Friday Hoops

Sides, 43-35, +7.40 Totals, 7-9, -4.45 Year, 50-44, +2.95 5-1 yesterday, lost the big one (SEMO = no defense) Friday Manhattan #4, St. Peters #10 Siena #1, Fairfield #7 Loyola MD #2, Iona #9 Only game I’m interested in b/c of the disparity above is Siena. They should win this game. Yes, Fairfield won last year as a 10 point dog, but Schaick and his 27 points are gone. Fairfield wants to slow it down, and it’ll be very similar to Siena’s game that they had just played with Albany. Fairfield has played their tempo and pace in just about every game this year and their style best suits their size advantage. Fairfield is one of the top defenses in the MAAC, but their offense is at the bottom of the conference. Siena should score here, and even with a average effort, should at least be in the game towards the end. Problem is, Fairfield is desperate after losing to Yale in overtime, a game in which their coach called it the worst loss he’s ever experienced as a head coach. From a normal standpoint, Siena has more talent, and the better squad here. But from a capping standpoint, you have to look at Fairfield, and with the experience they bring back, you have to almost expect that THEY control the tempo here, and I just don’t feel confident laying the chalk on the road in that situation knowing that this game probably comes down to the final few minutes. Probably going to be a public play on Friday as well, wouldn’t be surprised to see it up to 3.5 by game time. One other tidbit, Oregon State will be a much better basketball team once C.J. Giles joins the squad. He has to take his last final on Friday, and once it’s graded, and signed off upon by administration, Giles is eligible. Problem is, he’ll have to take a separate flight, so time is an issue. He’s definitely a go for Tuesday, but I doubt he plays at UC Davis. Friday: Pass Working on Saturday… GL

great work thursday keep it up||an_clap.gif' border=0>

Saturday Zona/Illinois 16 rows up, center court. Problem is, I gotta wake my happy ass up damn early to get there by the 11am central time tip. Illinois travels well to the United Center, and this game’s always sold out. I can’t see Illinois being more than a possession favorite here I wouldn’t imagine. Northwestern/Western Michigan I would think WMU would be favored here. They match-up extremely well w/ Northwestern, and should win this game pretty easy in my opinion. Detroit #4,Valpo#5 Detroit probably a home dog of +2 to +3 here I would imagine. I have Detroit ranked higher, but that is with Cotton in the lineup, and he’s suspended for the year, so this is a no-play. Wisky GB #2, Illinois Chicago #6 Probably a PK, and I’ll play Wisky GB. Michigan State/BYU Long trip for MSU here, this is BYU’s Super Bowl. There local papers have been talking about it for a while now. Sort of have to wonder how much energy MSU used in the late comeback at Bradley. Youngstown State #9, Cleveland State #8 Butler #1, Wright State #7 Wonder if Wright State was caught looking ahead to Butler w/ the loss to Valpo, but I don’t think so. Butler is the better team here, especially if Campbell is back. Their struggles against Wright State last year probably keeps this line w/ some value on Butler. Wisky MKE #3, Loyola CHI #10 Another pre-season ranking that does not include the dismissal of Avery Smith from the squad, so probably a no-play. Have to see how these teams react w/o their stars in conference play, especially on the road. Marymount/Boise I’d actually consider laying the chalk w/ Boise here. Loyola is just so offensively challenged it’s ridiculous. No look ahead or anything here. Loyola’s been getting drilled all year, and they’re in the middle of a 3 game roady, where they dropped the first one at Long Beach State by 25. A line of -20 to -25 looks like a gift here. Jacksonville State #10, Tennessee Martin #11 The two worst teams in the OVC. How many points can I get on the #10 here? Rider #6, Canisius #8 Tennessee State #8, Eastern Illinois #9 I’d think that if Tennessee Tech (my #5) was getting a point at Eastern, then Tennessee State (my #8) would get points at Eastern. Eastern just has an extreme lack of depth, and they have 3 key injuries right now. This team is getting used to losing, and it’s evident. A healthy EIU gives them value, but a non-healthy team, I’d probably need a little more than a possession to take the road pup. Murray State #3, Morehead State #7 Tennessee Tech #5, SEMO #4 Honestly think with all the money SEMO has gained this year w/ it’s matchups (they’ve acquired a ton of public money thus far for a small school), they’ll open as a 2 to 3 point favorite here. I have this game at a PK. Should be all of the conference games. I’ll be around all day Friday to discuss Saturday’s card. Saturday’s card prolly go up late Friday night. At this point, it’s a pretty small Saturday. GL

Saturday Zona/Illinois 16 rows up, center court. Problem is, I gotta wake my happy ass up damn early to get there by the 11am central time tip. Illinois travels well to the United Center, and this game’s always sold out. I can’t see Illinois being more than a possession favorite here I wouldn’t imagine. Northwestern/Western Michigan I would think WMU would be favored here. They match-up extremely well w/ Northwestern, and should win this game pretty easy in my opinion. Detroit #4,Valpo#5 Detroit probably a home dog of +2 to +3 here I would imagine. I have Detroit ranked higher, but that is with Cotton in the lineup, and he’s suspended for the year, so this is a no-play. Wisky GB #2, Illinois Chicago #6 Probably a PK, and I’ll play Wisky GB. Michigan State/BYU Long trip for MSU here, this is BYU’s Super Bowl. There local papers have been talking about it for a while now. Sort of have to wonder how much energy MSU used in the late comeback at Bradley. Youngstown State #9, Cleveland State #8 Butler #1, Wright State #7 Wonder if Wright State was caught looking ahead to Butler w/ the loss to Valpo, but I don’t think so. Butler is the better team here, especially if Campbell is back. Their struggles against Wright State last year probably keeps this line w/ some value on Butler. Wisky MKE #3, Loyola CHI #10 Another pre-season ranking that does not include the dismissal of Avery Smith from the squad, so probably a no-play. Have to see how these teams react w/o their stars in conference play, especially on the road. Marymount/Boise I’d actually consider laying the chalk w/ Boise here. Loyola is just so offensively challenged it’s ridiculous. No look ahead or anything here. Loyola’s been getting drilled all year, and they’re in the middle of a 3 game roady, where they dropped the first one at Long Beach State by 25. A line of -20 to -25 looks like a gift here. Jacksonville State #10, Tennessee Martin #11 The two worst teams in the OVC. How many points can I get on the #10 here? Rider #6, Canisius #8 Tennessee State #8, Eastern Illinois #9 I’d think that if Tennessee Tech (my #5) was getting a point at Eastern, then Tennessee State (my #8) would get points at Eastern. Eastern just has an extreme lack of depth, and they have 3 key injuries right now. This team is getting used to losing, and it’s evident. A healthy EIU gives them value, but a non-healthy team, I’d probably need a little more than a possession to take the road pup. Murray State #3, Morehead State #7 Tennessee Tech #5, SEMO #4 Honestly think with all the money SEMO has gained this year w/ it’s matchups (they’ve acquired a ton of public money thus far for a small school), they’ll open as a 2 to 3 point favorite here. I have this game at a PK. Should be all of the conference games. I’ll be around all day Friday to discuss Saturday’s card. Saturday’s card prolly go up late Friday night. At this point, it’s a pretty small Saturday. GL

Manhattan -5.5 = very good play||clover.gif' border=0>

MNF, Yah, probably not bad. Thing w/ this game though, is that when you get two scrappy teams together, you usually flip a coin for the result. I have St. Peters at the bottom of the MAAC primarily b/c they don't have the experience to compete in the MAAC. They've impressed me thus far, could be a tough call. Even though the two teams lack leadership, and a balance on both offense and defense, it was a tough call for me. My line was Manhattan -6... GL

Thank you! I am getting that pick from a very good guy. As of now I will not say his name.

BETus has at -5.5 (I don't like how BETus is doing business).

Neil, look at Boise St, Murray St, and Notre Dame for me.

thanks for all the info.......good job..||an_clap.gif' border=0>

just saw your Boise write-up. i couldn't agree more.

Neil, Like the Boise St. as well and the BYU game. I don't agree with the SUPERBOWL reference, but I will give you this is a big game to them. BYU always a good BB team and they want national attention to show they can play with BIG boys. With that said they don't match up with the likes of say Georgetown, Memphis or even Indiana they get rolled, but hey they cracked the TOP 25 again. None the less I like this match up and I will take BYU in this one. Utah playin well right now, but good Oregon squad, this will be a tough road win for the Utes, so my advice stay away from this one. If you can get 8 for Utah I would take it, but I expect something more like 3. Good Luck and nice pickup yesterday. Silly me I put my money on the Under in last nights NFL game. Can you believe that, 33 points in the second half. When the line jumped to 4o I grabbed it thinking this was a good pick. No way sharps know that both QB's go down. So tell me its not about numbers.

NNNNNNRRRRRRRROOOOOOPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP HAD 2 DU THAT ||an_roll_laugh.gif' border=0> WORKING ON SAT THNX FOR INPUT AS ALWAYS

BEWARE IN BETTING AGAINST MY SPARTANS! I heard this same shit last week. Bradley had never had a top 10 team come into peoria aka their building in 26 years. they circled it sicne lats year when schedule came out.. they are jacked and pumoped up. etc. etc ... blah ... blah. yawn. same ole shit this time with byu! we beat bradley by 32 last yr at home and smacked them aorund by 6 or 7 and shut them up and now we beat byu recently by double figures at home and now same ole shit! SPARTANS WIN! Not sure what spread is but sparyt wins. sick of hearing its their friggin superbowl. yawns! U amatuers baffle me! SPARTY ON! CAN'T WAIT TO MSU/TEXAS SHOWDOWN AT THE PALACE DEC.22ND NOW THAT BE A HELL OF A SHOWDOWN AND SHOOTOUT :) SPARTY ON:)

Congrats ESB, Sparty now has 2 road victories in the last 2 years. The BYU/MSU game is being played in Utah at the Jazz Arena, something I had overlooked, so MSU might have a chance. Still overrated IMO. And I'll eat crow at the end of the year if that isn't the case. I've been wrong before and I will be wrong again. All the best... Already commented on the Siena lean, and seeing that Loyola has came down to -2.5, that's a lean as well...but probably not playing it. I dont lay anything over a possession on the road in conference, but having seen that it's down to -2.5, i'm not sure what to think loyola 0-3 in true road games this year, and this is the 5th straight game away from home which would scare the piss outta me freshman PG first conference game on the road, think i saw something where iona (albeit that they f*cking suck), has won 19 of the last 21 at home in this series these road games must be killing them, their shooting percentages have really dropped as well as their point totals in the last 3 games, could be a sign of fatigue loyola coming off a BIG loss against Mount St. Mary's (pretty important rivalry year in and year out) Gerald Brown didn't start last game in their biggest rivalry game of the year, i'm not sure why, but i read about a week ago that he had his knee drained, so i'm not sure he's 100% healthy here. Maybe he's sitting out and playing limited minutes to be ready for MAAC play, but i'm not sure on the status here. I can't find anything either. He still played 25 minutes, and led the team in scoring (12 points), and got a technical for starting a fight in that rivalry game. Without him on the floor, Loyola went about 8 minutes without scoring in the 1H which put them in a huge hole. it's a wierd matchup, iona's playing a new style of ball this year (defense and shooting the 3ball, Coach Willard is a former Pitino assistant). also figured into the #2 vs. #9 pre-season was Joe Miles, he averaged double figures for two season at marshall, but he's been so inconsistent here at Loyola. His minutes have been increasing, but he's been terrible thus far according to the expectations i put on him coming in. Lean: Loyola -, but probably not playing it.

And ESB, I think MSU open as a -1 favorite, and it really wouldn't surprise me to see BYU open as the favorite either...

Illinois travels well to the United Center, and this game’s always sold out. Neil - Had to laugh when i saw that quote....Of course the Illini travel well....they only have to travel from Lincoln Park..about 5 miles from the UC. There are more Illini fans in chitown than in Champaign. Gotta go with the Illini in this game!||an_clap.gif' border=0>

Sticking with BYU on this one. BYU should be favored by 3 when the line comes out. It will probably drop as Spartan bettors will move the line. I am not fooled, I believe that the Cougars can not only shot as well as the Spartans, I think defensively they play smarter. Force shots and outside pushes will keep the Spartans from lane scoring and driving to the hoop. Don't get me wrong they will get to the hoop, I just see BYU forcing them to shoot from the perimeter. I still like Boise St. best, line should be interesting.

Saturday 1* Iowa State PK 1* Wisky GB +3 1* BYU –2 1* Youngstown State +8 1* Jacksonville State +9 1* SEMO –1.5 Will probably make a few of these 2* plays. I’ll start a new thread later tonight… GL

Thank you nropp11!||clover.gif' border=0>

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Lost all the money I made from your plays last night on the plays I picked tonight. I need to stop thinking I have any clue about college basketball. ||an_violin.gif' border=0>