07:35 PM NBA [506] TOTAL u210.5 -110 (Sacramento Kings vrs Boston Celtics)
07:35 PM NBA [507] TOTAL o211-110 (Minnesota Timberwolves vrs New York Knicks)
08:00 PM CBB [521] Saint Johns -5-110
07:00 PM CBB Added Game [533] Iona -1.5 -110
09:05 PM NHL [1] Minnesota Wild -151
10:35 PM NHL [4] San Jose Sharks -130
09:00 PM CFB [305] TOTAL o55-110 (Colorado vrs Washington University)
09:00 PM CFB [306] Washington University -8-110
1 unit bet pays 141 ....betdsi line
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast: :SIB:em71:
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
I keep trying to give the Timberwolves the benefit of the doubt and expect a turnaround and it just doesn't happen. Meanwhile, the Knicks are playing their best ball of the season and are looking more and more like a playoff team. Minnesota has to remain a fade team until it proves it can start winning games with all that talent. Give me the Knicks at home and the small line.
Washington @ San Antonio
Pick: Washington +10
Despite the retirement of Tim Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs continue to march on as an elite team in the NBA, starting the season 15-4. There are some signs, however, that the margin for error with this team is a lot thinner than it has been in past seasons. The Spurs' long domination in the NBA has them overpriced, and it has shown up of late. In their last seven games as a -85 point favorite or more, the Spurs have redeemed a result of 1-6 ATS. The Wizards have gotten off to a woeful 6-11 start, but this team has underachieved, and going against the Spurs might be the energizing factor they need to play up to their capacity, while the Spurs have not responded this season.
Clippers at Pelicans
Pick: Pelicans
The Cleveland Cavaliers decided not to show up for Thursday's game and the Clippers took full advantage with a 113-94 win which snapped a three-game losing streak. J.J. Redick scored 23 points and Blake Griffin dished out 11 assists as the Clippers held Cleveland to 40.6 percent shooting. Los Angeles is playing its sixth road game in a row and fifth in eight days which might be asking a lot against New Orleans, which has won five straight home games. The Pelicans are 7-2 ATS their last nine games overall and come off a 105-88 win over the Lakers on Tuesday giving them two days rest while the Clippers go back-to-back. Anthony Davis poured in 41 points with 16 rebounds and Jrue Holiday added 22 points against the Lakers. The Clippers are on a 2-9 ATS slide and just 5-16 ATS their last 21 games in New Orleans.
Hawks -3?
I think we are getting some great value here with Atlanta as a small home favorite against the Pistons. I know the Hawks haven't been all that impressive of late, as they are just 1-7 in their last 8 games, but a lot of that has to do with a tough schedule during this stretch. Of those 8 games, 7 came on the road, where Atlanta is just 4-7. Now they return home where they are 6-2 both SU and ATS and are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder, as they desperately need a win to get back on track.
Detroit is certainly getting a lot of love right now, as the Pistons enter winners of 4 of their last 5, including back-to-back road wins over the Hornets (112-89) and Celtics (121-114). The key here is that the Pistons are in prime position for a letdown. This is the final game of a short 4-game road trip, so they could be looking ahead to getting home for the weekend. On top of that, they can't have a whole lot left in the tank. This will be the Pistons 3rd road game in the last 4 days and have had to travel from Charlotte to Boston to Atlanta. It's also their 5th game in the last 8 days overall.
Even with the outright road wins over Charlotte and Boston as dogs, Detroit is still just 3-8 SU and 3-8 ATS on the road this season. Adding to this is a great system backing a fade of the Pistons given their current spot. Teams off back-to-back upset wins as a road dog, who are playing at least their 6th game in the last 10 days are just 7-28 (20%) ATS over the last 5 seasons.
Bulls +2?
I'm going to back the Bulls as a small home dog against the Cavs Friday. While Chicago comes in with a record of just 10-7 compared to Cleveland at 13-4, these two are more evenly matched than you might think. The Cavs are 3rd in scoring margin at +6.0 ppg, but right behind them are the Bulls in 4th at +5.6 ppg. Cleveland clearly is in a funk right now, as they followed up an ugly loss at Milwaukee with another poor showing at home against the Clippers. Now they are on the road in the 2nd game of a back-to-back set and playing their 3rd game in the last 4 days overall. Chicago laid an egg last time out against the Lakers, as they came out flat after a 4-day break, which followed a 6-game road trip. I expect an all out effort here in their first game against the defending champs.
DENVER -4? over Houston
This is a prime situational spot play on the Denver Nuggets, who own the last three victories between these two teams. However, the selling point here is not Denver?s recent dominance in this series or the fact they feature some prolific talent on their roster in Emmanuelle Mudiay, Will Barton and Danilo Gallinari. No, we are targeting Houston because of their double overtime victory against Golden State at the Oracle Center last night.
Golden State draws a lot of attention, especially on Thursday night as part of a TV double-header. Houston came into last night?s game as a double-digit road pooch but played their hearts out for 58 minutes and when it was over they celebrated like it was the final game of a seven-game series. It would be completely unreasonable to expect the Rockets to bring that same intensity here. One can only imagine the exhilaration that the Rockets felt after defeating the greatest show in sports on their home court. The Rockets will now travel to another time zone to go against an outfit entering on an extra day?s rest and the plane ride to Denver was also likely filled with celebration and cheer. This has to be considered one of the more difficult spots of the season so far. The NBA season is long and grueling and there are absolutely going to be flat spots for every single team. The Rockets put everything they had into last night?s game and will have little in the tank here while the Nuggets are geared up to put forth a strong effort, which in all likelihood will result in Denver putting this emotionally spent intruder away in the second half.
Under is 2-0-2 in Canadiens last 4 vs. Western Conference....Under is 11-2-3 in Sharks last 16 games following a win..The Under is 14-4-6 in their last 24 home games....Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
The under is 4-0 in the Crimson Tide?s last four overall, 4-0 in their last four non-conference contests..The under is also 15-5-1 in the Longhorns? last 21 overall, 5-1-1 in their last seven at home, 5-1 in their last six against the SEC..
Colorado vs Washington
Play: Washington -7
The ole adage that ?the more things change the more they say the same? doesn?t apply to the 2016 Pac-12 Conference Championship game. Since the Pac-12 Conference initiated their league title contest, in 2011, the only two teams to represent the North Division have been Oregon or Stanford. The South, however, has seen a different school each and every season. This year, neither Oregon or Stanford are part of the event but the contest this Saturday should be intriguing to say the least.
Colorado (10-2) won its first South Division title and Washington (11-1) will represent the North. It is of my opinion, that if Washington comes away the victor in this title affair, they will in fact hold their current No. #4 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and face Alabama in the No #1 versus No #4 seed semi-final game on December 31st. This of course is dependent on Clemson winning their ACC Title game against Virginia Tech.
Washington was the preseason favorite according to the Finn Factor charts to represent the league?s best chance at being a part of the Final Four and that scenario has a chance to play itself out. The Huskies neither played their way out of the playoff pool by dropping their first game of the season, three weekends ago, to upstart USC. But Chris Petersen?s squad rebounded from the loss to the Trojans by dismantling Arizona State and then winning the acclaimed Apple Cub a last weekend over ranked Washington State, in a contest that wasn?t close, with the Huskies putting a 45-17 butt kicking on the Cougars.
The Buffaloes outplayed their preseason projections and while they were not expected to win the South it would be a mistake to completely sleep on the Buffaloes. The school from Boulder closed the season with six straight victories, and their only conference loss was on the road to USC, a common loss for both of the Pac 12 Championship game representatives. Buffs bench boss Mike MacIntyre and his squad closed the season out with a hard fought 27-22 win over the Utah Utes.
These two schools haven?t squared off in two years. The last meeting between the two saw Washington come out on top by a 38-23 margin in Boulder. This is a good Colorado team and much of the credit for the return of quality football in Colorado should go to coach MacIntyre. This is a team that is balance on both sides of the ball but the current talent base for the Buffs is more heartfelt than talent laden. The roster can be as physical as any team in the country but they don?t? have the necessary speed and skilled players to keep pace with the Washington troupe.
The Huskies are not as physical as the Buffaloes but what they bring to the field is explosiveness on offense and speed on defense. The Washington Huskies are worthy of their chance to play in the 2016-17 Final Four and their staff will have them prepared to not only win on Saturday, but do so in an impressive fashion, leaving no doubt that Michigan should remain the No #5 team in the rankings with the Huskies representing the best of the ?West of the Mississippi? in a game against the Crimson Tide on New Year?s Eve. Coach Petersen and his huskies home run capabilities on offense and their speed on defense trump the Colorado physicality and balance. Not only can the Huskies defense their side of the field they have had executed an average of nearly two plays per game this season be it from their offense, defense or exceptional special teams, of 40 yards or more.
While these two teams are not exactly the identical player personnel that represent the below trends Washington has been better in the latter part of the regular season over the last half decade.
The Buffaloes are 2-5 in their last seven December game while the Huskies are 6-1 over the same time period. And the favorite is a perfect 4-0 against the spread the last four times these two schools have met on the gridiron and overall Colorado is 0-6 ATS the last six times the two have met in Pac-12 play.
Ignore the media hype concerning some of the Washington defenders. Washington wins this game with a successful running attack and play action passes resulting in yet another handful of big plays that Colorado is unable to overcome.
Colorado vs Washington
Play: Under 57.5
If you had these two teams meeting in the Pac-12 Championship this season you would be the only one. Many did pick Washington to win the Pac-12 North, however the media did have them second, but the media had Colorado projected last in the South as did most pre-season publications.
The Pac-12 Championship is in its 6th season with the game being held on the campus of one of the participants the first 3 years it moved to Levi Stadium, home of the SF 49ers, in 2014. This is the first appearance for both of these teams and only the second time in 6 years that both teams were ranked in the AP top 10 (Oregon #3, Arizona #8 in ?14)
As of Monday evening Washington was a 7 point favorite with an O/U line of 57.5. The Huskies are 6-6 ATS on the year but only finished 2-4 ATS their last 6 while the Buffaloes went 9-3 ATS. Washington was 8-4 O/U this year but went UNDER each of their final 3 games while Colorado went 5-7 O/U.
Three of the teams units are in my top 10 rankings as UW has my #4 offense and #10 defense with the CU having my #29 offense and #7 defense. Both teams went 8-1 on conference action and each team?s loss came against USC. Washington?s eight wins were all by 7 or more points and they scored 31 or more points in each victory. Colorado had 3 wins by a total of 11 points and their defense clearly led the way as that unit allowed only 16 PPG their last 8.
The early forecast calls for temperatures in the high 40?s or low 50?s and winds can always be in issue in the Bay Area. With two top 10 defenses the UNDER is the way to go. The Huskies have more playmakers but they also slow the pace when playing an upper echelon defense as their offense ran 62 plays versus Stanford, 56 plays at Utah, 64 plays versus USC and 66 plays last week versus Washington St. Colorado?s offense has been far from explosive and in their last 4 games they have averaged 3.6, 5.3, 6.0 and 4.6 yards/play. Expect a close game with both offense?s being conservative as they learn to handle this big stage.
OHIO +17 over Western Michigan
Yes, we realize how impressive Western Michigan has been this season, but this line is way too high. Ohio U is a very difficult team to blowout. All four of its losses this year were by single digits, and they come in with a 3-1 record as an underdog and 5-1 ATS in their last six games as a double-digit dog in conference play. Western Michigan is 8-3 ATS as a favorite this year, but just 2-2 when the line is 10 or more. The MAC Championship Game has also not been very good to power teams, as favorites of more than 7 points points in this game are just 1-5 ATS and teams that enter with an undefeated record have lost two of three straight up and are 0-3 ATS. ?Closer than the experts think!? Take the Bobcats.
Niagara / Marist Over 147.5
I could be way off on this, but I don't think so. In this game, I don't think the pace will be awesome, and rather than looking at how these teams score, I looked at how the defend, which is HORRID. In their last game against UMass Lowell, Marist let a bad and smaller team shoot 55% from the floor and actually out-rebound them. On the upside, Marist hasn't been turning the ball over, so as we say, more meaningful possessions. They're a bad offensive rebounding team, and Niagra will run off misses. Marist HAS been getting to the FT line and is shooting almost 75% from it - so those are all good things. Niagra gave up 80 to North Texas and scored 93 against Drexel. Niagra can shoot the three and also gets to the line a fair amount, and THEY have protected the ball well - and equally important haven't been turning people over on defense. So, there are lots of ways, including late free throws, for this to get there. Barring a brick-throwing contest, which is always possible in MAAC games - we should get this. And of course it IS the first Conference game, so there won't (shouldn't) be any lack of effort by either team. These Friday/Sunday MAAC games can present great opportunities going forward, as the rematches and quick look-aheads tend to carry more weight for me.
I love the way Alabama true freshman Braxton Key has gotten comfortable in his first season with 'Bama, as he already leads the Tide in points per game (10.7) while ranking second on the team in field-goal percentage (61.5 percent), 3-point shooting (61.5 percent, 8 of 13) and blocks (6).
Alabama steps to the wood tonight ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense (60 ppg. allowed) and 25th in turnover margin (+4).
What might be most impressive about this team is the reserves, who are averaging 33 points per game and are outscoring their opponents' bench by an average of 18 points per contest.
On the flipside, we have a Texas team that opened the campaign ranked No. 21 in the nation, but comes into this tussle with 'Bama after losing three straight games. It doesn't get any easier, as the Tide will roll.
Take the road pup.
2* ALABAMA
07:35 PM NBA [507] TOTAL o211-110 (Minnesota Timberwolves vrs New York Knicks)
08:00 PM CBB [521] Saint Johns -5-110
07:00 PM CBB Added Game [533] Iona -1.5 -110
09:05 PM NHL [1] Minnesota Wild -151
10:35 PM NHL [4] San Jose Sharks -130
09:00 PM CFB [305] TOTAL o55-110 (Colorado vrs Washington University)
09:00 PM CFB [306] Washington University -8-110
1 unit bet pays 141 ....betdsi line
Goood luck everyone!! :firing: :toast: :SIB:em71:
ripped, cut and pasted, otherwise written by others, from across the internets:
I keep trying to give the Timberwolves the benefit of the doubt and expect a turnaround and it just doesn't happen. Meanwhile, the Knicks are playing their best ball of the season and are looking more and more like a playoff team. Minnesota has to remain a fade team until it proves it can start winning games with all that talent. Give me the Knicks at home and the small line.
Washington @ San Antonio
Pick: Washington +10
Despite the retirement of Tim Duncan, the San Antonio Spurs continue to march on as an elite team in the NBA, starting the season 15-4. There are some signs, however, that the margin for error with this team is a lot thinner than it has been in past seasons. The Spurs' long domination in the NBA has them overpriced, and it has shown up of late. In their last seven games as a -85 point favorite or more, the Spurs have redeemed a result of 1-6 ATS. The Wizards have gotten off to a woeful 6-11 start, but this team has underachieved, and going against the Spurs might be the energizing factor they need to play up to their capacity, while the Spurs have not responded this season.
Clippers at Pelicans
Pick: Pelicans
The Cleveland Cavaliers decided not to show up for Thursday's game and the Clippers took full advantage with a 113-94 win which snapped a three-game losing streak. J.J. Redick scored 23 points and Blake Griffin dished out 11 assists as the Clippers held Cleveland to 40.6 percent shooting. Los Angeles is playing its sixth road game in a row and fifth in eight days which might be asking a lot against New Orleans, which has won five straight home games. The Pelicans are 7-2 ATS their last nine games overall and come off a 105-88 win over the Lakers on Tuesday giving them two days rest while the Clippers go back-to-back. Anthony Davis poured in 41 points with 16 rebounds and Jrue Holiday added 22 points against the Lakers. The Clippers are on a 2-9 ATS slide and just 5-16 ATS their last 21 games in New Orleans.
Hawks -3?
I think we are getting some great value here with Atlanta as a small home favorite against the Pistons. I know the Hawks haven't been all that impressive of late, as they are just 1-7 in their last 8 games, but a lot of that has to do with a tough schedule during this stretch. Of those 8 games, 7 came on the road, where Atlanta is just 4-7. Now they return home where they are 6-2 both SU and ATS and are going to come out with a chip on their shoulder, as they desperately need a win to get back on track.
Detroit is certainly getting a lot of love right now, as the Pistons enter winners of 4 of their last 5, including back-to-back road wins over the Hornets (112-89) and Celtics (121-114). The key here is that the Pistons are in prime position for a letdown. This is the final game of a short 4-game road trip, so they could be looking ahead to getting home for the weekend. On top of that, they can't have a whole lot left in the tank. This will be the Pistons 3rd road game in the last 4 days and have had to travel from Charlotte to Boston to Atlanta. It's also their 5th game in the last 8 days overall.
Even with the outright road wins over Charlotte and Boston as dogs, Detroit is still just 3-8 SU and 3-8 ATS on the road this season. Adding to this is a great system backing a fade of the Pistons given their current spot. Teams off back-to-back upset wins as a road dog, who are playing at least their 6th game in the last 10 days are just 7-28 (20%) ATS over the last 5 seasons.
Bulls +2?
I'm going to back the Bulls as a small home dog against the Cavs Friday. While Chicago comes in with a record of just 10-7 compared to Cleveland at 13-4, these two are more evenly matched than you might think. The Cavs are 3rd in scoring margin at +6.0 ppg, but right behind them are the Bulls in 4th at +5.6 ppg. Cleveland clearly is in a funk right now, as they followed up an ugly loss at Milwaukee with another poor showing at home against the Clippers. Now they are on the road in the 2nd game of a back-to-back set and playing their 3rd game in the last 4 days overall. Chicago laid an egg last time out against the Lakers, as they came out flat after a 4-day break, which followed a 6-game road trip. I expect an all out effort here in their first game against the defending champs.
DENVER -4? over Houston
This is a prime situational spot play on the Denver Nuggets, who own the last three victories between these two teams. However, the selling point here is not Denver?s recent dominance in this series or the fact they feature some prolific talent on their roster in Emmanuelle Mudiay, Will Barton and Danilo Gallinari. No, we are targeting Houston because of their double overtime victory against Golden State at the Oracle Center last night.
Golden State draws a lot of attention, especially on Thursday night as part of a TV double-header. Houston came into last night?s game as a double-digit road pooch but played their hearts out for 58 minutes and when it was over they celebrated like it was the final game of a seven-game series. It would be completely unreasonable to expect the Rockets to bring that same intensity here. One can only imagine the exhilaration that the Rockets felt after defeating the greatest show in sports on their home court. The Rockets will now travel to another time zone to go against an outfit entering on an extra day?s rest and the plane ride to Denver was also likely filled with celebration and cheer. This has to be considered one of the more difficult spots of the season so far. The NBA season is long and grueling and there are absolutely going to be flat spots for every single team. The Rockets put everything they had into last night?s game and will have little in the tank here while the Nuggets are geared up to put forth a strong effort, which in all likelihood will result in Denver putting this emotionally spent intruder away in the second half.
Under is 2-0-2 in Canadiens last 4 vs. Western Conference....Under is 11-2-3 in Sharks last 16 games following a win..The Under is 14-4-6 in their last 24 home games....Under is 5-1 in the last 6 meetings.
The under is 4-0 in the Crimson Tide?s last four overall, 4-0 in their last four non-conference contests..The under is also 15-5-1 in the Longhorns? last 21 overall, 5-1-1 in their last seven at home, 5-1 in their last six against the SEC..
Colorado vs Washington
Play: Washington -7
The ole adage that ?the more things change the more they say the same? doesn?t apply to the 2016 Pac-12 Conference Championship game. Since the Pac-12 Conference initiated their league title contest, in 2011, the only two teams to represent the North Division have been Oregon or Stanford. The South, however, has seen a different school each and every season. This year, neither Oregon or Stanford are part of the event but the contest this Saturday should be intriguing to say the least.
Colorado (10-2) won its first South Division title and Washington (11-1) will represent the North. It is of my opinion, that if Washington comes away the victor in this title affair, they will in fact hold their current No. #4 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings and face Alabama in the No #1 versus No #4 seed semi-final game on December 31st. This of course is dependent on Clemson winning their ACC Title game against Virginia Tech.
Washington was the preseason favorite according to the Finn Factor charts to represent the league?s best chance at being a part of the Final Four and that scenario has a chance to play itself out. The Huskies neither played their way out of the playoff pool by dropping their first game of the season, three weekends ago, to upstart USC. But Chris Petersen?s squad rebounded from the loss to the Trojans by dismantling Arizona State and then winning the acclaimed Apple Cub a last weekend over ranked Washington State, in a contest that wasn?t close, with the Huskies putting a 45-17 butt kicking on the Cougars.
The Buffaloes outplayed their preseason projections and while they were not expected to win the South it would be a mistake to completely sleep on the Buffaloes. The school from Boulder closed the season with six straight victories, and their only conference loss was on the road to USC, a common loss for both of the Pac 12 Championship game representatives. Buffs bench boss Mike MacIntyre and his squad closed the season out with a hard fought 27-22 win over the Utah Utes.
These two schools haven?t squared off in two years. The last meeting between the two saw Washington come out on top by a 38-23 margin in Boulder. This is a good Colorado team and much of the credit for the return of quality football in Colorado should go to coach MacIntyre. This is a team that is balance on both sides of the ball but the current talent base for the Buffs is more heartfelt than talent laden. The roster can be as physical as any team in the country but they don?t? have the necessary speed and skilled players to keep pace with the Washington troupe.
The Huskies are not as physical as the Buffaloes but what they bring to the field is explosiveness on offense and speed on defense. The Washington Huskies are worthy of their chance to play in the 2016-17 Final Four and their staff will have them prepared to not only win on Saturday, but do so in an impressive fashion, leaving no doubt that Michigan should remain the No #5 team in the rankings with the Huskies representing the best of the ?West of the Mississippi? in a game against the Crimson Tide on New Year?s Eve. Coach Petersen and his huskies home run capabilities on offense and their speed on defense trump the Colorado physicality and balance. Not only can the Huskies defense their side of the field they have had executed an average of nearly two plays per game this season be it from their offense, defense or exceptional special teams, of 40 yards or more.
While these two teams are not exactly the identical player personnel that represent the below trends Washington has been better in the latter part of the regular season over the last half decade.
The Buffaloes are 2-5 in their last seven December game while the Huskies are 6-1 over the same time period. And the favorite is a perfect 4-0 against the spread the last four times these two schools have met on the gridiron and overall Colorado is 0-6 ATS the last six times the two have met in Pac-12 play.
Ignore the media hype concerning some of the Washington defenders. Washington wins this game with a successful running attack and play action passes resulting in yet another handful of big plays that Colorado is unable to overcome.
Colorado vs Washington
Play: Under 57.5
If you had these two teams meeting in the Pac-12 Championship this season you would be the only one. Many did pick Washington to win the Pac-12 North, however the media did have them second, but the media had Colorado projected last in the South as did most pre-season publications.
The Pac-12 Championship is in its 6th season with the game being held on the campus of one of the participants the first 3 years it moved to Levi Stadium, home of the SF 49ers, in 2014. This is the first appearance for both of these teams and only the second time in 6 years that both teams were ranked in the AP top 10 (Oregon #3, Arizona #8 in ?14)
As of Monday evening Washington was a 7 point favorite with an O/U line of 57.5. The Huskies are 6-6 ATS on the year but only finished 2-4 ATS their last 6 while the Buffaloes went 9-3 ATS. Washington was 8-4 O/U this year but went UNDER each of their final 3 games while Colorado went 5-7 O/U.
Three of the teams units are in my top 10 rankings as UW has my #4 offense and #10 defense with the CU having my #29 offense and #7 defense. Both teams went 8-1 on conference action and each team?s loss came against USC. Washington?s eight wins were all by 7 or more points and they scored 31 or more points in each victory. Colorado had 3 wins by a total of 11 points and their defense clearly led the way as that unit allowed only 16 PPG their last 8.
The early forecast calls for temperatures in the high 40?s or low 50?s and winds can always be in issue in the Bay Area. With two top 10 defenses the UNDER is the way to go. The Huskies have more playmakers but they also slow the pace when playing an upper echelon defense as their offense ran 62 plays versus Stanford, 56 plays at Utah, 64 plays versus USC and 66 plays last week versus Washington St. Colorado?s offense has been far from explosive and in their last 4 games they have averaged 3.6, 5.3, 6.0 and 4.6 yards/play. Expect a close game with both offense?s being conservative as they learn to handle this big stage.
OHIO +17 over Western Michigan
Yes, we realize how impressive Western Michigan has been this season, but this line is way too high. Ohio U is a very difficult team to blowout. All four of its losses this year were by single digits, and they come in with a 3-1 record as an underdog and 5-1 ATS in their last six games as a double-digit dog in conference play. Western Michigan is 8-3 ATS as a favorite this year, but just 2-2 when the line is 10 or more. The MAC Championship Game has also not been very good to power teams, as favorites of more than 7 points points in this game are just 1-5 ATS and teams that enter with an undefeated record have lost two of three straight up and are 0-3 ATS. ?Closer than the experts think!? Take the Bobcats.
Niagara / Marist Over 147.5
I could be way off on this, but I don't think so. In this game, I don't think the pace will be awesome, and rather than looking at how these teams score, I looked at how the defend, which is HORRID. In their last game against UMass Lowell, Marist let a bad and smaller team shoot 55% from the floor and actually out-rebound them. On the upside, Marist hasn't been turning the ball over, so as we say, more meaningful possessions. They're a bad offensive rebounding team, and Niagra will run off misses. Marist HAS been getting to the FT line and is shooting almost 75% from it - so those are all good things. Niagra gave up 80 to North Texas and scored 93 against Drexel. Niagra can shoot the three and also gets to the line a fair amount, and THEY have protected the ball well - and equally important haven't been turning people over on defense. So, there are lots of ways, including late free throws, for this to get there. Barring a brick-throwing contest, which is always possible in MAAC games - we should get this. And of course it IS the first Conference game, so there won't (shouldn't) be any lack of effort by either team. These Friday/Sunday MAAC games can present great opportunities going forward, as the rematches and quick look-aheads tend to carry more weight for me.
I love the way Alabama true freshman Braxton Key has gotten comfortable in his first season with 'Bama, as he already leads the Tide in points per game (10.7) while ranking second on the team in field-goal percentage (61.5 percent), 3-point shooting (61.5 percent, 8 of 13) and blocks (6).
Alabama steps to the wood tonight ranked 21st in the nation in scoring defense (60 ppg. allowed) and 25th in turnover margin (+4).
What might be most impressive about this team is the reserves, who are averaging 33 points per game and are outscoring their opponents' bench by an average of 18 points per contest.
On the flipside, we have a Texas team that opened the campaign ranked No. 21 in the nation, but comes into this tussle with 'Bama after losing three straight games. It doesn't get any easier, as the Tide will roll.
Take the road pup.
2* ALABAMA
