igz1 sports
3* Tex A&M / Ok State Over 66
Fantasy Sports Gametime
100* Play San Francisco (-180) over Arizona
Arizona has lost 28 of the last 36 road games when playing in the month of September and they have also lost 25 of the last 31 road games vs. division opponents. Arizona has lost 60 of the last 96 games vs. left-handed starting pitchers and pitcher, Barry Enright is 0-3 over the last 3 starts with an ERA of 7.98.
50* Play Texas (-175) over LA Angels
Los Angeles has lost 7 of the last 8 games as a road underdog of +150 to +175 and they have also lost 10 of the last 15 games when playing on a Thursday. Scott Kazmir has lost 5 of the last 6 games vs. division opponents and they have also lost 16 of the last 21 night games.
Beat Your Bookie
10* Play Florida (-175) over Pittsburgh (POD)
Pittsburgh is 3-25 as a road underdog of +150 to +175 this season
Pittsburgh is 5-25 in road games when the total posted is between 8 and 8.5 runs
Zach Duke is 1-16 when pitching as a road underdog of +125 to +175 the last 2 years
Billy Coleman
4* Tampa Bay Rays
ATS Lock Club
3 Units Texas A&M Aggies +3.5
3 Units Boston Red Sox -125
KELSO
50 Units Texas A&M Aggies +3
25 Units Oakland Athletics -120
15 Units Saint Louis Cardinals -160
10 Units Cincinnati Reds -120
NORTHCOAST
Double Marquee
Texas A&M +3
Over 66
Trace Adams
1500* Oklahoma State
Paul Leiner
50* Reds -135
25* Orioles -135
Bob Balfe
San Diego Padres -174
San Diego needs to take advantage of their final few games if they hope to grab the last wildcard spot. With the better pitcher on the mound and the Braves off tonight, expect the Padres to play loose and not to be scoreboard watching. Look for San Diego to get a big win before they get into a huge series with the Giants. Take San Diego.
The Duke's Sports
TX A&M (+3) for 1.5 Units
A&M is looking to avenge last year's 36-31 home loss and should give the Cowboys a run for the money. A&M has not been a good road team in recent years; however, with new DC Tim DeRuyter taking over an experienced unit, A&M is fit to hold their own as a traveler. DeRuyter did a great job as the DC with Air Force and he has better athletes to work with here. The Aggies defense already showed signs of toughness September 18th -- shutting down Fla Int'l after QB Jerrod Johnson threw 4 straight interceptions. The Aggies, after trailing 20-6 in the 4th quarter, went on to score 21 unanswered points for the win. We'll look for that to be the Aggies' wake-up call as they should be focused here for their 1st Big Twelve showdown. The Cowboys are young in a lot of areas, including defensively, and although they're young and aggressive, they make quite a few mistakes; consequently, we'll look for Johnson and company to get back on track offensively. OK State is 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 as a small home favorite and we'll sit on the Aggies here.
National Sports Service
5* Oklahoma St. -3
3* St. Louis -130
3* Cincinnati -130
Jeff Benton
20 DIME Texas A&M-Oklahoma State Over
5 DIME Cubs
Texas A&M-Oklahoma State Over
“Under” players have made a fortune on these Thursday night marquee TV games this season, with the last four featuring final scores of 31-3, 30-19, 17-14 and 13-10. But all four of those games involved teams whose defenses are ahead of their offenses.
That’s certainly not the case here. Oklahoma State is putting up 57 points and 596 yards per game, while Texas A&M is racking up 41 points and 501.3 yards per game. And both squads are literally running all over their opponents to the tune of 204 rushing yards per contest. Admitaedly, neither the Cowboys nor Aggies have faced quality competition so far – the victim list includes Troy, Tulsa, Washington State, Stephen F. Austin, Louisiana Tech and Florida International.
However, that doesn’t detract from the fact that Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are loaded with skill players on offense. At the same time, both squads are lacking top-tier athletes on the defensive side of the ball – in fact, Oklahoma State gave up 38 points to Troy and 28 points to Tulsa. Meanwhile, A&M’s points-allowed have gone up each week (from 7 to 16 to 20), and now that the defense is finally going to get tested by a compietent, explosive offense, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Aggies surrendered more points tonight than they did in their first three games combined.
After all, Texas A&M’s first three games this year were in College Station. Now they finally have to hit the road, which is notable because last year the Aggies got torched for an average of 47 ppg on foreign turf.
These teams have gone over the total in five of the last six years – and we’re talking about posted totals ranging from a low of 53 to a high of 64. In the last two years alone, Oklahoma State has posted wins of 56-28 and 36-31, with both getting up and over the number (the teams combined for 1,633 yards in those two matchups).
Additionally, check out these “over” trends: For A&M, the “over” is on runs of 26-10-1 on the road, 20-6-1 as a road underdog, 4-1 in September, 6-1 in these marquee Thursday games and 14-4-1 in Big 12 contests. For the Cowboys, the “over” is on streaks of 38-15 at home, 4-0 in September, 4-0 as a favorite (all at home) and 5-0 when coming out of a bye.
Finally, not only have these teams topped the total in five of their last six meetings overall, but the last four in a row in Stillwater have hurdled the price, including scores of 34-33 and 56-28 in the last two.
Cubs
No team in baseball has been hotter over the past five weeks than the Cubs, who are 21-12 in their last 33 games since manager Lou Pineilla walked off the job, winning 10 of the last 15 overall and 16 of 22 on the highway (they had an eight-game road winning streak snapped in last night’s 3-0 loss).
At the same time, no team has cooled off more over the past five weeks than the Padres, who have dropped 21 of 33 overall and 13 of 20 at home. Take away five wins in six games (including a three-game home sweep) against the pathetic Dodgers (who quit on the season long ago), and San Diego is 7-20 in its last 27 games, including 4-13 at home.
I do give the Padres the edge on the mound today, with Jon Garland (14-12, 3.58 ERA) facing struggling Cubs lefty Tom Gorzelanny (7-9, 4.28 ERA, including 0-2, 10.64 ERA in his last three starts). However, San Diego is just 2-4 in Garland’s last six starts, including 1-3 at home, and the right-hander has 5.00 ERA during this six-game stretch. Also, Gorzelanny has been better on the road this year (3-3, 3.92 ERA) than at Wrigley Field (4-6, 4.56) and he’s been much better in day games (5-3, 3.63 ERA) than night games (2-6, 5.02 ERA).
Two more points to make: 1) The road team has won six of seven meetings between these teams and seven of eight going back to last August (the home team had won the previous nine in a row); and 2) It’s imporlant to mention the guy working the plate tonight – veteran ump Sam Holbrook. Why do I bring up Holbrook? Because the Padres have lost 11 of their last 12 games in which Holbrook was calling balls and strikes – 1-11 is more than just a fluke!
Ben Burns
Texas A&M
Twins
Marc Lawrence
Texas A&M +3
With Texas and Oklahoma showing some chinks in the armor, this Week Five opener becomes a big game in the suddenly wide-open Big 12 South division. Since the formation of the conference in 1996, Oklahoma (7) and Texas (5) have combined to win 12 of the 14 division titles. A&M captured the other two but the last was back in 1998 when R.C. Slocum had NCAA Defensive Player of the Year, Dat Nguyen, leading the way. This year’s Aggies rely more on offense as QB Jerrod Johnson leads an attack that is averaging 41 PPG and over 468 YPG. With that, our powerful our database notes: undefeated teams in their first road game of the season off three straight homers are a solid 48-28-2 ATS in Game Four. It also points out: teams playing their fourth straight home game to start the season are just 11-20-1 ATS versus undefeated opposition. With OSU just 2-11 SU and 4-8-1 ATS mark versus a foe off three-plus SU wins in a row, and the Aggies 3-0 ATS as a favorite or dog of 21 or less points against undefeated opposition under head coach Mike Sherman, we'll grab the points with this live dog tonight. We recommend a 3-unit play on Texas A&M.