Steve Janus
St. John's +21.5
Kentucky has opened the season 6-0 with all six of their wins coming by double-digits. While it's been a very impressive start, I believe the Wildcats are getting a little too much respect against St John's tonight. The Red Storm have lost three of four, including a 64-78 loss at home to Northeastern in a game they were favored by 9-points.
The biggest thing that the average bettor will over look in this game, is the fact that Kentucky is going to be more excited about their home game on Saturday against No. 5 North Carolina than playing a mediocre St John's team. I was able to cash in on Wisconsin +7 last night, as I believed the Tar Heels were also looking ahead to playing Kentucky.
St John's will approach this game with a much different attitude. Any time you get the chance to play the No. 1 team in the country, you are going to do everything in your power to play your absolute best. Look for the Red Storm to come out and play extremely aggressive defense, which I believe will catch the Wildcats off guard. St John's played Arizona to a 9-point game and Texas A&M to a 1-point game, so it's not as if they cant step up against tougher competition.
St John's is a solid 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog, 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games as an underdog of 13.0 or greater, and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss.
Jack Jones
Georgetown +7.5
The Alabama Crimson Tide are off to their best start in five years at 7-0. As a result, this team is overvalued. Its defense has been solid, but the Crimson Tide haven't been tested like they will Thursday against a very good Georgetown Hoyas team.
The Hoyas start three players 6-foot-8 or taller, including 6-10 center Henry Sims, who is averaging 13.5 points, 5.8 boards and 1.5 blocked shots. Georgetown is averaging 82.0 points - among the top 25 in the nation - and have three players scoring in double figures, led by senior guard Jason Clark (17.0 points per game).
Georgetown is 5-1 on the season while already facing a pair of ranked foes in the Maui Invitational. They lost to then-No. 14 Kansas 67-63 before beating then-No. 8 Memphis in overtime two days later. This tough early schedule will have the Hoyas prepared when they visit Alabama tonight.
The Hoyas are 21-6-1 ATS in their last 28 non-conference games. Georgetown is 8-0 ATS in their last 8 games following a SU win of more than 20 points, and 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games overall. Alabama is a putrid 1-20 ATS in their last 21 games after 6 or more consecutive wins, and 0-9 ATS in their last 9 after 7 or more consecutive victories. Bet Georgetown Thursday.
Jeff Alexander
1 Unit on Alabama -7.5
Oddsmakers have set a number high enough for the money to roll in on Georgetown, but we won't bite like the rest of the public. We'll go against the grain with Alabama at home. The Crimson Tide are 16-5-1 ATS in their last 22 home games, 14-3-1 ATS in their last 18 games as a home favorite and 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home favorite of 7.0-12.5 points. Bama is even 8-0 ATS at home since the beginning of last season when matched up against good teams that are outscoring their opponents by 4+ points/game. The Tide have defeated these foes by an average of 15.1 points. Take the Tide.
Dave Price
1 Unit on DePaul -1
Expect Ole Miss to struggle tonight in its first true road game of the season. The Blue Demons are 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 home games, 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games following a win and 6-0 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games. They are also 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a home favorite of 6.5 points or less. The Rebels are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 road games. We'll lay the points with the Blue Demons.