Quote Originally Posted by UNCforever:
Ok I am ready to roll. Be back for the Butler game pending how these look...
PENN +8.5 (10U)
PENN ML +360 (2.5U)
PENN is 10-2 SU in conference openers and 9-3 ATS in conference openers. Besides that I had to get the Blue Ribbon out for this they got a trio of guards that can be deadly. I think when you get into the smaller conferences guards are the biggest key at winning ball games. PENN is awful no doubt but the out of conference schuedule play year in and year out is probably one of the toughest for shit schools. Besides Cornell I think PENN had probably the toughest out of conference schedule in this league. They should be battled tested and I like them to pick up their 2nd W tonight with ease. As you know I dont play ML's often either and the price has to be pretty good for me to dip into something like this where I can see on shit team beating another shit team. I think every game in this conference is a PK after we get past Cornell.
COLUMBIA +8.5 (2.5U)
I think the look ahead is more inforce for Harvard than Cornell. Pure vaule play as I see this being to many points for 2 teams that typically play each other tough.
NIA -1 (5U)
Was trying to find away to play CAN but I cant find anything to convince to me back them. NIA has CAN number and the line has adjusted accordingly.
I hate FRIDAYS so tread lightly...
Just wanted to try to share some info on my Quakers. Don't take this as me disagreeing with your pick, since I happen to lean Penn as well, but rather I'm just trying to make sure you're working with the best information and trying to help everyone make informed decisions.
First, please throw all pre-2007 Penn stats/trends out the window. In his three and a half short years at Penn, Glen Miller somehow managed to run one of the most storied basketball programs in the country and one of the best mid-major programs of recent history into the ground. Sure, he was fired six weeks ago and Penn is trying to put that chapter of its history in the past, but what's left over is the worst Penn team in history. And I mean that quite literally. Please don't let the success of the pre-2007 Quakers SU and ATS influence your decision on this game tonight. The program at current does not even come close to resembling/representing Penn's proud history.
My second point: I don't have my Blue Ribbon on hand, but whatever information they had before the season is now out of date. One of the three players you're probably referring to is Tyler Bernardini, our leading scorer, but he's out for the season. Zach Rosen is probably the second, and as a sophomore point guard, he's our star right now and our best player by far. And frankly, I have absolutely no idea who the third player could possibly be. Rob Belcore showed a lot of promise last year as a freshman in a more limited role, but he has been absolutely dreadful offensively this season, having completely lost his shooting stroke. And returning-from-injury Darren Smith has been even worse and shows no signs of the player he was three years ago before missing two seasons due to a knee injury.
Again, I happen to lean Penn tonight, but it's for a completely different set of reasons:
First, I think the team will really respond to having a "clean slate" for the first time all season, as they are 0-0 in the Ivy League. While realistically we know they're not going anywhere in this league this year, that fresh start might help them put in the past some of the emotional baggage they've accumulated this season.
Second, I think they will respond well to their absolutely embarrassing loss to St. Joes on Monday. That game was a major step back after they played their best two games of the year right before that against Temple and La Salle. In those games, they showed serious improvement on D and a definite commitment to the defensive end in terms of hustle and effort that was simply absent earlier in the season. After getting embarrassed, I think we're more likely to see some of that energy again tonight as they try to redeem themselves.
Third, even though Penn was really really bad the past two years also (although not quite this bad), they did manage to win both years at Yale. So while that doesn't mean a whole lot, at least these guys know what to expect from Lee Amphitheater and have played well up there in the past.
And lastly, Ivy road teams know that they have a much better chance to steal a road game on Friday night instead of Saturday night, when the back-to-back roadies really catch up with them. And that's especially true for this current Penn squad, which has 5 players out for this game (Bernardini, Howlett, Schreiber, Loughery, Mullan) and is therefore seriously lacking in depth. Most of the starters go 35+ minutes, so they know that Friday really might be their only shot for a win this weekend, since they may have nothing left in the tank tomorrow night.
Anyway, because of that, Penn is a lean for me. It's not a play for me yet, but we'll see. I hope this was helpful for anyone considering betting this game.