12-27-12

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Bruce Marshall

UCLA -3

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Robert Ferringo's Picks For College Basketball

2-Unit Play. FIRST HALF: Take #514 St. Mary's (-9) over Rhode Island (10 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 27)
2-Unit Play. Take #514 St. Mary's (-16.5) over Rhode Island (10 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 27)
Note: Really, I would have said that the first half line would be 2.5 Units and the game bet would be 1.5. But we don't release X.5 Unit plays any more. So instead I'll say that if we miss on the first half line, I would say to bet 1-Unit on the second half line. There is no way that the Gaels are going to lose this game and I think they are going to have a strong showing here. And there really should be a way to differentiate between the two plays here and the first half bet is the stronger one.

St. Mary's has a 14-game nonconference home winning streak and they are coming off a loss. This is a team that rarely loses two games in a row and they are coming off a defeat at Northern Iowa their last time out. Some teams might have lost focus during the holiday. But I don't think that this St. Mary's team is one of them. This team is made up primarily of Australians. So they didn't have family distractions over Christmas. They were just hanging out with one another, focusing on their game. And this team has to be angry about that rare loss at UNI. Rhode Island is a really young team. They have a new coach and new system. And they are showing early signs of progress. But this team hasn't left the state in over a month. And a fair comparison was their first road game of the year, at Virginia Tech, when they were rocked by 19 against a Hokies team that isn't as good or as motivated as the Gaels.
1-Unit Play. Take 'Under' 138.0 New Mexico at Cincinnati (9 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 27)

I don't play many totals, and that's why I'm hesitant to go with much more on this one. But if I have a total you know I really like it. And this one comes down to one thing: horrible weather. I really like New Mexico with the points in this game. But as I suspected, their travel has been ridiculous to get to Cincinnati to get to this game. The horrible weather forced them to fly from Albuequerque to Denver to Chicago to Louisville, and then they had to take a bus up to Cincinnati for this game. That is brutal. Just brutal. As a result, I expect this team to be a little off when they get this game started. Mix in the fact that neither team has played much lately - this is just both teams' second game in over a week - and I expect some rust. Both of these teams make their money on defense, and neither of them has broken the 140-point barrier that consistently this season. The Bearcats have only had their high-scoring games against pathetic, lower-70 teams. New Mexico has stayed below this number of points against good offensive teams like South Dakota State, New Mexico State and Valpo, and there were only 126 points in their game against Connecticut. Both teams will be a little off in the early going here. And the result will be a low scoring first half (I expect around 60 total points) that will make it really tough for this one to get 'over' in the second half.
That's it for today.

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Doc's Sports Picks For College Basketball

2 Unit Play. #512 Take Under 137.5 in New Mexico @ Cincinnati (9 pm ESPN 2) This was expected to be a match-up of unbeaten teams, but the Lobos lost their last game to South Dakota State and thus this game has lost some of its luster. Both of these teams get it done on the defensive side of the floor allowing less than 63 points per game and thus we will not worry who wins this game and just collect with the under. Cincinnati lost their big man from last year but they still have some strong guards and play very physical. New Mexico is a similar team and thus expect scoring to be at a premium. New Mexico has gone under the posted total in their last 4 games against Big East teams. Cincinnati has gone under the posted total in 14 of their last 16 home games against teams with a winning road record. Both trends hold true tonight, as we collect big in the process.

Doc's Sports Picks For NBA Basketball

3-Unit Play #503 Take Boston +8.5 over LA Clippers (10:30 p.m. EST, Thursday)

We have gone against the Clippers in their last two games with less than desirable results. This team has been playing way above its head during this 14-game winning streak. Don't get us wrong, this team is a championship contender. But with every win the bullseye on their collective back gets bigger and so do the point spreads the bookies post for this team. This is the second largest spread the Celtics have faced this season, and we just think that the Clippers are going to lose soon, or at least play a close game. And this opponent will not be intimidated heading into Staples Center and we really feel like this will be a close game. We think this line should have been closer to six. Boston hasn't been great on the road this season, but they put together their most complete road game on Christmas in dismantling the Nets on the road. They have been playing solid defense lately and we expect them to be able to slow down the Clippers offense here and keep the score manageable. Since Boston is coming off one of their best games of the season, we think that momentum will carry over into this game. Boston should give top effort tonight as most teams will against LA as they are now the big story in the NBA. We think this game goes down to the wire.

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Allen Eastman's Picks For College Basketball

4-Unit Play. Take #512 Cincinnati (-6) over New Mexico (9 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 27)

I will go with the Bearcats in this one. This team is ranked in the Top 10 and they are at home. This team has excellent guard play and they will be up for this game. New Mexico has had to take four plane trips and a bus ride just to get to Cincinnati for this game. The winter weather has forced them into unusual travel. I think that will have a big impact on this team for this game. The Bearcats will have the home crowd and they will get this win going away.

3-Unit Play. Take #510 Western Kentucky (-7) over Florida International (8 p.m., Thurs., Dec. 27)

Right now Western Kentucky is the best team in the Sun Belt. They have played a very strong schedule and they are ready to dominate their league. WKU is 14-3 ATS in its last 17 Sun Belt games and they are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 home games. This team is getting guard T.J. Price back from injury and they will be much better off. This FIU team has struggled scoring all year and I don't see them scoring over 55 points tonight. Lay the points.
Allen Eastman

Allen Eastman's Picks For NBA Basketball

No value on the board today. I am going to pass.

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Alatex 15*
bowling green

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Vegas Runner
Baylor+3

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Vegas Sports Informer's Picks For College Basketball

2 Unit Play. Take #506 Troy -4 over Florida Atlantic (8:00 p.m., Thursday, December 27)
Florida Atlantic has had trouble scoring this season and if they struggle tonight on the road we should see Troy get a conference 'W'. Florida Atlantic can't cover a game on the road to save their lives and the Owls are 0-8 ATS in their last 8 road games. Troy is a perfect 4-0 ATS following a SU loss and the Trojans are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games.

Vegas Sports Informer's Picks For NBA Basketball

No NBA plays for us today but check back Friday as we have our 6-Unit NBA Game of the Month.

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Lee Sterling

25 BG
20 Duke
25 Baylor

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Sports bank
400 ucla

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Millionaires club
lock
ucla over

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29 Financial

San Jose State -7 level 1
Duke +8 level 1

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Marc Lawrence

5* BG
3 Duke
3 UCLA

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Root:
DUKE MILLIONAIRE

UCLA NO LIMIT

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Scott Spreitzer

UCLA

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advantage sports
over ucla