12-28-11

[Mr. IWS]

JACK HOWARD

California +4 Over Texas 25 Dimes
Texas really struggled to finish the season this year losing three out of four and averaging only 16 PPG during that span. Meanwhile, the Golden Bears gained momentum entering their post season as they won three out of four, with their only loss being to Stanford by three. Cal's Zach Maynard and Isi Sofele are the primary reason for their late season success, and expect them to carry them again this evening.
Prediction: 27-21 California


Toledo/Air Force Over 71 15 Dimes
Both teams are more than capable of lighting of the scoreboard in this match-up. Toledo is first in the MAC in scoring at 42.3 PPG, and Air Force is third in the MWC at 34.4 PPG, trailing only Boise St. and TCU. Defensively, both teams have showed they are prone to surrendering points as Toledo is ranked 89th in points against, and Air Force is 65th. Look for a lot of offense in Washington D.C. this evening.

Toledo -3 Over Air Force 10 Dimes

[Mr. IWS]

APPLE HANDICAPPERS
Christy Meadow
3* Ipfw/South Dakota State Over 160
3* Toledo-3.5 Over Airforce
3* Cleveland Cavs/Detroit Pistons Under 188

[Mr. IWS]

ATS Consultants - NHL

3* Kings / Chicago o5.5 (+120)
3* San Jose -125 over Vancouver

[Mr. IWS]

11th hour Sports

NCAAF Toledo -2 1st half
NCAAF Toledo -3.5 game

[Mr. IWS]

California Sports Hoops Plays

NBA:
Phil/Phoenix UNDER 196.5

CBB:
744 SMU +4.5 Okl St ----6:30 START
752 George Washington -3.5 UAB
761 Missouri St +10 Creighton
773/74 UConn/USF UNDER 120.5

[Mr. IWS]

D eano

15 UNITS CBB Columbia -3

[Mr. IWS]

Friends of Mike Lee

3* Cleveland / Detroit Under 188.5

[Mr. IWS]

SB Professor

PASSING Holiday Bowl out in San Diego.

224. Texas -3 (line is -3.5 but system recommends buying the half point here)

[Mr. IWS]

Jimmy Boyd

3* Washington Wizards +9½
3* Utah Jazz +12-107

[Mr. IWS]

Billy Coleman

4* Indiana St -1.5

[Mr. IWS]

Info Plays

7* Memphis Grizzlies +2

[Mr. IWS]

ER SPORTS

10* NBA Top Total Wednesday
WASHING/ATLANTA OVER 185.5

[Mr. IWS]

David Banks

Wednesday, December 28, 2011 (8pm ET)

California Golden Bears vs. Texas Longhorns

The Holiday Bowl once again presents CFB bettors with a solid match-up when the Pac-12 rep and up and coming California Golden Bears (7-5, 7-5 ATS) collide with the Big 12 rep Texas Longhorns (7-5, 6-6 ATS); kick-off from Qualcomm Stadium is slated for an 8:00 ET start on ESPN & ESPN3.com.

After a one-year hiatus from the bowl season, the California Golden Bears once again find themselves in the second season under the watchful eye of head coach Jeff Tedford. At the outset of the 2011-12 season, Cal looked as if it would be a major player in the Pac-12 after disposing of Fresno State, Colorado and Presbyterian by the aggregate score of 135-66. Unfortunately, that premise was quickly shot down in Week 4 when the Golden Bears fell at Washington 31-23 as 1.5-point road chalk. After their Week 5 bye, Cal was then portrayed as a pretender after it got rolled up and smoked by both Oregon and USC in successive weeks. However, that Thursday night beat down at the hands of the Trojans was just the elixir this squad needed to get back to playing the type of winning ball it exhibited at the beginning of the season. Save for a head scratching 31-14 defeat at UCLA, the Golden Bears went on to cover five of their last six games which included taking Stanford down to the wire before ousting Arizona State in the teams regular season finale in the desert. Overall, Cal checks in 2-4 SU & ATS away from its home venue.

Last season was one in which the Longhorns would much rather forget as the program had its consecutive bowl game streak snapped amidst a 5-7 SU campaign. Head coach Mack Brown's kids looked to be on the fast track towards making things right within the Big 12 at the outset of the season after scoring wins against Rice, BYU, UCLA and Iowa state in their first four games. However, a sobering 55-17 beatdown at the hands of the Oklahoma Sooners foreshadowed what was to occur for this team throughout the remainder of the conference slate. Texas went on to drop four of its next seven games which included losses to Oklahoma State, Missouri, Kansas State, and Baylor. Their final meeting for the foreseeable future with Texas A&M was one of the lone highlights of the season, a 27-25 last second win, but Texas still looks to have plenty of work ahead of it to get back to the national powerhouse it once was. The Longhorns went 3-2 SU & ATS away from Austin this season.

These programs will meet on the gridiron this evening for the first time in 41 years; it will be the 5th meeting all time with Texas winning each of the previous four clashes. Cal stands 7-2 SU & 5-2-2 ATS in its L/9 non-conference tussles winning and covering against both Fresno State and Presbyterian this season. It has however dropped each of its L/6 tries versus the closing number as underdogs up to three points. Texas has covered four of its L/5 when favored, but has failed to cover each of its L/7 neutral site battles (0-6-1 ATS). The over has cashed in each of the Golden Bears L/5 vs. the Big 12, and its a perfect 4-0 the L/4 times the Horns took on an opponent from the Pac-12.


PICK: OVER

[Mr. IWS]

SportsKingz (Twitter)


CFB: Toledo-3
CFB: Texas-4

[Mr. IWS]

Robert Ferringo

CBB:
743 Oklahoma St. (-4.5) over SMU (6:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 28)

NHL:
Washington (-110) over New York Rangers (7:35 pm, Wednesday, December 28)

CFB:
224 Texas (-3) over California (8 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 28) Holiday Bowl