Jesse Schule
Islanders vs. Penguins
Pick: Over
The Pens have steamrolled their opponents all season long winning 13 of their 17 games scoring 64 goals in the process for a league high 3.6 goals per game average. Perhaps they will find a worthy opponent tonight as they Islanders are coming to Pittsburgh for the opener of a home and home series.
The Islanders have the third best goal per game average in the NHL this season but they have struggled on the other end of the ice, especially on the penalty kill where they're giving up a goal on exactly a quarter of the chances. That could spell trouble against the Penguins who were tied for the best power play in the league last season and currently topping the standing by a wide margin.
Sidney Crosby ended an eighth game goal-drought in the 4-0 win at Montreal Tuesday and is still second in the league with his 17 goals and eight assists. The Islanders points are widely distributed with John Tavares, Brock Nelson and Kyle Okposo all tallying 18 points for the season.
All of the Islanders last four and seven of the last 10 meetings between these two teams have gone over the total.
Wunderdog
Cal Riverside @ Utah
Pick: Utah -23
The Utah Utes have had some struggles in recent years. They opened with an easy home win against Ball State, and then were immediately tested taking on San Diego State on the road. The Utes more than held their own as they lost a hard fought game by just 4 points. UC Riverside had a cupcake win at home, but failed at home against Sacramento State. The Highlanders' program is certainly not near the level of tonight's opponent, in fact they have not started a season at 2-0 for 16 years, and failed to do so again. Utah has been playing suffocating defense, and held San Diego State to 53 points, and the Highlanders are going to struggle to get good looks here, and they are not a very good shooting team to begin with, especially stepping up in class. The Highlanders are just 10-21-3 ATS in their last 34 outside the conference, while the Utes dominate at home at 27-9-1 ATS in their last 37. Lay the points on Utah.
Robert Ferringo
Michigan State (-17.5) over Loyola-Chicago
I almost feel bad for Loyola here because they are about to lose by about 30. Duke embarrassed Michigan State on Tuesday. That is not a feeling Tom Izzo knows very well, and I’m sure his guys want to get that taste out of their mouths. They also struggled with Navy last week, and I think Izzo is going to go to the whip in this game. Last year Sparty had a tough two-game run that included their first loss of the year in early December. They came back to beat North Florida by 30. After an embarrassing loss to Miami in 2013, they bounced back with a 45-point win over Nicholls State. Same thing in 2012 when they started the year 0-2 and then won their next game by 35. The spread in this game against Loyola can’t be high enough, and I would bet it up to 22. Michigan State is not nearly as good as they have been. But they are still too big and too strong for Loyola. Right now no one is stronger than I am with their college basketball picks. My goal for the season is to get over $10,000 in winnings with my sides and totals for the second straight year, and we’re well on our way. Sign up today and then head over to Bovada and collect your $250 free bet - Click Here. Double that up on this Spartans play and then get on board for my football and hoops services. Sign up now!
SPORTS WAGERS
COLUMBUS +122 over Boston
OT included. The Jackets are 6-12 overall and only the Buffalo Sabres have a worse record. Columbus has lost eight of its past 10 games and that combined with their lousy overall record and lack of popularity in the market has them underpriced. Let us remind you that these Jackets got hit hard by the injury bug early in the season with as many as 12 regulars out of the lineup, including some of their best talent. Let us also remind you that Columbus, when healthy, are talented as hell, tough as shoe leather and we would not count them out just yet. The Jackets have gotten some bodies back recently including their #1 goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. Matt Calvert also returns tonight.
How important is this game for the Bruins? We say not very. Boston is coming off back-to-back wins over St. Louis and Carolina. They have defeated the Jackets six straight and have not lost to them since 2010. They Bruins have no scores to settle here but have a huge one to settle tomorrow when the Canadiens come calling. Boston was knocked out by Montreal in last year’s playoffs. They have lost twice to them this year already by scores of 6-4 and 5-1 with both those games being in Montreal. Tomorrow's game is in Boston and for the Bruins, tomorrow can't get here soon enough. The Bruins have become the Canadiens whipping boys and you can be damn sure that they’re sick of hearing about it and experiencing it too. For Boston, this game tonight is nothing more than a big inconvenience. It’s almost like playing an exhibition game one day before a playoff game. The Bruins have will have one thing on their mind over the next two days and it’s not the Columbus Blue Jackets. Situational betting does not get better than this in the NHL and we’re all over it.
Dave Price
Brooklyn Nets +1
Brooklyn crushed Oklahoma City 116-85 November 3. Normally, I would be looking to play the revenge angle. However, the Nets have lost five straight so they won't be looking past the Thunder. With Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez and Kevin Garnett, the Nets have a better squad than an OKC team that is without Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. When the line is +3 to -3, you want to fade teams that are seeking revenge for a double-digit defeat if they carry a win percentage of 25% or worse. Doing so has produced a 35-9 ATS mark the last five seasons.
Red Dog Sports
George Washington vs. Virginia
Play: George Washington +13½
George Washington should be excited about playing at Virginia and facing a top ten ACC team. The Colonials are also located in the state of Virginia and were 23-9 last year. They are off to a 2-0 start and already have a road victory. GW is led by Patricio Garino at 15.5 ppg, Kethan Savage 15 ppg/8rb, Joe McDonald 11.5 ppg and Kevin Larson at 11 ppg.
The Virginia Cavaliers are 3-0 but have played some weak teams. They lost Joe Harris from last year but still have Malcolm Brogden, Justin Anderson. London Perrantes and Mike Tobey. UVA plays great defense but GW played VCU, Saint Louis, Miami, Maryland and Creighton last year so they have faced decent teams. Look for Virginia to win but GW to cover.
Jimmy Boyd
UTEP +7½
I believe the Owls are getting too much respect from the books in this one. While Rice lost 14-41 at Marshall last week, that loss isn’t going to have a big negative impact on how the public views this team, as the Thundering Herd have been beating teams like that all season.
Instead they are going to look at the fact that prior to that loss the Owls had won 6-straight and assume they will pickup where they left off. However, I don’t feel that will be the case at all. Rice’s 6-game winning streak came against a bunch of bad teams. Not a single one game against a team who currently has a winning record. In fact, their best win during that stretch was against FIU, who is sitting at 4-7.
I would much rather taking my chances on UTEP catching 7.5-points, as I think there’s a great possibility that they win this game outright. There’s just not a lot that separates these teams. Each has played Old Dominion, UTSA, Southern Miss and North Texas. The Miners went 4-0 in those 4 games, while Rice went 3-1.
Offensively both were about the same. UTEP averaged 36.5 ppg, while the Owls averaged 35.3. The big difference was on the defensive side of the ball. The Miners held those 4 teams to an average of 16.5 points and 257.5 yards per game, while Rice gave up 24.0 and 331.5 ypg. To me this is a clear sign that this line should be a lot closer to a field goal than a touchdown.
You might think that UTEP would be the team that would have the inflated line, as they have the better ATS record at 8-2, compared to Rice’s 7-3 mark. However, that’s not the case. Rice is the more recognized team, as they are the defending C-USA Champs, while UTEP had won a combined 5 games over the previous 2 years.
There’s a strong system in play. Road teams who have covered the spread in 6 or 7 of their last 8 games and have a winning record on the season are 85-46 ATS over the last 5 seasons. That's a 65% system in favor of the Miners.
Brandon Shively
Morehead State vs. Louisiana Tech
Play: Morehead State +11
I have played on Morehead the first two games and won both as they continue to cover after playing against two stout defensive teams in UNLV and Cincy. Now they will play La. Tech who is not as strong defensively and I look for Morehead to keep this one close.
Although Morehead's shots have not been falling, they have a talented backcourt that can shoot the ball and drive to the basket. The 34% they have shot over the first 3 games does not reflect their accuracy and I look for them to shoot much better vs. a La Tech team that has given up 82 and 76 points in their first 2 games. They just got beat by Temple the other day and this line is a bit inflated.
What I think is important in this game is that Morehead as covered both road games while amazingly shooting only 34% from the floor. They are a much better shooting team than this led by a senior point guard (11 ppg/ 5 rpg/ 7 apg). They also have two shooting guards that are combining for 30 ppg. A lot of their misses have been on the inside and I look for them to convert these shots vs. La. Tech who is a sub-par defensive team and way softer than Cincinnati and UNLV, who Morehead faced in their first 2 road games.
For La. Tech, they do return 4 starters from last season and have a trio of guards that score. The problem is their defense that has allowed 75 and 76 points in their first two games vs. Temple and Southern University. They are allowing teams to shoot 43% from the floor and are getting rebounded by 8 boards a game. La. Tech is also only shooting 56% from the foul line which is another concern in being asked to cover as a double digit favorite.
In closing, we want to play on Morehead State who is due for a better shooting game from their experienced team. They have played two tough road games and will not be intimidated vs. La. Tech. We want to play against La. Tech as their defense cannot be trusted and they cannot shoot free throws. If they do get a lead, I have to think that Morehead will hit their 3 pointers, put La. Tech on the foul line, and keep this spread within reach.
Sam Martin
Air Force at San Diego St.
Prediction: San Diego St.
Not everyone can transition easily to facing a triple-option offense, but San Diego State has proven able to handle that change up with success. We'll back the Aztecs to continue their recent dominance in this series and cover their sixth straight against Air Force on Friday night.
San Diego State has also won this matchup outright in four straight meetings - the last three by at least a touchdown - and have held Air Force to just 29 points combined the last two years. It's not often an 8-2 team is an underdog against a 5-5 team this late in the season, but the linesmaker has it right especially considering the Aztecs are a perfect 4-0 at home this year where they give up less than 14 points per game.
Harry Bondi
RICE (-8) over UTEP
Rice annually smashes UTEP. Owls have won and covered 10 of the 11 games between the two schools. The fact that UTEP won big last week and Rice got pounded by a very good Marshall team gives us line value here. Rice won 45-7 last year vs the Miners and we see a similar blowout tonight.
Scott Rickenbach
Columbus / Boston Over 5½
The Columbus Blue Jackets host the Boston Bruins Friday. “The Bulldog” breaks down his selection on OVER in Columbus with his Three-Factor Analysis: 1. Boston was blown away in their last two road games, giving up five and six goals in loss at Montreal and Toronto respectively –easily playing Over the total in each contest. 2. Columbus is having a tough time keeping the puck out of the net no matter where it’s playing. The Blue Jackets allowed five goals in a loss to Detroit Tuesday and have given up a total of 39 goals in their last 10 outings – an average of 3.9 goals against per game. 3. The Bruins blueline has been decimated by injuries, losing another defensemen in Adam McQuaid this week. Boston is already without Zdeno Chara, Torey Krug, and David Warsofsky, forcing the organization to dig into the farm system for warm bodies.
Andre Gomes
Magic / Hornets Over 190.5
Charlotte is coming from three straight subpar performances. First, then played at Golden State on their final game of the road trip, then they were on a super bad spot at home with just 1 day off to rest from the road trip against Dallas and finally, they had another bad game at Indiana. The reason for their struggles was their 30, 24 and 32 points in the paint! However, this was justified by the elite rim defenses that these teams have. Orlando's rim defense is just #17 in the league and so, they should allow the Hornets to score more points near the basket tonight.
Another good news for the Hornets tonight is that Neal will be back and this will give them a well needed option on outside shooting as well. This is a good spot for Charlotte's offense and I expect to have a nice bounce back tonight. On the other hand, Orlando keeps having nice offensive numbers, but they dearly missed Fournier on their last game against the Clippers. Their offense missed Fournier's outside shots and the team ended with just 8-24 3pts. With him back now, I believe Orlando will go back to their good offensive performances in here. I expect a relatively high scoring game tonight and so, I'll take the Over in here.
OC Dooley
Oral Roberts -2
At most offshore locations Oregon State actually opened as a substantial two-point favorite at home. That pricing seemed to make sense since so far the Beavers have not trailed in a game even though operating with a first-year head coach. While the Oregon State defense is holding the opposition to a small shooting average (35%) the offense has been lethal from long range nailing 41.7% from behind the arc. Despite the advantages the line of this contest has made a dramatic turn offshore where veteran Oral Roberts (four returning starters from a year ago) is now LAYING two-points on the highway. What makes the sudden turn in the line stunning is that Oral Roberts is coming off an outright road loss even though it was versus a high-profile opponent (Missouri). The head coach of Oral Roberts in his sixteenth season is Scott Sutton who is the son of legendary Oklahoma State mentor Eddie Sutton. To give you an idea how solid of a job Sutton has done his Golden Eagles have registered 20+ win seasons SEVEN times in the past decade