Cashing In

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Knicks (over total of 217) at Utah.

No real tragic Bad Beats on Monday. But there's still always something.

To say that the Knicks are defensively challenged is being polite. That was the case once again in Utah yesterday in a major way or so it seemed.

Utah put 28 points on the board less than 8 minutes into the game and the score was a whopping 44-30 Jazz after a quarter. That's 74 points only 25% into the game. You're right at about 300 pace if that gets kept up.

It was then 64-60 at the half, again well above the pace needed for the high. 124 in the first half and only in the mid 90's in the second half. That should be no problem at all here in Salt Lake.

The Knicks outscored the Jazz 27-23 in the third and now only 43 points are needed in the fourth. After seeing 74 put on the board in the first quarter 43 should have been cake.

Well Utah outscored New York somehow only 16-11 in that final period as this thing stayed well under the total, somehow.



Your winner for Tuesday is on:

4* North Carolina (pk) vs. Rhode Island.

The last week has stunk, no other way around it. I lost that 4* on the St. Louis Billikens and I am officially now in a slump even with the 2* outright winner on the Hornets over the Lakers.



This price is just too cheap on Roy Williams' Heels. Sure I think North Carolina will win this game. That's not to take anything away from a good Rhode Island team but the Rams do not have the blue chip athletes of the Heels and in the end today at MSG we will see just that.

Forget about the horrific regular season. That was then and this is now. UNC just won brilliantly in Starkville against a very good Miss. State team and did the same in that last game at UAB. It's not a fluke beating the Bulldogs and Blazers in the road as this team is finally reaching a little bit of the level they were supposed to.

Thompson, Zeller, Ginyard, Henson, Drew and the boys from Chapel Hill are a lot more confident right now than at any point this season. UNC has always had the potential with their McDonald's All Americans. What happened earlier is anybody's guess because it was really really bad for the majority of the season.

But once again, that was then and this is now.

Rhode Island is pretty good and almost made the NCAA Tournament but I am starting to believe a bit in the Heels and will back them today.

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on:

Princeton (minus 13) vs. Penn.

There were a number of Bad Beats on Tuesday. The Colorado Avalanche blowing the 4-1 lead and losing 6-4 at home to Vancouver certainly was one of them.

Also Seton Hall not covering the 5 1/2 after leading 55-39 at the half and then 70-45 in the second half was borderline criminal. The Pirates allowed 67 second half points in the crazy 109-106 victory at the Garden.

But the "Bad Beat" of the day comes from the Ivy League where the Penn Quakers were getting absolutely embarassed against rival Princeton. The Tigers literally led 35-8 with 4 minutes to go in the first half. The game then went to the break at 40-14.

But Jerome Allen's halftime speech worked as the Quakers nailed over 53% of their shots in the second half compared to only 25% from the field (5-20) by the Tigers.

Penn actually got the game to within seven with a few minujtes to play and lost 68-56 narrowly covering that baker's dozen.

Unreal, 35 to freakin' 8 and cannot cover!?!?!?!?



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

4* Iowa State (plus 9) vs. Texas.

2* South Florida (plus 7) vsa. Georgetown.

Another 2-0 on Tuesday as my 3* on George Washington cashed the ticket and the 2* on Penn did so as well in miraculous fashion.



I am very anti Texas right now and for good reason. Nothing at all has gone right for about six weeks now for Rick Barnes' Longhorns. Remember back how Texas was number one in the country but ever since they have been awful. Both Ward and Balbay are lost for the season with injuries and the 'Horns have been absolutely terrible for awhile now.

UT has won some games in Austin but they have also been mediocre at best overall at home and beyond brutal on the road. Pittman and James are tough to defend down low and they will get some offensive boards but all in all Texas is just not a very good ballclub right now.

Iowa State is the weaker team for sure but they did just have that amazing overtime outright win in Kansas State over Clemente and Pullen and are a team with a stud in Craig Brackins. This guy is the real deal and can do it all. To get almost double digits with him alone is worth it and then when you throw in Marquis Gilstrap I can see the Cyclones not only cover but possibly win the game.

It is asking a lot for Iowa State here as they are far from being much of anything but Texas is a whole lot of nothing right now themselves and in this game in Missouri there is no reason to believe that the 'Horns can just regain that power.



I don't feel as great about the Bulls from South Florida because Georgetown is the better team and should be fresher after South Florida had to tangle with DePaul yesterday. But with that said the Hoyas are very very inconsistent and to get Dominique Jones and a Bulls team that a few months ago shockingly won at Georgetown is enough for me at this number. The underdogs' confidence level should be pretty high here knowing they already beat G-Town and have now won four in a row overall.

Greg Monroe is an instant mismatch and a guy that should dominate down low but in the end I do not trust John Thompson III's Hoyas in any regard and in any spot laying a half dozen plus.

Georgetown should advance but I don't think it'll be very easy as these Bulls are a scrappy club and should compete until the very end.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Minnesota (pick and under 134) at Northwestern.

The Islanders yesterday allowing three goals in the third period and losing 4-3 to Ottawa after leading 3-1 certainly was a fairly Bad Beat.

But the beat of the day goes to the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Tubby Smith's squad led the entire game. They were up 32-24 at the half and widened that to 13 points at 48-35 with only 7:30 to play. That should have been game, set, match.

But Northwestern fought back brilliantly going on a 20-4 run in taking the 55-52 lead. Minnesota's Blake Hoffarber though did bury a three with about 20 seconds remaining and this thing went into overtime tied at 57. Well that killed the under players despite clearly being on the right side.

As for the side, the Gophers took an immediate three point lead but watched the Wildcats seize the game with a quick 9-0 run. Michael Thompson scored 8 in the overtime period including going a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line and in the end it was Northwestern with the 77-74 victory.



Your winner for Monday is on:

3* Texas A&M (plus 7 1/2) vs. Kansas.

A perfect 2-0 Sunday as both the 2* DePaul and 4* Northwestern took care of business!



An ugly ugly Monday slate. There's no NHL and no NBA and not too many college games. So just one home dog for me and that comes in the form of the suddenly hot Texas A&M Aggies.

This is certainly far from a mortal lock as Bill Self's Kansas Jayhawks are awesome and probably the best team in the entire nation. But they are on the road here and are up against a suddenly surging A&M squad.

Mark Turgeon quietly has his team in very good shape. Donald Sloan has been the team leader with his play and this fairly experienced team will have a raucous home crowd backing them and without a doubt should lay it all on the line here in this litmus test type of a game.

The Aggies have won four in a row including a game at Missouri that nobody believed they had a chance in. This team is not nearly as talented as Kansas but they were nearly as talented as Missouri either.

Cole Aldrich, Sherron Collins, Xavier Henry and the Jayhawks are great and have the potential in any game to win big. But things are not going to be easy today and after being pushed into overtime at Colorado and putting in a fairly pedestrian effort last game at home against Iowa State I'll take my chances on these Aggies at home plus this too large number!

Your "Bad Beat" for Saturday is on:

Washington State (plus 11) at California.

A huge consolation prize to anybody who played Dartmouth on Saturday as the Big Green actually led by eight at the half at Yale and were catching 11 1/2 only to get outscored 40-19 in the second half and not cover.

Also anybody who had Auburn plus right around 10 is rather perturbed. The Tigers led pretty much the entire way. Mississippi State though found a way to get into overtime late and then rolled to the 10 point victory. Yikes!

But the winner for the day goes to Washington State. If you backed the Cougars all I can say is wow!

State was the dozen or so point dog and yet led outright 45-34 at the half thanks to Klay Thompson pouring in 23 points in the first 20 minutes. To be up basically 23 points (with the points) and half of the game already in the books should have made for an easy cover, right?

Cal did come back as one would expect them to and led by a point, 71-70 with 3:10 remaining. But the cover still was easily in the hands of the visitors, right?

Wrong, and Wrong!

The Golden Bears ended the game on a whopping 15-0 run and won the game 86-70.

Nothing more needs to be said I guess.



Your winners for Sunday are on:

4* Northwestern (plus 1) vs. Minnesota.

2* DePaul (plus 13) at Seton Hall.

A dismal 0-2 Saturday as I flat out sucked, period. Some days you are as pathetic as they come and Saturday's calls on Indiana and Stanford were just that.



I am just not all that high on Minnesota this season as they have been a lot worse than I thought they were going to be. Tubby Smith's squad had high hopes but these guys have only won two of their last seven games and frankly they are not as good as today's opponent in the Wildcats and the Golden Gophers are on the road which is always a ton more difficult.

Bill Carmody has a team that has been very good this season compared to in most years past and still have a shot to make the Big Dance. Guys like Shurna and Thompson are no joke and this team at home has already beaten the likes of Purdue and Illinois.

On the road a few weeks back the Wildcats covered easily in Minnesota and almost won outright as the 11 point dog. It's all about revenge here as Northwestern continues to prove they are not a fluke and Minnesota continues its downward plunge.



Seton Hall is clearly the much better team on the court here but they have no business ever laying such a price. Jeremy Hazell always scores 20 plus and the Pirates should win the game but this DePaul team has fared much better under Tracy Webster and right now are not all that terrible.

Walker and Koshwal can play and the Blue Demons have actually covered their last six games. They also outplayed Syracuse a few weeks back and should have beaten the Orange but lost late covering the 15 in beyond easy fashion.

The Demons will hang around because the Pirates just do not really blow out many major d1 programs and in the end DePaul will do enough to grab that cash.

Your "Bad Beat" for Saturday is on:

Kansas (minus 4 AND total of 153) at Kansas State.

In some ways this is not really a true "Bad Beat" in terms of the side at least because the Wildcats clearly deserved to cover this game but in the end any Jayhawk backers and under players are cursing up a storm.

The game went to overtime tied at 69 and that eventually destroyed the under players. That in its own right was a terrible beat. Now to the side. It was back and forth pretty much throughout and Kansas had the one point lead and the ball in the waning seconds. The game clock was 41 and the shot clock was obviously 35.

Frank Martin opted to play it out instead of fouling. With 9 seconds remaining Kansas' Sherron Collins drove the lane and scored plus the foul to go up three. The free throw was missed badly short but Cole Aldrich scooped it up and eventually Brady Morningstar was fouled with just over four seconds to go. He made both free throws to extend the lead to five and all of a sudden it looked like KU had the very very lucky frontdoor cover.

But in "meaningless" backdoor fashion Kansas State' Jacob Pullen nailed a 30 footer at the buzzer and this thing ended 81-79 in a Kansas State cover.

Wow!



Your winners for Sunday are on:

4* North Carolina (minus 8 1/2) vs. Virginia.

2* Maryland (plus 5) at Clemson.

A phenomenal 2-0-1 Saturday led by the 4* on SMU outright against Memphis as the 7 1/2 point pup! Then my 3* on the Georgetown Hoyas pounded Duke and I feel like Nostradamus right about now.



Can you say cheap? The Tar Heels have struggled mightily at times this season but do not doubt Roy Williams' team. There is a boatload of talent with guys like Davis and Thompson and Ginyard and others and to basically only lay single digits at home against Virginia is a deal and a half.

The Cavaliers have played better overall than most people thought they would as Tony Bennett has done a nice job but a whacking is in the cards here in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina may not repeat as national champions as they lost a ton to the NBA but don't think that this current team is not good. I can't explain why they have looked so feeble at times but the tide is turning as we just saw at NC State and today is going to be another solid solid victory for the Heels.



Maryland right now is flat out better than Clemson!

Littlejohn Coliseum can certainly be a beast for a visitor and Trevor Booker is a beast himself but I am not really all that impressed with the Tigers right now. Somehow they did pummel North Carolina about a month ago and nailed a bunch of three's in the process but that game was a total aberation.

Oliver Purnell's Tigers were horrendous offensively against Duke in that last home game and looked terrible in that last overall game at Boston College.

Clemson has actually dropped three straight and four games ago were horrific in the second half blowing basically a 20 point lead at NC State.

Maryland on the other hand is a house on-fire right now. I am not going to belittle going on the road here because that could make any team wilt but Gary Williams' squad is playing at a higher level than I have seen the Terrapins play in a long time. Greivis Vazquez always had the potential but was too inconsistent. Now the guy has been money leading the way and Milbourne, Mosely and Hayes are quality experienced guys that will bring some game today.

The turtle have been blazing, covering game after game of late. This is a tough spot for sure but right now I do fear the turtle and will therefore back them plus a handful!

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Murray (minus 120) vs. Rafael Nadal.

The Suns imploding and not covering can certainly be categorized as a "Bad Beat" but today there is one even worse and it's certainly stepping out of the box a bit.

Different internet sportsbooks have different rules. When it comes to tennis some sites say that matches are deemed winning or losing if two sets of action have been completed. Other sites say the entire match must be finished. That is a big difference when it comes to guys (and gals) retiring from matches with injuries and that as the case very early on Tuesday morning, which I am going to still call Monday's "Bad Beat".

Andy Murray was in complete control against the defending Australian Open Champion Rafael Nadal. Murray took the first two sets 6-3, 7-6 and was on his way through to the semifinals. He even took the 3-0 lead in the third so it was just a matter of time before Murray advanced and his backers reaped the rewards.

Until...

Nadal retired with a knee injury right there at 0-3 and like I said above at some books Murray backers did NOT win, despite him winning and moving on!



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

5* Baylor (minus 2 1/2) vs. Kansas State.

3* DePaul (plus 15 1/2) vs. West Virginia.

3* Northwestern (plus 11) at Minnesota.

A losing 1* day on Monday as I lost the bigger 3* and hit the 2*.



Love the Baylor Bears today!

So many times you see home teams take care of business and especially so in the Big 12. Granted Kansas State is a legitimate top 15 or so squad as their guard play is amazing with Jacob Pullen and Dennis Clemente but the Wildcats are not traveling to Waco against a very very good Baylor squad and winning, no how no way.

This number should be at least 6 or 7 points as Scott Drew has his team playing lights out and at home are unbeatable right now. K State did pound Texas last week which showed a lot about Frank Martin's club but they then turned around and lost at home to Oklahoma State which also showed a lot about Frank Martin's club.

You know what Baylor is going to give you every single game. This team competes ferociously as they almost won at Kansas last week, where nobody even competes no less wins, and now at home will be more than fired up and win this thing well north of the cheap price!



I wish we had Mac Koshwal's big body in the middle but that just doesn't look like it's going to happen once again.

DePaul is not good and obviously not close to West Virginia in terms of talent, but any Big East squad at home to get more than to touchdowns with at least a semi improving squad is enough for me.

The Blue Demons are not what they used to be in the days of Ray Meyer and just fired their coach in Jerry Wainwright a few weeks ago because of it. The program is certainly on hard times right now and another loss is in their future today but they finally did win a conference game downing a solid Marquette team last week and in that last game covered at Notre Dame against Luke Harangody and the Fighting Irish.

Tracy Webster has given free reign to Will Walker to take over and we have seen the guy score a ton and help this team get a little better.

This game has 71-64 written all over it!



Nothing much has gone right for Tubby Smith's Golden Gophers this season, relatively speaking as they are still good and have won some games, and I can't pass up the points with what has become a really solid Wildcat team.

Northwestern has had a great season and they have beaten quality competition. It's not like Bill Carmody's team has pounded creampuffs at all. These guys downed Purdue, Notre Dame and most recently Illinois and also went to Ann Arbor as the seven point dog and beat Michigan.

John Shurna and Michael Thompson will bring it and with the Gophers reeling from that implosion last time out against Michigan State and with Smith's squad without their point guard I am all about grabbing the hefty points ith what is still a very undervalued Northwestern bunch.

Minnesota certainly should win the game but not by the double digit number the oddsmakers have deemed.

Your "Bad Beat" for Sunday is on:

Penn State (moneyline plus $4) at Wisconsin.

This Beat is pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday's as South Florida miraculously came back and won in overtime as the huge dog. Today the favorite did just that as the Wisconsin Badgers were the 12 point chalk at Madison but yet trailed pretty much the entire game.

Talor Battle was great and PSU shockingly led 52-36 with a little over 10 minutes remaining.

Then came the debacle!

Ed DeChellis' team stopped scoring. The game was still 60-52 Nittany's with under 2 minutes remaining so it all seemed right for the underdog visitors but Wiscy ended the game on an 8-0 run capped by a Jordan Taylor jumper with 26 seconds left in regulation.

This thing went to overtime and it as all Badgers from there as Taylor scored 8 points in the extra session and the boys from Madison went on to the 79-71 huge come from behind victory.



Your winners for Monday are on:

3* Georgetown (plus 6) at Syracuse.

2* Penguins (minus 115) at New York.

One play on Sunday, a 4* on the Colts that turned the trick in the end!



Syracuse has been great this season with that one loss but Georgetown is not far behind with their quality 15-3 mark. Both of these teams are extremely dangerous and have a great shot to go far in the NCAA Tournament. It certainly helps Jim Boeheim's squad to be at the Carrier Dome today but to be honest with you the Orange have actually been a more focused and better team on the road.

The Hoyas have a huge mismatch problem down low in Greg Monroe and are a team that certainly won't be afraid of this Syracuse raucous crowd. John Thompson III's team is prepared for a spot such as this and will be in this thing until the bitter end. To get a handsome price back like this is a no-brainer.



The Rangers pretty much stink and to get the defending champs with Crosby and Malikin and Staal and Gonchar and others and not lay much of anything is too good to pass up.

New York started out the season great as they usually seem to do but the fade has been in for awhile now and this price is therefore just too cheap on the visitors from Pittsburgh. John Tortorella's boys just looked dismal falling in Montreal 6-0 to a bad Canadiens squad and I don't see MSG being the saviour here against today's great opponent.

Pittsburgh did play yesterday against Philadelphia, inning 2-1, and may have a little tired legs but it doesn't matter in the end as the Pens are just too good!

Your "Bad Beat" for Tuesday is on

Temple (plus 4 1/2) vs. UCLA.

Any Owls backers should feel semi robbed as their team collapsed a bit in the end.

Al Golden's team owened the 21-7 lead at the break and when getting 4 1/2 tacked onto that should spell a cover in the end.

Should.

UCLA flexed its muscles in the second half and got to within 21-20 with about six minutes to play. Temple was going backwards and on a 3rd and long from about their own 10 gave away the game with a pick 6. Then UCLA converted on the two point conversion to go up 28-21.

On the next possession Temple's long snapper on a punt snapped the ball into the endzone and all of a suden this thing was a two possession game at 30-21 and that's how it ended.

I guess Temple is still "Temple".



Your winners for Wednesday are on:

4* Bowling Green (pk) vs. Idaho.

2* Nebraska (minus 3) vs. Arizona.

2* Northwestern (plus 7) at Illinois.

A small losing 1-1 Tuesday as Miami sucked but UCLA came through in the end.



Freddie Barnes! If you don't know much about him you will soon enough. The Bowling Green receiver is as good as they come in the country and will completely destroy Idaho today.

The Vandals started the season out in amazing fashion at 6-1 but have regressed back to being poor ever since. They do have a few advantages with being here in Idaho as the game is on the blue turf in Boise but that won't be enough to counterract Tyler Sheehan hitting Barnes over and over and over again.

Idaho's defense is terrible against terrible teams. I say good luck to them here!



I do not love how the line has moved up here with Nebraska being favored by around a field goal when the game was a pick but I'm thinking that is more wise guy money as the line movement happened all of a sudden mid-day on Tuesday. Public money does not force a move like that so I do believe that I am on the right side with Ndamukong Su and his black shirts.

Neither team is better than good but both are good as Arizona and Nebraska had good seasons with improvement in the end. This should be a defensive hard hitting battle and in the end the Huskers should be too stout for another Pac-10 team which shows to be pretty bad. Cal and Oregon State proved to be dogs with fleas in their bowl games and UCLA was horrific in their first half yesterday.

I do not love Bo Pellini's offense but I do think their d will make enough plays for the 17-9 type of a victory.



Northwestern just gets no respect and all. Am I all in on Bill Carmody's Wildcats? No not all in but enough to grab the points with this 10-1 team here that's for sure.

Michael Thompson and John Shurna continue to silence the doubters and after beating up good competition including Notre Dame and NC State why can't the Wildcats compete here in Illinois? The Illinis are alright but certainly nothing too special.

Bruce Weber's team has four losses this season with two of those in the past two games. Illinois fell to Georgia and Missouri, neither exactly being North Carolina or Duke.

N'western is going for the best start in school history at 11-1. They may not do it but ya know what, they may!

Your "Bad Beat" for Wednesday is on:

Harvard (plus 8, first half) at Georgetown.

Jeremy Lin and the Harvard Crimson have been playing some great ball this season. They covered easily at Connecticut a few weeks back and just beat Boston College on the road in that last game. On Wednesday they went to Georgetown and for awhile (meaning 17 minutes) held their own with John Thompson III's Hoyas.

The game was tied at 33 with right around three minutes to go in the first half making Harvard a great bet to cover the eight or so in the first 20 minutes.

Or not.

Chris Wright and the Hoyas ended the half on an 11-0 run thanks to a pair of threes and then at the end of the half Harvard's Oliver McNally missed a three as Georgetown cruised into the lockerroom with a 44-33 advantage and a cover.



Your winner for Thursday is on:

2* SMU (plus 13) vs. Nevada.

0-2 on Wednesday as I should seriously just start fading myself as the last few weeks have been horrific.



Only one play today and it's the Hawaii Bowl between Nevada and SMU. The Wolf Pack are much better than the Mustangs but at this almost two touchdown price I'll take my chances on the dog.

SMU is a much improved program thanks a lot to June Jones, coincidentally the former head coach at Hawaii. Certainly Jones will have some influence for his team in this situation as he goes back to his own stomping grounds. Familiarity alone is a pretty good thing and in the end will help his team.

Nevada runs that pistol offense and when they are on it is as dangerous of an offense as any. I don't think SMU has a chance to fully stop Colin Kaepernick at all but hopefully they'll slow it down enough to keep the Pack at or below about 35 points.

I do think that SMU will score some points as their offense has made plays this season as Jones has really put his stamp on this program.

Nevada will win but look for about 34-24 which is good enough for me.

Your "Bad Beat" for Monday is on:

Patriots (total of 56 1/2) at New Orleans.

I'm sure most of you saw the game and if not I'm sure you saw all of the hoopla over and over and over again on that four lettered network. Points were aplenty and the over really never seemed in doubt. The Saints were scoring at will and quickly and the Patriots had 10 points at the break as they trailed 24-10.

Then less than six minutes into the third quarter the score was 31-17 meaning that a touchdown and a field goal in almost a full half of football would put this thing over that total.

But it just didn't happen.

Marques Colston caught Drew Brees' fifth touchdown pass of the night midway through the fourth quarter and that was it.

Final score: 38-17.

My oh my!



Your winners for Tuesday are on:

3* Virginia Tech (minus 2 1/2) at Iowa.

2* North Carolina (minus 2 1/2) vs. Michigan State.

A bad loser on the 3* Patriots on Monday as the last three days have been crap, flat out crap!



A couple of college basketball plays for today and I feel pretty good about them.

The bigger one comes from Iowa where the awful Hawkeyes are going to get their doors blown off. People still do not understand how bad this Iowa team is this season and the oddsmakers have not adjusted accordingly.

Virginia Tech is not going to win the NCAA Tournament and is not much better than average but the Hokies do have a stud in Malcolm Delaney and are just on a level well above this Iowa team.

Todd Lickliter's team lost basically all of their talent as they transferred after last season. This team right now is awful and has looked awful. They have lost at home already to teams that should not even be on the court with them.

Seth Greenberg is a quality coach and he will have Tech ready to go today as they roll with relative ease.



Michigan State is clearly the more experienced and quite possibly the more talented team right now when compared to North Carolina. Plus the Spartans also have a matter of revenge after getting killed twice against Roy Williams' squad last season including in the National Championship game. But I don't care.

The Tar Heels are young but they are also still loaded with talent and at home are just too cheap of a favorite today. Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller and Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson do not form nearly as quality of a team as last season but these guys are still total studs that are up and coming and at home should win this game.

Tom Izzo has a stacked club this season as a ton of talent returns. The Spartans have a great shot to win the Big Ten Title and can win this game. But not many teams go to Chapel Hill and actually walk off of the court as a winner. It could happen here but I'm going to go with the trend and back the Heels at home at this dirt cheap price.