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NATIONAL SPORTS SERVICE
4* Tulane-1.5 NCAABB
3* Grizzlies+4.5 NBA
PRIMETIME SPORTS PICKS
4 Unit --> Villanova -10.5 over DePaul (NCAAB)
3 Unit --> Texas Tech -3.5 over Kansas St. (NCAAB)
3 Unit --> Iowa -5.5 over Northwestern (NCAAB)
2-Unit Play. Take #602 Ohio State (-17.5) over Nebraska (6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
I know that this is a monster spread. However, I think that Ohio State is more than capable of winning this game by 30 or more. This team has to be pissed off. I mean really, really pissed off. They have lost four straight games and have come back to earth in a big way after their hot start. However, this is still the same that that throttled Villanova, North Carolina and Penn State when they were all at full strength. Nebraska is a pile. They are awful. And just how bad they are has been masked by the fact that they've played so many games at home. This group has gotten rocked by UC-Riverside, George Mason and Rutgers and they lost at home to North Dakota. They are more than capable of getting demolished here against a motivated Buckeyes group.
2-Unit Play. Take #605 Richmond (+5) over Davidson (7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
I think the wrong team is favored. Davidson has been trash. They have been one of the biggest underachievers in the country after bringing back all five starters from a team that won 24 games and finished second in the A-10. Now two of those starters (and a key backup) are out with injury and this team is just kind of bumbling around. They've lost three of four and the one win was against a bad St. Joseph's team in a game where the Wildcats blew a big second half lead. These two teams play similar styles in that they both rely more on offensive execution than defense or physicality. I think Davidson has consistently been executing at a higher level and they will again here.
5-Unit Play. Take #607 Duke (-10) over Clemson (7 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
Try to imagine what the vibe is on the Clemson campus right now? You know absolutely everyone at that school was up late last night watching the Tigers lose in the national championship game. Now they wake up today with an actual and a metaphorical hangover. Don't think for a second that won't influence this game. How into this game do you think the home crowd is going to be? The students? The boosters? The players? Who is excited about this game after your team played for a championship just last night? This arena is probably going to feel like a wake. Especially because everyone attending this game knows the Tigers don't have a chance to win because they are woefully overmatched. Duke is the best team in the country. Since their surprise home loss to Stephen F. Austin they have been absolutely demolishing people. The Devils have won nine straight and all but one of those wins have come by double-digits. That includes a 12-point win at Michigan State, a 14-point win at Virginia Tech and a 33-point win at Miami, so obviously playing on the road doesn't bother them. Clemson is not good. They are in a little bit of a letdown spot after their OT win at North Carolina on Saturday. But what they don't get is that everyone is beating UNC these days and that wasn't really a good win. In fact, throw out their home win over N.C. State and this team hasn't done anything this year. They've gotten blown out by Minnesota, Florida State and South Carolina (average loss: 17 points). I don't see how they are going to manage to hang around in this one.
1-Unit Play. Take #626 Northern Illinois (+2.5) over Akron (8 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
I am still not 100 percent sure what to make of this Akron team because their schedule has been so absurdly easy. Nearly 80 percent of the action in this game is coming in on Akron, but the line is going the other way. I'll take a stab with the home dog.
2-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #607 Duke (-5) over Clemson (7 p.m.) AND Take #636 West Virginia (-2) over TCU (9 p.m.)
3-Unit Play. Take #636 West Virginia (-7) over TCU (9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
TCU is about as soft of a 12-3 as you could possibly be. They've won four straight, but none of them have been ultra-impressive and I think they are going to struggle here. This is just TCU's second road game of the entire season. And Morgantown is one of the tougher venues in the Big 12 to grab a win. Bob Huggins has played a killer schedule this season and they've been excellent against it, going 13-2 and racking up eight Top 100 wins. TCU has two. Bob Huggins and the Mountaineers have been in F-U Mode all season long after an excessively rare losing season last year. This team is absolutely not screwing around and I think that they are going to power through TCU's attempt to grind this game down with defense and the Mountaineers will win this one going away.
4-Unit Play. Take #642 Wisconsin (-3) over Maryland (9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
The Badgers are as hot as any team in the Big Ten right now. They have won five of their last six games overall and their lone loss was by just one point to Illinois. That was a rare home defeat for the Badgers, who almost never lose at the Kohl Center. I don't see them losing two in a row at home. Especially against a Maryland team that has stunk on the road this year, losing all four of its games away from home. That includes an 18-point loss at Iowa last Friday and it won't get any easier for them here. I don't love either one of these teams. But the Badgers have been better lately and the fact that they are the favorite in this game - with the line continuing to trend in their favor - is a bit of a red flag.
7-Unit Play. Take #644 Mississippi State (-2) over Missouri (9 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
Mississippi State is not the worst team in the SEC. Right now they are in the basement, though, and they are absolutely desperate for a win. Missouri has played really hard for Cuonzo Martin and they have been overachieving. I think that they are in a clear letdown spot, though, after a peak effort in a 91-75 home win over Florida on Saturday. Missouri is still without its best big man, Jeremiah Tillmon. They've been OK without him but this is a game, against a big Bulldogs frontcourt, where the Tigers are really going to miss their big man. Miss State is desperate. They are undervalued. And they are at home against a team that is in a pure letdown spot. Throw in the fact that the Bulldogs have covered seven straight and 8 of 10 in the series and I will lay the points.
1-Unit Play. Take #647 San Diego State (-6.5) over Fresno State (11 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14)
1-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #627 VCU (+13) over Dayton (8 p.m.) AND Take #626 Northern Illinois (+7.5) over Akron (8 p.m.)
1-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #605 Richmond (+10) over Davidson (7 p.m.) AND Take #607 Duke (-5) over Clemson (7 p.m.)
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