DR BOB
3 Star Selection
***CENTRAL MICHIGAN (-1.5) over Missouri State
Missouri State has been pretty good team in recent years, but that will change this season without stars Dale Lamberth and Deven Mitchell, who were #1 and #2 on the team in both scoring and rebounding last season. More important is the fact that those two combined for 50.9% shooting while the rest of the team combined to shoot just 41.2% from the floor. In other words, there doesn't appear to be anyone capable of picking up the scoring slack with Lamberth and Mitchell gone and rebounding could also be an issue for the Bears, who were beaten on the glass 26 to 33 in their 60-75 loss at Auburn as an 8 point underdog on Friday night. The fact that Missouri State lost by 15 points despite making 11 of 23 3-pointers, while Auburn made just 5 of 16 3-pointers, is even more of an indication of how much the Bears may struggle this season since they are certainly not going to continue to make 48% of their long range shots. Central Michigan is a middle of the pack MAC team, but my ratings favor the Chippewas by 3 points in this game. In addition to the line value, Missouri State applies to a negative 18-65-2 ATS early season indicator that is based on their opening game loss. I'll take Central Michigan in a 3-Star Best Bet at -2 or better and for 2-Stars at -2 ½ or -3 points.
2 Star Selection
**ARIZONA (-18.5) over Florida Atlantic
The Lute Olsen era is over in Tucson, but the Wildcats should still be a pretty good team under new coach Russ Pennell, who the players are bound to like much more than last year's interim head coach Kevin O'Neill, who the players spoke out against after he left the program. One player not returning is leading scorer and 1st round NBA draft pick PG Jerryd Bayless,but Nic Wise is an outstanding pointguard that will distribute the ball much more than Bayless did last season. One star that didn't move to the NBA as expected is F Chase Budinger, who averaging 17.1 points last season. Number 3 scorer and top rebounder Jordan Hill is also back and the Wildcats should be an NCAA Tournament caliber team even without Bayless. Florida Atlantic is without last year's top player Carlos Monroe, who is currently academically ineligible and being without Monroe's 15.4 points and 9.5 rebounds per game will keep the Owls from being an improved team under new coach Mike Jarvis.FAU was not at all impressive in only beating a horrible Monmouth team by 3 points in their home opener on Friday night and close exhibition wins over Lynn University 73-69 and Rollins College 61-56 with Monroe playing (he had 37 points and 23 rebounds in those 2 games) do not bode well for the Owls against a much more talented opponent tonight. Arizona applies to a 44-13 ATS game 1 indicator and I'll take Arizona in a 2-Star Best Bet at -20 points or less.
Jeffersonsports
Brown +13
Utah St. +4
North Coast
Monday Night Magic
2*Browns/Billsover 40
Opinion Cle +5
The Hoops Guru Guaranteed Selections
COLLEGE HOOPS DOUBLE PLAY WINNER
Oklahoma St -12
Indiancowboy
Take James Madison +15 over Davidson (POD)
We are 3-1 in College Basketball, let's keep it rolling. I like the Dukes here for several reasons. For one, they are returning 4 starters and 9 letterman overall. They are under a new coach and he has them playing extremely well and remember Brady was the coach at Marist prior to coming into James Madison. He is a solid coach and one of the most hard working that many of his peers have ever come across. He of course accepted the position understanding that he has a great group of crop of returning players to work with. This team returns two senior forwards, 1 senior guard and 1 junior guard as well. This is a veteran team and of course although Davidson is good, this team has the size and the inside game to compete here. Although this pick seems a bit crazy, so did our TCU over Clemson as well as our Long Beach State over Wisconsin. In fact, how crazy was our pick when we took Weber State over Miami of Ohio? The common denominator in all of these games, we won them. Let's roll with the Dukes of James Madison to lose by single digits in a game that remember is on neutral court in the Lloyd Noble Center in Norman, Oklahoma.
Utah Jazz -2
Note, that there are a lot of "questionables' in this game. Of course, this could just be coaches playing tricks with each other. Either way, you have Barnes that will return from his suspension this game. Of course, Nash is back after serving his suspension in Sacramento. Tie that in with "questionables" for Williams, Okur, Kirilenko and Harpring. Utah is still a very tough place to play. The Suns come off a big win over the Pistons in a blowout fashion. Thus, maybe a let down here. The Jazz come home after a brutal road trip where they lost 3 in a row and they need something to resurrect their confidence here. The Jazz are still undefeated at home as they are a perfect 4-0 and I think this is a game as they return home from a brutal road trip they will indeed say, "Home sweet home" and win this game in a likely blowout.
Bestsportspicks
Clev +5
Siena
Missouri
Special K
20* Super K - Villanova
Thanks for Special K!!! He is money with Super K plays in CBB
Dave Cokin
Buffalo Bills
Siena
Boston College
Villanova
SPORTS BANK
300 Buffalo
DREW GORDON
100,000 BROWNS
50,000 CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Teddy June
Browns
Sports Firm
Cleveland Browns +5
Browns/Bills - Over 40
Suns/Jazz - Over 197
Utah Jazz -2
Blade:
Thanks a lot for Indian Cowboy. I appreciate it!
Pedro
Da Stick
MNF GOY
Bills -5