Sports Gambling Hotline
San Francisco at BOSTON COLLEGE -15
For Monday,good situation for the home team Eagles, as Boston College has not played since December 23rd, in a home rout over Maine in a non-lined affair that upped their mark to 9-0 at Chestnut Hill this season.
BC has covered 4 of their 6 lined games this season, and they catch San Francisco playing their 5th in a row on the road.
That's right, the Dandy Dons have been on the road since December 9th, and just played on the 27th in a 9-point loss at Holy Cross.
All 6 of San Francisco's losses this year have come on the highway, and we can see the Dons running out of gas in their 5th straight road game, some 3,000 miles from home.
Lay the wood with Boston College.
3♦ BOSTON COLLEGE
Jimmy Boyd
1 Unit on Davidson -4
Davidson has played several barn burners this season and College of Charleston is no pushover with all 5 starters returning, but at the end of the day, the team with Mr. Curry will win this game. Charleston 's schedule has been much softer than Davidson's and that will become evident tonight as well. Plus, the last time Davidson was in action, it endured an 18-point loss to Purdue. Curry and the boys will be ready to get right back in the win column. Davidson is 16-3 ATS versus good teams - outscoring their opponents by 4+ points/game over the last 2 seasons, winning these games by an average score of 74.7 to 65.3. Davidson is 10-1 ATS as a road favorite of 6 points or less or pick over the last 3 seasons and 23-6 ATS in road lined games over the last 3 seasons. Lay the number.
LT Profits
Villanova -9
The Villanova Wildcats are already 3-0 vs. the Big Five this season with wins over St. Josesphs, Penn and La Salle, and they look to make it a clean sweep vs. the Temple Owls tonight before commencing Big East play later this week.
This game is being played on campus at the Pavillion, where the Wildcats are always tough. In fact, they have now won 22 straight games in this gym, which is obviously much more quaint than the Wachovia Center, where they play the rest of their home games.
Villanova is off to a nice 11-1 start with the lone start coming vs. a nationally ranked Texas team, and they are now 23-4 vs. non-conference opponents since the start of last season while winning those games by an average of +11.6 points. It naturally helps to be playing in what is probably the best conference in the country in the Big East, which has toughened the Wildcats up when they play out of conference.
Temple is just 5-5 so far, and they have been very inconsistent, upsetting the likes of Tennessee and losing to the likes of Long Beach State and Buffalo. It should be noted that the Tennessee game was at home though, and the Owls are just 1-3 in their lined true road games. Things do not figure to improve for them in this environment.
Villanova has won this matchup each of the last three years by an average margin of +16.0 points, and we look for a repeat performance this evening.
Pick: Villanova -9
Nelly
Long Beach State + over Oregon
Oregon has been a quality program for the last decade but this is a very weak team in a serious rebuilding mode. The Ducks are 5-6 through a very light non-conference slate and once the conference season hits the Pac-10 should expose how far this team is from being seriously competitive. Oregon is 1-6 ATS in the last seven games and the Ducks have lost twice S/U at home already this season. In its last game Oregon needed OT to beat Portland and aside from a fluky neutral site win over Alabama there is little positive to point to on the Duck resume. Oregon allows 76 points per game and the schedule has not been that difficult. Long Beach State has faced a brutal schedule and is also 5-6 on the year. Long Beach has faced insane travel in the early season action which has taken a toll but this is a road game the team should be well prepared for, staying on the west coast and having had the previous week off. Long Beach played very competitive games on the road against BYU, Wisconsin, and Syracuse and Oregon is no where near that caliber of a team at this point in the season. Look for a competitive effort from a very athletic 49ers team coached by a battle tested Dan Monson who previously coached at Gonzaga and Minnesota.
Vega Experts
Northwestern at Missouri
Pretty tough to see Missouri coming out motivated in this one as they were playing on New Years Day last year en route to a one-loss season. Northwestern, on the other hand, is in the midst of its best season since 1996. The Tigers lack of pass defense will cost them here, at least the cover, as we note they are just 2 for their last 8 at the betting window when laying 11 or more points with both covers coming against non-bowl teams.
Play on: Northwestern
Mike Anthony
Chicago Bulls vs. New Jersey Nets
Play: New Jersey Nets -5.5
Payback time in the NBA tonight, as New Jersey takes on Chicago. The Bulls won this season’s first meeting 113-104 as the 4-point favorite 16 days ago, but that game was in the Windy City. On the road, Chicago has had a hard time keeping things tight, as the Bulls have dropped all 3 on this current road swing, and they have dropped their last pair of roadies against the spread. For the season, the Bulls are just 3-14 straight up on the highway, and 6-11 against the spread on the road.
Jeff Alexander Sports
1 Unit on Detroit Pistons +3
Orlando is certainly a good road team, but the Pistons are starting to get things figured out and they will certainly get up for this game. Detroit is 14-3 SU and 10-5-2 ATS versus the Magic over the last 3 seasons. It has also won 8 of its last 9 at home against Orlando . Plays against road teams (ORLANDO) - hot team - having won 20 or more of their last 25 games against opponent hot team - having won 6 or 7 of their last 8 games are 65-32 ATS since 1996. Take the points.
Team Who2beton
Two heavyweights open up their Big East seasons tonight when the 11-0 Connecticut Huskies host the 9-1 Georgetown Hoyas.
Now our natural inclination is usually to take the points in a matchup like this, but we feel that there are a couple of things working against Georgetown that should enable Connecticut to win comfortably. First of all, this is the first true road game all year for Georgetown, as their only three games away from home have all been on neutral courts, including their only loss to a Tennessee team that has shown signs of being overrated lately, which does not bode well for the Hoyas.
The other problem has been that Georgetown has been prone to long offensive slumps when playing stiffer competition, which is a major drawback in a heavyweight battle between two great defenses where the team with the better offense should prevail.
On the other hand, Connecticut has complimented their fine defense by averaging 82.7 points offensively while hitting an unbelievable 50.2 percent of their shots, and they already own a high-quality road win at Gonzaga. It is no small wonder that the Huskies are generally considered as the second best team in the country.
Now we realize that conference play is usually tougher, but under these circumstances, we still feel Connecticut wins handily.
Pick: Connecticut -6.5
IndianCowboy
Northwestern Wildcats @ Missouri Tigers
Pick: Northwestern Wildcats +12.5
This spread is simply too high for us to not take a shot on Northwestern. After all, if you are Missouri, for a team that was thought to be in the National Title hunt at the start of the year, to who miserably underperformed expectations that they now have to play in the Alamo Bowl and not even a BCS game, how do you "get-up" for against a team like Northwestern. This is a team that competed for the Big 12 Title, and now has does not even have a BCS game to show for it. Yes, Sutton is questionable for this game, but Northwestern does have other backs and I can't imagine Sutton truly missing this game. Note that Mizzou will have the crowd behind them of course, but, this is still a Big 10 team that defeated Iowa on the road which is very tough to do, beat Illinois and Zuk by 17 at home, beat Michigan on the road by a touchdown and Missouri did have four losses this year including the hiccup in the game to a nonranked team right before Oklahoma. Missouri has failed to cover their last four of five games and I believe we are on solid ground taking a Big 10 team who is catching 12.5 points having defeated some competent teams and who faces a Missouri defense that is very suspect. One thing that Northwestern does having going for them is a sound offense and in what is expected to be a high scoring game totaled at 66.5, why not take a shot on a great top 25 offense to squeeze inside the number and if a few plays go in our favor, Northwestern might be more competitive than most people realize in this game, especially if Missouri takes this team lightly by not showing up in the first half. I think Northwestern wants to be here and will wear the dog tag proud in this game.
Gina
Washington Wizards at Houston Rockets
The injury riddle Houston Rockets hosts the sorry Washington Wizards tonight at Toyota Center. Look for the banged up Rockets to have no problems against the Wizards. Houston has whipped them in the last seven meetings and 13 of their last 14 at home. Washington is 1-11 on the road this season and 1-5 ATS in the last 6 meetings in Houston.
Houston Rockets -13
Mr A
PAPAJOHNS.COM BOWL
North Carolina State vs. Rutgers
Both teams played well down the stretch to end the regular season, but the Wolfpack had to beat tougher opponents. Take NC State in a close hard fought battle. North Carolina State is 13-3 ATS as an underdog and has covered the spread in their last seven games.
North Carolina State Wolfpack +7
VALERO ALAMO BOWL
Missouri vs. Northwestern
Missouri Tigers potent offense should have no difficulties against the Northwestern Wildcats meager defense. Look for QB Chase Daniel to focus on his main targets, Wide Receiver Jeremy Maclin and Tight End Chase Coffman to get the job done. Missouri is 2-2 straight-up and 3-1 ATS in their last four bowl games, while Northwestern is 0-5 straight-up and 1-4 ATS in its last five.
Missouri Tigers -12½
NBA
Atlanta Hawks -5
Utah Jazz -6½
Johnny Guild
Missouri Tigers vs. Northwestern Wildcats
Missouri has won two of the last three meetings against Northwestern, but they haven't met since 1987. The Tigers are making their fourth straight bowl appearance, 2-2 in bowl games, while Northwestern is 1-5 in its last six.Northwestern Wildcats' so-so defense will have a big task against Missouri Tigers’ high-power offense led by quarterback Chase Daniel. The Tigers are averaging 43.2 points per game and 497.5 total yards per game, Missouri has scored 38 points in each of its last three bowl games. Take the Tigers! The Wildcats don't have the firepower to stay with Missouri.
North Carolina State Wolfpack +7
Missouri Tigers -12.5
Orlando Magic at Detroit Pistons
The Pistons have won seven of the last 10 clashes against the Magic and four of the last five in Detroit, but their supremacy over Orlando won’t be an easy undertaking tonight in the Motor City. The sizzling Magic have blown away every opponent and will try for their eight straight victory when they face the Pistons at the Palace. Detroit is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games, while Orlando is 10-3-1 ATS in its last 14 games on the road.
Orlando Magic -2
NCAAB
Villanova Wildcats -9
Portland St. Vikings +13.5
Drew Gordon
Georgetown at CONNECTICUT -6
While I've heard plenty of people argue against the "battle-tested" theory, which says teams are better prepared for a postseason run when they play "real" competition early on, tonight I'll prove its veracity in this contest.
Besides a neutral court game against Tennessee, in which they lost badly 90-78, the Hoyas have yet to face anyone. And in fact, they've yet to play a "true" road game... They sure picked a hell of a place to kick-off the conference trail! No secret the Huskies are undefeated 11-0, and with wins over Miami-Florida, Wisconsin, and at Gonzaga, they've proven their mettle thus far this season. Although their home numbers are skewed because of weaker comp thus far, there's no doubt Hartford is one of the toughest places to play in all of college hoops. Also of note, the Hoyas are just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 meetings with the Huskies.
From a match up standpoint, the Hoyas bigmen do not match up well with the Huskies frontcourt of Thabeet and Adrien. Want proof? Check out the disparity between the rebounding numbers: Thabeet and Adrien 20+ boards/game ; Summers and Monroe just 9+ boards per game! Not only that, but the Huskies enjoy a huge edge in the shot blocking department with Thabeet's 41 swats!
Finally, looking over the backcourts, these two teams are evenly matched, but the Hoyas penchant for raining down 3s could very well be their downfall in this one. You see, while the Huskies shot the long ball well (Price 43%, Austrie 39%), the Hoyas do not (33%) and the fact they've yet to shoot 3s in hostile territory only means you can expect that number to go slightly down on the unfamiliar court. In the end, it may be tempting to take the Hoyas plus the points, but the play here rests squarely on the home team, as the Huskies protect their house Monday night!
Take Connecticut over Georgetown in this college hoops match up.
3♦ CONNECTICUT
Michael Cannon
Cincinnati +13 at MEMPHIS
Take the points with Cincinnati tonight when they travel to take on Memphis.
The Tigers are still living off last season’s run to the championship game. They have alternated wins and losses in their last four games, going 1-3 ATS.
The Bearcats have rebounded from their 10-point home loss to rival Xavier with four straight wins. In their only true road game this season Cincinnati knocked off UNLV, 67-65 as a 5 ½-point underdog.
Cincinnati is on ATS runs of 4-1 on the road, 9-3 in non-conference action and 5-2 on Mondays.
Memphis is on ATS slides of 3-8 on Mondays, 0-4 against winning teams, 1-4 after a non-cover, 1-4 after a SU win and 1-7 coming off a win of more than 20 points.
Take the points with Cincinnati as they keep this one within the number on the road.
3♦ CINCINNATI
Chris Jordan
Tennessee Tech -2 at UL Monroe
These two already met once this season, and it was Tennessee Tech scoring a 38-point win over the Warhawks, 108-70. Now, because of a change in venue you’re telling me the line changes just by four points? Perhaps the six-point spread in the first meeting was undervalued and tonight the line should be six points.
I know the Golden Eagles are coming in off back-to-back losses, but those setbacks took place at ACC Florida State and at SEC Vanderbilt. This is the Sun Belt’s Louisiana Monroe, which is 3-8 on the year and comes in having lost six of its last seven. Quite frankly, there isn’t enough offense for the Warhawks to challenge this low chalk, as they average a meager 60.5 points per game, compared to Tech’s 73 points per game.
Just as we saw in November, the Golden Eagles are going to run wild on this team and score another blowout win.
2♦ TENNESSEE TECH