Daily Sports Roundup
Thursday, December 31
Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: Oklahoma meets Stanford in the Sun Bowl, while the Rangers face the Hurricanes, and the Mavericks seek a win in Houston.
Colliding on the gridiron . . .
There are five bowl games on the schedule for Thursday, with Houston vs. Air Force in the Armed Forces Bowl, Navy vs. Missouri in the Texas Bowl, Minnesota vs. Iowa State in the Insight Bowl, Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee in the Chick-fil-A Bowl, and Oklahoma vs. Stanford in the Sun Bowl. The Sooners (7-5 SU, 4-6-1 ATS) beat Oklahoma State 27-0 last time out, while the Cardinal (8-4 SU, 7-5 ATS) are coming off a 45-38 win over Notre Dame. Oklahoma is listed as a 10-point favorite for the bowl matchup, with the game's total set at 55.5 points.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The NBA has five games on tap for Thursday, with Chicago at Detroit, Miami at San Antonio, Utah at Oklahoma City, Philadelphia at the Clippers, and Dallas at Houston. The Mavericks improved to 22-9 on the season (16-15 ATS) with a 104-96 win in Denver last time out on Sunday; Drew Gooden had 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench for Dallas in that contest. The Rockets won't have former All-Star Tracy McGrady in the lineup on Thursday, as he's left the team and is waiting for a trade. Houston won 116-108 in Dallas back on December 18.
On the college hardwood there's just one Top-10 team in action on Thursday, with No. 7 Duke playing host to Pennsylvania. However, the day's top matchup has No. 15 Ohio State at No. 23 Wisconsin. The Buckeyes (10-2 SU, 6-6 ATS) had no problem with Cleveland State last time out, rolling to a 72-59 victory behind 30 points from David Lighty. The Badgers (10-2 SU, 6-4 ATS) blasted Illinois-Chicago 79-43 last time out, as Jon Leuer tossed in a team-high 17 points.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
Finally, the NHL offers up a busy slate of 11 games on New Year's Eve, with Montreal at Florida, the Islanders at Ottawa, Nashville at Columbus, Colorado at Detroit, San Jose at Phoenix, Vancouver at St. Louis, Los Angeles at Minnesota, Anaheim at Dallas, New Jersey at Chicago, Edmonton at Calgary, and the Rangers at Carolina. The Rangers won't have forward Vaclav Prospal in the lineup on Thursday; he'll be out for two to three weeks with a knee injury. The Hurricanes fell to 10-22-7 on the year with a 6-3 loss to the Capitals on Monday.
Today's Wagering Tips
Thursday, December 31
Privateer matter
New Orleans could be without its best player for the third consecutive game when the Privateers host Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday.
Leading scorer Billy Humphrey (17.7 ppg) has been hampered by a knee injury and is questionable for the game against the Blue Raiders.
New Orleans has dropped its last two games sans its scoring catalyst, getting blown out by 15 points in each and failing to cover the spread.
The Privateers are 5-point underdogs to the visiting Blue Raiders with a total of 124.5. The over has cashed in the last four matchups of this series.
Why the frown Charlie Brown?
After Tuesday’s 104-87 loss to the Knicks, Pistons forward Charlie Villanueva went off.
"I don't know what it is," said Villanueva, who only played 12 minutes in the game. "I'm not going to suit up so they can monitor my minutes. I'm suiting up because I feel like I can play."
Detroit is still searching for team cohesion as Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince come back into the fold after missing significant time with injuries.
Villanueva is averaging 14.0 points and 5.2 rebounds this season, but has played spotty defense of late and averaged 3.6 ppg in his last five games.
The Pistons are favored by 3.5 at home against the Bulls with a total of 184. Chicago is 8-1-1 ATS in the last 10 games of this series.
Nasty Nashville
The lowly, last-place Blue Jackets will likely add to their miseries when the Predators invade Ohio on Wednesday.
Nashville is 21-2-2 against Columbus since the 2006-07 campaign and has won all three meetings this season.
The Preds will look to get back to winning ways after dropping three of their last four while the Jackets have lost 18 of their last 21 contests.
Surprisingly, Columbus is a -120 favorite with a total of 5.5.
Thunderous applause
Oklahoma City has been an absolute money machine during the last week, going 5-0 ATS in its last five outings including a road win over Phoenix and a road cover versus the Lake Show.
"We're playing pretty decent right now. We can't get complacent," Kevin Durant said. "We know in the back of our heads it's our first four-game winning streak in a couple of years. We're excited about that, but we have to work hard every day."
Oklahoma City's opponent, the Utah Jazz, will be in a back-to-back situation after defeating Minnesota on Tuesday. The Jazz are 3-3 straight up and 4-2 ATS in B2B scenarios this season.
The Thunder opened as 2.5-point home favorites with a total of 198. The over is 8-0 in Utah’s last eight games versus the Northwest Division.
Notable Quotable
“Look here, me and (Darrelle) Revis is better than (Manny) Pacquiao and (Floyd) Mayweather. Period. Case closed. I don't care what anybody is doing Sunday night. If you don't tune in to the game Sunday, you have no life. My friend Darrelle, Master Lock, I call him Master Lock. Master Lock Revis has put a lot of great receivers on him this season. That will not happen this upcoming (week). Darrelle Revis couldn't come at me in a brown paper bag on a corner of a Manhattan street in a phone booth.”
-- Bengals wide receiver Chad Ochocinco on the matchup between him and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis Sunday.