Huge Saturday.

With over 110 games on today's docket, it is nearly impossible to limit yourself down to accurate plays, and not to get overly stretched if you are watching hoops all day long. I have limited down to 18 games that you should look at. I will rate these as I list them, and I suggest that the 3* and 2* plays should be your picks, and only mix in the 1* plays if you want some small action.

Pacific time for all games, listed Chronologically.

9:00 AM:

Notre Dame +2 at Villanova. I am taking the opposite side here from Money. I think Villanova is overrated as well, and Notre Dame's big post play by Haragody will be the difference. 1*

Memphis -12.5 vs Gonzaga. You know where I stand here. Memphis at home as a #1 team for the first time in 30 years. A lot of enthusiasm and too much athleticism. 3*

10:00 AM

UCONN +8 vs Indiana. Take the points in this made for TV battle. 2*

Kansas -23 vs Nebraska. Another blow-out. 3*

11:00 AM

Oklahoma State +1.5 vs Texas AM. Cowboys are good at home Texas A&M is young and reeling after the 5 overtime loss. 2*

12 Noon

Washington +9 vs Arizona. 2*

Louisville -16 vs St. Johns. This team is on the rise again, they will be back in the top 10 by the end of the year. 3*

1:00pm

Boston College -5 vs Va Tech. BC is playing well, Va tech is not. Lay the juice! 2*

Baylor -5 vs Oklahoma. Minus Blake Griffin, Sooners will be just a little soft to pull this out. 1*

Purdue pick vs Wisconsin. Take the home team even if they are young. 1*

3:00pm

VCU -16 vs Drexel. Blowout special, 3*

Kansas St. -13 vs Iowa State. Beasley is back on the rise and Walker will help. They are due for a blow-out highlight reel win! 2*

BYU -5 vs New Mexico. Lobos are a terrible road team. I never bet on the Mormons, but this is a good opportunity. 2*

5:00pm

Depaul +13 vs Marquette. Marquette is struggling and Dominic James is shooting 28 % again. Take the points! 3*

6:00pm

USC +4 at Oregon. This is a streaky team that is hot. Play them while they are in the flow. 3*

Creighton +3.5 at Southern Illinois. Big Rivalry game, but Creighton is better. This line is skewed by the tournament history of the Salukis. 3*

7:00pm

St Mary -9 vs USF. Ugly game at Memorial. Don's really are a bad team. 2*

UCLA -17 vs Oregon St. Mismatch. Just watch the blowout and enjoy. 2*


Good Luck. I know this is a ton of games, but what the hell, it is a big day. Roll them together, or just watch hoops all day long !

B. Anthony
ytd 92-76-2

Saturday thoughts

Here are a few games that caught my eye for Saturday's action.

VILLANOVA -2 vs. Notre Dame
Villanova will look to turn things around after their embarrassing loss at Rutgers. Notre is a different team on the road.

SOUTH CAROLINA +8 @ Kentucky
Did you see how good Kentucky when they beat Tennessee? So did Vegas. The line is way inflated. Kentucky regresses and this game is close.

UCONN +8 @ Indiana
Close game. No team ever has a double digit lead.

WASHINGTON +9 @ Arizona
I am going back to the well on this one. UW is playing good basketball and is a tad underrated.

PURDUE pk vs. Wisconsin
I wish and thought this line would be better for Purdue. No matter, I still like and believe Wisconsin will lose.

WEST VA -2 vs. Georgetown
West Va is a different team at home than on the road. Same with Georgetown. Same with all schools!!!!!

Money

Show me some Love

The Oregon game tonite should be a great game. Both teams are coming off losses (Oregon actually is coming off two) so they both will be ready to play. This will be a big game for Kevin Love, who for most people in Oregon think he scorned them by leaving his home state and where his Dad played, to go to UCLA. The fans will be brutal and make it tough on him all night.

Throw in the fact that the Bruins may be without forwards Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Lorenzo Mata-Real because of concussions suffered in the USC game, and suddenly the Bruins are quite thin down low. This will certainly change the way the game is played.
I like Oregon.

OREGON +3.5 vs. Ucla

WASHINGTON +5 @ Arizona state
James Harden of ASU has a bad groin and is a game time decision. ASU hosts Washington, who is playing better recently. I would be surprised to see Harden play and perform well. They would be lost without him. I would also expect them to look past UW and think they could get by in this game and focus on WSU on Saturday.

WASHINGTON STATE +2.5 @ Arizona
I am always saying how difficult it is to win on the road, and it is. It takes a certain type of team to deliver this kind of upset. WSU is that type of team. They are 6-1 on the road and Az is not that great at home (7-2) or at least not as dominant in years past.

SOUTH ALABAMA -12.5 vs. UL Lafayette
B. Anthony has Kent state. Money has South Alabama. I can’t name one player on this team or the conference they play in, but from a statistical point of view, I like this team a lot.

Money

Thursday, PAC-10 A-10

The question has never truly been answered in my mind, so I will pose it to my readers. After going 7 of 8, do you jump in really heavy the next day? Or do you lay low, expecting the odds to revert to the mean?

For years, my theory has been to play the streak, but I would like to hear from you about what works in your experience.

The schedule is pretty full again tonight, and about 7 games jumped out at me this morning. I have been trying to whittle that number down to 3-4 games, and I think I have found tonights winners.


Best Play:

2.5* Dayton +11.5 at Xavier. Rivalry game for first place in the A-10. Xavier is very good at home, but you have to love the Flyers with all these points. (By the way, did anyone see what David West did to Portland in the first quarter last night?) He scored 16 of the first 20 points, as he dominated inside and out. A True Muskateer!

2* Davidson -23 vs The Citadel. Davidson is starting to hit their stride, and the Cadets at the Citadel are not only terrible, they have many other things on their mind. (See "The Lords of Discipline", Great 1980s movie). This will be over early, but Davidson needs to get their confidence back, so they will push it to 35 before the scrubs get in!

2* Washington St. +1.5 vs Arizona. Cougars are experienced and travel very well. This game will be a battle, but experience will overcome. WSU will win 71-68.

2* USC -8.5 vs Oregon State. A team that is based on confidence is riding high right now. The Beavers are in the shambles with a fired coach. It could be over early if Jefferson throws down some early dunks to demoralize the Corevallis crowd.

(others I looked at: Va Tech +9 vs Duke, I wanted 12-13, so I stayed away. UCLA -4 vs Oregon, just not sure which UCLA team shows up. ASU -5 vs Washington. This could be a blowout that sends the Huskies packing, but ASU at Stanford showed too many signs of immaturity.) If I had to play these games, the highlighted teams would be my pick. But these are not on the recommended list.

Good Luck,

B. Anthony
ytd 91-73-2

Are these guys really that good?

There are several teams that are playing tonite that I believe are over-valued by the oddsmakers making it easier than normal to bet against them. Two of these over-valued teams go on the road, which has proven to be very difficult to win for everyone.

BAYLOR +9 @ Texas A&M
Yes, the Aggies will be fired up and play tough for their home crowd. They probably will win it, but it certainly won't be by more than 10 points. Baylor is 3-0 on the road this year. I am in agreement with B. Anthony on this one. This is my top pick for the night.

CINCINNATTI +3 vs. Uconn
The Bearcats have been doing well in a tough Big East conference thus far going 4-2 in league play with home wins against Villanova, Syracuse and Pitt. Meanwhile Uconn has only had 4 road games, losing to both Notre Dame and Georgetown. I like the Bearcats in an upset here.

MIAMI +7.5 vs. North Carolina
Same thing as Baylor. North Carolina will be fired up and attempt to play defense, but this game is just as important for Miami as well. This game will be close.

Money

Full Schedule

B. Anthony would like to get involved in many games today, and there are some good ones out there.

3*- Memphis -13.5 vs Tulsa. Stick with them until they prove you wrong. They will be 33-0 going into the tourney. This number is too small!

2* Baylor +9 vs Texas A&M. A&M will win this game, but they are reeling and not about to beat Baylor by double Digits!

2* UMass +6 vs St. Josephs. Huge rivalry game, look for this to be a final possession game, take the points!

2* William & Mary +2.5 at Drexel. William and Mary has quietly won 5 straight. +2 on the road is basically a sign that they are a better team. They will keep the streak alive with an outright win!

1* VCU -6 vs Hofstra. They are do for a big win!
1*Iowa State +24.5 vs Kansas. Conventional wisdom is to not bet against the JayHawks, but this Iowa State team is playing well of late, and good guard play will keep this game under 20.

1*Kent State-4 vs Akron. This team is going to make a tourney run, they hit a little bump in the road, but will be back on track tonight!

1*NC State -2.5 vs GTech. GTech played great last week vs UNC , but the WolfPack is finding ways to win games. They will end up 20-10 and be a scary #7 seed !

Good gaming

B. Anthony
84-72-2ytd

Tuesday Night

Quick picks for tonight. Almost 4-1 last night, late miracle 3 made it a 3-2 night

The Drake +6 vs Creighton. They will continue to cover. Creighton will be up for this game, but it will still come down to the last posession, take the points.

New Mexico -5 vs Utah. New Mexico is good at home, don't get fooled when they go on the road.

Wisconsin -17 vs Michigan. Route is ready for tonight.

82-71-2 ytd

Good Gaming,

B. Anthony

Money parlay for Tuesday

Here is three team parlay for your enjoyment today. You're welcome.

THE DRAKE +5.5 @ Creighton
I love getting points for The Drake. It has not happened much this year. Creighton is 10-1 and owns a five game home winning streak against The Drake, but all good things must come to an end. The Drake have ended similar streaks against Southern Illinois (16 game losing streak) and Missouri state (10 game losing streak), so this won't be a large task for them.

TENNESSEE -4.5 @ Kentucky
I love a nice desperate home dog and usually end up taking them, but I can't this time. UT is simply way more talented than Kentucky. Plus they are still upset about losing there last year. UT will come out strong, cover the first half line, and never look back.

OHIO STATE -6.5 vs. Illinois
I am a closet Buckeye fan. This is a very talented team that gets it done at both ends of the floor. They will look forward to playing at home after a brutal road stretch that included losses to Michigan state and Tennessee. They covered in both.

-Money

B. Anthony Returns for Big Monday

The first Big Monday of the year is here, and let's get a little political and honor Martin Luther King Jr. by playing all the TV games and staying inside out of the bad weather.

By the way, if you check the archives, Memphis who was picked to be undefeated on this site, is well on their way to 30-0 going into the tournament.

Tonight's games.

Syracuse +12 vs Georgetown. Too many for a rivalry game that the Orange men will be ready to play!

Texas -3 vs OSU. The Cowboys are very good at home, but Texas is clearly more talented and ready to put together and impressive Road Win.

WCC Love-

3 WCC games on TV tonight, what does this mean? It means the rest of the country must not be playing!!!

USF +20 vs Gonzaga. I don't like the Dons, but Eddie Sutton on TV, he won't get embarrassed!

St. Mary's -26 vs Loyola Marymount. Speaking of embarrassing, my man Rodney Tension and Calvin Byrd have their hands full coaching this team at LMU, they are going to get blitzed tonight!

Pepperdine +9 vs SCU. I don't like Pepperdine, and their coach is extremely over confident. However, a penetration team is not what Santa Clara wants to see. They lost to Cal St. Stanislaus who plays this same style with less talent. Is it possible to have less talent than Pepperdine. Regardless, take the points!

Good Gaming,


B. Anthony
ytd 79-69-2