indiancowboy
Unit Play. #719. Take Ohio State Buckeyes +9.5 over Michigan State. (Tuesday @ 7pm est).
2-1 Yesterday:
Loyola Maryland +12.5 over Niagara (W)
Texas/Ohio State Under (W)
Sacramento Kings +4: (L)
Winning 9 of 13 Days in NBA (9-4)
Winning 4 of 5 Days in NBA (4-1)
Going for 4th Winning Football week out of 5 with Selection Today.
Let's have no fear and take the Buckeyes. After all, if their football team can cover against Texas and nearly win outright, maybe this program does have hope when they play the better teams in the nation - j/k. As per this game, we have many things that are working in our favor. First of all, Ohio State comes off a tough opening conference loss to Minnesota on the road. That was a game they were competitive most of the way, led at many points and fell short late in the second half. This is not to say they will win against Michigan State on the road today. But, it is today highlight the importance of this game if Ohio State does not want to start the year 0-2 and thus they will play with a sense of urgency. Michigan State is doing just fine. They are 2-0. They defeated both Northwestern and Minnesota by double-digits. But, note, that Ohio State is better this year than they were last year - and they lost last year to this team by 7 points. Thus, this team has revenge, has a great sense of urgency as they do not want to start the year 0-2, are on the bounce-back and Michigan State might end up coming out a little flat today as they come off two big road conference wins. I do worry about a late Michigan State run here but don't count Ohio State out when it comes to being competitive on the road. Remember, this team defeated ACC Miami of Florida who is a top 25 power ranking team outright on the road. Plus, Ohio State is a 10-2 team who is a top 45 ranked team that has defeated Notre Dame and Butler. This team is good. So what they didn't beat Tubby's boys - I think they can hang by single digits against Michigan State with revenge, coming off a conference loss and Michigan State being a bit over-valued and coming out a bit flat after two huge road conference wins - besides, they were within single digits last year with a younger crew than what they have this year.
4 Unit Play. #715. Take New Orleans Hornets +8 over Los Angeles Lakers (Tuesday @ 10:35pm est). It was either this selection or the Memphis Grizzlies today but I decided to take the 8 points rather than lay the 4 points. Both Memphis and New Orleans have revenge. But, New Orleans comes off a brutal loss to Denver by 2 points on the road. That is a game frankly they let get away and should have won. This game is different from the last two contests when they face the Lakers. This time, they have Peja back and New Orleans typically plays very well against L.A. on the road as compared to at home. The last two games against the Lakers were in NO and although the scores indicate a bit of a closer contest, the Lakers absolutely buried them. But, when NO goes on the road to play the Lakers, they play very well and more importantly - cover. Check out this amazing stat. What if I told you that the Lakers have covered the last 4 contests in New Orleans. But, New Orleans has covered the last 3 contests at Los Angeles. New Orleans is fairly good with revenge as you can take a look at the Portland game as an example when this team went on the road to defeat the Blazers outright with revenge. The Hornets dislike the Lakers. They are healthy now. They are getting 8 points in a game they could win outright as they come off a 2 point loss to Denver and are even more focused due to the bounce-back and have historically done very well at L.A. when it comes to ATS covers. The road team is 6-1 ATS over the last 7 meetings and the Underdog has covered the last 9 times between these two teams. We're Hornet fans today.
(Released early last Thursday): 3 Unit Play. #266. Take Tulsa PK over Ball State. (January 6th, 8pm eastern). Ball State had their perfect season hopes shattered as they were defeated in their own conference Championship by Buffalo. Ball sports an offense ranked 11th in the nation and 17th in points scored. Ball's defense is ranked 54th overall and 20th in points allowed. Yet, all that flew out the door when this team gave up 42 points to Buffalo as their previous highest was 24 points before that. Ball did beat Navy but outside that, they have not played anyone who I feel is a bowl worthy type opponent. Now, Tulsa has the #1 offense in the nation but a defense that is ranked 85th overall and 85th in points allowed. This team lost their last 4 of 5 covers and once they gave up 70 points to Houston on the road. Of course, Vegas made it hard for this team to cover after they had covered their first 6 of 7 contests. This team lost to East Carolina at home in their last contest. You have to look at attitude and motivation. After all, the way I am beginning to cap bowl games more than ever is through which team wants to be there, who has the better defense and who has the better running game. In essence, who controls both sides of the line – offense an defensively. But, this game is a bit different. I think that a team that had nearly a perfect season simply struggles to "get-up" for this game. I rank East Carolina very high and I think at the end of the day, Tulsa does well here. Remember, Tulsa has played a tougher schedule including East Carolina, and even Arkansas at home. "The perfect season" was irrelevant against Buffalo and I think that has deflated this team some and Tulsa is ripe here for the win as their offense can score early and often.