1-5-16

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Jr odonnell

3*

Temple +10.5

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Greg shaker

3*

Oklahoma st / baylor over 134.5

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ROBERT FERRINGO
1-Unit Play. Take #709 Richmond (+4.5)
over Rhode Island
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
I’m sticking with my belief that Rhode Island is not nearly as good as people think. They have lost their two best players to injury. And while they still defend and have nice balanced scoring, they still have too many scoring droughts. Richmond doesn’t get rattled by tough, man-to-man defense. Their modified Princeton offense kind of relies on it. The underdog is 6-3-1 ATS in the last 10 meetings in this series and I think that Richmond will bounce back from its loss to St. Joe’s over the weekend. Richmond has already beaten Cal this year away from home and I think that they will win this game outright against banged-up Rhode Island.

3-Unit Play. Take #712 Indiana (-7.5)
over Wisconsin
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Were James Blackmon healthy and available this would be a GOTY situation for the Hoosiers. I still like Indiana in this one as I just think that this game means a lot more to them. No bet against the sagging Badgers is a bad bet at the moment, and I think they are going to struggle massively on the road this season. The Badgers just aren’t very good. There’s not a lot more to say about it. Their talent is young, untested, and unproven. And their system won’t be enough to save them. Indiana is a bunch of flakes. They don’t defend and they are pretty gutless. But they do have talent and athleticism and they have been known to play out of their minds at home. They have a solid seven-man rotation even without Blackmon and enough talent to beat back the Badgers in this one.

2-Unit Play. Take #716 St. Joseph’s (-2.5)
over VCU
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5, Tuesday, Jan. 5)
The Hawks have been one of the hottest teams in the country, winning and covering seven straight games. They scored a tough, hard-fought road win at Richmond over the weekend and now they return home, where they have been outstanding this season. St. Joe’s has been one of the best teams in the country in terms of taking care of the ball – they are in the Top 30 in turnover percentage – and as long as they 2-Unit Play. Take care of the rock against VCU’s vaunted press then they should win this game. They’ve already beaten good teams like ODU, Princeton, Temple, Illinois State, Virginia Tech and Richmond. And most of those games were away from home. I think they stay hot here and beat a VCU team that has just one Top 100 win this year.

1-Unit Play. Take #717 Marquette (+9.5)
over Providence
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. Take ‘Over’ 143.0 – East Carolina at Tulsa
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
The Golden Hurricane may be without James Woodard, their second-leading scorer tonight. But I think that everyone else on this very experienced team is going to step up in his place. Plus, they will feel like they’ve been let out of prison tonight facing a weaker ECU defense after back-to-back games against SMU and Cincinnati, two of the top defensive teams in the country.

*5-Unit Play*. Take #723 Akron (-3)
over Buffalo
(7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
The Zips are the class of the MAC. That means they are going to be able to win road games against inferior competition. Akron has won eight straight games against a cupcake schedule. But they’ve done it in pretty dominating fashion, winning just two of the games by less than 10 points. They have a true road win at Arkansas and they should’ve beaten UW-Green Bay on the road as well. And they’ve done most of that without their stud center, Pat Forsythe. He has been out for the past two weeks but I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t at least suit up for this one. Akron has a big advantage in the post against a very young Buffalo frontline. Akron has lost six straight trips to UB, but this is not as good of a Buffalo team as we’ve seen in years past. They’ve played a much tougher schedule than Akron, but they haven’t played well. All but one of their losses have been by double-digits and their best win was probably an OT victory, at home, against a very mediocre Canisius squad. They have gotten absolutely wrecked by good mid-major teams on the same footing as Akron, losing by 19 to ODU, by 22 to St. Joseph’s, and by 21 to VCU. Granted, all those games were on the road. But is Buffalo’s home court going to make up 15 points difference in talent? I don’t think so. Akron went on neutral courts and blew out UC-Santa Barbara and Iona, two mid-majors that are better than Buffalo. Finally, Akron has revenge for Buffalo ending its season and knocking the Zips out in the MAC semifinals last year. I like the Zips to get it done here.

1-Unit Play. Take #732 Connecticut (-10.5)
over Temple
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. Take #736 Baylor (-9.5)
over Oklahoma State
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Baylor got embarrassed in Lawrence over the weekend and they need to bounce back quickly. Oklahoma State is a good matchup for them because the Cowboys have one of the weaker frontcourts in the league. OSU has been kind of a forgotten team, mainly because they’ve been skating by against one of the weakest schedules in the country. They are coming off a big blowout win at home over a feeble TCU team and this is the perfect example of one team ready for a letdown and one team ready for a bounce back.

1-Unit Play. Take #738 Houston (-10.5)
over Tulane
(9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. Take #727 Butler (-9)
over DePaul
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Butler should beat DePaul by 20, but I’m sure the Blue Demons will put up more of a fight than they should. Butler just needs something good to happen – quickly. They have gotten smoked in their first two league games and were embarrassed at Xavier over the weekend. DePaul has been playing much better, covering two of their last three games and playing OK against a very difficult recent schedule. They’ve had six straight games against quality opponents. But they have also lost four of those games by 22, 19, 8 and 12 points and all but one of those games was at home. Butler won by 14 points at DePaul last year and won both meetings by double-figures. And in 2014 they came here and won by 33. It’s going to be a lot closer than that this time around but I still think Butler is pissed off enough to get a blowout here.

1-Unit Play. Take #730 Syracuse (-5.5)
over Clemson
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Here is another team that just needs something positive to happen. Syracuse is 0-2 in ACC play and they need a win badly. However, as bad as their final scores have looked the last two games the finals are misleading. They were beating Pittsburgh late and they were neck-and-neck with Miami (up eight at halftime as an 11-point underdog) until the final four minutes. Clemson is coming off a win over Florida State so they are pretty satisfied. But this team got plastered at Georgia and lost on the road to a bad Minnesota team. The Tigers are not great away from home – where they’ve played all but two games since November – and I don’t think they are well equipped to beat the SU zone. The Orange also has revenge for a blowout loss down in Clemson last year but this is not nearly as strong a Tigers team.

1-Unit Play. Take #742 LSU (+4.5)
over Kentucky
(9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
I’m going to take a shot at the upset here tonight. The Tigers had Kentucky beat last year when they hosted them, losing by two in a heartbreaker. They also had UK beat in 2014 in Lexington, losing by one in overtime, and they did beat the Wildcats in their meeting in Baton Rouge this year. This is not as good of a Kentucky team as we’ve seen the past two years and I think they will have somewhere between 4-8 losses by the time all is said and done. They are coming off two big home wins, including a blowout over Ole Miss, and I think their value is inflated. The Wildcats have only played two real road games – and they lost them both. If they can lose to UCLA (they were actually blown out by the Bruins) and a bad Ohio State team then I think LSU can knock them off. The Tigers have the best freshman in the country in Ben Simmons, and they are a different team now that they have their best guard (Keith Hornsby, who killed UK last year) and another quality veteran (Craig Victor) in the fold. As long as Josh Gray – who is one of the worst starters in college basketball – doesn’t do too many absurdly stupid things to blow this game I think that LSU has a shot to win this one. I’ll 2-Unit Play. Take the points.

3-Unit Play. Take #744 Creighton (-3)
over Georgetown
(9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
This is a great spot for a rapidly improving Bluejays team. The Hoyas are a young team and they have been flaky all year, losing to Radford, Monmouth and UNC-Ashville – all at home. This is a team that plays up and down to its level of competition and I don’t think they are going to be ready to play in Nebraska tonight. Georgetown is fat and happy after two blowout wins (over bad teams) to start league play. I think they are overconfident. Creighton has been playing really well at home this year – averaging over 90 points per game in their last six home games – and this is a chance for them to make a statement. I just think this game means a lot more to the Jays than the Hoyas and I like the home team to get a big win here.

1-Unit Play. Take #745 Vanderbilt (-2)
over Arkansas
(9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Arkansas has actually been better than I thought this year and they are tough at home. Vanderbilt has not been playing as well as I expected and haven’t been the same since losing Luke Kornet. Regardless, I still think the Commodores are a better team than the Razorbacks and I think they need this win. Arkansas has played a lot of teams tough. But they haven’t beaten any of them.

1-Unit Play. Take #747 Boise State (-1.5)
over Utah State
(9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. Take #756 Samford (-10.5)
over Citadel
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. FIRST HALF: Take #756 Samford (-5.5)
over Citadel
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
Samford is coming off an ugly loss to Mercer and is ready to bounce back. They are facing a Citadel team that plays zero defense and I think Samford can run away with this one. Citadel has beaten Samford three straight times, giving our home team a revenge motivation in this one as well. Only two of the last eight meetings between these schools has been decided by less than 10 points. Samford has not played many home games this year so I think they will get a boost from being in their own gym.

1-Unit Play. TEASER:
Take #712 Indiana (-2.5) over Wisconsin (7 p.m.) AND Take #727 Butler (-4) over DePaul (8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)

1-Unit Play. TEASER:
Take #738 Houston (-5.5) over Tulane (9 p.m.) AND Take #736 Baylor (-4.5) over Oklahoma State (8 p.m.)

1-Unit Play. TEASER:
Take #709 Richmond (+9.5) over Rhode Island (7 p.m.) AND Take #727 Butler (-4) over DePaul (8 p.m.)

[Can'tPickAWinner]

STRIKE POINT SPORTS
5-Unit Play. Take #702 Atlanta (-8)
over New York
(8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 5)
The Hawks dominated the Knicks in the first two meetings this year, winning 112-101 and 117-98. The Hawks are going for the series win tonight and I think they will get it. They’ve beaten the Knicks in six of the last nine meetings and most of Atlanta’s wins have been blowouts. But New York hammered the Hawks 111-97 on Sunday thanks to plenty of hot shooting. The Knicks shot 50 percent from the field and I don’t see that happening again. They shot under 40 percent in three of their last four road games and are just not the same team when they aren’t playing in Madison Square Garden. The Hawks are 7-2 ATS after a loss and they are 15-6 ATS after a loss of 10 or more points. The favorite is 6-2 ATS in the last eight in this series and Atlanta is 5-2 ATS in their last seven games against the Knicks. Atlanta will pull away late and cash this one.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

INDIAN COWBOY
Atlanta Hawks-8
Milwaukee Bucks+8.5

[Can'tPickAWinner]

TONY CROSS
NBA PLAY

Dallas over SAC
Current Line -5 Buy to -4
Tier 3 of 4

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Jim Feist
Providence -9.5

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VSI NHL
4 Unit Play. Take #2503 Under 5.5 -120 Minnesota at Columbus (7:05p.m., Tuesday January 5)
This total play is all on the defense and goalie play the Minnesota Wild have been displaying as of late. I know this game is on the road for the Wild but their last 8 road games 6 of them have gone UNDER. I was actually shocked that this game was posted a solid 5 but since the Columbus Blue Jackets are riding a two game home winning streak against powerful NHL teams (Washington & Dallas) that is probably the reason why this total is 5.5. Yes I know Columbus scored 11 goals in two games but tonight I don't see that happening and would be shocked to see the winner score 3 goals tonight. Columbus is 2-5-1 O/U in their last 8 home games and the last 11 meetings between these two teams 9 of them gone under with one push.


Good Luck to All - Raphael Esparza

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Shinoba Sports
St. Josephs -2 over Virginia Commonwealth

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Texas Sports Wire

Basketball all three stars
Indiana
Akron
Kansas State
Houston
LSU

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Executive 4%

Rhode Island -4.5

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HOT CHICKS PICKS – Britney DeLuca
Tonight in NBA……
Take Atlanta and New York to stay – UNDER 203!

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SBW pick
NCAA basketball / Providence -9.5 vs Marquette / 1 unit

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DR Bob

Oklahoma st 2* +9 or more
LSU 1* +3 or more

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