Cashing In

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

White Sox (even) vs. Toronto

Chicago led 7-5 in the top of the 9th inning and closer Bobby Jenks entered. Any White Sox backer had to feel good about his or her chances. But then a double, a single, a Fred Lewis three run home-run and an error led to a four run frame and it was the Jays who won in a great late comeback, 9-7.



Your winner for Monday is on:

2* Magic (minus 5 1/2) vs. Atlanta.

Cashed the 2* Celtics on Sunday but dropped the 3* on the Spurs in a small losing day.



The Hawks have shown less than nothing so far and with the lack of Heart they have shown I can't see anything change today. Dwight Howard and the Magic have controlled this series for the last few seasons now and the bulk of the contests have not even been close.

Joe Johnson came out and said he doesn't care about the fans and basically is about to play his last game with the franchise. Mike Woodson's squad has been truly horrific in the last three games and showed signs of crapping on themselves in that first round against the Bucks.

Look for the super confident and red hot Magic to roll and sweep the Hawks as they did the Bobcats before that.

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Indians (minus 120) vs. Toronto.

Now this is bad. Bad as in good! The Indians led 4-2 in the top of the 9th inning with two outs and nobody on. One more out and the fans at the Jake are going home happy. Then it came down to one more strike as Fred Lewis has an 0-2 count. But he prolonged the game with a double. Then on the 0-2 pitch Aaron Hill grounded one into the hole at short and Luis Valbuena whiffed at it for an error allowing Lewis to score.

So the game was now 4-3 and wouldn't you know it on the 1-2 pitch Adam Lind went deep for the 5-4 lead and win.

Now that is dreadful for all of the Tribe backers, dreadful!



Your winner for Thursday is on:

3* Magic (minus 9 1/2) vs. Atlanta.

One play on Wednesday, a 3* loser on the Spurs.



One play again on Thursday as that's all the board merits. I can't say that I am in love with Orlando tonight because this is a lot of points and I can't see another blowout as the Hawks are too talented to be so pathetic again but Atlanta is lacking heart and the way they play on the road makes me fine with the home squad.

I expect Mike Woodson's team to come out and play hard after the game one embarassment but these Hawks have been dreaqdful on the road for the last three seasons with this same corps and I'm not so sure they truly have what it takes to stay in this thing for 48 minutes.

Dwight Howard is just too good for anybody down low and that includes Al Horford and Nelson, Lewis and the rest of Stan Van Gundy's squad is as rolling as a team can be rolling right now.

The Hawks have talented players with Horford, Smith, Johnson and Crawford and have enough potential to compete but I'm just not sure psychologically they have what it takes to regroup after that game one woodshed beating.

We're not looking at a repeat of game one but we are looking at the same end result!

Your "Bad Beat" for Saturday is on:

Celtics (plus 7 1/2) in Cleveland.

This was dreadful with a capital D!

Boston played great in the first half behind Rajon Rondo's clinic and led by 11 at the half. Doc' boys looked focus and ready to steal game one of the series. You knew that Cleveland would make a run and thanks to LeBron and his eventual 35 points they did. The Cavs roared back and led by a point after three thanks to a 36 point third quarter.

But to ask the C's to fully implode and not cover this thing was still asking a lot.

Fast forward to late in the fourth. It was a one point game with 3:30 to go and then a three point game with under a minute to play. Move ahead now to the the waning seconds. Cleveland was up five and King James nailed a three with 26 ticks left on the clock.

Michael Finley then missed a three and this game landed on 8.

OUCH!



Your winners for Sunday are on:

2* Bucks (plus 9) at Atlanta.

2* Braves (minus 1 1/2 runs plus 120) vs. Houston.

*

An extremely rare and poor 0-2 Saturday...It happens, not a lot but every now and then.



I can't say that I have complete faith in this Bucks team who just crapped in their pants at home in that game six but they have won three games in this series, including one at Philips, and if I can get 9 or so points today I'm fine with it.

Atlanta should win this game as Joe Johnson and the boys are great at home and should be too good today but the Bucks do have some game with Jennings and Salmons and will have confidence as they did just win that game five in Hotlanta.

The Hawks will advance in the end but I do believe this game finishes in single digits.



The Braves horrific 9 game losing streak is now a thing of the past after the last two asskickings they just gave the Astros and even though Derek Lowe has been inconsistent at best I will back him here at Turner Field.

Bud Norris has had issues to say the least of late and Bobby Cox' squad is still a team that is primed and ready to win a lot of games. Jason Heyward is rapidly becoming a superstar and guys like McCann, Chipper and McClouth are going to hit a lot better than they did the first month.

The Astros are mediocre at best. They are a better team than they showed in the first week plus of the season when it took them about eight games to finally win a game but they are still not very good. Berkman, Lee and Pence can be good, I am not saying they can't, but collectively they are not very good and the Braves are primed and ready for this sweep and in easy fashion.

Look for the good Lowe and his sinker to show up and for the Bravos to win going away!

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Phillies (minus 115, first 5 innings) at Arizona.

A consolation prize to any Braves backers as they watched their team lose 1-0 after only 5 1/2 innings thanks to rain and the run came in on an error. That is pretty freakin bad.

But the "Bad Beat" of the day goes to the Fightin' Phillies who didn't do much fighting in the fifth inning. Kyle Kendrick was cruising and the defending National League champions had the 3-0 lead into the bottom of that fifth inning. In a first five inning play three more outs before three runs equaled a win. That should have been easy money for sure, right?

Wrong.

The pitcher Rodrigo Lopez led off the inning with a single and then Kelly Johnson homered all of a sudden making the score 3-2. Three batters later the powerful Mark Reynolds belted a three run home run and just like that the Diamondbacks owned the 5-3 lead and won the first 5.

Ouch!



Your winner for Monday is on:

3* Bucks (plus 1 1/2) vs. Atlanta.

Another amazing winning day on Sunday as my biggest play ever, a 6* on the Jazz rolled!



I don't love this Monday slate at all and especially not on the diamond as there is little value there. But I'm fine with the Bucks at home on the hardwoods and will back them.

Mike Woodson's Hawks are clearly the more talented team when compared with the Bucks. Milwaukee is obviously once again without its big man in Andrew Bogut and that is huge. But I'm not sold on Atlanta winning a big road game as they just seem to fail a lot more than they succeed in this type of a spot.

The Hawks have been in the playoffs now for three straight seasons and continue to lose game after game on the road. They beat Dwyane Wade and the Heat in one last season but I am pretty sure that has been it in terms of wins away from Philips Arena in about 9 tries.

I'm not saying that Joe Johnson and his 50 win plus team can't win this game because they have the talent to do so with Horford, Smith and Crawford but these guys have not really stepped up on the road and I'm not so sure they can just do it today.

Brandon Jennings has the makings of a superstar and we saw just that in game one of this series. The kid is awesome and in the end I will gladly back the Bucks at home not laying anything.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Indians (plus 190) at Detroit.

It was 5-0 Cleveland before Justin Verlander's Tigers even came to the plate. The score was 7-1 in the 6th inning and 8-6 in the 9th.

But closer Chris Perez wet himself allowing two hits, three walks and a game losing wild pitch as Jim Leyland's squad came all the way back with three runs in the 9th inning for a 9-8 victory.



Your winners for Monday are on:

3* Hawks (plus one) at Milwaukee.

2* Rangers (pk) at Cleveland.

A 2-0 Sunday sweep for 5* of profit after the Yankees and Bulls both won going away!



The Hawks need to keep playing hard in order to wrap up the three seed in the East ahead of the Celtics. Atlanta is one game up with two to play but Mike Woodson's team loses the tiebreaker because Boston is a division champion which trumps the season series 4-0 victory for the Hawks.

Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Al Horford and Jamal Crawford form a team that is fun to watch and dangerous as heck. They already have 51 victories and getting this three seed is fairly important as they would avoide LeBron and the Cavaliers in the second round.

A few weeks back the Bucks beat the Hawks in Milwaukee but now with Andrew Bogut hurt the pendulum has swung in terms of the advantage and in revenge the visitors are going to come through. Milwaukee's Australian big man was playing great ball and is and will be severely missed and I mean severely.



Fausto Carmona could be alright as he was great a few years back with that sinker but Rich Harden at a pick is too good to pass up. Harden has a world of upside as we have seen in the past, his problem has always been injuries ala a Kerry Wood or Mark Prior. This kid can blow it past anybody when on. Throw in a lineup that boasts a ton of talent now led by a blossoming star in Nelson Cruz along with Michael Young and Josh Hamilton and a few others and the Rangers certainly can hit the ball.

Ron Washington's squad has not exactly been smashing it around the park like they are capable of but it's not like Cleveland is a team with superstars up and down the lineup.

The Indians are not terrible as Travis Hafner appears to have picked things up and Grady Sizemore along with Shin Soo Choo are quality ballplayers but even at home they are not as good as the Rangers. Plus Sizemore may not be able to play and that's fine with me.

Texas had a team win total of 84 in Vegas before the season and Cleveland was about 74. With both team's aces on the hill, even at the Jake, a pick is a total steal for us.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Thunder (minus 13) vs. Minnesota.

This type of a "Bad Beat" is truly not that abnormal in the NBA but for this night it's still the worst I could find.

Kevin Durant looked great once again pouring in 40 points and Oklahoma City was running away with this thing 43-25 after a quarter. By the half the lead was increased to 72-50.

But when laying a Baker's Dozen it's never in the bag until the final whistle and that was the case here.

The terrible Timberwolves battled and behind 22 points from Jonny Flynn did enough to cover this thing in the end. Minnesota outscored Oklahoma City 31-18 in the third and did enough in the final period, despite being down by 14 in the final 90 or so seconds to lose the game by only 8, 116-108.



Your winners for Monday are on:

4* Duke (minus 7 1/2) vs. Butler.

2* Marlins (plus 105) at New York.

An 0-2 Sunday as the Yankees crapped on themselves blowing the 5-1 lead and the Nets stunk from the get go.

It is difficult to lay such a number against such a great defensive team which Butler is and the Bulldogs are pretty much at home which helped them. But with that said Duke is too good of a team right now and way too complete to not win this thing by about 12 or so points in the end.

We all know how good Scheyer, Singler and Smith can be and of late contributions from Zoubek and Thomas and the Plumlee Brothers have been phenomenal signaling a team that is the best in the country right now and a squad that is poised and ready to cut down the nets. I never would have said this a few short weeks ago but I have been sold of late on how much improved Coach K's team is.

Howard and Mack will probably play and the Bulldogs are not going to get blown out like West Virginia did in the national semifinal but after 40 minutes Duke is just too good right now.



No Beltran and no Reyes signals a bad bad Mets team right now. The Marlins aren't going to win the World Series and Johan Santana is still a stud but the fish are the better team right now and Josh Johnson is awesome and quite possibly even better than Santana.

I love Florida's starter today as this guy when healthy is as good as any hurler on this planet. Johnson's numbers are flat out insane and the best player on the field is clearly Hanley Ramirez. Sure David Wright can be awesome and Jason Bay helps out the Mets but Citi Field is a pitchers' ballparka dn we saw how poorly the Mets fared last season thanks to all of their injuries and today in this vast park are going to have problems once again against Johnson.

Florida is just the better everything here today and to not have to lay money with Johnson, even on the road, is a semi steal.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on

Hurricanes (plus 160 AND total of 5 1/2) at Ottawa.

The Carolina Hurricanes led 2-1 after two periods and were up 3-2 in the waning seconds. But Ottawa's Erik Karlsson lit the lamp with only eight seconds remaining to tie the game and then the Senators won in a shootout, 4-3.

Eight freakin seconds destroyed all of the Hurricane and under backers!?!?!?

Yikes!



Your winners for Friday are on:

3* Cavaliers (minus 5 1/2) vs. Atlanta.

2* Spurs (minus 3) vs. Orlando.

A small 2* loser on North Carolina as even with the late season improvements Roy Williams' team is still a joke!

Atlanta is very good and can make some noise in the playoffs but this price is too cheap to pass up on the home Cavs. Lebron is great and at homne Cleveland should truly never lose. Of course they could still win this game by less than the 5 1/2 or so but the price is lower than it probably should be and I'm fine with laying this home chalk.

The Cavs escaped a poor performance in that last game at home against Milwaukee with a smaller than expected victory and they know it. Mike Brown will have his team ready to go here against the possible three seed in the East in the Hawks.

Atlanta is very good with a stud in Joe Johnson as we just saw in that home win over Kobe and the Lakers leading the way but very good should not do it in Cleveland plus only around a handful. The Hawks beat the Lakers but will not make it two for two.



Orlando looked really good in the win in Dallas last night but the Mavericks were in a tough spot thanks to the overtime victory in Memphis the night before. Now the shoe is on the other foot as the Magic will be the team playing for the second straight night with travel against a more rested San Antonio club.

The Spurs are no longer elite but they are still really good with Duncan and Parker and Pop's squad needs every single game remaining with today's being no exception. Duncan will have to contain Howard and we will need to see George Hill continue with the high quality play filling in for the injured Tony Parker.

This will be a very good East vs. West matchup and in the end I think the fresher Spurs will be a step quicker and win by about seven or eight points because of it.

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Coyotes (over 5 1/2) at Vancouver.

A consolation prize to any Pacific hoops backers as the Tigers were getting 5 1/2 and up by 6 at the break only to get drilled and watch Missouri State cover the game.

But the "Bad Beat" of the day comes on the ice where Phoenix was tangling in Vancouver. The over looked to be the play as this thing was 3-1 Canucks after just one period and 4-1 mid-way through the second. That means half of the game was remaining and just one measley goal needed for the over.

I guess it wasn't that measley.

There were only 16 combined shots in the third period and no more goals as this thing stayed 4-1 and a winner for the under players.



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

3* Nets (plus 7) vs. Phoenix.

2* Lakers (plus 1) at Atlanta.

One Tuesday play and it came through in the end. 4* North Carolina was a pick and needed overtime but did win by one. That was much much needed!



If you have been reading this blog for awhile then you more than likely know my feelings on the Nets. New Jersey may only have 10 victories on the season but they are not that bad. I love Lopez and Harris and feel that Kiki's team has solid enough complimentary players led by Lee and Yi. Finally the Nets' talent has translated into victories as they have now won three of the last four games and three straight at home.

The Nets just upset the Spurs as a similar dog a few nights ago and tonight have another semi daunting task with the very very good Phoenix Suns in town. Nash and Stoudemire are great but the Suns are playing for a second straight night after the victory in the Windy City yesterday. Maybe a little fatigue for the Suns? It's certainly a possibility.

There's no doubt we're backing the inferior team here, no matter my feelings for the Nets and in the end we should lose this game. But a full touchdown at home with the fresher team that is playing its best ball of the season is enough for me.



Mike Woodson's Hawks are very good and at home at times are great. Meanwhile Kobe and the Lakers have been struggling of late but I don't care, if I can get the defending champs plus something then it's a no-brainer.

Andrew Bynum is banged up and Los Angeles is not firing away on all cylinders but Phil Jackson's team is still great and boasts one of the top two players on the planet in Bryant. Look for the superstar of all superstars to take this thing over with some help from Gasol and for the champs to get back in the saddle and take care of business here.

Horford, Smith and Johnson are awesome but these are the Lakers we're talking about.

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 Monday is on:

Old Dominion (minus 8 1/2) vs. William & Mary.

There were no real terrible beats for Monday that I know of but I can tell you that I got very lucky with the Tribe.

Old Dominion was the right side and should have won this game going away. The Monarchs were up early and often building the 27-14 lead 13 minutes into the contest and owning the 41-26 lead with about 14 to play.

Bill and Mary did tighten things up and were within 56-51 in the final minute. The free throw game would then evolve and ODU missed three of their final six and this thing ended in a Tribe cover at 60-53.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

3* George Washington (plus 11 1/2) at Dayton.

2* Penn (plus 13) at Princeton.

A 2-0 sweep for 5* of profit on Monday as both William & Mary and the Nets snuck in their respective numbers in the end.



Who is Dayton right now? I'm not even sure the Flyer players know the answer. Things have not gone well at all for Brian Gregory's team. The season started out great and Dayton appeared to be headed straight for an at-large berth in the tournament but that appears to no longer be the case.

The Flyers are a talented squad that at home can be very good with Johnson and Wright but this team has done little of late if anything at all. They just lost outright at home to St. Louis as a very similar favorite to today and have dropped four of their last five overall.

Dayton is 19-11 overall and 8-8 in the A-10 which is clearly better than GW's 16-13 mark and 6-10 in-conference but Karl Hobbs has done a solid job this season and his Colonials are not terrible. Joseph Katuka has been on-fire of late and the team is 5-1-1 ATS in its last seven. That's good enough for me to back this semi live dog.



The Penn Quakers have had an awful season compared to the last 15 or so years where they were either the class of the Ivy League or second best behind Princeton but in this rivalry spot against a low scoring Tiger offense I'll grab a Baker's dozen or so.

Jerome Allen's team has improved of late and just played Harvard down to the wire in an easy cover but one point loss last Friday. Then next day they beat up a terrible Dartmouth squad and with Zach Rosen filling it up as usual should be able to stay in range today. The Quakers have covered three of their last five and I really do believe we will see four of six soon.

Princeton is an upper eschelon squad in the conference as they are clearly behind Cornell but right there with Harvard for second best. Sydney Johnson's squad is 19-8 overall and 9-3 in-conference. They should win here for sure but rivalry type games are usually tighter than expected as Penn-Princeton really is a rivalry type game. Plus the Tigers are far from being an offensive juggernaut and really should not go too far north of 60, if they get that high.

The Tigers will win the game but with the Quaks semi improvements and this game being for very little I'll grab the number.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on:

Elon (plus 1) vs Sanford.

The Elon Phoenix were at home and leading 49-44 with 1:50 to go and would forget to score from that point forward. Elon turned the ball over a few times and with 1:25 to go Sanford's Trey Montgomery nailed a three to get within two.

Then with 17 ticks on the clock Kaylin Johnson bombed away and the Bulldogs grabbed the 50-49 lead and that's how this thing would end, no points for the home squad in the final two minutes and basically a sister kissing push after the solid late lead.



Your winners for Friday are on:

3* Bucks (plus 7) at Toronto.

2* Trailblazers (plus 10) at Boston.

2* St Peter's (plus 10) at Niagara.

A poor 0-2 Thursday as neither the Washington Huskies nor LA Clippers came through in the end despite decent enough first halves.



A trio of plays today led by the Bucks north of the border. Toronto just played in Milwaukee the other day and Brandon Jennings and the fellas came back for the victory. Now these teams are playing the back end of the home and home and the Raptors are certainly looking for some revenge.

Chris Bosh netted a career high 44 points in that loss and Toronto is a solid enough team and probably overall better than Milwaukee but to get a touchdown or so is enough for me with this dog. I like what the Bucks are doing this season. Granted they have strugged a bit ever since the 8-3 start but they have a phenomenal rookie in Jennings and some other pieces including Andrew Bogut.

I just think this game will be tight until the end. The dinosaurs probably will even up this home and home but Jennings will do enough to keep the visitors around for the cash.



Brandon Roy may miss this game and we all know about how banged up the Blazers are including Greg Oden once again being done for the season but the Celtics do not really scare me all that much right now. as they have lost three straight and four of five.

Doc Rivers' team is expected to get Kevin Garnett back but the Big Ticket is not the same guy he used to be a few years back and he can't possibly do all that much today coming back.

Nate McMillan has done a great job keeping Portland together throughout all of the injuries. To be 26-17 is a minor miracle and I can see LaMarcus Aldridge once again put on an All-Star type performance and keep this thing tighter than expected.

The Blazers have won three of four including pounding Dwight Howard and the Magic and I think 10 or so is just too much here!



St. Peter's is an improving program at 10-8 and just beat this same Niagara team about 10 days ago at home. That game was a semi instant classic going a few overtimes meaning that these teams are fairly even. I definitely do respect the home court advantage which the Purple Eagles have today but to get around 10 points with the hotter and possibly superior team is insane, period, end of story!

Sure Niagara may win but by double digits!?!?!? I think not!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Kent State (plus 1 1/2) at Miami, Ohio.

The Golden Flashers clamped down with the defense and led 24-11 at the half. Yes 11!?!?!?

The Redhawks, though,made a second half run though and picked it up a bit with the offense outscoring Kent 36-23 in the final 20 minutes to force overtime.

And in the extra session Kent was outscored 8-6 and fell 55-53 resulting in a non-cover and a fairly decent "Bad Beat".

How can you allow 11 points in the first half and not win that game!??!?!



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

4* North Carolina (plus 3) at Clemson.

3* Rutgers (plus 13) vs. Syracuse.

2-0 sweep on Tuesday as Penn State and Tennessee State each easily stay inside that number for another 4* worth of profit!



North Carolina may not be as loaded as last season but this team is still great. Clemson is good, period and to be laying points to Roy Williams' Hels is borderline silly. Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, Marcus Ginyard and on and on and on plus points in Clemson? Come on!?!?!?

I like Trevor Booker and Demontez Stitt and Oliver Purnell's team as a whole. They are a nice bunch that are a top 20 or so team but for them to be laying points here is wrong, plain and simple.

I understand how the road can be brutal at times for most programs but North Carolina is not most programs as these guys know how to travel and Littlejohn Coliseum is a familiar spot where they will be just fine in.



Syracuse may only have one loss and the Orange may have even beaten North Carolina earlier in the season but in terms of programs I trust UNC a lot more right now than I do Syracuse.

The Orangemen are very good with Wesley Johnson leading the way but they are not truly an elite squad right now and are well overvalued here on the road against a not good but still dangerous enough Rutgers program.

Fred Hill has some issues with the Scarlet Knights as they are one of the weaker Big East schools but this team does hold its own in terms of being competitive at home and I think they will do just that today. Look for Mike Rosario to do his thing and for this thing to end in single digits!

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Texas A&M (plus 3 1/2, first half) vs. Georgia.

The Aggies did get stomped by a million when all was said and done on Monday in Shreveport but anybody who had Texas A&M in the first half has got to be feeling beyond bitter.

The game was scoreless until 2:33 was remaining in the first half. The Aggies jumped in front on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Jerrod Johnson to Jamie McCoy. So with basically 150 seconds remaining in the entire half it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that the Aggies' backers were going to cash that first half ticket barring something insane.

Insane it is!

Brandon Boykin returned the ensuing kickoff 81 yards for a touchdown and a 7-7 tie.

A&M then went 3 and out and in unreal fashion punt their was blocked setting up the Dawgs at the two yard line. Caleb King then punched it in and just like that it was 14-7 with about a minute to go in the half.

The Aggies did drive the field in that final minute but they could not snap and spike the ball on the Georgia 15 without the clock running out so this thing went 14-7 into the lockeroom.



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

4* Miami (minus 3 1/2) vs. Wisconsin.

2* UCLA (minus 4 1/2) vs. Temple.

A poor 1-2 Monday as neither A&M nor the Nets competed for the whole game but da Bears salvaged a disaster.

Nothing on the hardwoods today as I am all about the two bowl games.

Call me old school but Miami is still the faster and more athletic team when compared to this Wisconsin team from the slower Big Ten. It may be a bit of a misnomer to some degree but it's still true that the Badgers are more of a plodding run up the middle type of a team that just should not be able to keep up with the quicker and more athletic 'Canes.

Miami is in their home state and has a baller of a quarterback in Jacory Harris who can make plays with both his arm and his feet. When compared to Scott Tolzien we have a major advantage at the quarterback position. To be honest with you we have the advantage at pretty much all positions except running back where John Clay is a beast. But Randy Shannon will have his boys load the box and try and take away that running game.

I just don't see Wisconsin doing enough to keep up here!



A similar write-up here with UCLA as it's going to take a Herculean effort from Al Golden's Owls to really keep pace. Temple did have a 9 game winning streak but playing against weak MAC teams is far from the Pac-10 even of the Pac-10 is not great.

The Bruins have the far stouter defense and are used to playing top 25 teams like Oreogn, Stanford, USC and others. Temple does not have the horses to truly stay in this thing through four quarters.

The Owls should be excited to play in their first bowl game in 30 years and are a lot closer to home than Rick Neuheisel's squad but the talent level will be too much for them to handle, period.

Your "Bad Beat" for Thursday is on:

Nothing, for the first time since I started this blog there is just nothing!



Your winners for Friday are on:

4* Chargers (plus 3) at Tennessee.

2* Lakers (minus 5 1/2) vs. Cleveland.

A much needed winner on SMU on Thursday!



I am all about Philip Rivers and the Chargers today, all about them!

Tennessee is a nice little story as they were 0-6 and then came on like gang busters of late but the one true test they had in Indianapolis they failed in and after beating a ton of mediocre teams like Miami, Jacksonville, Houston and others are about to get outclassed today by an even more red hot team in San Diego.

The Chargers are legit folks, these guys aren't going away anytime soon. Maybe LT and Merriman and a few others aren't what they used to be but collectively the bolts are a total juggernaut right now and as good of a team as they have probably had since the Dan Fouts era.

Norv Turner's receivers went from a weak area of the team into big play players. SInce getting rid of Chris Chambers these guys have really stepped things up and have been dominating teams.

Don't get me wrong, Chris Johnson may be the best player in football and is impossible to stop as the guy I'm sure will go north of 100 yards once again but the Chargers will load the box and make Young try and pass to beat them and I do not see that happening.

In the end the wrong team is favored!



Why not back the Lake show here? Kobe and the Lakers are the best team in the NBA once again as they are ridiculously dominant. They did just come home off of that long road trip and struggled a bit on Tuesday night in the win and non-cover against the Thunder but tonight will be rested and ready to really get after it.

Cleveland is awesome as LeBron is sensational but the road trip is starting to get a little long and playing into overtime in Sacramento on Wednesday is not going to help much of anything. These guys will be juiced to play in the national spotlight today but Mike Brown's gang is also playing for the fourth time in less than a week and that could catch up to them against Bryant, Gasol, Bynum, Fisher and on and on and on.

Los ANgeles should grind this thing out and win by double digits!

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Jazz (plus 10) at Los Angeles.

Utah was playing Kobe and the Lakers toe-toe-toe for three quarters and appeared to be headed for a cover as they led outright by four at the half and then trailed by only two points going into the fourth quarter.

I think you know where this is going!

The Jazz couldn't convert on a field goal for the first 7:25 of the period and in the end were mutilated 28-6 in the quarter. The Lakers won and wound up covering easily 101-77 in the end.



Your winners for Thursday are on:

2* Syracuse (minus 2) at Florida.

2* Miami, Ohio (plus 14 1/2) at Cincinnati.

A small losing 1-1 Wednesday as the 2* Utes from Utah came through easily but the 3* Connecticut Huskies fell in the end.



Billy Donovan really does have his Gators cooking right now at 8-0 and looking as if they have a shot to compete with teams like Tennessee and Kentucky but I do not think that Chandler Parson, Erving Walker, Alex Tyus and the boys from Florida are going to win this game.

Syracuse is a very good team that has already been battle tested this season in pounding both Cal and North Carolina. We saw the Orange somehow lose to LeMoyne (or whatever that school was) in a practice game and then regain their focus and come on like gang busters winning that early tournament at Madison Square Garden against the Golden Bears and Tar Heels.

Jim Boeheim's squad is a perfect 8-0 in regular season games and rolling. Wesley Johnson is filling it up tot he tune of 17 ppg and Arinze Onuaku is a big boy that can bang down low with the best of them. Throw in a few shooters and 'Cuse is pretty darn solid.

Florida is good and this game is in St. Pete giving the Gators an advantage but in the end the team that improves to 9-0 today should be Syracuse!



Cincinnati is clearly much better than Miami, Ohio as Mick Cronin may have the surprise of the Big East as we saw in their preseason tournament finals appearance and narrow overtime loss to Gonzaga. But strange things happen in rivalry type games like this as a lot of these kids have competed against each other growing up and athletic advantages can sometimes be neutralized a bit.

Charlie Coles squad is a poor 2-6 and was just taken behind the woodshed by Temple but the team that will be more motivated today should be the Redhawks and after 40 minutes of hoopage I do believe this thing will not get ugly resulting in a solid hard fought underdog cover.