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6 UCLA 8.5
5 DAL o44
4 UTAH ST 3.5
6 UCLA 8.5
5 DAL o44
4 UTAH ST 3.5
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NHL PREDICTIONS
1* NHL* Colorado Avalanche @ Dallas Stars: DALLAS STARS TO WIN -115 ML
The Dallas Stars come into tonight's game with a solid 8-3 record. Tonight's starter Keri Lehtonen is 8-1 on the year with a 1.75 GAA and .947 SV%. Dallas has won 7 of their last 9 games coming into tonight, with their two losses coming against Los Angeles. The Avalanche have slowed down considerably losing 3 of their last 4 games and 4 of their last 6, dropping them to 7-5 on the year. I'm not knocking the Avs, who are off to a much better start than anyone would have guessed, but 6 of their 7 wins have been 1 goal games which could have gone either way. Dallas is relying a ton of Lehtonen, but is seems to working out, as they are averaging just 2.09 goals against per game. The Stars should have fresh legs coming into tonight with 5 days of rest. Note that the Stars are 5-0 in their last 5 games as a home favorite. The Stars have won 7 of these two teams last 10 meetings in Dallas. With the way the Stars and Lehtonen are playing so far this season they are a team I am confident in backing, and I wouldn't be surprised to see the Avalanche start to slide a little bit from their hot start (as they've already began doing). Dallas takes tonight's game at home, and there is good value at -115 on it.Comment
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SPORTS WAGERS
OTTAWA +105 over Montreal
The Canadiens have three nice wins in a row over Boston twice and over the Flyers once. That’s nice, it really is but let’s not forget that the Habs lost six straight prior to that and scored one goal in four of those six games. The Habs favored on the road here is an overreaction by the market to a popular team that has won three in a row. Meanwhile, the Sens are no flukes. This is without doubt the most undervalued team in the league. Ottawa was predicted by most to be nothing this year but these guys are coming together a lot quicker than anyone anticipated. They’ve scored three goals or more in seven straight games and they won six of those seven games. The Sens are playing with confidence and they believe in what they’re doing. Nate Greening, Stephane Da Costa and Erik Karlsson are three outstanding young talents that have not looked a bit out of place. Karlsson is scary good and he solidifies and makes the whole defense better. Montreal is not the better club here, yet they’re favored on the road. That provides us with a good opportunity to cash in on the misperceptions. Play: Ottawa +105 (Risking 2 units).
CAROLINA +116 over Washington
Another live pooch at home sees the Canes taking back a tag against a Caps team that is 8-2 but that has allowed 11 goals against in their past two games. That’s something that should not be ignored, as the Caps weak defense has been masked by its winning ways. Washington is also not in the best spot, as they returned home from a two-game Western Canada trip before hosting the Ducks on Wednesday. That’s home for one game and on the road again for two more. These two met in Washington in the season opener for both and Washington won in OT. What we know for sure is that Cam Ward is one of the top goalies in the league and a goaltending edge in this day and age is huge. We also know that the Canes have picked up eight out of a possible nine points in their last four home games against Boston, Ottawa, Chicago and Tampa and they can surely keep that going against the Caps. Washington is off to a hot start, thus, this is a sell high opportunity. Play: Carolina +116 (Risking 2 units).
Colorado +106 over DALLAS
The Avalanche appear to be a lot more dangerous on the road this season and until that changes there’s no reason to back off them. In fact, Colorado has won six of seven road games and this assignment is surely no more difficult than those others. The Stars are a misleading 8-3. This is not a 72% winning team and thus, a correction in their W/L record is forthcoming. Rarely have the Stars been the better team in any of their eight wins. Kari Lehtonen has carried them the whole season thus far and he’s the lone reason they’re 8-3. The Stars keep getting badly outplayed and they simply can’t keep winning when that happens. The Dallas Stars are a bubble team at best and even that might be a stretch come April. The Stars are going to be a great fade when they’re favored and if Lehtonen keeps standing on his head and recoding wins, so be it. We’ll take our chances against a team that has no chance of maintaining a 72% win percentage. Play: Colorado +106 (Risking 2 units).
Chicago +107 over TAMPA BAY
The Blackhawks taking back a tag against the Lightning is about as good as it gets tonight. Chicago is playing some damn good hockey and these guys have the same fire in them they had when they won the cup two years ago. Offensively, it looks like a clinic out there every night for the Blackhawks and that is likely going to pose a huge problem for the Bolts slow and extremely flawed group of defensemen. Keeping Chicago below four goals is a big challenge and one that the Lightning may not be capable of. The Bolts have picked things up with four wins in six games after an awful start. Having said that, of those four wins only one was impressive and that was when they dominated the Islanders after five straight losses. In those other three wins, the Bolts were average at best in a 1-0 win over the Jets and they were extremely fortunate in back-to-back wins over the Sabres. Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis are off to slow starts offensively and Tampa Bay’s leading scorer is defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron. Tampa favored over the Blackhawks is wrong and if you make one hockey bet tonight, this should probably be it. Play: Chicago +107 (Risking 2 units).Comment
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DAVID BANKS
USC Trojans vs. Colorado Buffaloes
The first ever PAC-12 meeting between the USC Trojans (6-2, 4-4 ATS) and Colorado Buffaloes (1-8, 2-7 ATS) is set to go under the Friday Night Lights from Folsom Field; kick-off is set to go live on ESPN, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com at 9:00 ET.
One has to wonder the mind frame the Trojans will take the field with in this one after falling in what will end up being their de facto bowl game to Stanford last Saturday night – in 3 OTs no less! Coach Lane Kiffin’s squad gave the Cardinal all they could ask for, but when it was all said and done, USC found itself on the short end of the exhilarating 56-48 final. QB Matt Barkley played one up with Stanford’s Andrew Luck throwing for 284 yards and three TDs, and he will now get the pleasure of throwing into the Buffaloes 92nd ranked pass “D” that’s allowed an average of 248.9 YPG on the year. Save for a second half meltdown at Arizona State, USC has handled its business with high marks away from the Coliseum smashing both Cal (30-9) and Notre Dame (31-17) to check in with 2-1 SU & ATS records as visitors on the year. The Trojans have covered seven of their L/9 as visitors and four of their L/5 as road chalk.
The Buffaloes enter this Week 10 gridiron battle losers of six in a row both SU and against the closing pointspread. They fell in Tempe 48-14 as whopping 32-point underdogs to the Sun Devils last week. First year head coach John Embree has had a rough go of it in his first year at the helm in Boulder, as his kids own just a win against Colorado State in nine overall tries. The Buffs competed well in their first two home games of the season falling 36-33 in overtime against Cal (+6) before getting edged by the Washington State Cougars 31-27 as three-point favorites. They were then blown off the field by the Oregon Ducks in their most recent spat in front of the hometown faithful losing 45-2 as 31-point underdogs. Colorado won’t be bowling for the fourth straight season, but it could put up a fight tonight considering its 6-2-1 ATS its L/9 when installed a home underdog.
These programs last met on the gridiron back in 2002 in Boulder where the Trojans cruised to the 40-3 road win and outright cover as 2.5-point underdogs. USC is 8-2 SU but just 2-7-1 ATS the L/10 times it was favored on the road in the 10.5-21 point range, but also stands an impressive 17-8 ATS the L/25 times it played off a SU loss. CU’s been dogged at home by 10 or more points six times and checks in with a 3-3 ATS record in those games. That tally includes a shocking outright win over Oklahoma as 23-point underdogs back in 2007.
PICK: USC/COLORADO OVERComment
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Totals 4 U Selections for Friday, November 4th
2011 PAC 12 Primetime Total of the Year!!!!!
Southern California/Colorado under 58 1/2
College Best Bets
Central Michigan/Kent State under 43
NHL Best Bets
Washington/Carolina under 5 1/2
Motreal/Ottawa under 5 1/2
Chicago/Tampa Bay over 5 1/2Comment
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