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3-Unit Play. Take #605 Stanford (-16.5) over Cal-Northridge (5 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
I've been patiently waiting to bet on Stanford again. This team is undervalued, even as a 16-point road favorite here. Without fans Northridge isn't exactly going to have a home court edge. And certainly not enough of one to negate the talent disparity on the court. Northridge lost five of its top seven players from last year, including Lamine Diane, and they are putting all their eggs in the T.J. Starks basket. However, this team faced four Top 100 opponents last year and lost by 20, 46, 28 and 31 points. I'm sure they've closed the gap a little. But not enough for me to think they won't get blown out here.
1-Unit Play. Take #607 Buffalo (-3) over Miami, OH (5:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
I just don't think that Miami is any good. And they haven't really done anything to make me think otherwise. The one decent team they faced this year was Wright State and they lost by 24 points. The Redhawks' season was done the minute that Nike Sibande transferred this summer.
4-Unit Play. Take #611 Clemson (+2) over Virginia Tech (6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
I had this play rated much higher but the line movement has definitely spooked me. Regardless, I'm going with the Tigers here. They already have four solid wins this year, beating Miss State, Purdue, Maryland and Alabama, with three of the wins by 10 or more and then an eight-point win over Alabama last Saturday. Virginia Tech has been less than impressive. Their wild OT win over Villanova the first weekend of the season was a complete and total fluke. And the only other decent team they've faced is Penn State, which blew them out by 20. Virginia Tech actually swept Clemson last year. But this is a better Tigers team. Nick Honor is one of the most impactful transfers in the country. And this team is deep and talented enough where the best recruit in program history, P.J. Hall, is barely getting off the bench. This Clemson team is no joke and I think they will handle an overrated Hokies side.
3-Unit Play. Take #624 Utah (-18) over Utah Valley (7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
Utah played like absolute trash on Saturday against rival BYU. But now they are back home. And this Utah team is basically the West Coast version of Arkansas: horrendous on the road and amazing at home. Utah is back in SLC so I'm sure they will play like world beaters against an overmatched Utah Valley team. UVU has one starter back from a team that wasn't very good last year (11-19) and they already lost to BYU by 22 points. Utah is not going to shoot 24-for-66 (36 percent) from the field again like they did on Saturday. That was a fluke. I think that this team is going to be focused and going to be motivated and I think that coach Larry Krystkowiak is going to give them the whip.
2-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #605 Stanford (-11.5) over Cal-Northridge (5 p.m.) AND Take #624 Utah (-13) over Utah Valley (7 p.m.)
2-Unit Play. Take #7063 New Orleans (+11.5) over Louisiana (7 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
These two teams already played once this year and New Orleans only lost by three points in a game that UL-L never led by more than 9 points. Now Louisiana is in a bit of a letdown spot after their huge come-from-behind win over Louisiana Tech over the weekend. Louisiana was down 13 points with 15 minutes left but came back to win by five mainly because Tech shot an atrocious 33 percent from the field. Louisiana never plays any defense so I'm sure it had nothing to do with them. I think New Orleans will want some revenge here and I think that they will be able to muck this game up enough to keep it low scoring and make the points stick. I'll call it 74-66.
2-Unit Play. Take #7066 Louisiana Tech (-14.5) over Jackson State (7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
This La. Tech team obviously isn't anywhere close to what they were last year. However, I do think they will get a blowout here. They are coming off a bad loss to Louisiana in a game where they shot 19-for-56 and threw up on themselves in the second half. I don't think they will let that happen again. Jackson State has played twice and gotten wrecked twice. This team was routinely bombed in the nonconference last season and that has kind of been their early season M.O. under Wayne Brent. I look for a bounce back effort from Tech here.
2-Unit Play. Take #7073 Florida A&M (+12.5) over Austin Peay (8:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 15)
This Austin Peay team has been grossly overrated coming into the season. They have a high-scoring backcourt of Terry Taylor and Jordyn Adams. However, Adams didn't play in their last game and his status is up in the air. In their last two games the Govs got demolished by Murray State (87-57) and then were uninspiring in a 82-68 win over D-II McKendree. They actually got outrebounded by that D-II team. Austin Peay has a rematch game with Murray State on deck and I just don't know how up for this game they will be. Florida A&M stinks. But they managed to stay within 10 points of Georgia. And last year they were only beaten by more than 12 points four times in their last 20 games. I think they can hang around.
1-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #642 St. Mary's (-3.5) over Eastern Washington (10 p.m.) AND Take #643 Loyola-Chicago (+14) over Wisconsin (8 p.m.)
1-Unit Play. 5-POINT TEASER: Take #632 Florida State (-3) over Georgia Tech (8:30 p.m.) AND Take #644 Wisconsin (-4) over Loyola-Chicago (8 p.m.)
Yes, I am aware that I'm teasing both sides of this Wisconsin game in two different bets. These are two very good teams that both play very deliberate styles. I expect a competitive game that is going to come in right around the actual spread (9). They are both in the bottom 10 percent of teams in college basketball in pace of play and I am expecting a closer, lower-scoring game. The total on this game is only 127.5 so the oddsmakers obviously agree. I think Loyola is good enough to keep the game close but not good enough to win in Madison. I can see this one at like 67-61 or 68-60 or 60-54 or somewhere in that range. I see a 5-8 point win by the Badgers so we will open up a big, fat middle and aim for the bull's eye.
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