Cashing In

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 Saturday is on:

Marshall (first quarter total of 7 1/2) vs. Ohio.

In case you didn't know, yes you can bet the each quarter's side and total at a lot of on-line sportsbooks. They don't all have this as some just have the first quarter but that was where the shenanigans took place here.

The Bobcats and Thundering Herd were pretty much scoreless throughout the opening 15 minutes. Finally with 1:17 on the clock Marshall broke through on a Martin Ward 12 yard touchdown run to grab the 7-0 lead. Any under player though was still fine as they led by the hook as the quarter was running out.

Or not.

Ohio started on their 17 yard line after the kickoff and completed a three yard pass. The clock kept ticking and by the time the ball was snapped again, on second down, there was only 19 seconds remaining in the quarter. One more run or completed pass that didn't go 80 yards would have ended the quarter and the under players would cash the ticket.

But two incompletions set up an Ohio punt with just a few seconds remaining. Paul Hershey kicked the ball and a speedy Andre Baker went 58 yards across the field to paydirt to end the quarter at 14-0 and make all of those over players ridiculously giddy as they won a play that had absolutely no business winning.

Wow!



Your winners for Sunday are on:

3* Broncos (plus 7) at Philadelphia.

3* Kentucky (plus 7) vs. Clemson.

2* Giants (minus 8) vs. Carolina.

One play on Saturday, a 4* on Boston College falls short.



A trio of plays today led by a pair of 3*.

I'll grab the points with the Broncos here as Brian Dawkins comes back to Philadelphia looking for some revenge against his former team and a win. The Eagles are playing great ball and are the better team that should win the game in the end but how many times do you see in the NFL a decent enough team lose to a terrible team one week and then come back the next week and look like a world beater. Well that is the case here for the Broncos who just lost at home somehow to the Raiders.

The Broncos are not great at all but they play some quality defense, know how to play in cold weather and have an improving running game with a budding stud in Knowshon Moreno.

Brian Westbrook is back and the guy is versatile and great but I'm not really all that sure if he will be that much of a difference maker here after missing a ton of time.

Brandon Marshall is a total beast and a guy that will make plays today. In the end it may not be enough for the win but it may and plus a touchdown is enough for me!



I will gladly grab the underdog Wildcats as all Kentucky has done this season is win game after game that nobody thought they would. Rich Brooks' team won at both Georgia and Auburn and was a lot better than people thought they would be. Randall Cobb and Derrick Locke can beat anybody from anywhere on the field and Kentucky is a very dangerous team.

CJ Spiller is the best player on the field as he may be the best player in the entire nation. The guy is lightning fast and scares the absolute bejesus out of me. Spiller has literally scored in every single game this season and may score here but Dabo Swinney's team has lost five games and is just not that good. They may be better than Kentucky but my shekels are on the dog today in Nashville.



I normally don't let one game sway me but the Giants did show me a lot of mettle last week in pummeling the Redskins on the road and I think Tom Coughlin's squad is ready to make another statement today.

Don't get me wrong New York's defense still has issues and is not the team we have seen over the past few seasons. But I do not see Matt Moore coming into a cold and windy Meadowlands and being able to do what he wants. Last week Moore was pretty good in upsetting Minnesota but the numbers were a bit deceiving as a few long pass plays easily could have been picked off and gone the other way. The quarterback is still a guy that is not close to being even average.

Eli Manning and the offense woke up last week and should have a lot of confidence today. There are weapons there with Jacobs, Smith, Nicks and others and even though Carolina's defense can bring it I just do not think John Fox' offense will have enough to keep pace. Julius Peppers and the d will be put in tough situations this afternoon and in the end this thing has 23-10 written all over it.