over Detroit
Detroit has lost 24 of the last 35 home games against the spread as a favorite and they have also lost 12 of the last 15 non-conference home games against the spread. Detroit has lost 4 consecutive games vs. Oklahoma City against the spread.
50* Play Utah (-9.5) over LA Clippers
Los Angeles has lost 22 of the last 28 road games as an underdog of 6.5 to 12 points and they have also lost 23 of the last 26 games coming off a division loss. Utah has won 17 consecutive home games as a favorite of 9.5 to 12 points.
Savannah Sports
2* West Virginia -3
Eric Degarde
2* Boston Under 187
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
Chicago vs. Boston
Play: Chicago +8
The Celtics and Bulls are set to square off for the first time since last season’s playoffs Friday night in Boston and for a number of different reasons I feel we're getting excellent value on the visitors: In one of the most exciting playoff series in NBA history, Boston finally eliminated Chicago with a 109-99 victory in Game 7 last May; the seventh-seeded Bulls gave the defending champions all they could handle with a league-record four games going into OT.
The Bulls continued that strong play on opening night; Chicago displayed balanced scoring and put forth a big defensive effort to beat the Spurs in their home-opener.
Luol Deng had a team-high 17 points on 8 of 13 shooting; a good start after missing the final 22 games last season plus the playoffs with a stress fracture in his right tibia.
On the other side of the court: KG is back and Boston is off to a 2-0 start.
After defeating Cleveland 95-89 in Tuesday’s season opener, the Celtics crushed Charlotte 92-59 on Wednesday, holding the Bobcats to a franchise-low in scoring.
I believe containing Derrick Rose, whose pre-season ankle injury does not seem to be an issue at all, will be a more difficult task for the Celtics tonight though.
Bottom line: I expect the Bulls to come ready to play in this one and for the Celtics to have enough of a "let-down" to allow Chicago to keep this one close down the stretch; in what should also be a low-scoring affair I feel the value in this game is on the BULLS! 8*
Rocketman
Islanders vs. Washington
Play: Islanders +210
Capitals are 6-13 in their last 19 games playing on 0 days rest. Capitals are 3-7 in their last 10 vs. Atlantic. Capitals are 2-5 in their last 7 when their opponent allows 2 goals or less in their previous game. Play On - Any team against the money line (NY ISLANDERS) - cold team - having lost 8 or more of their last 10 games, on Friday nights. This system is 79-81 +47.5 units since 1997. We'll play the NY Islanders for 4 units tonight!
Mike Lineback
Toronto vs. Memphis
Play: Toronto -2
Very suprised this line moved in our favor. Toronto have much better team, with addition of Turkoglu & emergence of Bargnani. Memphis have big matchup problems with Bargnani & Bosh. Gasol is too slow. Zach Randolph has never played a lick of defense in his life. Plus, Raptors have more depth 1-8, and key, will be Turkoglu late in games. The Grizzlies, are young, lack chemistry & have problems shooting the ball. Grizz had problems in pre-season and continued this ineptness in their season opener vs. Detroit (74-96; 36.1% from field; 2-12 from three; poor free-throw shooting). Meanwhile, Toronto coming off confidence boosting win vs. Cavaliers. And win was no fluke. Toronto look for real. Memphis still don't know how to win. Take the Raptors.
Tony George
Chicago vs. Boston
Play: Chicago +12
Pretty loft number for 2 teams that play great defense, and for a team who just took down the Spurs last night in their home opener. Boston has been stellar on defense and are the better team, but the Bulls always provide matchup issues for the Celtics and I like the Bulls frontcourt here to contest the rim and keep this one close.
Play 1 Unit on the Bulls