Sports Picks & Predictions

The Nets come into this one hot and they have won and covered four of their last five games. While their list of opponents during that stretch wasn

10 Unit Play. #614 Take Kentucky over Kansas (9:20 pm CBS) It ends tonight! A rematch of coaches from the 2008 Title Game will take place tonight in New Orleans. While the 2008 match-up featured similar teams that will not be the case tonight, as Kentucky has many more bullets than does Kansas. A young Kentucky team defeated Kansas by double digits earlier this season and that is how I see this game going as well. Kentucky will not be effected by the length of Kansas inside the paint and the guard position is a major edge for Kentucky. Tyshawn Taylor cannot make a three point shot if his life depended on it and Kansas will not be able to keep pace with the scoring of Kentucky. That is where the difference in this game lies, as both teams are solid on defense, but Kentucky is way better on offense. Kansas has dominated teams in the second half of most of their NCAA Tournament games, but Kentucky will be so far ahead in this game that a late run by the Jayhawks will only cut the final deficit to 10 points. Anthony Davis is a beast inside and will shut down Thomas Robinson and Jeff Withey. Unlike Jared Sullinger, Davis will not be effected with the length of the Jayhawks and just be able to shoot over top of his defenders. Kansas is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following an ATS victory. Kentucky is 3-1 ATS (1 push) in their last 5 games against Big XII teams. Kentucky gives Coach Calipari his first national championship and we collect big in the process as well!

The Clippers have won five straight and now seem to be back in the oddsmakers good favor. However, five of those games were at home and this team is completely different at home (20-8) than on the road (11-13). Tonight they face a Dallas team that is one of the best in the business at home (19-8) and if the season ended today Dallas would be the No. 5 seed and the Clippers would be No. 4. So we feel that the Mavericks will be treating this one like a playoff game and we expect them to come to play. While the Clippers were thrown together in the offseason this Dallas team is the traditional veteran club and they have seen more big games than the Clippers have by far and they know how to get up for them. Plus, this is not even the biggest game of the week for LA as they play the Lakers on Wednesday and there is a very good chance they may have their minds on that one other than this big game tonight. The Clippers have now lost five of their last six on the road and we just think this line is a little light. LA is 1-8 ATS in the last nine meetings and we just see this as a bad spot tonight.

Love the way Boston has been playing lately. This team has been peaking and is playing playoff basketball right now. Miami is the best team in the league without a doubt, but the Heat peaked about a month ago when they were destroying everyone by double digits but they just don

Game of the Week: Love the Spurs in this spot and this one looks like a double-digit win to us. The Spurs are really in a groove right now and they are playing playoff-quality basketball. They have won six straight and nine of 10 overall with their lone loss coming in a big rivalry game on the road in Dallas. Not only is San Antonio winning games, they are also covering and they have covered in eight of their last 10. That is amazing considering that this team faces some stiff lines. This team is 17-7 ATS overall at home this season. This team is the healthiest they have been all season and they have a clear injury list. This team is also well rested with two nights off and they have been one of the best teams in the NBA ATS with rest at 23-12 ATS with one or more day

Toronto is a team that has burned us so many times. The last time we took them was at home against Orlando and, of course, they get blown out. However, that loss was sandwiched by three ATS wins. We have to take a chance on them again since there are just so many trends in their favor tonight. They are also Top 3 ATS in the NBA and they have been a consistent moneymaker all season. First of all, Miami is in a letdown spot tonight after playing a big game in an NBA Finals rematch against Dallas last night on TNT. They will come in on a back-to-back while the Raptors will be fresh. Miami has been one of the worst ATS teams in the NBA on back-to-backs and they are just 4-10 ATS this season in this situation. The Raptors are 7-1 ATS in their last eight with one night

This is the third and final game of the best-of-three CBI Championship series and we think the better team takes care of this one on its own court. The Panthers have seemed to let the Cougars hang around a little too long in this series, mainly because of a Game 1 one-point win at Washington State. First of all, the Cougars have been a pretty good ATS team this season but that has been more because of their play at home then on the road. They are only 8-12 ATS away from home. While the Panthers have not been great ATS at home, they have played a much tougher schedule and they have faced some tough home lines. But we think this team will be very motivated to put an exclamation point on what has otherwise been a pretty disappointing season and this Panthers team is the better team both offensively and defensively and we expect them to play their most complete game of this series in getting rid of these pesky Cougars once and for all.

The Finals of the NIT takes place Thursday at Madison Square Garden in New York. We expect Stanford to cut down the nets in this one. Not only are the Gophers the lower seed in this tournament, but they are pretty banged up right now and although some players have stepped up to get them to this Championship Game we just don

The Suns have a better home record than the Spurs have on the road and we think that the wrong team is favored here on Tuesday. The Suns are healthy and playing their best basketball of the season having won six of their last eight. They have also covered 12 of their last 15 so they are very underrated by the bookies right now. San Antonio has been playing well lately too but this team has had a home-heavy schedule and in their last couple games away from home they didn

10 Unit Play. #778 Take Washington over Minnesota (Tuesday 9:30 pm ESPN) This match-up features two teams that struggled through parts of the season but have put it together during tournament play to earn a trip to New York City. Washington is much more healthy than is Minnesota and the Gophers will have trouble scoring points against the athletic and young Huskies. Washington belonged in the NCAA Tournament, but the bottom three teams in the PAC-12 (USC, Utah, and Arizona State) did everybody in by keeping the rpi ridiculously low. Thus for the first team in a very long time the outright winner of a BCS Conference did not make the NCAA Tournament. Washington has played a much more difficult schedule to reach New York, beating fringe tournament teams in Oregon and Northwestern. Minnesota two of three victories have come against teams from smaller conferences (LaSalle and MTSU). Washington has already played at the Garden this season and that experience on the floor will be a major edge for them in this game. Minnesota finished just 6-12 in the Big Ten, an overrated conference all season long. Washington is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 Tuesday games. Minnesota is 2-10 ATS in their last 12 Tuesday games.

Detroit has not won many games on the road this season and when it is all said in done they will not have won many more than they have at this point. However, they are going to win a couple/few more road games and this game tonight looks like one where they should notch one in the win column. The Wizards are a team with not a lot of depth and they will be playing their third game of a back-to-back-to-back tonight while the Pistons are coming off a night

Philly has had two nights off in the last three nights and this will be the Spurs third game of the dreaded back-to-back-to-back. The Spurs plan to rest Tim Duncan and some of the older veteran players will likely get limited minutes. We had Philly as a one-point favorite in this one and we think that is great value for a game we expect the Sixers to win. The Spurs have not played in a whole lot of back-to-backs but they are 5-6-1 ATS in this situation. The Spurs have been playing really well offensively but Philly is the best defensive team in the NBA this season and we expect them to be tenacious and come out and really hold the Spurs down in this one. San Antonio managed only 89 points in New Orleans last night and it could be even worse tonight. Just think there is some really nice value here and we expect Philly to escape SA with a rare win and regardless we think this will be a close game and this is just way too many points for the Spurs to be laying against a very quality team when they are on this hectic point of their schedule.

Love the Kings in this spot. We have been waiting for a good spot to go against the Warriors and we will continue to do this all season as this is a great team to go against the rest of the way out. The Warriors basically gave up on their season when they traded Monta Ellis to the Bucks for Andrew Bogut, who will be absolutely no help to them this year. If they finish the season with a Bottom 7 record they get to keep their first-round pick next year since it will be protected. The players here have absolutely no motivation to play well right now and it is hard to blame them. This team has dropped five out of six overall and there were some very winnable games in that stretch. Their only win came against lowly New Orleans. The Kings are playing well, having won three out of four and two of those games were against likely playoff teams in Boston and Memphis. Their loss was by one point to the Jazz. This is a team that was not supposed to do anything this season but they are still playing hard despite the lack of any playoff hopes and we think this team has an excellent chance to win straight up tonight. The Kings are great in this line area as they are 10-2 ATS this season as a dog of less than five points.

Detroit has quietly been one of the best ATS teams in the league lately. They are 6-2 ATS in their last eight overall and 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 home games. Miami always faces inflated lines. They are the most public team in the league right now. They went through their hot stretch of the season a few weeks ago where they were bombing everyone by double-digits. That was the hottest stretch we have seen any team play in the NBA in a couple seasons. However, this team has come back to Earth a bit lately. They are still winning but they are having a harder time doing it. And they have not been good covering these inflated spreads. While this team is 6-4 straight up in its last 10 games, it is only 3-7 ATS during that stretch. This team has covered in only one of its last five road games. These teams played once this season here in this same building and the Pistons led most of the game until a horrible fourth quarter but they lost by only six and did cover despite being outscored by 14 in the fourth quarter. We had this line at 5 points and we think the Pistons will put up a nice fight in front of the home crowd and keep this one close and an outright win would not be that shocking to us. The Pistons have covered two straight in this series.

10 Unit Play. #818 Take Marquette over Florida (Thursday 10:15 pm TBS) Sweet 16 Game of the Year. On paper this appears to be the most competitive game from the Sweet 16, as both teams are firing on all cylinders at the moment. For a No. 7 seed, the Gators have had a cakewalk to the Sweet 16, playing a team that cannot score (Virginia) and then playing one of the worst teams in the field in Norfolk State on Sunday. Both teams are guard oriented, but I like the Golden Eagles players better, as they have been more consistent throughout the season. Florida was expect to be a top -10 team this season, but they have not shown the consistency this season and have been blown out most times when they face good teams. The Gators have losses to Rutgers, Tennessee (2), and Georgia. Marquette will guard the 3 point line and make the Gators beat them with 20 foot jump shots and they will not be able to make enough to keep pace with the up and coming Golden Eagles. Marquette is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games when they are a favorite. Florida does not go to Patrick Young enough to really hurt Marquette inside the paint and thus this will become a small man

Love the Clippers in this spot tonight. First of all, this is the most points the Clippers have been getting all season. Since both teams are coming in on a back-to-back we just don

The Suns are playing very well right now and are very under-the-radar. This team has won and covered four straight and they have won nine of their last 11 games overall and they have covered in all those wins. Like some other teams this squad seems to be getting used to the condensed schedule and they are now firmly in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. Granted, this team has had a home-heavy schedule. However, the Heat always get shaded lines as the bookies add a couple points to their line every game because the public will blindly bet on them and we feel that is the case here tonight as we had this line closer to 8 and we think there is some good value here. The Heat went through their

Even though the Hawks come into this one on a back-to-back, the Celtics don

10 Unit Play. #526 Take Wisconsin over Vanderbilt (Saturday 6:10 pm TNT) This is a very intriguing match-up as it features two teams with dramatically different styles of offense. Wisconsin sure does garner a lot of respect from the odds makers, as Vanderbilt is the trendy team at the moment yet Bucky enters as a slight favorite. That is because their style of offense will slow down the Commodores and led to numerous wide open shots and back door lay-ups. Vanderbilt struggled to put away the 12th seeded Crimson on Thursday whereas the Badgers cruised to a victory over Montana. Wisconsin can guard people on the perimeter and they also have the bodies down low to contain Festus Ezeli inside the paint. The Badgers have been given a spark with the emergence of Rob Wilson who scored 30 points against Indiana last week in Indianapolis and he and Jordan Taylor will led this team to the Sweet 16 yet again! Wisconsin is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games against SEC teams. The Commodores are just 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Saturday games.

10 Unit Play. #837 Take NC State over San Diego State (Friday 12:40 pm Tru TV) We have had a great feel for the Aztecs all season long, but the fact remains they are not close to as talented as they were last year. Had this game been in the west, they might have had a chance, but since it is being played in Columbus, I fully expect a rout by the Wolfpack. NC State is playing some of their best basketball of the season at the moment, as they have won four of their last five games and took UNC to the wire on Saturday before some questionable officiating did them in. I really like this team, as they have the ability to score points in a variety of ways and the Aztecs just will not be able to keep pace with them. NC State has five players averaging in double figures in scoring and San Diego State has just three players with double figure scoring. San Diego State did not perform very well against the top teams in the MWC this season losing two straight games to New Mexico and one game to UNLV. They also struggled to put away Boise State (won at the buzzer) and TCU (won in overtime) during the month of March. San Diego State is a strong defensive team, but they are not great shooters and really have to battle to score points on the offensive side of the floor. Also, I have never been a fan of Steve Fisher as a coach and feel he is not a big game coach especially during the NCAA Tournament. NC State is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games. The Aztecs get sent packing by and up and coming NC State that is determined to make a run in the 2012 NCAA Men

10 Unit Play. #842 Take Cincinnati over Texas (Friday 12:10 pm CBS) NCAA Tournament Game of the Year. We went against the Bearcats for our big play on Saturday against Louisville, but feel that they will have a much easier time scoring points in this game against a one man team in Texas. Louisville was determined to not let Cincinnati beat them from the three point line but Texas cannot do that with their very inexperienced team. Texas has very few good wins this season and none of them have come away from Austin. The Bearcats started the season off on a sour note but really turned the corner and bonded together after the brawl game with their in-city rival Xavier. The Bearcats have lost just three games since February and they have great balance with four players averaging over double figures per game. Texas is a one man team with J

These two teams have similar records, but the Hornets for some reason are worse at home than on the road. Even though the Wizards rarely win on the road, they still have one less road win than the Hornets have at home. We think the talent level on this Washington team is a bit better than what the Hornets bring to the table and we think they play their best in a game that is very winnable for them. How bad is this New Orleans team at home? They are just 4-18 straight up and 6-16 against the spread. How about as a favorite this season? The Hornets are 0-6 ATS as a favorite this season. They are also 0-7 ATS against sub-.500 teams at home. The Wizards have covered in six of the last nine meetings in this series and the underdog is 6-2 ATS in the last eight meetings. We think this will be a close game but we give the Wizards a slight edge here because of the Hornets horrible performance this season in the favorite

The Cavaliers are 2-6 ATS in their last eight home games and the Raptors are the second-best ATS team in the league and we think they have some very nice value tonight in a game that we think is basically a toss-up. Jose Calderon will miss this game for the Raptors but now Andrea Bargnani is back for Toronto and he is the Raptors best player and he brings as much to the table as Calderon. The Cavs have not been in the favorite role too many times this season and in these rare situations they are just 3-6 ATS. Toronto has been great in this point range as they are 11-2 ATS on the season when underdogs of between three and seven points. Just don

The Timberwolves have thrived in the underdog role all season. They have done well as a small favorite. As a large favorite? Not so much. This team is 2-9 ATS as a favorite of three or more points. Tonight they are real thin at guard since Ricky Rubio left the game last night with an injury that looks pretty serious and Jose Berea has been out for awhile and also Kevin Love has been dealing with back issues and although he is probable for tonight you just don

Game of the Month: Love the Spurs in this spot. The Clippers are really struggling right now. They have dropped six of nine and this is a very mediocre road team at 10-10 on the season. Their last two games have been slim losses at the Nets and Timberwolves. The team they face tonight is on a different level than those two teams and the Spurs are one of the most dominant home teams in the NBA at 15-3. Not only do they win, they are great at covering spreads here and they are 12-6 ATS at home. The Spurs have owned the Clippers and are 11-2 ATS in the last 13 meetings. The young Clippers do not match up well with this veteran team. The Clippers are a young team trying to find their way compared to the Spurs, who are the definition of a hard-nosed veteran team. While Clippers backers might scream

10 Unit Play. #728 Take Notre Dame over South Florida (9:30 pm ESPN) This may be a painful game to watch, as both teams like to slow down the tempo, but the Irish have many more offensive weapons and that will allow them to emerge victorious on Thursday and thus they will advance to semi-finals. To continue on, the Bulls will need to snap their six-game losing streak versus Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish topped USF, 60-49, when these teams last met in January. Notre Dame has won 8 of the 9 lifetime meetings with USF. Villanova had numerous opportunities to take control of the game last night with USF, but they could not make any free throws and eventually got wore down. This took a lot out of USF as well and we expect them to come out tired and not have much energy for this game.

Detroit has been one of the best against the spread teams in the league recently and tonight on Tuesday they face one of the teams that is always one of the most overrated in the league in the LA Lakers. The Lakers have looked very impressive lately but they are coming off a homestand and this team is a completely different team at home than on the road. This team is an awful 6-12 away from Staples Center this season and they are just 5-13 ATS on the road. The Pistons have been a real scrappy team lately and they are getting relatively healthy. This team is under the radar of the oddsmakers and that has made them a nice value bet lately. This team is 9-2-1 in their last 12 home games and they are 11-4 ATS in their last 15 overall. We once again think they are getting a very beatable number tonight and the Lakers are this big of favorites on name alone as their road woes this year have done nothing to warrant a line this large. Another important factor in this game is that the Pistons are coming into this one with plenty of rest. This will be only their second game in March and they will have had two nights off to rest and prepare for this one while the Lakers just played in a big game against Miami on Sunday at Staples Center. We expect the Pistons to give the Lakers all sorts of trouble tonight and we think they have a great chance to win this one straight up. Regardless, we think this will be a very close game and the points here offered by the oddsmakers are a gift.

We have a few reasons to like the Pacers tonight. They have already proven they match up well against these Bulls as they won by five here at the United Center back in January. This is a big rivalry game for both teams so while we know the Bulls will be up for this game this is also a game that the Pacers are not going to take a night off in and we think they give their best effort tonight. The Pacers are quietly getting very hot and they have won six straight games and will be coming into this one with a lot of confidence, especially knowing that they beat this Bulls team once here already. This Pacers team has been playing really well both offensively and defensively and we think that can score with the Bulls and their defense should keep them in this one too. Indiana has also had a really light schedule lately and they had the night off last night while the Bulls have been pretty busy and this will be their third game in four nights.

The Bobcats are hands down the worst team in the NBA right now and even though the Nets don

The Timberwolves come into one of the toughest places in the NBA for a visitor to have success and they will be playing their fourth game in five nights. This is a very young team and they have looked progressively worse in each of the games of this road trip. Even though they had a night off this is still a fatigued team and the Blazers definitely have the edge in the rest department tonight (even though they have played two games in the last three nights) as well as a strong home-court advantage. Portland has had an incredibly tough schedule recently as they have had six straight games against probable playoff teams. This is probably the easiest game on their recent schedule against an overworked team and we expect them to give maximum effort tonight as they have dropped four of six from their recent tough slate. Portland comes in with one-day rest, which has been a great spot for them this season (13-5 ATS). Minnesota has always had trouble in this series and they are 7-20 ATS in the last 27 meetings. The favorite is also 13-3 ATS in the last 16 meetings.

10 Unit Play. #619 Take Washington State over USC (6 pm) Both teams got blown out on Thursday, as WSU fell to UCLA and USC fell to Washington. We have went against USC all season long and see no reason to stop now, as this team is depleted and terrible and cannot wait for this season to end. The Trojans are 1-16 in the PAC-12 this season and have won just one game since December 20th. Washington State has underachieved this season, but they do have talent and if Faisal Aden had not gotten hurt, this team would be close to the top of the PAC-12 standing. But they have adjusted to life without him and have been competitive in games against the best teams in the PAC-12. UCLA was an exception on Thursday, as the Bruins were mad about the Sports Illustrated article and determined to make a statement that they believe in Coach Ben Howland. UCLA shot 58% from the field and 69% from three point range on Thursday and when that happens you have no chance for a victory. I just cannot see USC coming anywhere close to those numbers, as they are a terrible offensive team, shooting just 40% on the season and rank 341 in the country in points per game. The Cougars made just two three pointers in their game on Thursday and expect a much better effort on Saturday against the worst team in the west. The odds makers have yet to catch up to how bad USC actually is, as the Trojans have covered just 3 of their last 16 conference games. That includes going 1-9 ATS in their last 10 home games against teams with a losing road record.

Game of the Week: Love this spot for the Kings tonight. This is a big rivalry game for Sacramento and they always bring their best in this matchup. And we think the Lakers egos get the best of them with Miami on deck on Sunday. While the Lakers are a major rival for the Kings, that rivalry is not reciprocal. The Celtics and the Heat and the traditional powers are always the teams the Lakers get up for emotionally, and this is an opponent against which they consider it just another game. And the Lakers are notorious for playing down to their level of competition and also having trouble covering double-digit spreads. The Kings have been underrated and scrappy on the road, where they have covered eight of their last 10 games. They also seem to get up for divisional games and they are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 games against the Pacific Division. The Kings are coming in on a back-to-back after losing at home against the Clippers last night. Even though they did not cover that game we were pretty impressed with their performance since at many points in the game it looked like the Clippers would break the game wide open but the Kings kept fighting and kept clawing back and the game was really more hard-fought than the final score might indicate. This was Sacramento

10 Unit Play. #721 Take Washington over USC (10:30 pm) This is an important game for the Huskies, as a win tonight will ensure them at least a share of the PAC-12 Conference regardless of the outcome with their game on Saturday. They should have no problem winning this game by double-digits, since USC is the worst team in the PAC-12 by a very wide margin. The Trojans have not had very many close games lately either, as only 5 of their 16 games would have covered the point spread of tonight

Have to go with the rested Suns here as they have not played in over a week and the T-Wolves are coming in for their third game in as many nights. Their best player, Kevin Love, missed last night with flu-like symptoms and although he will play tonight he might not be 100% effective and could play reduced minutes. While the Wolves have more talent than the Suns at this point, their talent is young and we question whether they can handle their second back-to-back-to-back of the season. The last time they were in this situation they failed to cover as big home dogs against Chicago, losing by double digits. The Suns have been inconsistent but this team starts a long homestand tonight and we expect them to give their best effort in a very winnable game to get the homestand off to a good start. A week off is very rare this season and we think the extra time off will really benefit this team tonight. The Suns have also dominated this series and have won eight straight and 10 of 11 meetings overall. We had this line handicapped at Phoenix -7 so we think there is nice value here.

We think the wrong team is favored here tonight in San Antonio. We had this line at Bulls -2.5 and we expect them to win this game straight up. This is one of the few times this season where you will get an underdog price on the Bulls. They are 2-0 ATS this season as an underdog. These are the two best ATS teams in the NBA this season. However, the Bulls have faced higher expectations than the Spurs and they have done their work against tougher lines. The Spurs have been underdogs 10 times this season compared to only two for the Bulls. That makes the Bulls ATS records all the more impressive in our eyes as they are a much bigger public team than the Spurs. San Antonio

We are just not convinced that the Pacers are a team that should be laying this many points right now to a decent visiting team. Indiana seemingly got their mojo back after a real bad stretch in winning their last four, but looking at that slate of opponents they beat Charlotte twice as well as the Hornets and Nets. If that is not the easiest four-game stretch in the NBA we don

10 Unit Play. #641 Take Washington over Washington State (8 pm ROOT Sports) The Apple Cup is renewed on the hardwood when the Huskies head east to Pullman to take on the Cougars. Washington currently sits atop the standing of the PAC-12 and needs this win in order to keep pace with the Golden Bears. The Huskies won the first meeting of the season by double digits in Seattle and I expect a tougher game early on here, but the talent of the Huskies will eventually wear down the home team. Washington State is without their best player in Faisal Aden and that does not bode well when face the speed and quickness that Washington has. Both teams have strong inside games, but again Washington is more talented. Washington State has lost to Oregon, UCLA, and Arizona at home this season and Washington is a better team than those three. Washington is 19-6-1 ATS in their last 26 Saturday games. Talent prevails, as the Huskies record their 13th conference victory of the season and we collect big in the process as well!

The Heat are playing their best basketball since the Big Three came to Miami right now and we think this game has double-digit win written all over it. We rarely take any favorites of more than seven points, but we really feel like it is warranted tonight. The Heat come in having won seven straight games and all came by double-digits. Five of those games were on the road. They covered in all but one of those games, which was Tuesday night here in Miami where they missed the cover by a bucket against the Kings. This team has been getting it done even when facing inflated lines. The Knicks are still getting too much credit from the oddsmakers despite this rather large number. This team

Love the Timberwolves at this slim number. We had this game handicapped at Minnesota -7 so there is some great value here, especially considering all the key NBA numbers in the discrepancy between our line and the bookie

New Orleans is a bit undervalued right now as is evident by their four straight covers in their last four games. Indiana is the opposite as this team has struggled both straight up and ATS. The Pacers have lost five of their last seven straight up, with their only wins coming against Charlotte and New Jersey. They are 1-8 ATS in their last nine games overall and 1-7 ATS in their last eight home games. The Hornets have been a pesky team as a big underdog and they are 7-4 ATS as a dog of nine or more points while the Pacers are just 2-4 ATS with the same criteria. New Orleans is also 4-2 ATS on the road against winning teams. Both teams are strong defensively and the Hornets like to slow the game down in order to keep it close and to give them a chance to win. A low-scoring game makes the points more valuable, especially when you are getting double digits. The Hornets have also covered in four straight meetings in this series. Indiana is just not playing great ball right now and we think the Hornets will be able to keep this one within double digits on Tuesday.

6 Unit Play. #610 Take Washington State over Arizona State (8 pm FSN) The Sun Devils are done and do not be misled by their performance on Thursday, as they hit a couple of late three

Golden State is playing pretty well right now and we just think this line is a couple points too high and we expect the visitor to be competitive tonight and they should keep this one within double digits. Golden State has won three of their last four and their only loss was a slim loss to Portland. This team does not get blown out a lot and they have a lot of close losses on the season. That speaks more to their inability to close out a game than the assumption that this is a lousy team. Their last blowout was actually to this OKC team, but they have played them since and they lost by only three due to a late OKC rally. Golden State has been a great dog play, and this team is 6-1 ATS as a favorite of six or more points. The Thunder are a very lackluster 3-3 ATS as a double-digit favorite. The Warriors are also a perfect 2-0 ATS on the road against winning teams this season. Golden State has been playing hard and we think they will be tough tonight against a familiar opponent (this is the third time these teams have played this season).

Wow. Never thought we would see the day

Have to take a strong shot at Indiana here on Tuesday. Even though this team has struggled a bit this is still a strong playoff squad that is tough to beat at home and Miami is on the dreaded back-to-back-to-back tonight. The Pacers have lost four of five but all those games were against possible playoff clubs and most were hard-fought even in a loss. This is a solid squad, however, and they can get points on offense and they play very tough defense. The Heat, while probably the best team in the NBA, are not very deep. They are also overvalued by the oddsmakers. Even though this team is 22-7 straight up, they have a slight losing record ATS. We just don

Even though Derrick Rose is listed as questionable for this game, the Bulls are 4-2 ATS without him in the lineup and this team is deep and they are better than Boston right now without Rose, in our opinion. However, this is a marquee game and Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau has called Rose

10 Unit Play. #580 Take UCLA over California (4 pm FSN) I really like the Bruins in this spot, as they have played much better during the second half of the season and they will take care of business against an overrated California team at Pauley Pavilion this Saturday afternoon. The Bruins have won 4 of their last 5 games and that lone loss came at Washington in a game they dominated for 36 minutes before falling apart at the end. The big turnaround for this team has come on the defensive end with Joshua Smith finally in shape and is doing damage inside the paint to go along with the Wear Brothers. Smith was in foul trouble and did not play much against Stanford on Thursday and that extra rest should make him all the better for this game.

UCLA is a fringe tournament team at the moment and really needs this game against California to solidify their standing as a possible tournament team. California is the best the PAC-12 has to offer at the moment but they do not impress me that much on the offensive end of the floor. Expect the Bruins to dominate the paint and I like their guards better than Bears as well. UCLA is 5-0 ATS in their last 5 home games. California is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 road games against teams with a winning home record. Revenge is served on the court today, as the Bruins pound the Bears by double-digits.

Like the Sixers with this slim line on Monday. We had this line handicapped at 6.5 so there is some nice value here. We would lean towards the Sixers if the game came out at our handicapped line. The Lakers are a public team and they always get more respect from the oddsmakers and the general betting public than they deserve. They have won three of their last four so they are back on the public

10 Unit Play. #101 Take New York Giants over New England Patriots (Sunday 6:30 pm NBC)
This is the rematch from 4 years ago and features two traditional powers in New York and New England. The Patriots are favored because they have a marquee coach and quarterback, but I really believe that the Giants are the better all-around team and will win this game straight-up. New York has already beaten the Patriots in Foxboro this season and they have the defense that can slow down this high-powered New England passing attack. To be honest, the same cannot be said about the Patriots defense, as they are one of the worst units in all of football.
The Patriots were not challenged by explosive offenses in either of their two playoff games, as Denver is terrible on offense and Baltimore does not have many weapons as well. That being said, the Ravens outplayed New England and should have won the game, but a dropped touchdown pass and a missed field goal did them in.
The Giants are really hitting their stride late in the season and they are now healthy on defense and they own of one of the best front fours in all of football. They got to QB Brady when they met four years ago and I fully expect them to hit him early and often in this game as well. New York is 8-1 ATS in their last 9 playoff games. New England is just 1-7 ATS in their last 8 playoff games. The Giants win this game straight-up and getting points in just icing on the cake.
New York by 6

10 Unit Play. #601 Take UCLA over Washington State (5 pm ROOT Sports) Top Play of the Day. The Bruins losing on Thursday actually set this up as our top play on Saturday. Washington State is not Washington and furthermore they will be without their best player Faisal Aden. UCLA has played much better winning 2 of their last 3 games and Josh Smith has finally gotten in shape and will be a dominating force in this game. I like the Bruins player better at every position on the court and expect them to dominate the paint and cruise to a victory. This will be the 114th meeting in the all-time series. UCLA holds a supreme 99-14 advantage in the rivalry's history. The Bruins won both of last year's encounters to improve their record against the Cougars. UCLA has covered 6 of their last 8 games. Washington State is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a victory. The Cougars struggled to put away USC and will lose this game by double digits.

Love the Nuggets in this spot. We thought this line would come out around -4 since the Clippers are getting a lot of hype right now and it did come out close to that number but was bet down to the current number. We still think there is nice value here and we expect the Nuggets to get the straight up win. The Clippers have been playing a bit over their heads lately, in our opinion. This team is good, no doubt. However, they are not the best team in the west and they are more like a 4-seed. This team has to be gassed. This will be their fourth game in five nights and they played three in a row that all finished with totals above 210. We think they will struggle against a Denver team that will come at them with a furious pace. Denver is one of the deepest teams in the league and they are coming in with two nights rest in the last three nights (they had the night off last night). This team is fully healthy and they can throw a lot of different looks at opponents with different rotations. While the Clippers are deep at some spots like point guard, this team is lacking depth at shooting guard and center, and big man DeAndre Jordan is a bit banged up after last night

Always have to take a look at the double-digit dog playing on the road against the Lakers. Los Angeles always seems to play down to their competition in this scenario and we feel tonight sets up perfectly for that. First of all, this Lakers team is one that does not warrant a double-digit spread against anyone. This team has only three DD wins on the season and two of those happened way back in December. The Lakers are 0-2 ATS as favorites of eight or more points and the Bobcats are a perfect 4-0 ATS getting 11 or more on the season. Both teams will focus on defense and have pretty stagnant offenses so this one should be a low scoring game, which makes the points all that more valuable when you are getting double digits. The Bobcats have been pretty banged up this season and that has been one of the reasons for their struggles and they get back some key players tonight that will add some depth to the rotation and should give them a boost in this game. The Bobcats always get up for this matchup and they are 12-1 ATS in the last 13 meetings, including a 7-0 ATS run.

Love the Hornets in this spot. Both teams are coming in on a back-to-back but the Heat played a huge game yesterday against the Bulls that they were really focused for and we can see a letdown tonight against an inferior opponent. The Hornets played a stinker last night at home against Atlanta and maybe they were looking ahead to this game? Regardless, this team has been playing well lately and we just don

We think this line is a joke. This number screams

There

10 Unit Play. #606 Take Northwestern over Purdue (4 pm ESPN 2) College Basketball Game of the Year. It is a do or die situation for both of these teams, but Northwestern is a different team at home than they are on the road. They have had nearly a week to recover from the disastrous performance they put forth at Minnesota and expect them to come out fresh and make a statement against a struggling team. Purdue enters this game having lost three of their last four games and that includes two home games to so-so teams (Wisconsin & Michigan). Northwestern is 12-7 on the year, but they have played a brutal schedule and their RPI is 38 compared to 65 for Purdue. Purdue has been blown out in two of their three conference road games and that includes a 20-point loss to Penn State, the worst team in the league. Purdue is 0-4 ATS in their last 4 Big Ten games. Northwestern is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 Saturday games. Northwestern is a better team this year and expect them to control this game from start to finish giving us the winner with another top selection.

We knew this number would come in lower than it should since the Raptors have won two straight. However, those wins were against some mediocre teams. They rallied to beat a Suns team that is old and not very good and also a Utah team that has had a home-heavy schedule and is way overrated. This Toronto team is very road weary. This will be their third game in four nights and last time out, in that win over Utah, they played almost another full quarter as that game went to Double OT. That Utah game was their sixth road game in seven games and this team is now on its fourth game of a West Coast trip. In that last game they also lost Andrea Bargnani and he is very unlikely to play Friday, or any time soon for that matter. Bargnani is the Raps best player by far and behind him they have some nice athletes, but these guys have been a major disappointment thus far. The Raptors average a whopping nine fewer points per game when Bargnani is out of the lineup so his absence is huge. So now this road weary team has to go on to the road and play in a high altitude against a team that loves to play up-tempo. Denver is one of the toughest places to play in the NBA under normal circumstances, but it is even tougher in this abbreviated NBA season. That is part of the reason that Denver is a solid 5-3 ATS at home this season. The Nuggets are dealing with some injuries right now. However, this team is very deep and they were able to blow out the Kings on the road by 29 on Wednesday with this lineup. Andre Miller is more than an adequate replacement for Ty Lawson at point guard and even if Rudy Fernandez can

While still missing their likely best player, Eric Gordon, this team seems to be coming together and the Hornets have put together a string of strong games, although the wins have still evaded them. The more they lose, however, the more value they have for betting since public bettors look more at win-loss record than anything else when placing their bets. This team has covered three straight in close games against teams with playoff aspirations: San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. They lost by two points in each of those games and also played a couple decent games against Memphis recently, too. In fact, this team hasn

10 Unit Play. #688 Take Pittsburgh over Louisville (9 pm ESPN) Big East Game of the Year. One would have to believe that ESPN Gameday would like a do-over on this game since Pittsburgh is 0-6 and Louisville is 2-4 in the Big East. But nonetheless here they come and that would give the Panthers the extra motivation needed to put away a depleted Cardinal squad. Pittsburgh has been more competitive of late, losing and covering road games at Marquette and Syracuse in their last two games. Report are that Travon Woodall is probable for this game and that will give the Panthers a big lift and take the ball handling pressure off of Ashton Gibbs. Louisville is banged up as well with leading scorer Kyle Kuric doubtful and Rakeem Buckles out for the season. Ever since Coach Pitino stated he would leave his job after the 2017 season, this team has not been the same. Their only two victories during Big East play have come against St. Johns and DePaul. Louisville is 3-7 ATS (1 push) in their last 11 games overall. The home crowd will be fired up for this game and allow the Panthers to emerge victorious giving us yet another big play selection.

Think this is great value tonight for a Philadelphia team that is still a bit under the radar (at least compared to Miami) despite being 11-3-1 against the spread (compared to a very average 7-7 ATS for the Heat). Yes, the Sixers are coming in on a back-to-back. However, this team is young, deep and athletic and we feel they are as well suited as any team in the league to handle the grueling NBA schedule this season (they are 4-1 ATS on back-to-backs) and that is one reason why they have done so well ATS. At 11-4 the Sixers have an even better record than the Heat. They are 10-2 in their last 12 and one of those losses was in OT to the Nuggets and the other was a close game against the Knicks where they were in position to challenge late, In fact, in this team

Love the Warriors in this spot tonight. We lined this game at Golden State -1 so we think there is some real value here on a game that we expect the Warriors to win. The points is just an added bonus for a game that we expect to be close in case the game comes down to the final seconds. While the Pacers have jumped out to an impressive 9-4 record to start the season, they have done the majority of damage at home, where they are 5-0. On the road they are just 4-4. They lost on Wednesday night at a Sacramento team that is much worse than the Warriors. Actually this team hasn

Of course we are aware the Spurs are 0-5 on the road this season after getting blown out on the road last night in Miami. However, we really like their chances tonight, not only to cover the spread, but to be in a position to win this game and get the road money off their collective back. First off, about their game last night, they played a pretty strong first half against a team many consider the best team in the NBA. In the third quarter, however, the Heat were just unconscious with their shooting and even Tim Duncan conceded they were basically undefendable when shooting that hot. From that point it was all over. Gregg Popovich, the Spurs coach who we consider one of the best ever, called his team out after the game for being too soft and this guy is a master motivator and we feel they are going to give their best effort tonight. They will have a good chance to win this game against an Orlando team that seemed listless last night in a game they struggled quite a bit in against a Charlotte team they were favored by 12.5 over. They were tied heading into the fourth quarter and the Bobcats were in a position to at least have a chance to tie with under a minute left. This Orlando team just didn

Love Houston in this spot. The Rockets are coming in on a back-to-back tonight and that is one of the reasons we are getting such a nice line. However, this team has nice depth and they play great team basketball and we feel they will have no trouble handling the Pistons, the worst offensive team in the NBA, tonight at home. This team has been amazing at home with only one loss, in OT to the Spurs, and they are a perfect 5-0 ATS at home this season. This team has also shown it can play well in back-to-back situations and is 4-2 ATS with no night's rest, Houston scores 101 PPG at home this season and Detroit averages a paltry 83 PPG on the road. Detroit is coming in off one-day rest and they are 1-7 ATS this season in this situation. Also, even with some very favorable lines the Pistons have been horrible ATS as they have dropped seven of their last eight. The cherry on top of this sundae is that the favorite is 11-5-1 in the last 17 meetings.

The Bulls have been playing some great basketball and covering some inflated lines but we think this line has been bumped up a bit too much. Revenge does not play a big part in NBA handicapping as far as we are concerned, but it does come into play at some times and we think today is one of those games, since the Grizzlies were destroyed in Chicago on New Year

This Boston team is old and horrible on back-to-backs. They are 0-2 on no days rest this season and they have always struggled in this scenario. The Celtics are past their prime and this team will struggle all season with this abbreviated schedule and we feel they will be a low seed in the playoffs. Heck, if this team was in the West we think they might struggle to make the playoffs altogether. However, they are still being lined by the oddsmakers as one of the best teams in the league and we think this line is way too low. Considering how the Celtics have struggled in back-to-backs we would have lined this game closer to 7. So there is some nice value here. Boston has really struggled on the road this season as they have lost three of four, with their only win coming against then-winless Washington. They were blown out by Miami and a pretty bad New Orleans team. This team has dropped three straight both SU and ATS, including a home blowout by the hands of these same Pacers. Indiana is looking like a solid Playoff team this season and they are strong on defense and playing great team basketball. This team allows only 83 PPG at home this season (compared to 100+ by Boston on the road). They are a perfect 4-0 at home this season and they have also won and covered in two straight meetings in this series.

The Heat are in the midst of a real tough road trip and they come into this one having lost two straight and playing their third game in four nights. The Heat really struggled in their last two games, both OT losses to the Warriors and Clippers, and their normally-clutch players looked anything but. Although the Heat are 5-2 on the road, they could easily be 2-5 as they just squeaked by in games against Atlanta (in OT) and also against Charlotte and Minnesota. They beat those last two opponents by a combined three points. Tonight they face their toughest game of this road trip and Denver is just a great team at home. It is tough enough for teams to come into the high altitude and play under the best of situations, but for a team without great depth playing its third game in four nights on the last game of a long road trip this is not a great situation for Miami. Denver should be in decent shape for this game as they have had two nights off in the last three days. This is a very deep team and a very athletic one, and they like to run a lot, and we think that they have a really great edge tonight on their home court. With this brutal schedule the Heat have played and some of the injuries they have endured, we would not be surprised if they limited some of the minutes for their stars with three nights off before they play San Antonio on Tuesday. Regardless, we think the Nuggets really try to attack the basket tonight and while the Heat are used to playing up-tempo this season we just don

You won

Milwaukee is a pretty talented team that has dealt with tons of injuries in the last year. This is a team that had playoff aspirations last season that were derailed by injuries. Now they are dealing with the same situation. First off, while not an injury, star Andrew Bogut is back home in Australia dealing with family issues. Bogut is the heart and soul of this team and that is a huge loss. They also have three other key cogs that are listed as doubtful on the injury report. This team called up Darington Hobson from the D-League for this game tonight. That is how thin this team is right now. Yes, the Kings are playing their third game in three nights. But this team is pretty young and relatively healthy (we assume a sick Tyreke Evans will be able to log some minutes tonight in a winnable game). And it

The Cavs come into this game, surprisingly, with the better record. However, they have not played anybody yet (Indiana was their strongest opponent to date) and the Raptors have had a brutal schedule to open the season with four out of five on the road and their last four games against potential playoff teams. They played pretty well in all four of those games and their only double-digit loss was in Dallas against a desperate winless Mavs team and that game was a lot closer than the score really indicates. This is only Toronto

Just like in the LA Lakers/Denver game last night, this is a nice chance to follow back-to-back home-and-home trends when two teams play on consecutive nights. These two teams played last night with Boston getting a win and (barely) and cover in DC. Now these two teams play in Boston and we just think the Wizards are better suited for this back-to-back. They are younger than the Celtics and can bounce back easier. They pretty much outplayed the Celtics last night in the second half (52-43 point differential) and we think that could continue on into tonight

10 Unit Play. #255 Take Wisconsin Badgers over Oregon Ducks (Rose Bowl, Monday, January 2nd, 5 pm ESPN) Bowl Game of the Year.

It is hard to imagine either defense stopping either offense but we will take the points in what will likely be a high scoring shootout. Wisconsin has a dominating offensive line and this is something Oregon does not see on the west coast. The Badgers have won their last three Rose Bowl against PAC-12 opponents and they were underdogs in two of those games as well. Wisconsin has a strong identity of ground and pound and this will eventually wear down the Ducks come the second half.

Oregon has a strong face-paced offense that will be able to move the football on this suspect Wisconsin defense; however, the Badgers do have a strong front four that should be able to put some pressure on Darron Thomas. Oregon has not won a Rose Bowl since 1917 and they are just not a good match-up against a traditional Big Ten team. A suspect Ohio State team beat them in the 2010 game holding them to just 17 points and I felt that offensive was more explosive than this year

10 Unit Play. #52 Take New York Giants over Dallas Cowboys (Sunday 8:20 pm NBC) Top NFL Play of the Weekend.
This is a winner take all game between the Cowboys and the Giants and we will side with the home team tonight at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ. Normally we would side with the underdog in this series since they have covered 5 straight, but the Cowboys are limping into this game and the Giants are coming off one of their best performances of the season. The Giants dominated the Jets

Love the odds for this game as these two teams played yesterday in LA and the Lakers rallied for the win late. Now, just as we thought, the bookies have installed the Nuggets as a slim favorite. This is one of the situations we love in the NBA when the same teams play a two-night home-and-home back-to-back. We were praying the Lakers won last night and indeed they did and that has created a nice line for a Nuggets team that should do lots of damage at home this season. When teams play two nights straight like this the losing team always gives a better effort the following night and this game is tailor-made for the Nuggets. First, the Lakers aren

10 Unit Play. #605 Take Oregon State over Washington State (6 pm ROOT) PAC-12 Game of the Year. Both teams got blown out on Thursday but the Beavers game against Washington was a little deceiving since they cut the lead to just 3 points with around three minutes to play. Washington State was non-competitive against a so-so Oregon team and I fully believe Oregon State is a better team than Oregon. They also have the best player on the floor in Jared Cunningham and I do not believe that the Cougars will have an answer for him. Oregon State holds a 162-120 advantage in the all-time series.
Washington State lost their two best players from last year to early entry into the draft and they have yet to settle on a rotation for this season. Their best player is Faisal Aden but he has been injured (concussion) and since returning is only playing around 21 minutes per game. That will not be enough to beat a quality team like Oregon State, as they already have wins against Texas and took Vanderbilt to the wire. Oregon State needs this win to avoid having their season come apart. They have visions of making the NCAA or NIT postseason and cannot afford a sweep at the hands to two so-so Washington schools. The Beavers are 8-2 ATS (1 push) in their last 11 games. The Cougars are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 home games.

10 Unit Play. #238 Take Northwestern Wildcats over Texas A & M Aggies (MEINEKE CAR CARE BOWL Saturday, December 31st, 12 pm ESPN) Big Ten Game of the Year.

Both teams underachieved this season and it ended up costs Coach Mike Sherman his job. Northwestern struggled with injuries all season long with QB Dan Persa but he is now healthy and I fully expect him to pick apart this weak A & M defense that allows 29 points per game. Coach Pat Fitzgerald knows who important this game is for his Wildcats, as they have not won a bowl game since 1949. This is the fourth straight year Northwestern has qualified for a bowl game and the last three have been nail bitters, losing two of them in overtime and lost by just 7 points last year. They have played much better teams in those games (Missouri, Auburn, and Texas Tech) than what they will get today from the Aggies. Also expect QB Persa to be hungry as he missed the bowl game last year (Achilles' injury).

Texas A & M has talent, but they were never able to put it together this season and I do not expect them to be able to figure it out with an interim coach and a staff that will be looking for new jobs come next season. They are also banged up on offense with the loss of Christine Michael (torn ACL) Cyrus Gray (shoulder

We love the Clippers in their home opener tonight and think that they put up a strong performance against a Chicago team that is coming off of three straight road games, including a game late last night against the Kings in upstate California. This Chicago team has to be fatigued and road-weary tonight. This will be the Clippers first home game and the sold-out Staples Center will be rocking tonight. The Clippers M.O. over the years has been that they are a pretty good home team and horrible on the road. They always seem to get up for the marquee teams in the league, and we think that will definitely be the case tonight. This team is still learning to play together and we think that after two games together, both on the road, that they will play their best game of the season at home tonight. This team has played very well against the Bulls in recent meetings as they have won and covered in three of the last four, and this is the best team they have ever fielded. We think the Clippers get the straight up win tonight but the points are just the bonus here.

We love the Rockets in this spot. They were a great underdog bet last season and we think that will be the case again this season. This team is the perfect squad for bettors. They have no stars, so they aren

The Clippers aren

10-Unit NBA Game of the Week #707 Take Toronto over Cleveland (Monday, 7 p.m. EST) Flat out, we think the wrong team is favored here. We had the Raptors as about 3-point favorites in this one when we made our lines for every game. Okay, so maybe the Cavs have dominated this series for years. But that was LeBron

10 Unit Play. #18 Take Kansas City Chiefs over Oakland Raiders (Saturday 1 pm CBS) Top NFL Play of the Weekend.
This appears to be a case of two teams heading in opposite directions. The Chiefs knocked off the previous unbeaten Green Bay Packers and are still very much alive in the AFC West despite being in fourth place. The Raiders have never gotten on track with QB Carson Palmer and will enter this game having lost three straight. They were blown out in two of those games and suffered a devastating loss last Sunday against Detroit in which they blew a late 13-point lead. The Raiders had complete control of the AFC West, but things have fallen apart and I do not expect them to get much better playing the Chiefs this Sunday.
The Chiefs now have a quarterback that can actually throw the football and expect him to pick apart the Raiders like he did the Packers last Sunday. Kanas City has already beaten Oakland once this season and that came in the Black Hole by a score of 28-0. In that game the Raiders turned the football over 6 times and expect a similar occurrence today against the Chiefs defense. Kansas City is inspired by the coaching change and the players are going all out for Romeo Crennel. Former Coach Todd Haley never seemed to be the right fit for the Chiefs and Coach Crennel is getting the most out of his players. Oakland is 16-35 ATS (1 push) vs. a team with a losing record. Kansas City is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 December games.
Kansas City by 10

10 Unit Play. #572 Take Utah State over UT Arlington (10 pm) The Aggies have gotten off to a rough start this season, but they have been a traditional powerhouse at home and we expect them to win their third straight home game tonight against the Mavericks. The Aggies are 40-1 all-time in tournaments they are hosting and that should tell you that they only invite teams that they are capable of beating by double digits. The Aggies are 5-2 ATS (1 push) in their last 8 home games and this team has too much tradition to not make a sure before WAC play starts.
Best of Luck

10 Unit Play. #24 Take New York Giants over Washington Redskins (Sunday 1 pm Fox)
The Giants certainly had their backs against the wall last Sunday night, as they faced a must win game at Dallas and were down 12 points late in the fourth quarter. New York was able to rally back and now they control their own destiny with regards to the NFC East Crown. They are facing a Redskins team that has thrown in the towel on this season having lost 8 of their last 9 games and they have yet to settle on a quarterback. The Redskins played well last week against New England, but I do not expect them to be as effective at MetLife Stadium this Sunday.
QB Eli Manning is making his case of late that he is an elite quarterback, as he tore apart the Dallas Cowboys in route to a victory last Sunday night. He has thrown 7 touchdowns in the last three weeks and has already thrown for over 4100 yards. Washington will not be able to keep pace with these numbers and assuming the Giants do not turn over the football, this game will be a route.
New York by 17

10 Unit Play. #613 Take New Mexico over Oklahoma State (10:30 pm ESPN 2) Top College Basketball Play of the Day. Granted this game is being played in Oklahoma City giving the Cowboys somewhat of an edge with regards to the home crowd, but I cannot overlook the fact that New Mexico has the three best players on the floor. This is a strong Lobos teams led by Drew Gordon, Kendall Williams, and Tony Snell they have experience which is something that the Pokes lack. Oklahoma State is 0-3 this season in neutral site games and they were not very competitive in any of those games despite the final score being somewhat close in two of them. In all three games they were down double digits and that will again by the case with this contest. The Lobos are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against Big 12 teams. The Pokes are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 Saturday games. Expect a lot of turnovers in this game but in the end the Lobos will have too much. New Mexico has already won at Arizona State and at USC and they have a major edge in talent tonight.

10 Unit Play. #22 Take Tennessee Titans over New Orleans Saints (Sunday 1 pm Fox)
The Titans have stayed under the radar for most of the season but they are quietly having a good year and they are a player for a wild card spot in the AFC Playoffs. The Saints have put on a display the last two weeks against the Giants and Lions but they are a completely different team on the road than they are when playing at the Superdome. New Orleans is just 3-3 on the road this year and that includes losses against St. Louis and Tampa Bay (two of the worst teams in the NFC this season).
The Titans have gotten a major boast of late with Chris Johnson returning back to form. He has went over 130 yards in three of his last four games and this makes this team full now as they have a quarterback that can beat you with his arm as well. Coach Mike Munchak has already played three NFC teams this season and his team has covered all three games (Atlanta, Carolina, & Tampa Bay). This is a very important game for the Titans because they have two winnable games on deck (Jacksonville & Indianapolis) and that will get them to 10 wins on the season and a likely playoff berth. New Orleans is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 road games. Tennessee is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as a home underdog. Tennessee controls the time of possession and keeps QB Drew Brees off of the football field winning this game straight-up.
Tennessee by 3

10 Unit Play. #559 Take Oklahoma State over Pittsburgh (2:30 pm ESPN) Top College Basketball Game of the Day. Pittsburgh is not good enough to be laying this many points to a BCS Conference team on a neutral site. They will be without their second best player in Tray Woodall and losing their point guard will be tough to overcome.
The Cowboys are a young team and with freshman you never know what you will be getting night in and night out but they came alive in the second half on Wednesday for a nice road win at Missouri State. They also have experience playing at Madison Square Garden, as this will be their third game this year in New York City. OSU is 18-11 all-time at Madison Square Garden and 4-1 straight-up against ranked teams. I expect this to be a low scoring game that goes down to the wire giving us the cash with whoever comes out on top. The Panther are 0-3 ATS (1 push) in their last four games against Big 12 teams.

10 Unit Play. #56 Take New Orleans Saints over Detroit Lions (Sunday 8:20 pm NBC)
This game got flexed to primetime as the Colts have been taken out because they have looked horrible with QB Peyton Manning. The Saints are a different animal at the Superdome and will record their sixth victory of the season in New Orleans tonight against a depleted and angry Lions team. As you probably have heard by now, Detroit will be without Ndamukong Suh, who was suspended for stomping on the arm of a Green Bay Packers lineman on Thanksgiving Day. The Lions have lost two of their last 3 games and both of them came by double-digits.
The Saints lit up the scoreboard on Monday night football facing a similar team to Detroit in the New York Giants. Once the Saints get ahead of you in the dome, you are done and they can cover big numbers because they do not take their foot off the pedal. Detroit is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against NFC teams. New Orleans has covered 5 straight home games.
New Orleans by 17

10 Unit Play. #668 Take Memphis over Austin Peay (8:30 pm CSS) Top Game of the Day. Despite being ranked high at the start of the season, the Tigers have not performed well this season but they are coming off a blowout win against Jackson State on Monday and this is another get well game tonight at the FedEx Forum. The Governors have not won a game this season and have been blown out by California, Oral Roberts, and Middle Tennessee State. Memphis owns a commanding 16-4 advantage in the all-time series with Austin Peay, and the Tigers have won each of the last five meetings. The Tigers are playing outstanding defense and the Governors will struggle to reach 55 points in this game. Austin Peay is 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games. Memphis gets well and we collect big in the process as well.

10 Unit Play. Take Oklahoma State Cowboys over Oklahoma Sooners (Saturday 8 pm ABC)
With no Big 12 Title Game this season, this is the winner take all game with the victory getting a BCS Bid and the loser getting a lesser bowl bid. Neither team has played well down the stretch, but the Pokes have had over two weeks to prepare for this game since their loss to Iowa State on November 18th. The Sooners are still without their playmaking WR Ryan Broyles and this is a major loss and it will show its face in this game.
Both teams have dynamic offenses, but I trust the experience of Brandon Weeden more than I do Landry Jones. He has thrown 34 touchdowns on the season and expect him to put on a show against a shaky Sooner defense in this Bedlam match-up. The home team has been the play in recent match-up in Bedlam covering 9 of the last 13 match-ups (1 push). The Pokes have covered 17 of their last 22 games.
Oklahoma State by 10

10 Unit Play. #783 Take Virginia Tech over Minnesota (9:15 pm ESPN 2) These are two similar teams and the Gophers are favored because of their coach and they are playing at the Barn, a traditional tough spot to play. But that is all that the Gophers have going for them, as their best player (Trevor Mbakwe) just suffered a season ending injury (torn ACL). He was the heart and soul of this team and there is no way they will be able to fill this void. Furthermore, there other big man, Ralph Sampson is hampered by injuries as well and is not doing anything thus far in the season (5.8 points & 3.7 rebounds). He was a double-figure scorer last year and something is not right with him this season. This team folded down the stretch with injuries last year and they appear to be heading down a similar path. Some of their wins are deceiving, as Indiana State lead for most of the game on 11/25 before a late run by the Gophers allowed them to get the victory and Fairfield was nip and tuck with them as well before Ed Hightower (famous ref) took over the game.
As for the Hokies, they lost some key components off of their team last year, but they are finally playing a non-conference schedule that is NCAA tournament quality. They held their own in New York last weekend beating Oklahoma State in a game that was not as close as the score would indicate (they led the entire second half). This is an important road victory for them and will give them a marquee name victory. Minnesota is 4-13 in their last 17 games at the Barn. Virginia Tech wins this game straight-up and getting points in best icing on the cake.
Best of Luck

10 Unit Play. #129 Take Chicago Bears over Oakland Raiders (Sunday 4:05 pm FOX) NFL Game of the Year.
The Bears are playing outstanding football at the moment and will enter this game having won five straight games. If QB Cuter was playing, I would expect Chicago to be around a field goal favorite, but that is not the case and because of the injury the Raiders enter as the favorite. Let

10 Unit Play. #76 Take Michigan Wolverines over Ohio State Buckeyes (Saturday 12 pm ABC)
The Buckeyes have dominated this series in recent years, but coaching changes at both schools lead me to believe that Michigan is the play this weekend. The Buckeyes are coming off two bad losses in consecutive weeks to Purdue and Penn State and they must win this game to avoid a .500 record on the season. They will likely make a coaching change at the end of the season and they will have to rebuild with a new identity, as without the vest as head coach, they team has lost its identity. Giving up 46 points the last two weeks to Purdue and Penn State would not give you confidence when having to face Denard Robinson and the high powered Wolverine offense.
Michigan dominated Nebraska last week for 60 minutes and it would not surprise me if this final score was similar to the game last week. Michigan is coming off two straight impressive victories (Illinois & Nebraska) and they have a lot of play for in this game, as a victory will all but assure them a BCS bid. Coach Brady Hoke has given this team confidence and expect them to put on a show and pound Ohio State. Michigan is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games at the Big House. This is a celebration of the revival of Michigan and we will collect big in the process as well!
Michigan by 21

10 Unit Play. #617 Take New Mexico State over Southern Miss (11:59 pm FCS) I am a big fan of this Aggie team and feel that they are the team to beat in the WAC Conference this season. They are 4-0 this season and only one of those victory came at the Pan American Center. They already have a couple of quality wins on the season against UTEP and New Mexico (at the PIT) and I expect them to cruise past the Golden Eagles tonight in Anchorage, AK. New Mexico State has won three of the four meetings in this series. The Golden Eagles have not been home for quite some time and they do not have a quality win on the season. They were beaten by a mediocre Denver team and they struggle to put away a bad UC Irvine team, a team that is expected to finish eight out of nine teams in the Big West. The Aggies return four starters off last year

10 Unit Play. #782 Take Illinois over Richmond (9:30 pm CBS College Sports) Getting rid of Demetri McCamey and all the jump shooting seniors from last year is actually a blessing for Illinois, as they have become a better team with their young guards and expect them have much more balance this season. This team has a loaded recruiting class and great guard play and expect them to pick apart Richmond tonight at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico.
Richmond suffered even more damaging losses to graduation than did Illinois with all-everything player Kevin Anderson now playing in France. They were beaten soundly in their only road game of the season by a mediocre Davidson team and I expect them to lose by double-digits tonight against Illinois. The Spiders will have trouble scoring points this season and playing hard defense just will not get the job done on a consistent basis in the loaded A-10 this season. Illinois is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 Tuesday games. Lay the wood with the better team and watch your money grow.
Best of Luck

10 Unit Play. #426 Take Detroit Lions over Carolina Panthers (Sunday 1 pm Fox)
The Lions need a get well game and the Carolina Panthers should be the perfect remedy for a team coming off a bad loss. Detroit was dominated for 60 minutes last week against the Chicago Bears and now face a must win home game this Sunday at Ford Field. The Panthers are just 2-7 this season and that includes going 0-3 on the road. They will enter this game having lost 5 of their last 6 games and their last two games have been against bad teams in Minnesota and Tennessee. QB Cam Newton is coming off a terrible performance last Sunday throwing for zero touchdowns and one interception. His quarterback rating in that game was just 61.7 and expect the strong Lions pass rush to tee off on him this Sunday.
This will be Carolina

10 Unit Play. #20 Take Illinois Fighting Illini over Wisconsin Badgers (Saturday 12 pm ESPN 2)
The Badgers are the best team in the Big Ten, but Illinois has a lot of talent and this is just too many points to be laying in Champaign. The home team has won three straight in this series and the Illini beat the Badgers the last time in Champaign when Wisconsin was ranked No. 5 in the country. The Illini have a strong defense and Wisconsin will not be able to run all over them similar to what they did last week against Minnesota. This is also the second straight road game for Wisconsin and that usually catches up with teams that have to cover a big number.
The Badgers are strong on offense but their defense is questionable and their special teams are awful. Last week UW allowed a fake field goal and a kickoff return for touchdowns and this unit has been dreadful throughout the Big Ten portion of the season. Illinois is coming off a poor performance against Michigan, but that is the only game that they have not been in this season and I expect them to bounce back in a big way today. Wisconsin is just 3-11 ATS in their last 14 road games when they are a favorite of 10.5 points or more. Illinois is 9-1 in their last 10 games when they are an underdog. Certain teams do not handle prosperity well and expect Illinois to thrive in the underdog role and keep this one close for sixty minutes.
Wisconsin by 6

10 Unit Play. #19 Take Michigan State Spartans over Iowa Hawkeyes (Saturday 12 pm ESPN 2)
For the second straight week, we will fade the Hawkeyes in Iowa City as our top play in college football. Last week did not turn out well, but Michigan State is a much better all-around team than Michigan is. Michigan State has a strong defense that can shut down this questionable Iowa offense.
The Spartans will have revenge on their minds, as Iowa handed them their only loss of the season last year and knocked them out of the Rose Bowl. Last week Michigan was halted by an injury to Denard Robinson and despite that nearly mounted a comeback and could have tied the game, but two touchdowns were overturned on the last drive. Iowa was not afraid of the Michigan passing game but that will not be the case this Saturday. Michigan State QB Kirk Cousins is one of the best passing quarterback in the conference and I expect him to pick apart this Iowa defense. Michigan State is 8-3 ATS in their last 11 games against teams with a winning record. Iowa is just 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games coming off a victory. This will be the first good team Iowa will play at home this season and it will also be Iowa

10 Unit Play. #106 Take Buffalo Bills over New York Jets (Sunday 1 pm CBS)
AFC Game of the Year. The Bills continue to receive very little respect despite sitting atop the standing in the very competitive AFC East and we will lay the wood with them today, as they are 4-0 in this at home (Toronto Game included). Buffalo has been kicked around of late by the Jets but this is a much improved team than those that played in the last three meetings.
I am still not sold on QB Marc Sanchez as a NFL caliber quarterback. I expect the Bills to sell out to stop the run and force Sanchez and his old wide receivers to beat them with the deep ball. Buffalo has great balance on offense and this is not the same Jets defense that has been so strong in the last couple of years. They still have a great player in CB Darrelle Revis but their rush defense has been horrible allowing over 125 yards per game by their opponents. The Jets are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 road games. Buffalo is 6-2 ATS (1 push) in their last 9 home games. Buffalo make a statement that they are going to the playoffs, and we collect big in the process as well.
Buffalo by 8

10 Unit Play. #15 Take Michigan Wolverines over Iowa Hawkeyes (Saturday 12 pm ESPN)
The Wolverines have come back well after losing to Michigan State with a convincing 22-point victory against Purdue last week. Iowa is on the other end of the spectrum coming off an embarrassing loss to Minnesota last Sunday. Yes this is the same Gopher team that lost to New Mexico State and North Dakota State at home this season. To make no bones about it, Iowa has been lacking in recruiting lately against other top teams in the Big Ten and now Coach Kirk Ferentz is squarely on the hot seat.
The Wolverines will have revenge on their minds as well losing to Iowa the last two years. But that came under Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke has returned Michigan to its identity. Iowa has never beaten Michigan three straight years and that will stay intact as the Wolverines offense is the only good squad on the field. Iowa does not have enough playmakers on offense to threaten this suspect Michigan defense and thus Michigan can simply outscore their way to a victory. Michigan is 4-0 in their last 4 games when they are favored to win. Iowa is 1-6 ATS (1 push) in their last 8 Big Ten games. QB Denard Robinson and company stay atop the standing in the Big Ten and we collect with them as well!
Michigan by 13

10 Unit Play. #130 Take Philadelphia Eagles over Dallas Cowboys (Sunday 8:20 pm NBC)
The game of the week features two NFC East teams that need this win in order to avoid falling too far behind in a highly competitive division. I firmly believe that Philadelphia righted the ship last time they were in action against Washington and I expect them to get much better as the season progresses. Dallas has lost two of their last three games with their only victory coming against the winless St. Louis Rams, a team that was playing without their starting quarterback, Sam Bradford.
The bye week came at the perfect time for the Eagles and allowed many of their players to get healthy for this game. I expect their offense to be able to score a will against Dallas and it would not surprise me if they put up 30-plus points. The Cowboys are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games in October. Philadelphia needs this game and they get it in convincing fashion.
Philadelphia by 10

10 Unit Play. #92 Take Southern Cal Trojans over Stanford Cardinals (Saturday 8 pm ABC)
PAC-12 Game of the Year. It has been a long time since USC has been this big of an underdog at the Coliseum and I do not believe that Stanford is capable of beating them by double-digits in Los Angeles. USC is coming off their best performance of the season last week in South Bend and they are much more battle tested than the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford has struggled in numerous first haves this season against inferior competition and if they struggle against USC, they will likely lose this game straight-up.
This game reminds me a great deal of the Wisconsin

10 Unit Play. #121 Take Green Bay Packers over Minnesota Vikings (Sunday 4:15 pm Fox)
The Packers are the only undefeated team left in the NFL and we will ride them yet against playing one of the worst teams in the league. The Vikings have major questions at quarterback, as Donovan McNabb got pulled in their last game against the Bears in favor of rookie Christian Ponder. Neither quarterback will have success against the Packers and it does not matter to us whom is under center (Ponder will likely start). Green Bay is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games against Minnesota including winning the last match-up in Minneapolis by a score of 31-3.
The Packers have dominated against bad teams of late going 11-3 ATS (1 push) in their last 15 games against teams with a losing record. The Vikings are 2-10 ATS (1 push) in their last 13 games when they are an underdog. The Packers have covered 21 of their last 31 games against NFC North teams and win number 22 will come by double digits Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome.
Green Bay by 15