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BURNS NCAA
Basketball (NCAA)
UNDER boston college/miami
Game: Boston College vs. Miami (FL) Game Time: 2/21/2009 12:00:00 PM Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on Boston College and Miami to finish UNDER the total. Writeup to follow.
TEXAS
writeup to follow
UTEP
Game: Memphis vs. Texas-El Paso Game Time: 2/21/2009 4:00:00 PM Prediction: Texas-El Paso Reason: I'm taking the points with UTEP. The Tigers are having another great season and by now almost everyone knows about their remarkable winning streak in conference play. With all due respect to the talented and well-coached Tigers, I won't be "shocked" if that winning streak finally comes to an end this afternoon. At the very least, I expect Memphis, which has the #2 CUSA team (UAB) on deck, to have its hands full. That wouldn't be a first, as the Miners have played the Tigers tough each of the last two seasons. Two years ago, they hung with the Tigers almost the entire way, eventually losing by 11. Last year, playing on the road and facing a Memphis team which was #1 at the time, the Miners actually had the lead with four minutes remaining, eventually losing by six - as 21 point underdogs. Having played so well at Memphis last season, the Miners come in full of confidence. Of course, it helps that they've also won three straight and five of their last six. They're averaging a respectable 76.2 points per game (almost exactly what Memphis scores) on the season, including 78.7 here at home. (The Tigers are averaging 71 on the road.) The defense admittedly isn't in the same class as the Tigers' defense, which has been among the best in the country. However, UTEP did play very well on that side of the ball last time out, limiting Rice to 58 points. Note that the Miners are 3-0 SU/ATS this season after holding their previous opponent to less than 60 points. This is a huge game for the Miners. They've got four players from the Memphis area on their team and UTEP coach Tony Barbee played for John Calipari at Massachusetts and was his assistant at Memphis for several years. The Miners are an outstanding 11-3 ATS the last 14 times that they were underdogs of greater than eight points and I look for them to improve on those numbers here. *"Shocker"
SIENA
Game: Northern Iowa vs. Siena Game Time: 2/21/2009 3:00:00 PM Prediction: Siena Reason: I'm laying the points with SIENA. I successfully played on a MAAC team (Niagara) against a MVC team (Illinois State) yesterday. Although the Missouri Valley is typically considered to be the stronger of the two conferences, I felt that the situation strongly favored the Purple Eagles. Not only were they playing on their homecourt with the greatest player in franchise history on hand, but I pointed out that they were catching Illinois-State off a series off big games and with its two biggest games of the season on deck. For some of the same reasons, I feel that situation favors the MAAC team again this afternoon. Like the Redbirds yesterday, Northern Iowa is in the thick of a heated race for the top spot in the MVC. Off an extremely disappointing loss (which may be tough to recover from) in their last game, the Panthers are now 12-4 in Conference play. That ties them for the top spot and puts them one game ahead of Illinois-State, who will they face in their next game. With that game now taking on added importance, it will be easy to get caught looking ahead. Conversely, much like Niagara yesterday, Siena isn't involved in a race for the top spot in the Conference. That's because they've already wrapped up the top spot, long ago. Even though they do face Niagara in their next game, that won't affect Siena's place in the conference standings. That should mean a little less "looking ahead," than we might have seen, if that game was for first place. In addition to being fully focused on the task at hand and playing at home, the Saints are a really good team, clearly the class of their league. UNI head coach Ben Jacobson had this to say: "They're a very good team that throws a lot of talented athletes at you..." You may recall what the Saints did in last year's tournament, knocking off a solid Vanderbilt team by 21 points. This year's team brought back basically all the same players and is determined for more success in March. The Saints didn't fare as well in their earlier non-conference games as they would have liked and they'll be looking to go all out to make a statement here, particularly after watching what Niagara did yesterday. The Saints are 13-0 at home on the season, outscoring opponents by more than a dozen points. I expect them to keep that perfect record in tact, picking up the cover along the way. *Bracket Buster GOY
Basketball (NCAA)
UNDER boston college/miami
Game: Boston College vs. Miami (FL) Game Time: 2/21/2009 12:00:00 PM Prediction: under Reason: I'm playing on Boston College and Miami to finish UNDER the total. Writeup to follow.
TEXAS
writeup to follow
UTEP
Game: Memphis vs. Texas-El Paso Game Time: 2/21/2009 4:00:00 PM Prediction: Texas-El Paso Reason: I'm taking the points with UTEP. The Tigers are having another great season and by now almost everyone knows about their remarkable winning streak in conference play. With all due respect to the talented and well-coached Tigers, I won't be "shocked" if that winning streak finally comes to an end this afternoon. At the very least, I expect Memphis, which has the #2 CUSA team (UAB) on deck, to have its hands full. That wouldn't be a first, as the Miners have played the Tigers tough each of the last two seasons. Two years ago, they hung with the Tigers almost the entire way, eventually losing by 11. Last year, playing on the road and facing a Memphis team which was #1 at the time, the Miners actually had the lead with four minutes remaining, eventually losing by six - as 21 point underdogs. Having played so well at Memphis last season, the Miners come in full of confidence. Of course, it helps that they've also won three straight and five of their last six. They're averaging a respectable 76.2 points per game (almost exactly what Memphis scores) on the season, including 78.7 here at home. (The Tigers are averaging 71 on the road.) The defense admittedly isn't in the same class as the Tigers' defense, which has been among the best in the country. However, UTEP did play very well on that side of the ball last time out, limiting Rice to 58 points. Note that the Miners are 3-0 SU/ATS this season after holding their previous opponent to less than 60 points. This is a huge game for the Miners. They've got four players from the Memphis area on their team and UTEP coach Tony Barbee played for John Calipari at Massachusetts and was his assistant at Memphis for several years. The Miners are an outstanding 11-3 ATS the last 14 times that they were underdogs of greater than eight points and I look for them to improve on those numbers here. *"Shocker"
SIENA
Game: Northern Iowa vs. Siena Game Time: 2/21/2009 3:00:00 PM Prediction: Siena Reason: I'm laying the points with SIENA. I successfully played on a MAAC team (Niagara) against a MVC team (Illinois State) yesterday. Although the Missouri Valley is typically considered to be the stronger of the two conferences, I felt that the situation strongly favored the Purple Eagles. Not only were they playing on their homecourt with the greatest player in franchise history on hand, but I pointed out that they were catching Illinois-State off a series off big games and with its two biggest games of the season on deck. For some of the same reasons, I feel that situation favors the MAAC team again this afternoon. Like the Redbirds yesterday, Northern Iowa is in the thick of a heated race for the top spot in the MVC. Off an extremely disappointing loss (which may be tough to recover from) in their last game, the Panthers are now 12-4 in Conference play. That ties them for the top spot and puts them one game ahead of Illinois-State, who will they face in their next game. With that game now taking on added importance, it will be easy to get caught looking ahead. Conversely, much like Niagara yesterday, Siena isn't involved in a race for the top spot in the Conference. That's because they've already wrapped up the top spot, long ago. Even though they do face Niagara in their next game, that won't affect Siena's place in the conference standings. That should mean a little less "looking ahead," than we might have seen, if that game was for first place. In addition to being fully focused on the task at hand and playing at home, the Saints are a really good team, clearly the class of their league. UNI head coach Ben Jacobson had this to say: "They're a very good team that throws a lot of talented athletes at you..." You may recall what the Saints did in last year's tournament, knocking off a solid Vanderbilt team by 21 points. This year's team brought back basically all the same players and is determined for more success in March. The Saints didn't fare as well in their earlier non-conference games as they would have liked and they'll be looking to go all out to make a statement here, particularly after watching what Niagara did yesterday. The Saints are 13-0 at home on the season, outscoring opponents by more than a dozen points. I expect them to keep that perfect record in tact, picking up the cover along the way. *Bracket Buster GOY
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