Gameday Network
50* UConn +3.5
50* Texas Tech -7.5
50* East Carolina + 7.5
Dr. Bob
Opinions
UCLA (-5) over Arizona
UCLA has started to play better now that Drew Gordon and his bad attitude have left the team. UCLA's offense was stagnant the first 6 games with Gordon playing, but the Bruins have made 54% of their shots over their last 5 games and my ratings favor UCLA by 8 points in this game over a struggling Arizona team. I'll lean with UCLA minus the points based on the line value. Take UCLA in a 2-Star Best Bet if the line goes down to -4 points or less.
DELAWARE (+5) over Drexel
Delaware started the season with 6 losses in their first 7 games, but the Blue Hens have won 3 of their last 5 games and their home win over Lafayette earlier this week sets the Hens up in a solid 95-45-2 ATS home underdog momentum situation. My ratings favor Drexel by 5 points, so the line is fair, and I'll lean with Delaware at +5 points or more and I'd take the Blue Hens in a 2-Star Best Bet at +6 points or more.
James Madison (+11) over Northeastern
James Madison is a horrible outside shooting team that has made just 27.9% of their 3-point shots. It's imperative that the Dukes have someone that can score inside given their poor outside shooting and that person arrived when the last semester ended. Denzel Bowles has lived up to the hype after transferring from Texas A&M. Bowles took it easy in his first game, scoring a solid 14 points and grabbing 5 boards. Since then Bowles has accepted his role as the go to player on his new team, as he's averaged 27.7 points and 13.0 rebounds in the last 3 games for James Madison. I make the fair line on this game Northeastern by 9 points and the line opened at 9 1/2 points. The line has gone up since then and given us enough value to lean with James Madison plus the points, and I'll take James Madison in a 2-Star Best Bet if the line gets up to +12 or more.
ASA
Bowl GOY
Ole Miss Over
Teddy Covers
Arkansas
Rockets
Villanova
Oregon
Wisc GB
Kelso
200 units Arkansas -7.5
10 units S. Carolina -3.5
5 units Ok St +3
4 units USF -7
3 units MSU / Tx Tech UNDER 59.5
50 units Marshall -7.5
10 units E KY -11
5 units Heat -6
5 units La Tech -3.5
3 units Rice +7
Street Rosenthal
*200 Mississippi -3
*200 Arkansas -7
*300 Michigan State +7.5
*200 New Jersey Nets +10
*200 New Orleans Hornets -2.5
*300 Utah Jazz -5.5
Trey Scott
*200 New Orleans -4
*200 Kansas -6
*200 Pacific -10
*200 UAB -4
*200 Colorado +8.5
*200 Boise St +5.5
*200 NC-Wilmington +10.5
NHL PRO PICKS
Vancouver -104 (bet to win 1 unit )
Tampa Bay +142
LA +115
Gameday
2* SC
2* Ark
Steve Duemig
30 Dime - Mississippi
Conference strength will be the difference in this one. Big Twelve has not looked all that good so far while the SEC continues to excel during bowl season. It's no secret that Jevon Sneed has suffered through a miserable season for his standards and the time off should help. Miss also discovered that they should have been putting the ball in the hands of their dynamic playmaker Dexter McCluster who really poured it on at the end of the season. If Snead can get his groove back the loss of a starting CB Cox for OSU will allow him places to throw the football that he may not have had prior. OSU has improved defensively but they don't put tremendous pressure on the QB. That is what really bothere Snead during the season. The other QB Zach Robinson is a dandy but he is minus his biggest target and game changer Dez Bryant. When you play teams in the SEC you had better have all your weapons.
10 Dime - Northern Illinois
Once again we are looking at an underdog of a TD that looks to not be outclassed as much as some MAC bowl teams. The Huskies routinely play the Big Ten as non-conference goes and just as routinely play them very tough. This year they played Wisconsin very tough and beat Purdue. They are not a passing team so they won't have a lot of rust to shake off. Remember that teams receiving a TD or more are covering at a near 70% rate over the last 11 years. I watch USF a lot being that they are in my back yard and they are really not good enough to be laying a TD on the road. USF does nothing well on offense and they are totally without an identity. Their QB Daniels is only hitting on 52% of his passes as well. They can play some defense however. This is a game that will come down to turnover and special teams. Add in that the team has been through major distractions with the Coach Leavitt alleged punching of a player during their final home game and you have a recipe for disaster. This is a very srange situation here. If in fact the players witnessed the incident in the locker room and they believe that Leavitt is getting away with it they could send him a strong message in this game by playing flat. Not saying that will happen but then again I'm not saying that it won't.
5 Dime - South Carolina
Major line move here with the opener coming out at 7 and now seeing a move down to 3.5. That's big being that the opponent is an SEC team. Edsal is a good game day coach and their certainly is motivation here in honor of their fallen team mate. The Gamecocks laid a giant egg here last tear in the Outback Bowl so i look for something a little bit better out of the Gamecocks this time around the Big East vs the SEC is a major class differenc Garcia, the SC QB has made some nice strides over the course of the season but he does wilt under pressure as he is still very young. S. C definitely has the better defense and if they come to play they can seriously take UConn behind the woodshed. Take a look at the line tomorrow before playing this game in the morning. While there was some early support for U Conn at the higher number I believe we have caught this line at a low point for some people who were looking to get a profitable middle in this game. They are going to come back big with SC over the top and we can ride the wave with them.
5 Dime - East Carolina
E. Car throws the football and Ark is very vulnerable through the air. They can score points which you have to be able to do against Ark. As well. We also have an inflated line because of a SEC team. Against a lesser foe. But we will rely on the overwhelming stat favoring dogs by a TD or more. We keep coming back to it and yes it doesn't always work but I will take my chances at 7/10. I would really like to wait on this line to go back up as I'm sure that the public will be on the SEC side tomorrow and we want get the max points. Should settle at 9.
RAS
Virg Com Over 149
Executive
600 Mich St
300 Wash
300 Wash St
Kyle Bales
15* East Carolina +7.5
10* Oklahoma City +1
10* Gonzaga +3
5* Pittsburgh +12
5* Northern Illinois +7
5* Chicago Bulls +3.5
Sharp Play - Marquette +12
Nick "BookieKiller" Parsons
Arkansas / East Carolina Under 63.5
The Razorbacks were the highest scoring team in the SEC, averaging 37.3 points a game to rank eighth in the country. They did most of their damage through the air as the running game produced only 136 yards a game. But behind the strong arm of QB Ryan Mallett, who led the SEC, the Razorbacks produced 303.3 yards per game passing; that being said, with a few weeks to prepare for this game, I expect Mallett to struggle to begin with against a speedy Pirates defense.
It's interesting to note that Arkansas has seen the total go "under" the posted number four of seven contests this year when playing against a team with a winning record and in three of its last four off a loss against a conference rival.
On the other side of the field: East Carolina (9-4) returns to the Liberty Bowl for the second consecutive season after defeating then-No. 18 Houston 38-32 in the Conference USA championship game. The Pirates are the first team to win consecutive titles since the conference switched to a two-division format in 2005.
The Pirates have forced at least one turnover in 29 consecutive games, with 19 takeaways in the past seven games; East Carolina has notched 20 sacks in the past eight games. LB Nick Johnson has a team-high 94 tackles and DT Linval Joseph has a team-high 12.5 TFL.
First-team all-conference DE C.J. Wilson (5.5 sacks) and DT Linval Joseph (12.5 tackles for loss) anchor a defense that ranked third in C-USA in TFL and fourth in sacks.
The Pirates have seen the total go "under" the posted number in four of five games this year when playing against a team with a winning record and in three of four games after two or more consecutive wins this season.
QB Patrick Pinkney has had a great run down the stretch, but I expect most of today's offense to center around RB Dominique Lindsay; the senior is the first Pirate to rush for 1,000 yards (1,029) since Chris Johnson tallied 1,423 yards in 2007. He averages 5.0 yards per carry and posted four 100-yard games this season.
Bottom line: Look for East Carolina to get into the backfield and disrupt Mallet's rhythm; when coupled with this strong O/U trends exhibited by both teams, the sharp money in this one is on the UNDER!
9* UNDER
Tony George
South Carolina -4.5
Look, the whole world loves U Conn here, but Buig East versus SEC and South Carolina having the better defense, for me, looks to be a TD or more better than U Conn. Spurrier can rally the troops here and camp reports say the Gamecoacks are ready for this one, in the South in Birmingham. U Conn lost to every good team they played. Pitt, Cincy, West Virginia, Rutgers to name a few...beating Niotre Dame as a signature win hardly prepares you for a SEC team capable of stopping the run.Play 1 Unit on South Carolina
Evan Altemus
Mississippi -3
One of the most profitable bowl game strategies is to take advantage of conference mismatches. The SEC has proven that it is the by far the best conference in college football. Last season Mississippi hammered Texas Tech in the Cotton Bowl, in a game that was completely one sided. In fact, Texas Tech got out to a 14-0 lead, and Mississippi proceeded to outscore them 47-20 through the last 3 plus quarters. Now the Rebels get to face another Big 12 opponent in the Cotton Bowl, but Oklahoma State is not as good as the Texas Tech team from last year. The Cowboys got completely dominated this season by their two toughest opponents, Oklahoma and Texas. Their most impressive win was a 14 point home victory over Georgia to start the season. However the Bulldogs were not very good this year, and their starting quarterback was dealing with a severe case of the flu in that game as well. Oklahoma State will not have their star wide receiver and best offensive player, Dez Bryant for this game due to his suspension. In addition, starting quarterback Zac Robinson is dealing with a severe ankle injury but is probable for this game. His practice time will be limited by the injury though. Overall Oklahoma State is over-rated this season. They don’t have any big wins, and they have struggled at times against lesser competition. Meanwhile, Ole Miss will be motivated to play in the Cotton Bowl again this season. It is one of the featured games on January 2nd and will be played in the new Cowboys Stadium. Mississippi’s offense is very balanced and features two future NFL players in quarterback Jevan Snead and running back Dexter McCluster. The Rebels have more physical offensive and defensive lines as well, which is the key to this selection. The betting public thinks that these two teams are relatively equal, but they are not. The oddsmakers are giving a slight hint here making the team with 4 losses a 3 point favorite. Mississippi’s offense has gained an average of 30 more yards than Oklahoma State’s offense has this season, despite facing tougher defenses in the SEC. In addition, their defense has held opposing offenses to 10 less yards per game than Oklahoma State’s defense. One of the final biggest keys to this game is the embarrassing 14 point loss the Rebels suffered against Mississippi State to close out the season, despite being over a touchdown favorite. Mississippi did not take that game seriously, and it resulted in them suffering a horrible loss to their in-state rival. As a result of that game, Houston Nutt will have his team prepared for this game. That loss will ensure that Mississippi brings a strong effort in this game, as they will have to hear and think about that loss until the Cotton Bowl. Look for Mississippi to come out with a strong effort in this game and use their superior athleticism and better skill position talent to get the win and point spread cover.
5 UNIT SELECTION MISSISSIPPI