MAC
ball state cardinals (+6)
kent state 1st half (-3.5)
HORIZON
big -- wisconsin-milwaukee panthers (-24.5)
big -- cleveland state vikings over 137
OTHERS
maryland terrapins (+3)
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** ball state **
bgfalcon probably put it best, and perhaps most succinctly: buffalo just is not tough enough to live up to their preseason expectations. theyve proven to be a mediocre chalk at best this season. for all the hype about the bulls, they STILL have not had a dominant home win this year vs. anyone of substance (not counting fairleigh dickinson and colgate and scrubs like that). actually, for some strange reason, theyve actually played very well on the road this year. to me, this game is a complete tossup. both teams can score in bunches and theres all kinds of athletes on both sides. but buffalo has given me no reason to think theyre worthy of laying anything, let alone 6 pts, at home this season.
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** kent state 1st half **
both teams coming off games vs. their biggest rival. kent nipped akron in a low-scoring but well-played game. bg lost to toledo in a low-scoring, sloppy basketball game. bg has really plummeted back down to earth, which was expected. theyve been lame on the road the last month and its gonna be awfully tough for them to get consistent offense against a kent team that has the best home court edge in the conference and has held 4 of their L5 opponents to under 66 pts. flashes have struggled on the road this season, but its the same ol' same ol' at the maac center ---theyre dominating teams. flashes have made me a ton of money in the 1st half at home (not just this year but for pretty much the last 3 or 4 years). they start fast and look to throw an early knockout blow. falcons have struggled in the first half of a lot of their games lately but have pulled games out after authoring some 2nd half magic at home. but if they fall behind kent early on the road, they are done..period.
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** wisconsin-milwaukee **
would definitely advise not being scared away from laying the chalk in this one. think the game is gonna be an absolute bloodbath for ysu. playing uwm on the 2nd leg of the "2-gms in 3 days" road is about the worst thing possible for the penguins. panthers were flat against loyola the other night, so its unlikely theyre gonna be going through the motions saturday night. and i think the fact that ysu covered the 22 pts against uic (losing by 6) actually works against them here, because they expended a lot of energy and came up 6 pts short on the road in chicago. if they were gonna lose, they were almost better of getting blown out so they would have some chance of being fresh in milwaukee. ysu has ONE guy that is good and thats quin humphrey....and he played all 40 minutes against uic the other night. theyre not a deep team and if he is off his game, its gonna get real ugly. ysu pulled a rabbit out of their ass against uic the other night by staying close. but its gonna take a herculean effort to be competitive in this basketball game saturday evening.
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** uic/cleveland state over 137 **
very, very tempted to play the vikings here, but i think the over is the better play. csu has been forced to play halfcourt basketball the last two games against detroit and butler. uic plays good defense at home, but their defense stays in chicago. i think theyre gonna get out and look to run, and csu will happily oblige, as thats far more their style. cedrick banks has had some big games against csu over the course of his career. ive always found it tough to play an under in the horizon on a saturday game after both teams have played on thursday night. the defensive intensity is rarely there.
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** maryland **
im actually really surprised duke is laying points here. figured maryland would open up at -2 or -2.5. terps are the one acc team that doesnt fear duke. theyve gone toe to toe with the devils for about 4 years now. the setup for this game is perfect. duke is coming off their biggest game of the season, and a game where the intensity level was at an all-time high. now they travel to maryland... where the terps have been home and waiting, and its maryland's biggest game of the year so far. its not that im expecting a duke 'letdown' per se, but its gonna be almost impossible for them to match maryland's intensity saturday night. interesting to note that this is the first time in four years that duke is playing a ROAD game after either of the carolina matchups. theyve frequently played a (cupcake) game with clemson in cameron after a matchup with the heels. i was adamant about a duke play the other night. im just as adamant about a maryland play on saturday.
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ball state cardinals (+6)
kent state 1st half (-3.5)
HORIZON
big -- wisconsin-milwaukee panthers (-24.5)
big -- cleveland state vikings over 137
OTHERS
maryland terrapins (+3)
===============================
** ball state **
bgfalcon probably put it best, and perhaps most succinctly: buffalo just is not tough enough to live up to their preseason expectations. theyve proven to be a mediocre chalk at best this season. for all the hype about the bulls, they STILL have not had a dominant home win this year vs. anyone of substance (not counting fairleigh dickinson and colgate and scrubs like that). actually, for some strange reason, theyve actually played very well on the road this year. to me, this game is a complete tossup. both teams can score in bunches and theres all kinds of athletes on both sides. but buffalo has given me no reason to think theyre worthy of laying anything, let alone 6 pts, at home this season.
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** kent state 1st half **
both teams coming off games vs. their biggest rival. kent nipped akron in a low-scoring but well-played game. bg lost to toledo in a low-scoring, sloppy basketball game. bg has really plummeted back down to earth, which was expected. theyve been lame on the road the last month and its gonna be awfully tough for them to get consistent offense against a kent team that has the best home court edge in the conference and has held 4 of their L5 opponents to under 66 pts. flashes have struggled on the road this season, but its the same ol' same ol' at the maac center ---theyre dominating teams. flashes have made me a ton of money in the 1st half at home (not just this year but for pretty much the last 3 or 4 years). they start fast and look to throw an early knockout blow. falcons have struggled in the first half of a lot of their games lately but have pulled games out after authoring some 2nd half magic at home. but if they fall behind kent early on the road, they are done..period.
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** wisconsin-milwaukee **
would definitely advise not being scared away from laying the chalk in this one. think the game is gonna be an absolute bloodbath for ysu. playing uwm on the 2nd leg of the "2-gms in 3 days" road is about the worst thing possible for the penguins. panthers were flat against loyola the other night, so its unlikely theyre gonna be going through the motions saturday night. and i think the fact that ysu covered the 22 pts against uic (losing by 6) actually works against them here, because they expended a lot of energy and came up 6 pts short on the road in chicago. if they were gonna lose, they were almost better of getting blown out so they would have some chance of being fresh in milwaukee. ysu has ONE guy that is good and thats quin humphrey....and he played all 40 minutes against uic the other night. theyre not a deep team and if he is off his game, its gonna get real ugly. ysu pulled a rabbit out of their ass against uic the other night by staying close. but its gonna take a herculean effort to be competitive in this basketball game saturday evening.
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** uic/cleveland state over 137 **
very, very tempted to play the vikings here, but i think the over is the better play. csu has been forced to play halfcourt basketball the last two games against detroit and butler. uic plays good defense at home, but their defense stays in chicago. i think theyre gonna get out and look to run, and csu will happily oblige, as thats far more their style. cedrick banks has had some big games against csu over the course of his career. ive always found it tough to play an under in the horizon on a saturday game after both teams have played on thursday night. the defensive intensity is rarely there.
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** maryland **
im actually really surprised duke is laying points here. figured maryland would open up at -2 or -2.5. terps are the one acc team that doesnt fear duke. theyve gone toe to toe with the devils for about 4 years now. the setup for this game is perfect. duke is coming off their biggest game of the season, and a game where the intensity level was at an all-time high. now they travel to maryland... where the terps have been home and waiting, and its maryland's biggest game of the year so far. its not that im expecting a duke 'letdown' per se, but its gonna be almost impossible for them to match maryland's intensity saturday night. interesting to note that this is the first time in four years that duke is playing a ROAD game after either of the carolina matchups. theyve frequently played a (cupcake) game with clemson in cameron after a matchup with the heels. i was adamant about a duke play the other night. im just as adamant about a maryland play on saturday.
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