ATS
4 Units FSU +3
Fantasy Sports Gametime
50* Play LA Angels (-120) over NY Yankees
Los Angeles has won 8 of the last 9 games when playing with a tired bullpen (coming off 3 games with 4+ innings of work) and they have also won 6 of the last 7 games when batting .225 or worse over the last 5 games. John Lackey has won 10 of the last 14 games when the total posted is between 8 and 8.5 runs and he also has an ERA of 2.40 over the last 3 starts.
NHL
50* Play Montreal (-175) over NY Islanders
50* Play Ottawa (-185) over Nashville
Seabass
100* FSU
20* FSU Under
30* LAA
50* Rangers/Devils under
Payne Sports
8 Units UNC -2.5
This is the first time in the history of UNC football that they host a Thursday Night Football game. Both of these teams come off a bye so which team do I really think it will help and I strongly believe UNC as they are the better team and more prepared team. Bowden has proved once again retirement should be coming as his team is in disarray after the embarrassing home loss to Georgia Tech and not being able to put any heart in that game and getting humiliated at home. FSU now runs in to the top defense in the ACC as UNC only allows 205 yards a game at home and 235 overall. That my friend is a stingy defense and stingy is what they are. So next question you say is FSU cant start 0-4 in ACC wher they were predicted to come out of their side and I say yes there is a way. Their only highlight has been Ponder this year and tomorrow he will run into his stiffest competition his seen. UNC is 5-1-1 ats following a bye week while FSU is 0-4-1 their last 5 on Thursday ats. Take UNC as they win this game 21-13 type game.
Freddy Wills
North Carolina -2.5 (4-Dime POD) (1-5 scale)
I'll start by saying this 61% of the public over 45 sportsbooks combined are on Florida State which opened up at +2 and are now finding themselves at +2.5 and +3 in some places.
This match up comes down to UNC's defense vs. the offense of Florida State which is their passing game. This is the strength of the Tar Heels the pass defense ranked #1 in the nation. In FSU's defense the Tar heels have played an average passing attack ranked 90th. FSU on the other hand with a #13 ranked passing offense behind Christian Ponder have faced an average pass defense of 54th. Hands down this will be their most difficult game yet in my opinion because before this game they have not faced a passing defense that is this good with a solid defensive line led by two 300+lb interior linemen for the Tar Heels. Additionally UNC is led by DE Robert Quinn who already has 7 sacks this year and should create some troubles for Florida State's undersized offensive line. This team has had troubles int he past with large and physical defensive fronts and the same will be true tonight. Now if anything the one dimensional FSU offense is more of a fraud than the UNC's defense that has returned 9 starters from last year with a shut down secondary. I believe in this team and their coach, when they face the 84th ranked rushing offense. Despite my confidence in this match up I will dissect further.
FSU Defense vs. UNC's Offense
Well this story is similar as North Carolina's offense is last in the ACC and is anemic, but when you play defensive football and that's what you rely on you can get by on this, but they do have an 0-2 record and have performed worse in the ACC. You can admit that this team has faced some tough defensive teams, so I'm not sure if their 117th ranked offense is entirely accurate especially considering they have had many injuries along the offensive line. Good news UNC is coming off the bye and are going to get a couple of offensive lineman back here while on the other side of the ball FSU is just banged up without the possibility of defensive captain Dekoda Watson questionable for the Seminoles here tonight. I think the bye for Butch Davis will allow them to find enough holes in this terrible FSU defense that ranks 107th in the country. They should be able to find big holes in this secondary. Something that Boston College was able to do at home. BC is a similar team to UNC in the fact that they rely on defense and are poor on offense. Boston College along with Georgia Tech, and Miami all ACC teams put up significantly more yards than they averaged when they played UNC proving my point that this team will struggle again to win the game. GTech averages 427 put up 532, Miami 390 put up 476, BC 301 puts up 399. All three of the teams won and granted Gtech and Miami seem to be better than UNC it is debatable if BC is. UNC is 5-1-1 L7 off a bye week. Also note worthy is that this is the first ever Thursday night game at Chapell Hill the crowd and a dominant defense should spark this team to victory.
JASON JOHNSON
FSU at North Carolina
Pick: FSU +3
Things are looking bad right now at Florida State but getting out of Tallahassee is going to be good for this team.
There certainly aren't any problems on the offensive side of the ball. QB Christian Ponder continues to improve and he threw for 359 yards and five TD's last week against Georgia Tech. The defense though has been another story though as they were gashed on the ground by Georgia Tech in the loss.
Good thing the FSU defense won't be facing an offense nearly as good as they saw last week. North Carolina is averaging just 13 points per game against Division I competition. Tar Heels QB TJ Yates has more INT's than TD's this season and the offense is averaging a miserable 282 yards per game.
Catching a field goal here is absolutely perfect because if FSU does stumble, it won't be by more than three points but I expect them to come out strong and pick up the road win.
The Duke's Sports
Florida State (+3) 1.5 Units
It's unusual to see a Mickey Andrews coached defense surrender as many points as they did to Georgia Tech on the 10th. With the extra rest, we'll look for the Seminoles to be much better tonight vs NC. Fla State's offense has been hitting its mark with Ponder at the controls (68% completions /.9 TD / 1 INT) and should be able to move the football tonight.Fla state sports a 4-1 ATS mark as a conference dog and 3-1 ATS at this location. NC, however, 1-6 ATS vs a conference opponent after scoring more than 35 points and they're just 2-8 ATS as favorites of less than 6 points. With the road team at 7-2 ATS in this series we'll grab Fla State.
Bob Balfe
Florida State +2.5 over North Carolina
Christian Ponder has been excellent at QB this year for FSU and will be going against a tough defense tonight. Ponder might not be able to put up record numbers, but he will produce points. UNC has a horrible offense and I know they are going up against a horrible defense, but they still have to go out and execute the plays to put up points of the Noles. North Carolina turns the ball over a ton and if that’s the case tonight FSU will put them away early making UNC one dimensional in the passing game to try to get back in the game. I don’t care how bad a defense is. If they know a team is passing to get back in the game they are going to focus on that and create turnovers. Coach Bowden needs to win this game to have any shot of keeping his job and for his team to make it to a bowl game. Take FSU.
Angels -110 over Yankees
Lackey/Burnett
Wessen Getachew
NCAAF
North Carolina -2.5
MLB
Angels -120
NBA
Miami+3
OKC-5
Portland-1.5
New Orleans +4
Kirkwins
2* North Carolina vs Florida St. UNDER 48
UNC is allowing only 16ppg over their last 18 home games, while FSU is allowing 25ppg over their last 20 road games. This is a spotlight game for UNC being at home on national TV. If UNC loses this one, their bowl chances go down the toilet bowl. Also, UNC only palyed Ga. Southern last week so Butch Davis has had 19 days to prepare for FSU and maybe find some kind of offense after being embarassed by UVa in Chapel Hill 16-3. Flodia State has had a Jekyl & Hyde offense this year, and this is the best defense they've faced this year. I call for a UNC win, 19-16.
1* Yankees +105
Executive
200% Angels
Chris James Sports
3* Florida State/UNC Under 48
2* Yankees/Angels Under 8.5
Iceman
5* San Jose Sharks -115
Savannah Sports
2* N Carolina Under 48.5
BEN BURNS
6* Blue Chip Rangers/Devils Under 5.5
I'm playing on the Devils and Rangers UNDER the total. The Rangers gave up seven goals last time out. That wasn't "normal" for them though. In fact, it was the first time that they'd allowed more than three goals all season. Additionally, they had only allowed five goals in their previous four games, combined. A big part of the problem was that the Rangers had their backup goalie Steve Valiquette in net. He allowed five goals on 18 shots. It's reasonably safe to say that Lundqvist, who came on in relief of Valiquette on Monday, will be back between the pipes. Not only does Lundqvist have a 2.00 GAA his last six starts but he's 10-1-1 with an outstanding 1.32 GAA (3 shutouts) vs. the Devils. He's allowed one goal or less in five of his last seven starts vs. NJ. Lundqvist will very likely be opposed by future Hall-of-Famer Martin Brodeur. The longtime Devils star has a 2.30 GAA his last 13 games here and he's coming off a shutout in his last game. He's now only one away from tying the record. Devils coach Jacques Lemaire had this to say: "Marty was just great. That's how we know him, the type of game he can play. You could tell right at the start." Given those goalie stats, it's no surprise that the last three meetings between these teams have stayed below the total. With the UNDER at a highly profitable 30-12-5 the last 47 times that the Rangers allowed four or more goals in their previous game, I'm expecting things to return to "normal" tonight. *6 Blue Chip