Service Plays Tuesday 2/18/20

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Seabass: 300 Oklahoma, 300 West Virginia, 600 Arkansas, 700 tenn game over , * 1000 Ole Miss

[Can'tPickAWinner]

FINNs BIG EAST GAME of the WEEK
Game: (627) Creighton at (628) Marquette
Date/Time: Feb 18 2020 8:30 PM EST
Betting Line Provider: Bookmaker
Play Rating: 4%
Play: Creighton 3.0 (-110)


View Analysis


PLAY: Creighton +3
4% confidence rating


(627) Creighton at (628) Marquette


Browsing and reading through a number of college basketball portals there are several that have just recently, in the last handful of weeks, added the Creighton Blue jays to their power rankings.


This is a Creighton squad that entered conference play with four losses. All four of the losses were to ranked teams, Michigan, San Diego State, Butler, and Villanova. In addition, they are a Big East team with wins over Texas Tech, Marquette, Providence, Villanova and Seton Hall. As well they have defeated Xavier and DePaul twice. The Blue Jays lone defeat that can be considered a bad loss was to the Georgetown Hoyas albeit at Georgetown.


How teams like San Diego State, who play in an extremely soft league can week-in and week-out find there way to the tops of -- or inside the Top-5 of basketball portal power rankings -- is nothing short of amazing. And all things equal it shows a lack of understanding by the authors. Most notable is how college hoop pundits don't grasp the different levels of league play. And I am speaking to the levels of the league within league play. The Western Athletic, Big West, Pac-12, West Coast and Mountain West are not strong enough independently to support a Top-5 program. The group i outlined in the previous sentence, as a whole, are barely qualified to and for an All-Star team from any and all teams and have the necessary talent and strength of situation to be headlined. San Diego State, if ranked in the Top-5 of any college hoop portal and the websites power poll is either unaware or is laterally giving the conference a spin and pimp for love or money.


The Blue Jays, who just broke into the ESPN Power Rankings - written into a list that is conducted by the worldwide leader in sports - puts contributor Jeff Borzello into the container of basketball fans who are not paying attention. How much is the group developed and listed by Borzello worth? And how can a contributor that works directly with and for a company the size of ESPN be reporting such college basketball nonsense? To be listened to, respected, have the confidence of college basketball pundits who are involved in any one or more programs on a daily basis cannot ride from the court, gym, arena or practice facility to and from home base with blinders on? The simple trips between these locations hold important information on the state of basketball in said demographic. It literally speaks to what specific schools are doing with their athletic programs.



Let's keep it honest, polite and cordial, shall we? Let's assume that Borzello is taking directions from powers that are. The wigs of the ABC affiliate on the other, west side, of not just the Rockies but Sierra's as well.


If Borzello can stake a claim that there is a large separation between the top tier of college hoops and the rest of the field then it is safe to assume that the young contributor was in fact born yesterday. "Over the past couple of months -- as I addressed in this very column a few weeks ago -- there has been a clear top tier of teams forming in the Power Rankings. Baylor, Kansas, Gonzaga and San Diego State are the projected No. 1 seeds across the board," Borzello wrote. Again, he is not paying attention to what is going on around him, in his orbit,, around the likes of Gonzaga, SDSU, Baylor, and Kansas.

Let's outline the four teams Borzello has stated have over the last two months, those time frames being January and February, who find the Borzello Group of Four playing themselves to a different, a higher level, than the rest of the school's conference and Divison I field.


Gonzaga is a perfect 12-0 in the last two months. However, they had not played any team or roster that would allow anyone, knowledgable about how basketball teams get better by the friend they keep and are challenged by would put the Zags into that category. The Bulldogs have not played a ranked team in their last 12 games. This is because of the conference they reside in.


San Diego State is 13-0 in Jan and Feb but they too have not played a single ranked team. Of the 13 that SDSU squared off again finds Utah State as the highest-ranked opponent. And Utah State has the 57th ranked adjusted offense and 43rd defense, according to KenPom. Baylor is 13-0 since January 1st and have at least played a trio of ranked teams, defeating them all, this being Texas Tech, West Virginia and Kansas. And writing about the Jayhawks it is worth noting that they are 13-1 in Jan and Feb with their one loss, to Baylor at the Phog. Like Baylor, Kansas has played three ranked teams in that 14 game stretch won thirteen of the fourteen and won by an average margin of 15 points.

Where in the hell is the ESPN staff writer buying his milk? His gummy bears? His bottled water? I am not a veteran of a foreign war. I am too young for Vietnam and Korea and too old for Desert Storm but I am not so old that I don't remember the last decade of college basketball’s elites and the rest of the teams that followed, want-to-be them's.


There is no Zion wearing Coach K Duke blue nor is there a Frank Mason orchestrating a Bill Self gameplan to a perfect slaughter. No Kaminsky putting a Big 10 program on his back and carrying them to the first weekend of April. Tell me where you see a big that is anything close to or resembles Anthony Davis or a player like such in the college ranks this year. no there is no Trey Burkes for that matter. Or nearly a decade ago what Kemba Walker brought to college hoops. Just so I feel better Walker brought winning hoops and a junior averaging nearly 27 points per game. Show me a guard in college basketball that works and plays as hard as the Tar Heels Ty Lawson or Sooners forward Blake Griffin did for their teams the last 10 years. A decade ago there was a group of talented young men leading other college basketball men to glory. That group then would not associate with the group of now... not in public or in the daylight (yes I am embellishing and exaggerating). Ten years ago there was a future Hall of Fame point and shooting guard that was denied a scholarship to the school of his choice, Virginia Tech, which is a football school. he young senior in high school phenom, Steph Curry, found a home at Davidson and took his teammates on a Big Dance run.


I could go on and on... and I will. In 2007 maybe the best to ever play the game of basketball, or at least the most versatile in what he could and can do, Kevin Durant was doing his one year of college. .The Florida Gators had a group of players that were in fact talented and savvy enough to make such a Borzello claim -- that they were on a different level than the rest of the basketball world. Teammates Joakim Noah, Al Horford, and Corey Brewer comprised a trio that deserved such a billing. The Jay Williams, Juan Dixon, Shane Battier, Carmelo Anthony, TJ Ford and Emeka Okafor's of the college hardwood scene were the kind of players that put a team at a different level, a higher dimension. I could argue for a player or two of this CBS Final Four list but none jump out and grab me.

If you believe the Baylor Bears, Gonzaga Bulldogs, San Diego State Aztecs and/or the current Kansas Jayhawks I have just outlined have decidedly separated themselves from the rest of the pack it would have to be the Jayhawks. The only team to have lost a game in January and February... but they are the most balanced team in college hoops.

Enough of offering a critique of Borzello's work. Enough on the pseudo power rankings. The truth is that there is a dozen programs this 2020 that can win a national championship. Not four or five but a dozen. And while I have not put that list together yet it would not be difficult to do so. Furthermore, for the purpose of this game analysis, college hoops team shakedown, one of the mid-majors that are capable of going on a six-game winning streak regardless of the opponent is Creighton. The mid-major Blue Jays have the right stuff to take home the 2020 title.


And by the right stuff I mean, Creighton returns their six top players from a year ago. And while classifying a Big East school as a mid-major I will piss some hoop fans off my answer to that statement is get in line.
If there is any team that is playing better basketball over the last month then Creighton it is Kansas. Yes, the one team of the four that Borzello listed that has lost since January 1st. But the one team that continues to get better with each passing game and easily the most balanced team of Borzello foursome.


Back to Creighton has won seven of their last eight games. They defeated a good Seton Hall team on the road. They might not be Pomeroy's top-ranked adjusted offense but they are mine, in the Finn Factors power rankings chart. Since the Blue Jays one bad loss this year, versus the Hoyas in Georgetown the squad is 7-1 with a loss at Providence, Creighton owns 1.11 points per possession in all seven "Dubs". In addition, they can score in a number of ways and by a number of players. The Jays have made at least 10 3-pointers in five of the seven wins since falling to the Hoyas and if there is a team that provides evidence that Borzello is smoking the good stuff it is Creighton who the ESPN staffer has just inserted into this Power Rankings list.

Calling Kansas, San Diego State, Gonzaga, and Baylor a group that has spent the last two months separating themselves from the rest of the Division I field -- representing the ESPN staffers Final Four and essentially a stand alone foursome from the rest of college basketball is... what I call Bull Shit.


Tell me yesterday, in early January even last October that Blue Jays' head coach Greg McDermott would have all five starters and a sixth primary contributor returning to school to compete for a national basketball championship and i would listen. Give me coach McDermott, the top six scorers from a good 2018-19 campus squad. Underline that the aforementioned team is 20-6 heading into tonight's game against a one-headed monster, and doing so as underdogs as a team that has already defeated the opponent this season and I am down.,

CREIGHTON +3

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Big Al West Virginia

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LMM Sports
LA Kings and Winnipeg over 5.5.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Dime Man: Oklahoma

Philly Guy: St Joe; Maryland; Wisconsin

Champagne: Top- Penn St; Reg- Creighton

[B*mb07]

Dime Man - Oklahoma

Philly Guy - St Joe's Maryland Wisconsin

Champagne - Top Penn St Reg Creighton

[rocky57]

H&H Sports - College Basketball
5* Creighton +3
4* Dayton -145 (Moneyline)
4* LSU/Kentucky Over 149
3* Purdue/Wisconsin Under 122
3* Oklahoma/Baylor Under 136

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Bob Valentino

75 dimer - Florida

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John Bollman

PITTSBURGH -140
TORONTO @ PITTSBURGH | 2/18 | 7:00 PM EST
2:06 PM
The Penguins are 7-2-1 in their last 10 games and 21-5-4 at home this season. The Leafs are just 5-4-1 in the last 10 games and 16-13-1 on the road this season. The Penguins score the sixth most home goals in the league with 3.43 goals per game and they give up the fifth fewest goals per game with 2.37. The Maple Leafs do lead the league in road goals per game with 3.63 but they give up 3.37 per game. The Penguins won handily the first time these teams met, take the value in the Penguins at home.

37-23-1 IN LAST 61 NHL PICKS | +934
5-3 IN LAST 8 PIT ML PICKS | +157

UNDER 6
BUFFALO @ OTTAWA | 2/18 | 7:30 PM EST
1:54 PM
The Sabres score the ninth fewest road goals per game with just 2.52 and the Senators score just 3.0 goals per game at home. The Senators have the sixth worst road power play at just 16.2% effectiveness. The Sabres have the second worst road penalty kill in the league at just 69.9% effectiveness but Carter Hutton has been on fire recently winning four straight with a 2.23 GAA and .926 save percentage.

20-7-1 IN LAST 28 NHL O/U PICKS | +1229
6-1 IN LAST 7 OTT O/U PICKS | +487

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Josh Nagel
SENIOR ANALYST

5:56 PM
MARQUETTE -3
CREIGHTON @ MARQUETTE | 2/18 | 8:30 PM EST
The Bluejays historically are a weak road team, but a change of that trend is a major reason why they are contenders to win the Big East this year. They already have beaten Villanova and Seton Hall away from home, and avoided a letdown spot from the latter with a blowout of DePaul on Saturday. Marquette has won its last four home games, with three coming by double figures. The Eagles could use a win Tuesday to avoid drifting toward bubble territory, and it's a solid situational spot for them to do so.

15-12-1 IN LAST 28 CBB PICKS | +169
4-1 IN LAST 5 CREIGH ATS PICKS | +297

3-1 IN LAST 4 MARQET ATS PICKS | +185

[Can'tPickAWinner]

SDQL Gurus

CAROLINA +105
CAROLINA @ NASHVILLE | 2/18 | 8:00 PM EST
12:08 PM
Home favorites this season are 49-58 against an opponent with a better winning percentage that is coming off a loss, which is a trend against the Predators. Nashville this season is 0-5 against an opponent that is scoring more than three goals per game and averaging more than 32 shots. We are on the Hurricanes over the Predators.

7-3 IN LAST 10 NHL ML PICKS | +329

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Pete Blackburn

PHILADELPHIA -157
COLUMBUS @ PHILADELPHIA | 2/18 | 7:00 PM EST
12:42 PM
The Flyers sneakily have been playing some of their best hockey of the season over the past couple of weeks and have a chance to jump the Blue Jackets in the standings with a win at home on Tuesday. Columbus has come crashing back down to Earth lately and has lost five straight. The Flyers are great in their own building, especially with Carter Hart in net, and Columbus is not a good road team. Signs point toward Philly money line (-157) in this one.

28-29 LAST 57 NHL SIDES | +97
3-2 IN LAST 5 CLB ML PICKS | +127

OVER 6
CAROLINA @ NASHVILLE | 2/18 | 8:00 PM EST
12:40 PM
The Hurricanes have been involved in quite a lot of high-scoring games of late, as six of their last seven have featured seven or more goals. The odds of that trend continuing in Nashville seem pretty solid. The Predators have been a high-event team for most of the season, and they'll have their hands full with a Carolina team that generates a lot of chances.

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Executive Sports
400% St Louis

[Can'tPickAWinner]

Worlds Worst Picker
Peabody’s pick
Ok st

We take
West Virginia
Peabody’s picks
Creighton
Dayton
Kentucky

We take
Marquette
VCU
LSU