Cashing In

Your "Bad Beat" for Friday is on:

Senators (total of 5) at Buffalo.

A hearty consolation prize to any Celtics backers in the NBA as they layed about 11 with Boston and watched their 15 point lead after a quarter, 20 point lead at the half and 24 point second half lead shrink to an 8 point 94-86 win and non-cover. Typical NBA there, huh?

The "Bad Beat" of the day comes on the ice from Buffalo. Ottawa held the 3-2 lead late and the Sabres goal was empty. Daniel Alfredsson scored an empty netter with literally one second to go as in 19:59 into the period to make it a 4-2 final and an over instead of just a push on that total of 5.



Your winner for Saturday is on:

6* Kentucky (minus 4) vs. West Virginia

A perfect 2-0 Friday as 4* Tennessee won outright against Evan Turner and Ohio State and the 2* Nets took care of business as well!

One play here for this small Saturday slate but one play that I absolutely love!

West Virginia is a very good team and Bob Huggins will have his boys well prepared and ready to play their top notch defense. But sometimes talent is too much and that will be the case today.

Darryl Bryant is still out and the Mountaineers will once again look to backup point guard Joe Mazzulla to run the show. The problem for the Mounties is how that just won't work. John Wall is an NBA player right now and will have his way with Mazzulla. Mazzulla still has that injured shoulder and can't even shoot at all. That will free up Wall and the defense to sag or do whatever they want to. Whatever scheme John Calipari wants to use defensively will work well as this is almost five defenders against four offensive players. Huggins' boys were able to get away with this against Washington but Kentucky ain't Washington!

As for the offensive side of the ball for KU what can you say? Wall, Demarcus Cousins and Eric Bledsoe are game breakers and blue chip studs that will all be playing at the next level in the near future. These kids have not let down or missed a beat so far in the Big Dance and should be ready to get to the Final Four today against a West Virginia team that has a great player in Da'Sean Bryant and nobody else that is too feared.

This Kentucky team is special. They are starting to get to that UNLV level from the late 80's and early 90's. If that is a bit strong then one can easily at least get away with saying how these guys make up a team even more talented than Michigan's young Fab Five in the early 90's led by Chris Weber, Juwan Howard and Jalen Rose.

West Virginia will defend and hold their own for awhile but it won't be enough as Kentucky is just too freakin' good!

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Boston University (plus 11) at VCU.

No great "Bad Beats" on Wednesday but the BU Terriers were playing in the CBI tournament and were a big dog at Virginia Commonwealth. But this double digit dog came to play and actually led 43-42 at the half.

That success though was short lived as the Rams came out of the locker room on a 9-0 run which was extended to 21-8. The lead would swell to 15 and in the end BU fell short by a few points in the 88-75 defeat.



Your winners for Thursday are on:

4* Washington (plus 4) vs. Mountaineers.

2* Cornell (plus 8 1/2) vs. Kentucky.

A small winning 1-1 Wednesday as the 3* Nets came through unlike the 2* on the Hornets.



Darryl Bryant's injury is a huge key today and I think it will be the downfall of Bob Huggins' squad. It's not easy to lose your starting point guard two days before a Sweet Sixteen game and I think it will prove to be too much for this favorite from West Virginia.

Washington may not be as physical as West Virginia but the Huskies can run the floor and shoot the rock. Pondexter and Thomas are awesome and Lorenzo Romar's team has now been on-fire for a month or so. The bulk of the season as a whole was disappointing but all is now forgiven with thsi recent surge.

I'm not sure how good Joe Mazzulla can be for the Mounties filling in for Bryant as that shoulder injury has changed his makeup. The kid is a gamer but he also has no shot anymore and that will ridiculously hamper the Mounties.

I just think the Huskies win this game in the end as they are too hot right now and the healthy team that is ready to mover on.

Da'Sean Butler is great and will get his but that won't be enough in the end!



David vs. Goliath, it's here and that's what this tournament is all about. No I'm not saying that Steve Donahue's squad will win the game and shock the world but I do think the Big Red are a legitimate team that will be in this game until the end.

Ryan Wittman is great and Cornell is not a team that has just gotten lucky. They dismantled two excellent defenses in Temple and Wisconsin and have absolutely nothing to lose against John Calipari's young Wildcats.

The talent advantage is clearly with KU as Wall, Cousins and Bledsoe are as talented as they come but this is a decent amount to get back with Cornell and I'm backing this David tonight!

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Mississippi State (moneyline, plus 280) vs. Kentucky.

A total consolation prize to any Temple backers as the Owls missed a free throw with .5 remaining to win by four and the number was anywhere from 4 to 4 1/2.

Now to the real "Bad Beat" of the day. If you saw how this SEC championship game finished you realized how incredible of an ending it was.

The Bulldogs lost earlier in the season in overtime to John Calipari's Wildcats. Today Miss. State needed some revenge and a victory to assure themselves of a trip to the NCAA Tournament. A good showing may have put them in as well but nothing was at all set in stone, nothing.

Miss State was the 7 point underdog yet led most of the game. With 1:04 to go it was 62-59 Bulldogs and Jarvis Varnado on the foul line. The big fella is a quality free throw shooter but missed both to keep it a one possession game. Fast forward to 4.5 seconds remaining and Eric Bledsoe on the line with his 'Cats trailing 64-61. The Kentucky freshman made the first to get within two and intentionally missed the second.

Kentucky got the rebound as John Wall fired into the lane, probably illegally according to the rule, but it wasn't called. Wall then missed a long jumper, possibly a potential game winning three but Demarcus Cousins gathered in the rebound and put in the layup with literally .1 on the clock. The refs checked the replays and by a inch or two the ball was out of the hand and we were heading to overtime.

In the extra session Kentucky looked like the better team and pulled this thing out 75-74. A few hours later Miss. State was NOT selected by the NCAA Tournament Committe and their Big Dance ticket was not punched due to a possible rule violation not called on Wall and .1 seconds overall.

Oh and one more Bad Beat nugget. Riley Benock nailed a three for State as time expired in overtime to lose by one. That "meaningless" three covered the 6 1/2 point second half line and the two point overtime line for the Bulldogs.



Your winner for Monday is on:

3* Pistons (plus 9 1/2) at Boston.

A solid winning 1-1 Sunday as the huge 5* on Georgia Tech came through in the plus 3* day!



What a great weekend of college hoops. Nothing from there today as the slate is small in this calm before the storm beginning on Thursday so I'll just make one play and one play only.

The Pistons plus the points is the way to go today. Detroit is terrible for sure but Boston is not exactly playing great ball themselves. Doc Rivers' squad has struggled this season and especially of late. They no longer look like a great team as they are starting to really look more like an aging team.

Boston just lost yesterday in Cleveland and playing on a back-to-back is never easy. Sure Pierce, Garnett, Rondo and Allen have a high ceiling and could outclass a bad Detroit team in the end but I still think that these Pistons have something in the tank and will be primed and ready to go in the Boston Garden.

Rip Hamilton can score and a few others including Tayshaun Prince are alright and have been there and done that. These guys are going to miss the playoffs and the franchise is certainly declinging quickly but in this one game spot after being off yesterday the visitors are a semi must play.

It's just too many points as I expect this game to be fairly tight in the end. Boston to me has become the professional version of Duke as they're just not that good yet because of their name are a bit overvalued.

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Weber State (minus 3 1/2) vs. Montana.

Weber State was the small favorite and had doubled up Montana at the half 40-20. Now let's be honest here this game was over.

Or not.

Anthony Johnson went ballistic and poured in 34 of his game high 42 points for the Grizzlies in the final 20 minutes and the impossible happened. Montana came all the way back and won the game 66-65 to capture the Big Sky title and an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament.

Oh and by the way Johnson netted his team's final 21 points of the game and broke the tournament record with the 42 points.

Up 20 freakin points, are you kidding me!?!?!?



Your winners for Thursday are on:

4* Georgia Tech (minus 3 1/2) vs. North Carolina.

3* Memphis (minus 6) vs. Houston.

2* Indiana (plus 8) vs. Northwestern.

Yet another winning day on Wednesday as the 4* play on Iowa State came through in the end thanks to a backdoor three with 19 seconds to go. I do have to say thanks for not fouling after that Cyclones, I owe you one!

North Carolina is a team that has shown absolutely nothing for the last two months and even in their home state should continue to show a whole lot of nothing. There is no more disappointing team in all of college basketball this season than the Tar Heels. They do have talent with Ginyard, Zeller and others and a Hall of Fame coach in Roy Williams but it just hasn't mattered. Sure Ed Davis is out but this team was fading away before that injury.

Georgia Tech has not been impressive themselves of late losing five of their last seven and limping into this thing but Paul Hewitt's team is square on that bubble and has to win the game. Derrick Favors is a great Freshman who has continued to improve and will dominate the boards alongside Gani Lawal.

The Yellow Jackets are a desperate team that has been playing better than their fate of late as they lost on buzzer beaters at both Miami and Maryland and is a team with a whole lot of talent and a high ceiling.

Look for the Jackets to look like the team that wants this game more and for them to take care of business going away against a bad team wearing uniforms that say "North Carolina" on them.



Josh Pastner's Memphis Tigers are certainly not the same team in any aspect as John Calipari's Memphis Tigers were but do not belittle this current squad. There is still a bunch of athletes and talented players on this team like Witherspoon, Williams, Sallie, Mack and Kemp and 13-3 in Conference USA is still not too shabby even if it is three more losses than usual.

Houston is a solid team but nothing more. The Cougars last week did beat the Tigers but that was at home, which makes a world of difference, and that will set up a matter of revenge today for Memphis. Plus Houston may have some wobbly legs after the win yesterday over East Carolina and it's never great to play a back-to-back no less against a team that can run the court which Memphis can.

I'm not calling this a 20 point burial but the Tigers in the end will win by double digits as they have everything going for them, everything.



No matter how much better some teams are than others there are certain squad that are not built to be heavy favorites and that is the exact case here with Northwestern.

Tom Crean's Hoosiers are miserable and a team that has pretty much packed it in. But just the other day they were able to muster something and at home beat the Wildcats in overtime. I don't expect that to happen again because John Shurna and the boys from Northwestern are definitely the superior team of these two making me believe that lightning striking twice is unlikely but Northwestern is just not a team that wins games going away, no matter what their opponent is like.

The Hoosiers are going to play the young kids to see what's there going forward andf that turned out to be a pretty good strategy in that last rare win.

Let's also not foget how this game is in Indianapolis which can only be a good thing here in this spot.

Northwestern is probably too good in the end in this revenge spot today but I'm backing the dog and daring the Wildcats to do enough offensively to beat me.

Your "Bad Beat" for Friday is on:

Niagara (minus 3 1/2) at Manhattan.

There are bad beats and then there are bad beats!!!!

This one was insane and worthy of people jumping off a bridge over.

Niagara led the whole way and owned the 73-60 lead with six minutes to play. The Purple Eagles had been playing some great ball as they had won five of six and the Jaspers from Manhattan are fairly terrible. This thing seemed to be going according to plan and then bang.

Niagara literally scored one point in the final six plus minutes, missed five of six free throws from 82% and 77% ft shooters and walked away with the 74-72 win and non-cover absolutely destroying their backers in the most unbelievable way possible.

Go into some internet threads regarding this game and you will see a lot of words that say "fixed".

Absolutely beyond belief insane!



Your winners for Saturday are on:

4* Kentucky (minus 2) at Tennessee.

3* Texas A&M (pk) vs. Texas.

3* Virginia Tech (minus 1) vs. Maryland.

One Friday play and one easy Friday winner as the 3* on Fairfield was like stealing!



Sure I'll take John Calipari's Wildcats once again here at this bargain basement number. Could these yong guys lose in Knoxville? I guess, maybe, they did fall in South Carolina but these "diaper dandies" have smarted from that and if they come to play at all they are so much better than the Volunteers.

Tennessee is just not that good. Bruce Pearl has a team that may not even be top 25 worthy. They just stunk up the joint in Gainesville after falling in Rupp thanks to a late implosion after getting embarassed and destroyed in Vanderbilt.

Of course playing back home will be a lot easier but Wayne Chism is not healthy and to ask these guys to beat John Wall, Demarcus Cousins and this loaded KU team is asking way too much.

Laying two is basically a pick and Kentucky is just too freakin good!



Texas is another team that has been regressing for awhile now. Rick Barnes' Longhorns were number one and then bang, they stunk and still stink, relatively speaking of course. Dougas Balbay is done for the year after Varez Ward's injury earlier in the season and this team is just not what we thought they were earlier in the season.

A&M lost in overtime in Austin back when UT was a much better ballclub. Now back home is going to be too much for the visitors who have done nothing at all on the road of late. Texas has actually failed to cover in seven of their last eight away from Austin.

James and Pittman will bang down low and Avery Bradley is a young stud but the 'Horns are a bit of a disease right now and the way these Aggies have been for awhile now I can't believe anything changes.

Donald Sloan is a stud and at home the Aggies, who played toe-to-toe with Kansas a few weeks ago, will continue the 'Horns recent misery.



Maryland has just won incredible back-to-back games, the buzzer beater against Georgia Tech and then the great second half comeback against Clemson. That was at Cole and now venturing back out on the road to Blacksburg is going to be quite a difference.

Malcolm Delaney is great and Seth Greenberg's team is no fluke. The Hokies have yet to lose at home and in a game that is for second place in the ACC I don't see a good but far from great Terrapin team creating the first blemish.

The Turtle has been very good this season but they are not as rock solid on the road and just should not win this game in the end. Greivis Vasquez should be good and the Terps should not get blown out but to ask them to win is asking too much.

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Auburn (plus 9) at Mississippi.

So you back the Auburn Tigers, a decent enough basketball team, certainly not good but every now and then they do compete. Compete they did in the first half taking the 34-22 lead to the break. Plus the number you are feeling about as good as you could have ever imagined.

And then your team forgot to play defense.

Chris Wallen went ballistic for Andy Kennedy's squad and the Rebels outscored the Tigers an unreal 63-41 in the second half for the 85-75 victory.



Your winners for Thursday are on:

3* Kentucky (minus 16) vs. South Carolina.

2* Georgia (plus 11 1/2) at Vanderbilt.

I nailed the big 4* on Wednesday but failed with both the 2 and 3* so overall a small losing day.



I am not sure if I have ever layed such a price in my life but after losing in Columbia about a month ago I firmly believe that John Calipari's team will be out for blood today.

Devan Downey is phenomenal and Brandis Raley-Ross is good but in the end today the Wildcats are going to flext their muscles and win this thing by a ton. John Wall will be an NBA All-Star and DeMarcus Cousins may be as well.

This UK team is as talented as any we have seen in a long time and when they come to play it's scary. I can't see any other scenario but them wanting to come to play today and pound a Gamecock team which ambushed them in that first meeting.

Can you say 90-60?



On the opposite extreme I'm going to back Mark Fox' Georgia Bulldogs plus this hefty number. There is no doubt that Vanderbilt at home is extremely scary as we saw when they dismantled Tennesee a couple of games ago. The Commodores on that crazy court are very very good. The sidelines are behind the basket and the court is raised up making things odd for visitors.

But the Bulldogs are a much improving program and have covered a ton this season as they are still underated. Thompkins, Leslie, Price, McPhee and the Dawgs seem to stay in every single game.

These guys almost won at both Kentucky and Missisippi State, they did upset Georgia Tech, Illinois and Vandy in the season's first meeting and in that last game just came back brilliantly to beat Alabama. This is not a fluke, this is a great coach in Fox getting his system in place and the players buying in.

Sure the Commodores should get some revenge and win the game as they are too good and will show it at home. But UGA is quietly becoming a quality basketball team and we should see another competitive game today.

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Lakers (over 198) at Memphis.

The Grizzlies led 81-76 after three quarters. This thing was on a clear cut over pace as only 42 points in the final period were needed to clear the over.

But then the teams went a bit cold on the offensive end and with the Grizz leading 98-96 in the waning seconds a Laker basket would mean overtime and a definite over. But no, Kobe did what he does best and nailed a three with right around four seconds remaining for the 99-98 late lead.

Memphis had a last chance to send it over but OJ Mayo could not score and this thing fell a point short of that over.



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

4* St. Louis (plus 4 1/2) vs. Xavier.

3* Memphis (minus 2) at Houston.

2* South Florida (plus 13) at Villanova.

A solid 1-1 Tuesday as the big 5* on Hofstra won outright as the 11 point dog!



All of a sudden Rick Majerus has put his stamp on this St. Louis program. The Billikens were pretty much always mediocre at best but right now these guys are pretty solid.

Xavier is still the better team of the two but St. Louis has won six in a row including home wins over Dayton and Rhode Island proving how this recent run is no fluke. Overall the Billikens are 18-8 and a great 9-3 in the Atlantic 10.

The Musketeers continue to beat teams and prove they are an elite squad in conference but laying points on the road is never a great strategy and to get the suddenly surging Billikens here plus this number is more than enough for me.



The days of John Calipari's Memphis Tigers are no more and Josh Pastner is no John Calipari but this price is cheap enough for me.

Memphis has lost twice this season in-conference which is unheard of but the talent level is still fairly high, not like years' past but still not bad at all. Houston is a good team but nothing more. Earlier in the season it appeared as if the Cougars were going to be very good but that has not at all come to fruition and even at home here are not ready to get over that hump and beat the Tigers.

This may not be a blowout like we have seen but Memphis is too good and it will show in the end.



Why not grab this number with Dominique Jones and the Bulls? South Florida is at the very least a competent team that has already won in Georgetown shocking the Hoyas. I don't see lightning striking twice for Stan Heath' gang but this Villanova team has not been the same team over the past few weeks and Jones is a special player who will score a ton of points today, as usual.

Scotty Reynolds is great and the rest of Jay Wright's team is very very good and very very deep but we have seen a few losses lately, including that last game at Pittsburgh and right now the confidence level is not where it was just a few short weeks ago. Throw in the fact that Syracuse is right around the corner making this a bit of a look ahead spot for the Wildcats.

Villanova is too good of a team to not win this game but South Florida is also an improving squad that should be a little perturbed after that bad home loss to St. John's.

I just don't see 'Nova running away with this thing!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Kentucky (minus 11) vs. Mississippi.

Nothing too crazy here but your old backdoor three to kill some players.

Kentucky was clearly the far better team at Rupp last night against Ole Miss. John Wall, Patrick Patterson and the Wildcats roared out to the early 27-9 lead thanks to a monster 15-0 run. This thing looked like it was going to be a 30 point burial when all was said and done.

Andy Kennedy's Rebels held their own though after that and hung around. Ole Miss even got to within three points in the second half but KU would open it up again and it was 80-63 with just over four minutes remaining.

It was 85-72 with 40 seconds to go and Ole Miss took over. They dribbled up court. Terrance Henry hurled up a three from the top with 34 seconds remaining, it swished in to make it an 85-75 game and a shocking cover for the moment.

Mississippi backers were all screaming let them run out the clock, don't play defense and certainly don't foul. And that is exactly what happened as no pressure at all was applied and this thing ended on 10!

Right side, wrong result as John Calipari backers were hosed in the end!



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

3* DePaul (plus 17 1/2) at Marquette.

2* Arkansas (plus 4) at Georgia.

One Tuesday play and it was a loser on the Miami Hurricanes as that was the wrong side, period.



I'm not some sort of square novice who would just say "Hey DePaul beat Marquette outright recently and now are getting 17 1/2 or so points, oh wow this is a steal, a mortal lock, the game of all games, I mean how can they not cover this?"

Things obviously don't work that way in the world of gambling but with that said this number does seem awfully good as the Blue Demons are much improved and no matter how good Marquette has been at times they are not great and they are not the same force as when Dominic James was around leading the way.

I really do like Walker and Koshwal for DePaul and believe these guys will compete hard after beating today's opponent in that shocker fairly recently. In the end it won't be enough, in terms of the outright win, as the Golden Eagles have some revenge on their minds.

Buzz should have the Marquette players and fans buzzing tonight in this home game but in the end I think the number is too steep fro them to cover.

81-69.



I give Mark Fox a ton of credit for legitimately turning this Georgia program around. They were complete crap last year under Dennis Felton and now with pretty much the same players are decent. Leslie, Price, Thompkins and others have been making this team into a contender in most games and against far superior competition.

Arkansas is also much improved as they were horrific to start the season but have turned things around. Courtney Fortson's return has sparked this team as he forms a very very good backcourt with sharpshooter Rotnei Clark. The Razorbacks on the road can still be a bit sketchy, as we saw last week in that 40 point loss at Kentucky, but they are coming of of that amazing outright at Ole Miss as the 12 point dog and to get a handful today as the more talented team is fine with me.

The Dawgs have been a quality dog this season but in this favorite spot I'll fade them and do so with conviction!

Pig Suey!

Your "Bad Beat" for Friday is on:

Niagara (total of 141) at Canisius.

The game was tied at 62 with 2:18 to play after Rob Garrison's layup. That's when the offense stopped and killed the over players, yes the "offense stopping killed the over players!"

Nobody would muster even a single point in the final two plus minutes and this thing went into overtime still tied up at 62.

Things did not really heat up in the extra session at all as the game was only 65-64 Niagara with 2:53 to go. The under was still a possibility thanks to literally 5 points in the last 5 minutes.

But then the Purple Eagles ran ahead 70-64 leading to the fouling game and the 73-70 final resulting in a very very very lucky over.



Your winners for Saturday are on:

4* SMU (plus 8) vs. Memphis.

3* Georgetown (plus 1) vs. Duke.

2* Iowa (plus 14) at Michigan.

A 2-0 sweep on Friday for 5* with the Hornets and Spurs!

I can't say that I really truly like the SMU Mustangs but they are a much improved program and the aura of Memphis is certainly not what it used to be. The days of Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts are long gone, shoot the days of John Calipari are now long gone as young Josh Pastner is in charge.

The Tigers are still pretty talented and good I am not denying that but these guys are no longer invincible as they are in much tighter games this season and going on the road like this to Southern Methodist is not going to be a walk in the park.

The Mustangs are clearly well inferior but at home will bring some game. These guys will treat this game as thee game and in the end will have a shot to not only cover but give Memphis their second conference loss.



Duke is very very good but I'm not at all sold on them being great. Jon Scheyer is certainly a player for sure and there is more talent including Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler along with the Plumlee boys but the Blue Devils are in the nation's capital today and basically have no answer for Greg Monroe.

Coach K's team has struggled at times defending bigs and Monroe is the big of all bigs. I can see him completely control the boards and shut Duke down if they can't make their long three's.

This will be a very competitive game as the Devils won't get blown out but the Hoyas at home are warriors and will squeak this thing out in the end.



In the beginning of the season this Iowa Hawkeye team was horrendous. Todd Lickliter lost all of his talent to transferring and others issues and the cupboard was extremely bare. But things have been a lot better of late and right now the Hawkeyes are not the same dismal garbage they appeared to be.

Iowa was just leading Evan Turner and Ohio State at the half in a cover and before that won going away against an improved Indiana squad. If you look a little further back the Hawks covered a 21 or so point number by only losing by single digits at Michigan State in a moral type victory.

These guys are clamping down a bit with the defense and playing tighter than expected low scoring games.

Michigan in Ann Arbor with Manny Harris and Deshawn Simms have some potential to be pretty good. But John Beilein's team is still far from anything better than good anywhere and I can see 62-54.

Your "Bad Beat" for Friday is on:

Grizzlies (minus 1 1/2, first half) vs Oklahoma City.

Short and sweet right here.

Memphis led 40-26 with 8 minutes to play in the first half, even in the NBA that seemed like a big enough lead to cover the first half.

The lead was was still double digits at 46-36 with 4 minutes to go in the half. Kevin Durant and the Thunder though then went on a big-time 13-2 run and actually led 49-48 at the break to grab that first half cash.



Your winners for Saturday are on:

5* Arkansas (plus 16) at Kentucky.

4* Clemson (plus 1) vs Duke.

2* San Jose State (minus 3 1/2) vs New Mexico State.



2* St Peter's Outright was sweet and the 3* on the Bucks took care of business as well in a perfect 3-0 Friday Sweep!



Pig Suey baby!

Arkansas has been playing at a pretty high level of late and will stick around in this thing for the duration. Kentucky is awesome and will be a top 10 or so team when all is said and done but I'm not fully buying into Jim Calipari's boys being undefeated and ranked as high as they are. The Wildcats are well overdue for a loss and with the return of Courtney Fortson don't be too surprised to see the world rocked here today.

John Wall is an NBA player right now and Patterson and Cousins and Bledsoe are really good as well. Kentucky should win this game for sure but they also just strugged a bit in Auburn and are not as good as they are ranked or appear to be. A stumble is in their future abd the Razorbacks may be 8-10 but the last four or so games have been much much better since Fortson came back.

I love the combination of Rotnei Clarke and Fortson and after playing tough against Texas, Mississippi State and Alabama I have confidence that this game will be more than competitive throughout.



Duke is not all that good at all and tonight will be just another indication of that.

I do like Jon Scheyer as the kid really can play with the best of them but all in all the Dookies are not what they used to be and on the road are up against it today.

Oliver Purnell's Clemson Tigers at home are always tough against the big boys and after getting beaten up in Cameron a few weeks ago I can without a doubt see the Tigers get some revenge and use the crazy crowd to their advantage. We have seen Trevor Booker dominate opponents game in and game out and the Blue Devils seem to have trouble inside against opponents just like Booker.

Duke was just pounded in NC State against a Wolfpack team that is not as good as these Tigers.

Look for another defeat for Coach K's boys here at LittleJohn.



Just a tough tough spot for New Mexico State. The Aggies are good and probably a little better than San Jose State overall but after just coming from Hawaii in that tight late victory I can't see the visitors bringing that A-game.

SJ State has been pretty good of late and are an improving program. They will be clearly the more rested team today on the court and to be honest after 40 minutes that should be too much for today's opponent. The Spartans just shocked the 17-2 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs in that last game, 87-76 and will be super confident for sure today.

Adrian Oliver should get his usual 21 points and little known San Jose State should get another quality victory!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Dayton (minus 3) at George Mason.

There's nothing worse than not covering a small number yet the team you backed walked off the court as the winner. Then if you throw in that your team was up huge and allowed a "meaningless" three at the buzzer when this previous scenario happened then things are terrible.

That was the case on Tuesday night as 6-1 Dayton raced out to the commanding 35-19 halftime lead. That clearly should have been good enough to cover three points.

But no!

Jim Larinagga's boys from Mason stormed back and Sherrod Wright hit that three at the buzzer to cover the three and lose by one.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

3* UCONN (pick) vs. Kentucky.

2* Utah (minus 1) vs. Michigan.

A much needed 2* outright win on Indiana on Tuesday!

I am not fully sold on John Calipari and his Kentucky Wildcats just yet. That last win at Rupp against North Carolina was solid but the 'Cats pretty much blew it in crunch time. Yes they won by two but did not cover the three and all in all may have lost some confidence the way that thing ended.

John Wall is an awesome young talent and KU has quality players but I do not think they will go to MSG and win this game against what is still the better team and program.

Jim Calhoun once again has a high quality squad that can compete and beat any team in the nation. These guys are primed and ready with Dyson and Robinson and a few others to win once again on this Manhattan basketball court.

The Huskies dropped their only game this season here to Duke after dismantling LSU by a million. Calhoun every season has his squad play at the Garden unlike Kentucky and in the end are the more talented team that will win this game.



Michigan was supposed to be good this season but have shown nothing at all to me. The days of the Fab 5 are long gone and even with decent enough talent do not seem to be elevating to where John Beilein believed they would. Harris and Sims and Gibson are very good but this team is not matching its parts at 4-3.

The Wolverines have pretty much been defeated by every decent enough opponent they have faced, save maybe Creighton, and have no momentum at all right now. Today they face an average Utah team at best but playing out there in the altitude is ridiculously tough and even though UM is the better team I'm not so sure they are ready to win in a spot such as this one.

In terms of talent the Wolverines are far better today but until they man up once this season I will face them here in Utah!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Arizona (minus 4ish) vs. Colorado.

The game was in Maui and the Arizona Wildcats were laying anywhere from 3 to 4 1/2, depending upon where and when you made this play.

Nic Wise made a free throw with 52 ticks remaining on the clock to give Arizona the seemingly commanding 80-72 lead. Of course there is always the potential for late game shenanigans but up 8 late and laying around 4 should be okay.

Should.

Nate Tomlinson and Corey Higgins made three's for the Buffaloes and the Wildcats missed front ends of 1-and-1's and all of a sudden we had an 80-78 Arizona lead late. Higgins then was fouled by Solomon Hill and completed the comeback by knocking down both free throws tying the game at 80 and sending it into overtime.

Brendon Lavender made one of two free throws with five seconds remaining in overtime to give Arizona the 91-87 lead. Higgins missed a shot for Colorado at the end of the game and this thing ended on four, winning for some and losing for others.



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

2* Duke (minus 9) vs. Arizona State.

2* Stanford (plus 8) vs. Kentucky.

A 1-1 no harm no foul Tuesday as 2* Drexel came through but 2* Western Michigan on the gridiron did not.



I'll take Duke here at Madison Square Garden as I just do not see how Arizona State can compete for 40 minutes. Both Scheyer and Singler will step outside and bomb away and I don't see much that the Sun Devils can do about it.

Herb Sendek's squad just lost Pendergraph and Harden to the NBA and times may be a little leaner right now. ASU was able to outclass some inferior opponents so far this season but this is a really difficult spot traveling across the country to the Garden and running around with Coach K's still very solid team. Obviously Duke is not elite anymore but they are still a top 15 type school that plays at MSG every year early on.

ASU is good but they should not stay within range here good and in the end it's something in the 80's to something in the 60's equaling a Dookie win and cover.



In this back-to-back situation I see a sloppy low scoring blah type of a game. No doubt John Wall and the Wildcats are much more talented than this mediocre Stanford team but in these preseason tournaments with some fatigue things just don't always play out like they would appear to.

The Cardinal are not very good as losing the Lopez brothers a few seasons ago took down the program a bunch of notches. But they are still a major program that here on a neutral court should not just get drilled.

John Calipari's team is really really good and should win the game but Patrick Patterson is questionable and in this spot I will grab whatever points I can on the smarter boys from Stanford.

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Trailblazers (plus 3.5/4 AND total of 187) at Atlanta.

This is a duel winner as both the side and total from Philips Arena came down to semi shenanigans.

Portland led pretty much the entire game but in typical NBA fashion things got sucked back to the number a bit late.

Fast forward to the end of regulation where Rudy Fernandez nailed a three with no time left to tie the game at 85, which even non mathematicians can add that 85 plus 85 is 170 which was well under anybody's total.

If that shot would have missed the game would have been over with the results being a slight Portland cover and an under.

"If".

Joe Johnson scored 8 of his game high 35 points in overtime and the Hawks would dominate the extra session going up as many as eight points in the final minute. But that guy again Fernandez kep bombing away and nailed a triple with 11 seconds remaining to get within five at 97-92.

After a couple of Jamal Crawford made free throws Fernandez nailed another buzzer beating three to make the final score 99-95 and actually a push for some Blazer backers who were fortunate enough to get 4 and not 3 1/2.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

2* Pacers (minus 3 1/2) at New Jersey.

2* Kansas (minus 11) vs. Memphis.



2* on the Browns on Monday, yuck!

The Nets are a complete joke right now without Devin Harris. Sure they are going to win a game at some point and the Pacers on the road are not exactly a scary foe but until New Jersey gets in that win column I will gladly go against them at this dirt cheap price.

It's amazing, actually pathetic is a better word, how the Nets and Knicks have one win between them at this late enough point in the season.

I do believe that New Jersey will be ok when Harris gets healthy but right now they are well short in talent and after seeing the Pacers go to Madison Square Garden a week or so ago and devour the Knicks I can't help but think they take care of business here as well.



Kansas is so talented that it's scary. Xavier Henry looks to be as good as the hype made him out to be and we saw glimpses last season as to what Bill Self's team has to offer.

Cole Aldrich is a beast down low and Sherron Collins is the veteran leader who has been there since the championship which was against these same Memphis Tigers.

Right now it is accurate to call Kansas the number one team in the nation as they probably are the most talented team and perenially are awesome at home.

John Calipari left Memphis for Kentucky and that has left a huge question mark in this Tiger program. Now a 32 year old assistent takes over and that could equal an eventual disaster.

This is a tough tough spot for the visitors and I just do not see things going their way at all!