SPORTS WAGERS
Chad Mendes +231 over Jose Aldo
Simply said, Jose "Junior" Aldo is a badass. Since winning the featherweight title two years ago he has looked unstoppable, only faultering in the 5th round of his title defence against Mark Hominick, when he fought while sick and had a difficult weight cut. His record of 20-1 includes 12 wins by TKO, many of which are highlight reel material. But even Superman has his kryptonite. Chad "Money" Mendes is an all-American wrestler out of Cal Poly and comes in with a record of 11-0. This is a bad matchup for Aldo, as he has been taken down in previous bouts. Junior did dominate Mendes' teammate and wrestler Urijah Faber in his first title defence but Faber does not have the explosive shot that Mendes has. Aldo does have very good take-down defence but it will be severely tested. Money will be at a great disadvantage while the fight is standing and will need to get Aldo on his back as quickly as possible or risk having his legs turned into hamburger by Aldo's vicious leg kicks. The path to victory for Mendes is to put Aldo on his back and keep him there, and stay busy enough to stop the ref from standing the fight back up. It won't be an easy fight for Mendes to win; every round starts standing up and as such, Aldo will be dangerous. However, if Mendes is able to impose his will, Aldo will tire and Team Alpha Male will have its first UFC champion via decision victory. Play: Chad Mendes +231 (Risking 2 units).
Black Widow
1* Indiana Pacers -3.5
The Boston Celtics are simply not the same team they were a few years ago when they won the NBA Finals. This team is getting too old to be contenders in the East, and that has really shown this season. The Celtics are just 4-6 this year, and they are only scoring 90.6 points/game. Points have been very hard to come by because Boston cannot run and get easy baskets in transition. Rajon Rondo has the ability to get out in the open floor, but he just doesn't have anyone on the roster that can keep up with him. Indiana is one of the most improved and most underrated teams in the league this year. The Pacers are off to an 8-3 start, including a perfect 4-0 at home where they are outscoring opponents by 13.3 points/game. I like them to remain unbeaten at home tonight and to crush a tired Boston team that will be playing the second of a back-to-back and their 3rd game in four days. Take the Pacers and lay the points.
Steve Janus
Indiana Pacers -3.5
It's becoming more and more obvious that the Celtics are old and simply not that good anymore. They still have a strong defensive mindset that keeps them in games, but the inability to score points is absolutely killing this team. The Celtics are averaging just 90.6 ppg.
The Pacers are a team that is still flying under the radar, despite opening up the season 8-3. Indiana has already went into Boston and beat the Celtics 87-74, and I have a pretty good feeling they aren't going to be satisfied with just one win against Boston.
This low spread has me all over the Pacers, especially when I look and see Boston I look and see Boston is 1-3 on the road and the Pacers are a perfect 4-0 at home.
Andrew Lange
Mississippi at Auburn
Play: Auburn
We are getting to that point of the college basketball season where we can start utilizing spot plays to our advantage. I see one today in the SEC that I am particularly fond of. On Wednesday, Ole Miss was in an ideal situation – at home, needing a win, facing an opponent off a amazing performance. The Rebels took care of business by beating Arkansas 71-63 to move to 1-1 in SEC play. Now they go on the road and are likely to get a pretty good effort from their opponent. Auburn has lost three games in a row including two to conference foes Vanderbilt and Kentucky. I watched their game against Kentucky and came away impressed -- the Tigers actual led in the second half and were tied with about seven minutes to go before Kentucky finally flexed its muscle. Personnel wise, I see little to no difference between Ole Miss and Auburn and feel the spot is prime for a Tigers victory.
David Banks:
Broncos / Patriots Over
The final game of Saturdays divisional round match-ups pits Tim Tebow and the Denver Broncos (9-8, 8-9 ATS) against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots (13-3, 9-7 ATS); kick-off from Gillette Stadium for this AFC playoff match is set to go live at 8:00 ET on CBS.
After dropping each of their final three games of the regular season and backing their way into the playoffs as the AFC West champs, not many gave the Broncos a chance of playing in this game; not even the oddsmakers who opened them up as eight-point home underdogs over Wild Card Weekend. Be that as it may, Head Coach John Foxs squad went out and took it to the defending AFC champs before Big Ben and the Steelers offense came up with the game tying score at the end of regulation. Tied at 23 in the extra session, many were excited to see how the new overtime playoff rules would play out, but the Broncos squashed that dream quickly when Tebow connected with WR Demaryius Thomas for an 80-yard TD scamper on its first extra session play from scrimmage that sent Sports Authority Field into a frenzy and punched the Broncos ticket into the divisional round. Surprisingly, Denver was at its best as a visitor posting 5-3 SU & 6-2 ATS records in the regular season.
Are the Patriots really worthy of just a +200 return if they win Super Bowl XLVI? Based solely upon its regular season resume and winning 13 of its 16 games played, many would say yes. However, a deeper look into the Patriots recent shortcomings may have many taking a shot with Denver in this spot not only against the spread, but on the moneyline as well. Reason being, the Pats have been one and done in the playoffs each of the last two seasons and last won a Super Bowl back in 2005. Though they did rattle off the first undefeated regular season since the Miami Dolphins pulled off the feat back in 1972, they fell in the Super Bowl back in 2008. Its been all downhill from there at least from a postseason perspective for this New England based outfit. On top of that, Head Coach Bill Belichicks squad was forced to battle back from enormous deficits in their last three games, and if they get behind early this time around, Denver might just have the confidence to see it all the way through this time. That said; NE won seven of eight at home this season and posted a 4-4 mark against the closing pointspread.
Tonight will mark the second meeting between these franchises this season. New England got behind early in its Week 15 trip to Denver, but battled back with 27 unanswered points to pull out the 41-23 road win and cover as seven-point favorites. Denver has gone 5-1 ATS in its L/6 road games and stands a perfect 4-0 ATS the L/4 times it was dogged on the road. New England is 5-1 SU & ATS versus the L/6 AFC West opponents its faced, but also checks in 0-6 ATS its L/6 playoff games as well as 1-5 ATS the L/6 times it hosted the Broncos. The under is 4-1-1 the L/6 times these teams went at it from Gillette, but the over is 15-3 the L/18 times Denver squared off against a +.500 opponent.
Freddy Wills
Oklahoma State +14
Oklahoma State has the ability to make this an ugly game with their defense as they have held opponents to 38.2% this year and that has kept them in games because their offense has been atrocious leaning on a freshmen in Nash far too often. However, Baylor is getting a ton of points especially after their impressive road win vs. Kansas State and I expect them to have a little bit of a let down in this spot. Oklahoma State also won't get killed at the FT line shooting over 70% on the year and they also don't turn the ball over too much which will keep them in this game. Baylor is just 4-11 ATS in their last 15 home games and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 as a home favorite of 13 points or more. The public continues to back this team and in this spot laying this many points in a conference game I expect Oklahoma State to give them a scare.