Powerplaywins
Boston Celtics -14
Rhode Island -2
Seabass
Steam Play
100*Lakers
Wayne Root
Chairman - Mid Tenn St
Millionaire- Cornell
Insiders Circle- Wake Forest
Billionaire- TCU
David Malinsky
5* Top of the Ticket
AIR FORCE
Erin Rynning
Playmakers
Maryland
Charlotte Bobcats
Sports Firm
Los Angeles Lakers at Philadelphia 76ers - 76ers 8
Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at UL Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns - Under 58
Phoenix Suns at New Orleans Hornets - Under 199
Indiana Hoosiers at Wake Forest Demon Daecons - Under 147
Teddy Covers
Clippers/Rockets Under 188
Tulane -2
NORTHCOAST
Marquee - UL LAF -5
INDIANCOWBOY
Middle Tennessee State +5.5
Take Middle Tennessee State +5.5 over LA Lafayette. Both of these teams are 5-6. Note, that UL Lafayette is 7-4 ATS while Middle Tennessee State is 5-6 ATS similar to their record. Middle Tennessee State has a rock solid quarterback that has thrown for 13 touchdowns and 6 interceptions. Heck, he has thrown for more than 2000 yards as well. UL Lafayette defeated this team last year by a score of 34-24 and they won this game on the highway as well. So, Middle Tennessee obviously looks to return the favor here. In my numbers I have Middle Tennessee State winning this game at a chance of 45% straight up. It seems that these two teams are headed bit in the opposite direction with Middle Tennessee State having won 3 games in a row while UL Lafayette having lost 3 games in a row. I think this is a game that Middle Tennessee could win outright and like the points here. Keep in mind that UL Lafayette is nearly a strictly rushing team that is ranked 5th in the nation in rushing and at times uses 3 quarterbacks for passing. UL is the 5th ranked rushing team in the nation while Middle Tennessee State is the better passing oriented team in the nation. I'll ride the points here for a potential outright win with MT. The road team is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 meetings and the underdog is 5-0 ATS over their last 5 as well.
Toledo +2
Nothing more upsetting than being up 6, and UGA makes a 3 pointer as the clock is running out. Thus, it took a 3 pointer, then Sally missing the front iron of 2 ouf of the four free throws in the closing seconds for us to miss the cover by 1 point. Regardless, the cover shouldn't have been that close to begin with, my apologies on it. We are still up for the college basketball season and we will bounce-back steadily like we've always done. Let's roll. Look, both of these teams are fitting into their roles with new coaches. The once UMASS team that was led by Travis Ford was focused on an incredible offense but now has changed into a defensive mentality with Kellogg. This has led the Minutemen to an early record of 1-4 as they are getting used to this and focusing more and more on defense. UMASS beat this Toledo team by 7 last year when they were much better and now Toledo gets to return the favor. UMASS really only has a star player in Chris Lowe while Toledo has three starters that will carry the load offensively as they have a good crop of returning players under Coach Cross. In short, both teams are learning new offenses here, both teams have new coaches, I will take the home court advantage, revege and of course, the three returning starters with more offensive prowess than the UMASS squad. The Rockets are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 road games while the Minutemen are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games.
Oklahoma City/Charlotte Bobcats Over 192 ( POD )
Oklahoma City seems to have figured some things out as they went on the orad to defeat Memphis and cash on the over. They play a Charlotte team that just defeated the Twovles at home and cashed the cover as well. Note that Oklahoma City has covered 4 of their last 5 but Charlotte has covered it's last 5 straight up. The bottom line for me here is that I think that Oklahoma City will be an active dog here, but having said that, I don't want to wager on them. Thus, I will take my chances with the over as Oklahoma City is one of the bottom rung teams in the league in defense as they are ranked 26th but I do think their win at Memphis says a lot about this team's ability to score putting up 111 points and who is to say that Charlotte will not run and gun with this team? I like the over here as i think Oklahoma City will indeed be an active dog as they have covered 4 of their last 5 and the first quarter will be indicative of what happens this game. If Oklahoma City is able to put up 25 to 28 points in the first quarter, expect this game to go over as Charlotte will play catch up and that pushes this total over.
Scott Spreitzer
25* Middle Tenn
RAS
Richmond over 123.5
Tulsa over 132
Tulane over 129
DR BOB
3 Star Selection
***ORLANDO (-9) over Minnesota
Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy has always been good at getting his teams up for games against bad teams and he's always been good at getting this teams to rebound from a loss. Tonight the Magic are coming off a loss and hosting a bad team. Van Gundy's teams at Miami and Orlando are now 72-46-2 ATS in games following a loss and they are 52-24-4 ATS as a favorite of 5 points or more when rested and facing a team with a losing record. My ratings favor the Magic by 12 points in this game and I'll take Orlando in a 3-Star Best Bet at -10 points or less and for 2-Stars at -10 ½ or -11 points.
2 Star Selection
**Cornell (+18) over SYRACUSE
Syracuse has been very impressive with a 6-0 start that includes victories over Florida and Kansas, but the Orange have let up a bit against weaker teams (0-2 ATS as a double-digit favorite) and Jim Boeheim's teams have always had a tendency to letdown as a home favorite on a win streak. Syracuse is 30-62-2 ATS as a home favorite of 6 points or more following consecutive victories, including just 9-35-2 ATS if their most recent win was by 15 points or more. Cornell, meanwhile, is coming off an upset loss at Indiana, but Steve Donahue's club is 33-13 ATS away from home following a loss and the Big Red apply to a 33-13 ATS big road underdog bounce-back situation. Cornell is a veteran team that hasn't shot the ball as well as they're capable of, but they rarely play poorly in consecutive game and are 2-0 ATS this season after a loss. My ratings favor Syracuse by only 16 points and I'll take Cornell in a 2-Star Best Bet at +17 points or more.
3 Star Selection
Michigan (+6) over MARYLAND
Michigan is an improved team in year two of the John Beilein era (they won just 10 games last season) and they've played well despite making just 28.7% of their 3-point shots. The Wolverines apply to a very strong 94-29-1 ATS early season indicator that I'm 3-1 using so far this season (the one loss was by ½ a point on USF against UCSB when the Gauchos hit a meaningless 3-pointer at the buzzer). My ratings using this years games only would favor Maryland by 5 ½ points, which is where the line opened, but the Terrapins have had some random good luck on their side given that their opponents, who combine to average 67.5% on their free throws, have made just 59.1% from the charity stripe against the Terps. That works out to nearly 2 points a game in random good luck, so I could justify a fair line of Maryland by 4 points in this game. Michigan shoots 79.3% from the line as a team, so Maryland isn't likely to benefit from opponents missed free throws in this game. I'll take Michigan in a 3-Star Best Bet at +5 points or more and for 2-Stars at +4 ½ or +4 points.
3 Star Selection
NORTHWESTERN (-2) over Florida State
Northwestern had a horrible 8 win campaign in 2007-08, but the Wildcats are a much improved team this season and they aren't getting the respect that they deserve. Northwestern is shooting 49% from the field while holding their opponents to 39% shooting and I have them rated as the 43rd best team in the nation even after throwing out their 81-39 opening night blowout win over a bad Central Arkansas team. Florida State is coming off a couple of solid wins in Las Vegas over Cincinnati and Cal, but I rate the Seminoles a bit below Northwestern even after tossing out their lackluster performances in home games against bad teams Coastal Carolina and Western Illinois. I would get Northwestern by 12 ½ points in this game if I included every game for each team equally (compensated for the strength of opponent and site, of course), but Florida State obviously letdown in their home games against bad teams and Northwestern did just the opposite. However, using only games against quality teams still results in my ratings favor Northwestern by 4 ½ points, which I think is a fair line in this game. In addition to the line value the Wildcats apply to a very good 106-41-1 ATS early season indicator that is 34-8 ATS when applying to home teams. I'll take Northwestern in a 3-Star Best Bet at -4 points or less and for 2-Stars at -4 ½ or -5 points.
2 Star Selection
**BOISE STATE (-3 ½) over Wyoming
Boise State played one horrible game this season, a 30 point loss at Siena, that has dragged down their average game rating while Wyoming has had one big win (by 26 points over Bakersfield) that has skewed their average rating higher. Boise has gone 3-0 straight up and 2-0 ATS since losing to Siena an Wyoming has had 3 close home wins over bad division 1 teams since their opening route of Bakersfield. My ratings dampen the affect of outliers and I favor Boise State by 5 ½ points in this game. In addition to the line value, Boise State applies to a 91-32-6 ATS subset of a 210-123-10 ATS non-conference home team momentum situation. I'll take Boise State in a 2-Star Best Bet at -5 points or less.
Wednesday College Opinions
HOFSTRA (-13) over Fordham
Fordham under-performed last season with 5 returning starters and this year's Rams squad is among the worst teams in the nation with a brand new cast of losers. The Rams have lost their 5 games by an average of 17.6 points despite facing a pretty easy schedule that is actually about 8 points easier than what they face tonight visiting Hofstra. Fordham is only 18-39-2 ATS under coach Dereck Whittenburg as an underdog of more than 2 points away from home and I'll favor Hofstra to cover what looks like a pretty low number.
OHIO (-1 ½) over Tulsa
Ohio is 25-4 ATS in their last 29 home games when not favored by more than 3 points, as their great straight up record at Convocation Center has been just as much due to beat good teams as it has been beating bad teams. That trend may change with a new head coach this season, but Ohio covered the spread in their only home game this season and they're playing well so far this season. I'll lean with the Bobcats at -3 or less and I'll keep my eye on how this trend performs under a new head man.
GEORGIA TECH (-7) over Penn State
Georgia Tech applies to a 43-14-1 ATS subset of a 125-57-3 ATS situation tonight, but my ratings only favor the Yellow Jackets by 6 points in this game and I'm not in the habit of giving up a point of line value to force a Best Bet. The line has already come down from the opening number of 8 points, but I'll just lean with Georgia Tech at -7 or -6 ½ and I'd take Georgia Tech in a 2-Star Best Bet at -6 points or less.
AIR FORCE (-8 ½) over Northern Illinois
Playing in high altitude is an advantage for Air Force against teams from sea-level, especially non-conference opponents that aren't used to the thin air. Air Force hasn't been much better than 50% overall at home, but the Falcons apply to a very good 213-111-6 ATS high-altitude home team angle that is 32-9 ATS if the home team has revenge against a non-conference opponent. Northern Illinois is a horrible team, but Air Force hasn't played well this season either and my ratings only favor the Falcons by 7 points in this game. I'm hoping the line comes down a bit, but I'll lean with Air Force at -8 or less and I'd take Air Force in a 2-Star Best Bet at -7 points or less.
Siena (-8) over LOYOLA MARYLAND
Siena returned all 5 starters from last year's 23-11 team, but the Saints are mysteriously shooting just 27% from 3-point range this year after knocking down 38% from beyond the arc last season. Even with the poor outside shooting my ratings still favor Siena by 8 points using this year's games only and the Saints have been particularly good on the road under coach Fran McCaffery, going 28-11 ATS on the road (5-0 ATS as a favorite of 5 or more), including 21-5 ATS in conference road games. Siena is also 24-8 ATS after a loss under McCaffery (although 0-2 in that role this year) and I expect the Saints to be well focused for this game after suffering 3 losses in 4 days in Orlando last week. Siena is 14-1 ATS on the road after a loss and Loyola Maryland is just 12-20-1 ATS at home (compared to 27-13-1 ATS on the road). I'll lean with Siena based on the teams trends
DR COGLYE WEST
CBB
4* MSU/UNC under 168
4* Ga Tech -6.5
NHL
4* DAL/EDM OVER 5.5
Adam Meyer
2* Ducks
3* Utah under 199
3* BYU -9
3* San Fran -4.5
RAS
Richmond over 123.5
Tulsa over 132
Tulane over 129
UNLV over 138.5