Armadillo Sports
Tuesday’s 6-pack
— Vikings named former Dolphins coach Brian Flores their new DC
— Miami 81, Duke 59— Miami forced 21 turnovers in an easy win.
— Kansas 88, Texas 80— Longhorns are tied for 1st in loss column with Iowa State.
— Green Bay 80, Milwaukee 79 OT— Green Bay snaps 14-game losing streak.
— Northern Colorado 88, Weber State 54— Bears were 12-22 on arc, Weber 3-23.
— Warriors 141, Thunder 114— Klay Thompson was 12-16 on arc, scored 42 points without taking a foul shot.
Quote of the Day
“One can fight evil, but against stupidity one is helpless.”
Henry Miller
Tuesday’s quiz
Which college’s basketball team is known as the Spiders?
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Rex Grossman started at QB in the one they lost.
Sunday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Jim McMahon started at QB in the one they won.
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Tuesday’s Den: More Super Bowl prop bets……..
You can bet on almost anything during a Super Bowl; here are some more prop bets that have been posted for Sunday’s game:
— Will there be a successful 2-point conversion?
Yes +230
No -270
— Will first turnover of game be……..
Interception -170
Fumble +150
— Will at least one quarter be scoreless?
Yes +400
No -500
— Total number of players throwing a forward pass:
over 2.5, +130
under 2.5, -150
— Will the team, that scores first to win the game”
Yes -165
No +145
— Over/under passing yards for Patrick Mahomes: 288.5
— Over/under passing yards for Jalen Hurts: 238.5
— Over/under longest completion for Patrick Mahomes: 38.5 yards
— Over/under longest completion for Jalen Hurts: 37.5 yards
— Over/under receiving yards for Travis Kelce? 77.5
— Total net yards for the Chiefs: over/under 372.5
— Total net yards for the Eagles: over/under 367.5
— Total punts for both teams:
over 7.5- even
under 7.5- under -120
— Total net yards for both teams: over/under 731.5
— More pass completions:
Mahomes (-6.5) vs Hurts
— More passing yards:
Mahomes (-50.5) vs Hurts
— More receiving yards:
Travis Kelce (-2.5) vs AJ Brown
— Jersey number of player who scores first touchdown:
Over 11.5, +130
Under 11.5, -150
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Eagles (-3.5) vs Tyrese Maxey on the 76ers
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Jayson Tatum on the Celtics (-6.5) vs Chiefs
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Eagles (-2.5) vs Purdue’s Zach Edey
Tuesday’s 6-pack
— Vikings named former Dolphins coach Brian Flores their new DC
— Miami 81, Duke 59— Miami forced 21 turnovers in an easy win.
— Kansas 88, Texas 80— Longhorns are tied for 1st in loss column with Iowa State.
— Green Bay 80, Milwaukee 79 OT— Green Bay snaps 14-game losing streak.
— Northern Colorado 88, Weber State 54— Bears were 12-22 on arc, Weber 3-23.
— Warriors 141, Thunder 114— Klay Thompson was 12-16 on arc, scored 42 points without taking a foul shot.
Quote of the Day
“One can fight evil, but against stupidity one is helpless.”
Henry Miller
Tuesday’s quiz
Which college’s basketball team is known as the Spiders?
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Rex Grossman started at QB in the one they lost.
Sunday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Jim McMahon started at QB in the one they won.
**************************
Tuesday’s Den: More Super Bowl prop bets……..
You can bet on almost anything during a Super Bowl; here are some more prop bets that have been posted for Sunday’s game:
— Will there be a successful 2-point conversion?
Yes +230
No -270
— Will first turnover of game be……..
Interception -170
Fumble +150
— Will at least one quarter be scoreless?
Yes +400
No -500
— Total number of players throwing a forward pass:
over 2.5, +130
under 2.5, -150
— Will the team, that scores first to win the game”
Yes -165
No +145
— Over/under passing yards for Patrick Mahomes: 288.5
— Over/under passing yards for Jalen Hurts: 238.5
— Over/under longest completion for Patrick Mahomes: 38.5 yards
— Over/under longest completion for Jalen Hurts: 37.5 yards
— Over/under receiving yards for Travis Kelce? 77.5
— Total net yards for the Chiefs: over/under 372.5
— Total net yards for the Eagles: over/under 367.5
— Total punts for both teams:
over 7.5- even
under 7.5- under -120
— Total net yards for both teams: over/under 731.5
— More pass completions:
Mahomes (-6.5) vs Hurts
— More passing yards:
Mahomes (-50.5) vs Hurts
— More receiving yards:
Travis Kelce (-2.5) vs AJ Brown
— Jersey number of player who scores first touchdown:
Over 11.5, +130
Under 11.5, -150
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Eagles (-3.5) vs Tyrese Maxey on the 76ers
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Jayson Tatum on the Celtics (-6.5) vs Chiefs
— Who will have more points Sunday?
Eagles (-2.5) vs Purdue’s Zach Edey
SAN JOSE is 8-21 ATS (-13.9 Units) against poor defensive teams - allowing 2.85+ goals/game in the current season.
COLORADO is 11-2 Over (8.8 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.
EDMONTON is 17-5 Over (11.5 Units) off a home blowout win by 3 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
SEATTLE is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games second half of the season in the current season.
NASHVILLE is 12-4 Over (7.6 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 17-52 ATS (-40.2 Units) when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the last 3 seasons.
NHL
Dunkel
Tuesday, February 7
NHL
Tuesday, February 7
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Trend Report
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Colorado @ Pittsburgh
Colorado
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing at home against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing Colorado
San Jose @ Tampa Bay
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 15 of San Jose's last 19 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Jose's last 9 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Jose
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Detroit
Edmonton
Edmonton is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Edmonton is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
Detroit
Detroit is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Edmonton
Seattle @ NY Islanders
Seattle
Seattle is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Seattle is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Islanders's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Islanders's last 9 games at home
Vegas @ Nashville
Vegas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vegas's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Vegas's last 7 games
Nashville
Nashville is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Nashville is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Anaheim @ Chicago
Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Anaheim's last 7 games on the road
Anaheim is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Anaheim
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Anaheim
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COLORADO is 11-2 Over (8.8 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.
EDMONTON is 17-5 Over (11.5 Units) off a home blowout win by 3 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
SEATTLE is 7-1 ATS (5.9 Units) in road games second half of the season in the current season.
NASHVILLE is 12-4 Over (7.6 Units) when playing with 3 or more days rest over the last 2 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 17-52 ATS (-40.2 Units) when playing only their 2nd game in 5 days in the last 3 seasons.
NHL
Dunkel
Tuesday, February 7
NHL
Tuesday, February 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado @ Pittsburgh
Colorado
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing at home against Colorado
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 6 games when playing Colorado
San Jose @ Tampa Bay
San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 15 of San Jose's last 19 games
The total has gone OVER in 7 of San Jose's last 9 games when playing Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Jose
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Detroit
Edmonton
Edmonton is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Edmonton is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
Detroit
Detroit is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing Edmonton
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Edmonton
Seattle @ NY Islanders
Seattle
Seattle is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games on the road
Seattle is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road
NY Islanders
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of NY Islanders's last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Islanders's last 9 games at home
Vegas @ Nashville
Vegas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Vegas's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Vegas's last 7 games
Nashville
Nashville is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Nashville is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games
Anaheim @ Chicago
Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Anaheim's last 7 games on the road
Anaheim is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
Chicago
Chicago is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Anaheim
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Anaheim
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Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Six college hoop teams who force the most turnovers:
26.9%— Iowa State
25.9%— UNLV
24.8%— VCU
24.8%— UCLA
24.8%— Stephen F Austin
24.7%— Missouri
Quote of the Day
“The most important things in life aren’t things.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo
Wednesday’s quiz
Who coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl?
Tuesday’s quiz
Richmond’s basketball team is known as the Spiders.
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Rex Grossman started at QB in the one they lost.
****************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
— Thunder 133, Lakers 130— Lebron James scored 38 points, became NBA’s all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was at this game.
I’m hoping that part of all this happening will be young people realizing how freakin’ great a player Kareem was; he won all the time in college, he also won a ton in the NBA, but he’s slipped out of the public spotlight and he’s not exactly a people person.
Guys who played before ESPN started get neglected in talks about all-time greats; Rick Barry falls into that category, too, to a lesser degree.
Lakers are now 25-30, the 13th seed in the 15-team Western Conference; they’re two games out of the last playoff slot in the West.
Lakers were +8 in the 34:00 Lebron played, minus-11 in the 14:00 he sat out.
— Kyrie Irving got traded to Dallas this week; opinions varies on who got the best of the deal.
Irving played three years with Cleveland when Lebron was on the team; Cavaliers went 43-16 in playoff games those years, winning one title, losing the Finals another year. It is funny how many guys win a lot when they’re on the same team as Lebron.
In Irving’s 10 other NBA seasons, his teams are a combined 23-25 in playoff games. There is very little actual evidence that he is worth the $34M or so he makes a year.
The last four years, Irving has played in 143 of his team’s 259 games; one of the best abilities is availability/dependability. We’ll see how he does with Luka Doncic as a teammate.
— Oklahoma has six alumni playing in the Super Bowl this week; Florida, Michigan, Mississippi State all have four.
21 SEC players will be on the field Sunday night; 16 players from the Big 14 will play.
— San Francisco 49ers hired Steve Wilks as their new defensive coordinator; Wilks went 6-6 as interim coach at Carolina this season- he replaces Demeco Ryans, who is the new head coach for the Houston Texans.
— In six of last eight Super Bowls, the longest touchdown play was less than 35 yards.
— Chiefs’ TE Travis Kelce has played in 17 career playoff games; he’s scored 15 touchdowns inn those 17 games.
— Aaron Rodgers and golf pro Ben Silverman won the pro-am tournament at Pebble Beach over the weekend, even though Silverman missed the cut in the pro event.
In college basketball……..
— Arkansas 88, Kentucky 73— Hogs shot 66.7% inside arc; they outscored Kentucky 47-33 in the second half. Wildcats played seven guys, and the 7th guy played only 8:00.
Calipari is looking for answers with a flawed roster; they’re a bubble team on February 8th, which I’m sure thrills the fanbase.
— Wake Forest 92, North Carolina 85— Tyree Appleby was 23-28 on the foul line; all the Tar Heels combined were 21-26.
— Nevada 77, New Mexico 76— Wolf Pack wins a road game, despite being outscored 24-8 on the foul line. Nevada sank 11-22 3-pointers; Steve Alford has his team 19-6, 9-3 in a tough Mountain West, all this despite having thin roster- they’re #331 in bench minutes played.
— Texas A&M 83, Auburn 78— Aggies were 31-39 on the foul line, Auburn was 9-14. Auburn led by 12 in first half; they’ve lost four of last five games, and host arch-rival Alabama Saturday.
— Kansas State 82, TCU 61— Wildcats put five guys in double figures, including two subs; they outscored TCU 46-31 in second half.
— UConn 87, Marquette 72— Huskies made 12-23 on arc, snapped Marquette’s 5-game winning streak; UConn out-rebounded the Eagles 48-24.
— Indiana 66, Rutgers 60— Hoosiers have won seven of their last eight games. Earlier this week, Rutgers lost starting F Mawot Mag for the season; he was averaging 7.8 ppg.
— Bracketology’s bubble teams, as of Tuesday morning:
Last four in: Boise State, Oklahoma State, Nevada, Memphis
First four out: Texas A&M, Florida, Seton Hall, Oregon
— 8 of the AP’s Top 25 lost last weekend; March is going to be a very interesting month.
— We’re four weeks away from conference tournaments starting; the tournaments in the one-bid leagues will be the most fun to watch.
Missouri Valley tournament is always in St Louis, they call it Arch Madness. Here are the standings at the top of MVC right now:
11-4 Drake
10-4 Bradley
10-4 Southern Illinois
10-4 Belmont
9-5 Indiana State
8-6 Missouri State
8-6 Northern Iowa
8-7 Murray State
MVC tournament is going to be very interesting.
— Ivy League tournament only has four teams in it; half the league plays, half don’t. Here are the current Ivy League standings:
7-2 Princeton
6-3 Yale
5-4 Brown
5-4 Cornell
5-4 Penn
4-5 Dartmouth
3-6 Harvard
1-8 Columbia
They might need a play-in game for the 4th seed in the Ivy tournament.
Couple of teams that are having exceptional seasons who still need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA’s:
— Eastern Washington is 12-0 in the Big Sky, two games ahead of Montana State, four games ahead of Weber State.
— Oral Roberts is 12-0 in the Summit League, four games ahead of everyone else.
— ACC is currently the 6th-ranked conference in the country, their lowest rating since 2013, when they had four teams in the NCAA tournament. Right now, Bracketology has the ACC with seven teams getting in this year, which doesn’t seem right.
— Gregg Marshall coached Wichita State for 13 years; the last 11 of those years, he was 157-41 in conference games. He made two Sweet 16’s and a Final Four, was 5-2 in first round games.
In three years since they fired Marshall, Wichita State is 43-30, 22-17 in conference games, 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. Wonder what the wealthy boosters think about that?
Wednesday’s 6-pack
Six college hoop teams who force the most turnovers:
26.9%— Iowa State
25.9%— UNLV
24.8%— VCU
24.8%— UCLA
24.8%— Stephen F Austin
24.7%— Missouri
Quote of the Day
“The most important things in life aren’t things.”
Anthony J. D’Angelo
Wednesday’s quiz
Who coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl?
Tuesday’s quiz
Richmond’s basketball team is known as the Spiders.
Monday’s quiz
Chicago Bears have played in two Super Bowls; Rex Grossman started at QB in the one they lost.
****************************
Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
— Thunder 133, Lakers 130— Lebron James scored 38 points, became NBA’s all-time leading scorer, passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who was at this game.
I’m hoping that part of all this happening will be young people realizing how freakin’ great a player Kareem was; he won all the time in college, he also won a ton in the NBA, but he’s slipped out of the public spotlight and he’s not exactly a people person.
Guys who played before ESPN started get neglected in talks about all-time greats; Rick Barry falls into that category, too, to a lesser degree.
Lakers are now 25-30, the 13th seed in the 15-team Western Conference; they’re two games out of the last playoff slot in the West.
Lakers were +8 in the 34:00 Lebron played, minus-11 in the 14:00 he sat out.
— Kyrie Irving got traded to Dallas this week; opinions varies on who got the best of the deal.
Irving played three years with Cleveland when Lebron was on the team; Cavaliers went 43-16 in playoff games those years, winning one title, losing the Finals another year. It is funny how many guys win a lot when they’re on the same team as Lebron.
In Irving’s 10 other NBA seasons, his teams are a combined 23-25 in playoff games. There is very little actual evidence that he is worth the $34M or so he makes a year.
The last four years, Irving has played in 143 of his team’s 259 games; one of the best abilities is availability/dependability. We’ll see how he does with Luka Doncic as a teammate.
— Oklahoma has six alumni playing in the Super Bowl this week; Florida, Michigan, Mississippi State all have four.
21 SEC players will be on the field Sunday night; 16 players from the Big 14 will play.
— San Francisco 49ers hired Steve Wilks as their new defensive coordinator; Wilks went 6-6 as interim coach at Carolina this season- he replaces Demeco Ryans, who is the new head coach for the Houston Texans.
— In six of last eight Super Bowls, the longest touchdown play was less than 35 yards.
— Chiefs’ TE Travis Kelce has played in 17 career playoff games; he’s scored 15 touchdowns inn those 17 games.
— Aaron Rodgers and golf pro Ben Silverman won the pro-am tournament at Pebble Beach over the weekend, even though Silverman missed the cut in the pro event.
In college basketball……..
— Arkansas 88, Kentucky 73— Hogs shot 66.7% inside arc; they outscored Kentucky 47-33 in the second half. Wildcats played seven guys, and the 7th guy played only 8:00.
Calipari is looking for answers with a flawed roster; they’re a bubble team on February 8th, which I’m sure thrills the fanbase.
— Wake Forest 92, North Carolina 85— Tyree Appleby was 23-28 on the foul line; all the Tar Heels combined were 21-26.
— Nevada 77, New Mexico 76— Wolf Pack wins a road game, despite being outscored 24-8 on the foul line. Nevada sank 11-22 3-pointers; Steve Alford has his team 19-6, 9-3 in a tough Mountain West, all this despite having thin roster- they’re #331 in bench minutes played.
— Texas A&M 83, Auburn 78— Aggies were 31-39 on the foul line, Auburn was 9-14. Auburn led by 12 in first half; they’ve lost four of last five games, and host arch-rival Alabama Saturday.
— Kansas State 82, TCU 61— Wildcats put five guys in double figures, including two subs; they outscored TCU 46-31 in second half.
— UConn 87, Marquette 72— Huskies made 12-23 on arc, snapped Marquette’s 5-game winning streak; UConn out-rebounded the Eagles 48-24.
— Indiana 66, Rutgers 60— Hoosiers have won seven of their last eight games. Earlier this week, Rutgers lost starting F Mawot Mag for the season; he was averaging 7.8 ppg.
— Bracketology’s bubble teams, as of Tuesday morning:
Last four in: Boise State, Oklahoma State, Nevada, Memphis
First four out: Texas A&M, Florida, Seton Hall, Oregon
— 8 of the AP’s Top 25 lost last weekend; March is going to be a very interesting month.
— We’re four weeks away from conference tournaments starting; the tournaments in the one-bid leagues will be the most fun to watch.
Missouri Valley tournament is always in St Louis, they call it Arch Madness. Here are the standings at the top of MVC right now:
11-4 Drake
10-4 Bradley
10-4 Southern Illinois
10-4 Belmont
9-5 Indiana State
8-6 Missouri State
8-6 Northern Iowa
8-7 Murray State
MVC tournament is going to be very interesting.
— Ivy League tournament only has four teams in it; half the league plays, half don’t. Here are the current Ivy League standings:
7-2 Princeton
6-3 Yale
5-4 Brown
5-4 Cornell
5-4 Penn
4-5 Dartmouth
3-6 Harvard
1-8 Columbia
They might need a play-in game for the 4th seed in the Ivy tournament.
Couple of teams that are having exceptional seasons who still need to win the conference tournament to make the NCAA’s:
— Eastern Washington is 12-0 in the Big Sky, two games ahead of Montana State, four games ahead of Weber State.
— Oral Roberts is 12-0 in the Summit League, four games ahead of everyone else.
— ACC is currently the 6th-ranked conference in the country, their lowest rating since 2013, when they had four teams in the NCAA tournament. Right now, Bracketology has the ACC with seven teams getting in this year, which doesn’t seem right.
— Gregg Marshall coached Wichita State for 13 years; the last 11 of those years, he was 157-41 in conference games. He made two Sweet 16’s and a Final Four, was 5-2 in first round games.
In three years since they fired Marshall, Wichita State is 43-30, 22-17 in conference games, 0-1 in the NCAA Tournament. Wonder what the wealthy boosters think about that?
NY RANGERS are 10-1 ATS (8.9 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in 2 straight games over the last 2 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 8-1 Over (6.9 Units) off a road loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
NHL
Dunkel
Wednesday, February 8
NHL
Wednesday, February 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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Vancouver @ NY Rangers
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 6 games when playing Vancouver
NY Rangers is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games at home
Minnesota @ Dallas
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Minnesota's last 9 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Minnesota is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
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MINNESOTA is 8-1 Over (6.9 Units) off a road loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
NHL
Dunkel
Wednesday, February 8
NHL
Wednesday, February 8
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Vancouver @ NY Rangers
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing NY Rangers
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Rangers
NY Rangers
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of NY Rangers's last 6 games when playing Vancouver
NY Rangers is 10-3 SU in its last 13 games at home
Minnesota @ Dallas
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Minnesota's last 9 games when playing on the road against Dallas
Minnesota is 6-3 SU in its last 9 games when playing Dallas
Dallas
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Dallas's last 5 games
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Armadillo Sports
Thursday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams with the best 2-point FG% defense:
42.0%— USC
42.4%— Alabama
42.6%— Houston
43.0%— Arizona State
43.3%— Utah Valley
43.5%— Illinois
Quote of the Day
“Joe Montana is still my man. Still my man. You say greatest quarterbacks ever, I’m still with Joe Montana. I’m not going with Tom Brady. … Listen, Tom Brady got all the rules on his side. You can’t touch him. You can’t touch him. If you hit him, if you breathe on him, they’re gonna throw a flag.”
Lawrence Taylor
Thursday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Raiders the first time they won a Super Bowl?
Wednesday’s quiz
Dick Vermeil coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
Tuesday’s quiz
Richmond’s basketball team is known as the Spiders.
********************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
— NBA trade deadline is 3pm Thursday; there was a big trade made at 1:30am Wednesday night/Thursday morning, involving the Nets and Phoenix.
Phoenix gets:
Kevin Durant and TJ Warren
Brooklyn gets:
Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder
Suns’ 1st round draft pick in 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029.
(Yes, another 7th grader got traded. Chances are, the 2029 draft pick will be a player who is currently in the 7th grade).
Mat Ishbia just bought the Suns for $4B; he has tried/succeeded in making a big splash, quickly.
If you bought season tickets to the Nets, do you get a rebate after they traded away Durant and Kyrie Irving?
— Dallas 110, Clippers 104— Irving scored 24 points in his Mavericks’ debut.
— From 2016-20, Houston Rockets went 217-101 under coach Mike D’Antoni, but they told him to take a hike after the Rockets went 28-23 in the playoffs those years.
Since then, the Rockets are 50-158. The only time they see the playoffs now is on TV. No bueno. Why exactly did they fire D’Antoni?
— When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in college (as Lew Alcindor) he was so dominant that they outlawed the dunk. Seriously. That is why he developed his sky hook shot, with was unstoppable in both college and the pros.
Speaking of college basketball……….
— Tulane Green Wave is 16-7, 9-3 in the AAC; they’re headed for their first winning season since 2013, maybe their first NCAA Tournament since 1995.
Ron Hunter is a very good coach; he went 221-179 at IUPUI, 171-95 at Georgia State, and now is doing his thing with the Green Wave. None of those schools have a great basketball tradition.
Four of Tulane’s last five wins, including three of their last four wins, went to overtime.
— San Diego State 63, Utah State 61— Aztecs led 44-28 at halftime, hung on to win despite scoring only 19 second half points. San Diego State now leads Nevada/Boise State by a game in Mountain West. Utah State is in 4th place, meaning they could meet the Aztecs in semifinals of the conference tournament.
— West Virginia 76, Iowa State 71— This game took forever to play, ton of whistles; WVU led by 15 early on, but Iowa State led by 3 with 9:45 left to play. Mountaineers went 26-31 on the foul line; they’ve won four of their last five games. WVU gets 23% of their points on the foul line, #8 in the country.
— Alabama 97, Florida 69— When they bring their “A” game, Alabama is the best team in the country, but they’re #254 in experience, #282 in continuity. Can they put together six wins in a row in March? Was their 93-69 loss at Oklahoma a fluke or a red flag?
— Vanderbilt 66, Tennessee 65— Vols missed front end of a 1-and-1 with 0:07 left, then Vandy hit an open 3-pointer from the right corner as time expired for the upset. Tennessee was 2-3 on the foul line for the whole game; in their last three games, they scored 54-46-65 points.
Since 1997, Rick Barnes has been to four Sweet 16’s, two Elite 8’s, but no Final Fours. Is this the year he finally gets there?
— Missouri State 61, Belmont 59— Bruins lost three of their last four games, are now tied for 4th in the wide-open MVC. Belmont and Murray State both moved up in class when they bolted to the MVC from the Ohio Valley Conference this year. Sometimes it is better to the big fish in a smaller pond.
— George Washington 107, Richmond 105, 2OT— Spiders led by 5 with 1:07 left in regulation; they’ve now lost five of last six games. GW made 14-29 on the arc, still needed two overtimes to win. A-15 is going to be a one-bid league for first time since 2002.
— Samford 70, Mercer 69 OT— Samford is 17-9, 11-2 in SoCon; they’re trying to get back to the NCAA’s for first time since 2000. Furman, Samford and NC-Greensboro are the Big 3 in this league right now. Another one-bid league that willl have an excellent conference tournament.
— Bryant 87, Albany 62— Great Danes have lost eight in a row, are in last place in a bad America East. Two years ago, Albany fired a coach who made the NCAA Tournament five times in his 20 years leading the Great Danes. That guy is a good coach. They replaced him with a coach who is 19-38 in his two years on the job.
Maybe it was the athletic director who needed to be fired.
— Tuesday night, Butler beat St John’s 68-66, ending their 5-game skid after trailing by 10 points in the second half. St John’s appeared to tie the game at the buzzer after an OB under play, but after a lengthy replay review, they said the shot came just after time ran out.
I watched the replay 5-6 times, couldn’t tell what the right call was; would’ve preferred they allowed the basket and let the teams play overtime. St John’s coach Mike Anderson was not happy when they waved off the basket.
— Our update on college basketball referee John Higgins:
January 24— Penn State @ Rutgers
January 25— Utah State @ San Diego State— Long plane ride for a back/back
January 26— Utah @ Oregon State
January 28— California @ Stanford
January 29— Michigan State @ Purdue— Day game after long plane ride.
January 30— Baylor @ Texas
January 31— Kansas State @ Kansas
February 1— Northern Iowa @ Drake- A double overtime game!!! Eight games in nine nights, and a double overtime game on the 9th night.
February 2— Wisconsin @ Ohio State— Ohio State coach Holtmann was ejected with 0:27 left in first half, after a charging call. Buckeyes have lost eight of their last nine games; tensions are running high.
February 4— Oklahoma @ West Virginia
February 5— Penn State @ Nebraska
February 7— Nevada @ New Mexico
February 8— San Diego State @ Utah State— There was a scuffle in this game;
He’s worked 13 games in 16 days, 68 games since November 7, which is 68 games in 95 days. Not bad for a 54-year old guy.
— 24 of the 53 guys on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster weren’t on the Chiefs last year, which is really impressive, re-tooling their roster on the fly like that.
— Eagles were last in the Super Bowl five years ago; they’ve got eight players left from that team.
— Tampa Bay Rays drew only 1.1M fans to their home games last year, their worst attendance since 2003; they’re going to sell some tickets to their home games for $10 this season, to try and get more people thru the turnstiles.
— Toronto Blue Jays signed SS Dante Bichette to a 3-year contract extension; financial details weren’t released, but Bichette won’t be going to arbitration with Toronto.
Thursday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams with the best 2-point FG% defense:
42.0%— USC
42.4%— Alabama
42.6%— Houston
43.0%— Arizona State
43.3%— Utah Valley
43.5%— Illinois
Quote of the Day
“Joe Montana is still my man. Still my man. You say greatest quarterbacks ever, I’m still with Joe Montana. I’m not going with Tom Brady. … Listen, Tom Brady got all the rules on his side. You can’t touch him. You can’t touch him. If you hit him, if you breathe on him, they’re gonna throw a flag.”
Lawrence Taylor
Thursday’s quiz
Who played QB for the Raiders the first time they won a Super Bowl?
Wednesday’s quiz
Dick Vermeil coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
Tuesday’s quiz
Richmond’s basketball team is known as the Spiders.
********************************
Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud……..
— NBA trade deadline is 3pm Thursday; there was a big trade made at 1:30am Wednesday night/Thursday morning, involving the Nets and Phoenix.
Phoenix gets:
Kevin Durant and TJ Warren
Brooklyn gets:
Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder
Suns’ 1st round draft pick in 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029.
(Yes, another 7th grader got traded. Chances are, the 2029 draft pick will be a player who is currently in the 7th grade).
Mat Ishbia just bought the Suns for $4B; he has tried/succeeded in making a big splash, quickly.
If you bought season tickets to the Nets, do you get a rebate after they traded away Durant and Kyrie Irving?
— Dallas 110, Clippers 104— Irving scored 24 points in his Mavericks’ debut.
— From 2016-20, Houston Rockets went 217-101 under coach Mike D’Antoni, but they told him to take a hike after the Rockets went 28-23 in the playoffs those years.
Since then, the Rockets are 50-158. The only time they see the playoffs now is on TV. No bueno. Why exactly did they fire D’Antoni?
— When Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was in college (as Lew Alcindor) he was so dominant that they outlawed the dunk. Seriously. That is why he developed his sky hook shot, with was unstoppable in both college and the pros.
Speaking of college basketball……….
— Tulane Green Wave is 16-7, 9-3 in the AAC; they’re headed for their first winning season since 2013, maybe their first NCAA Tournament since 1995.
Ron Hunter is a very good coach; he went 221-179 at IUPUI, 171-95 at Georgia State, and now is doing his thing with the Green Wave. None of those schools have a great basketball tradition.
Four of Tulane’s last five wins, including three of their last four wins, went to overtime.
— San Diego State 63, Utah State 61— Aztecs led 44-28 at halftime, hung on to win despite scoring only 19 second half points. San Diego State now leads Nevada/Boise State by a game in Mountain West. Utah State is in 4th place, meaning they could meet the Aztecs in semifinals of the conference tournament.
— West Virginia 76, Iowa State 71— This game took forever to play, ton of whistles; WVU led by 15 early on, but Iowa State led by 3 with 9:45 left to play. Mountaineers went 26-31 on the foul line; they’ve won four of their last five games. WVU gets 23% of their points on the foul line, #8 in the country.
— Alabama 97, Florida 69— When they bring their “A” game, Alabama is the best team in the country, but they’re #254 in experience, #282 in continuity. Can they put together six wins in a row in March? Was their 93-69 loss at Oklahoma a fluke or a red flag?
— Vanderbilt 66, Tennessee 65— Vols missed front end of a 1-and-1 with 0:07 left, then Vandy hit an open 3-pointer from the right corner as time expired for the upset. Tennessee was 2-3 on the foul line for the whole game; in their last three games, they scored 54-46-65 points.
Since 1997, Rick Barnes has been to four Sweet 16’s, two Elite 8’s, but no Final Fours. Is this the year he finally gets there?
— Missouri State 61, Belmont 59— Bruins lost three of their last four games, are now tied for 4th in the wide-open MVC. Belmont and Murray State both moved up in class when they bolted to the MVC from the Ohio Valley Conference this year. Sometimes it is better to the big fish in a smaller pond.
— George Washington 107, Richmond 105, 2OT— Spiders led by 5 with 1:07 left in regulation; they’ve now lost five of last six games. GW made 14-29 on the arc, still needed two overtimes to win. A-15 is going to be a one-bid league for first time since 2002.
— Samford 70, Mercer 69 OT— Samford is 17-9, 11-2 in SoCon; they’re trying to get back to the NCAA’s for first time since 2000. Furman, Samford and NC-Greensboro are the Big 3 in this league right now. Another one-bid league that willl have an excellent conference tournament.
— Bryant 87, Albany 62— Great Danes have lost eight in a row, are in last place in a bad America East. Two years ago, Albany fired a coach who made the NCAA Tournament five times in his 20 years leading the Great Danes. That guy is a good coach. They replaced him with a coach who is 19-38 in his two years on the job.
Maybe it was the athletic director who needed to be fired.
— Tuesday night, Butler beat St John’s 68-66, ending their 5-game skid after trailing by 10 points in the second half. St John’s appeared to tie the game at the buzzer after an OB under play, but after a lengthy replay review, they said the shot came just after time ran out.
I watched the replay 5-6 times, couldn’t tell what the right call was; would’ve preferred they allowed the basket and let the teams play overtime. St John’s coach Mike Anderson was not happy when they waved off the basket.
— Our update on college basketball referee John Higgins:
January 24— Penn State @ Rutgers
January 25— Utah State @ San Diego State— Long plane ride for a back/back
January 26— Utah @ Oregon State
January 28— California @ Stanford
January 29— Michigan State @ Purdue— Day game after long plane ride.
January 30— Baylor @ Texas
January 31— Kansas State @ Kansas
February 1— Northern Iowa @ Drake- A double overtime game!!! Eight games in nine nights, and a double overtime game on the 9th night.
February 2— Wisconsin @ Ohio State— Ohio State coach Holtmann was ejected with 0:27 left in first half, after a charging call. Buckeyes have lost eight of their last nine games; tensions are running high.
February 4— Oklahoma @ West Virginia
February 5— Penn State @ Nebraska
February 7— Nevada @ New Mexico
February 8— San Diego State @ Utah State— There was a scuffle in this game;
He’s worked 13 games in 16 days, 68 games since November 7, which is 68 games in 95 days. Not bad for a 54-year old guy.
— 24 of the 53 guys on the Kansas City Chiefs’ roster weren’t on the Chiefs last year, which is really impressive, re-tooling their roster on the fly like that.
— Eagles were last in the Super Bowl five years ago; they’ve got eight players left from that team.
— Tampa Bay Rays drew only 1.1M fans to their home games last year, their worst attendance since 2003; they’re going to sell some tickets to their home games for $10 this season, to try and get more people thru the turnstiles.
— Toronto Blue Jays signed SS Dante Bichette to a 3-year contract extension; financial details weren’t released, but Bichette won’t be going to arbitration with Toronto.
TAMPA BAY is 11-3 Over (7.7 Units) in home games after a home game where both teams score 3 or more goals over the last 2 seasons.
PHILADELPHIA is 8-2 ATS (5.8 Units) when playing with 2 days rest in the current season.
SEATTLE is 12-3 ATS (8.7 Units) in road games after playing a road game in the current season.
SAN JOSE is 27-23 ATS (1.7 Units) after allowing 3 goals or more 3 straight games in the last 3 seasons.
DETROIT is 6-1 ATS (4.9 Units) in home games after allowing 2 goals or more in the third period last game in the current season.
VANCOUVER is 7-25 ATS (-20.5 Units) when playing on back-to-back days in the last 3 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 8-1 Under (6.9 Units) in home games after playing a road game in the current season.
PHILADELPHIA is 8-2 ATS (5.8 Units) when playing with 2 days rest in the current season.
SEATTLE is 12-3 ATS (8.7 Units) in road games after playing a road game in the current season.
SAN JOSE is 27-23 ATS (1.7 Units) after allowing 3 goals or more 3 straight games in the last 3 seasons.
DETROIT is 6-1 ATS (4.9 Units) in home games after allowing 2 goals or more in the third period last game in the current season.
VANCOUVER is 7-25 ATS (-20.5 Units) when playing on back-to-back days in the last 3 seasons.
MINNESOTA is 8-1 Under (6.9 Units) in home games after playing a road game in the current season.
NHL
Thursday, February 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Jose @ Florida
San Jose
San Jose is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
San Jose is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Florida
Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 5 games
Seattle @ New Jersey
Seattle
Seattle is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Seattle is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games on the road
New Jersey
New Jersey is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
New Jersey is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Philadelphia
Edmonton
Edmonton is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Edmonton is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Philadelphia's last 10 games at home
Colorado @ Tampa Bay
Colorado
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home
Tampa Bay is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Colorado
Calgary @ Detroit
Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Calgary is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Detroit's last 9 games at home
Vancouver @ NY Islanders
Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Islanders
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing NY Islanders
NY Islanders
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 5 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Vegas @ Minnesota
Vegas
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Vegas's last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vegas's last 5 games
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 5 games at home
Minnesota is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday, February 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
San Jose @ Florida
San Jose
San Jose is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
San Jose is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Florida
Florida is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing San Jose
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Florida's last 5 games
Seattle @ New Jersey
Seattle
Seattle is 7-2 ATS in its last 9 games on the road
Seattle is 7-2 SU in its last 9 games on the road
New Jersey
New Jersey is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games
New Jersey is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
Edmonton @ Philadelphia
Edmonton
Edmonton is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Edmonton is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games on the road
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games
The total has gone OVER in 8 of Philadelphia's last 10 games at home
Colorado @ Tampa Bay
Colorado
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Colorado's last 5 games on the road
Colorado is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games on the road
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 12-1 SU in its last 13 games at home
Tampa Bay is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Colorado
Calgary @ Detroit
Calgary
Calgary is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Calgary is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Detroit's last 9 games at home
Vancouver @ NY Islanders
Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing on the road against NY Islanders
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Vancouver's last 5 games when playing NY Islanders
NY Islanders
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 5 of NY Islanders's last 5 games when playing at home against Vancouver
Vegas @ Minnesota
Vegas
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Vegas's last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vegas's last 5 games
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 5 games at home
Minnesota is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games at home
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Armadillo Sports
Friday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams with the best 2-point FG% on offense:
60.2%— Marquette
59.5%— Indiana State
59.4%— Furman
58.8%— Cornell
58.8%— Eastern Washington
58.0%— Southern Illinois
Quote of the Day
“If I had a choice of having my scoring record remain intact for another hundred years or spend one afternoon with my grandchildren, I’d be on the floor in seconds stacking Legos and eating Uncrustables.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Friday’s quiz
Which college’s basketball team is known as the Gauchos?
Thursday’s quiz
Ken Stabler played QB for the Raiders the first time they won a Super Bowl.
Wednesday’s quiz
Dick Vermeil coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
******************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
— Armadillo World HQ had a small crisis Thursday; my modem crashed, which meant no Internet, no TV (I have YouTube TV now). After over an hour on the phone with Spectrum customer service, I dashed off to the Spectrum store in the mall near my house, and after 3.5 hours of chaos, I had a new modem, Internet service and things were good again.
Kudos to the Spectrum people for good customer service, and for restoring my sanity.
— NFL named this year’s Hall of Famers:
Ronde Barber
Don Coryell
Chuck Howley
Joe Klecko
Darrelle Revis
Ken Riley
Joe Thomas
Zach Thomas
Demarcus Ware
Happy for Don Coryell, whose offenses changed the game; very disappointed that Torry Holt didn’t get in, but no receivers got in this year. Holt will get into the HOF, hopefully soon.
With Klecko/Revis getting in, have to think Jets are playing in the Hall of Fame Game.
— Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are making a movie dealing Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan; Affleck is playing Phil Knight, which is fine. Damon is playing Sonny Vaccaro, which is going to be hard to process.
Vaccaro kind of looks like Jerry Tarkanian did, a balding older guy who looked nothing like any movie star, except Joe Pesci.
— San Diego Padres signed P Yu Darvish to a 6-year, $108M contract extension. Ownership in San Diego is serious about winning.
— Only 82 college football players declared to leave school early for the NFL Draft, down 40% from only three years ago; are NIL payments keeping players in college longer?
— They played the semi-finals of the Caribbean Baseball Series Thursday:
Dominican Republic 8, Mexico 3
Venezuela 7, Colombia 5
Robinson Cano bats second for the DR squad; they play the host team Venezuela for the title Friday night at 6:30 on ESPN+.
— NBA trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon; it is smart that they have their All-Star break the week after the trade deadline, giving teams and coaches time to regroup after re-shuffling their rosters.
An anonymous league executive called Russell Westbrook “a locker room vampire” which is a pretty big indictment of him. Having talented players is important, but cohesiveness is also a big deal. I’ve never associated vampires with good chemistry.
San Antonio Spurs are having their 4th straight losing season; they’re 14-41 this year. At what point is it time to move on from Gregg Popovich? He is 74 years old, his team shows very little chance for improvement in the near future.
Golden State traded C James Wiseman to Detroit; they got Kevin Knox and five 2nd round draft picks in return. Warriors also acquired Gary Payton in exchange for five 2nd round picks.
2nd round draft picks got shuffled around like beaded necklaces during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Popped into my head that Manu Ginobili was a 2nd round pick— he turned out OK.
— Oklahoma/Texas are going to play one more season in the Big X, before they bolt for the bigger bucks of the SEC.
There are rumors that the Pac-12 is looking to add SMU, because SMU is in Dallas, which has a big TV market. You figure San Diego State would also join the Pac-12; would they poach Boise State and UNLV too?
— Way back when ESPN first started, one of the first conferences to let ESPN air their games was the Sun Belt. Was watching Louisiana-Southern Miss Thursday night; pretty good league, good guards. ESPN should give the league one game a week on ESPNU or ESPN2.
— Oral Roberts 95, St Thomas 88— Tommies were up 10 in first half; they made 16-39 on arc, but fall to 16-11, 7-7 in Summit League, while Oral Roberts is 13-0 in conference play. ORU is starting four seniors and a junior; they’re probably going to win a game in the NCAA tourney.
— Purdue 87, Iowa 73— 7-foot-4 Zach Edey only took 7 shots for Purdue; they’re going to have a game in NCAA’s where they’re struggling and they’re going to need someone to point out that Edey needs to assert himself, because he is 7-4 and can be unstoppable, when he puts his mind to it. He’s a good kid; would he speak up when the time comes?
It wouldn’t make Edey selfish; it would be Edey doing his job, being a dominant freakin’ player when that is what his team is going to need to get through a difficult game.
— North Texas 82, UAB 79, 2OT— Fierce struggle between evenly-matched league rivals; UNT was 23-25 on foul line, UAB 5-10, Referees let the kids play in this game, which understates how much they swallowed their whistles. As the season goes on and on, players will need to play through contact more and more.
— LMU 78, Saint Mary’s 74 OT— Gaels jumped out to a 16-0 lead; they led by 5 with 0:45 left in regulation, but lost this road game, right after they had beaten Gonzaga and opened a 2-game lead in WCC. LMU made 10-19 on the arc; they’ve won five of their last seven games.
— UCSB 75, Long Beach State 72— UCSB starts four seniors; Long Beach doesn’t play any seniors. Santa Barbara shot 59.5% inside arc; they trailed by 5 early in second half- they lead Cal-Irvine by a game atop the Big West standings.
— Our update on college basketball referee John Higgins:
January 24— Penn State @ Rutgers
January 25— Utah State @ San Diego State— Long plane ride for a back/back
January 26— Utah @ Oregon State
January 28— California @ Stanford
January 29— Michigan State @ Purdue— Day game after long plane ride.
January 30— Baylor @ Texas
January 31— Kansas State @ Kansas
February 1— Northern Iowa @ Drake- A double overtime game!!! Eight games in nine nights, and a double overtime game on the 9th night.
February 2— Wisconsin @ Ohio State— Ohio State coach Holtmann was ejected with 0:27 left in first half, after a charging call. Buckeyes have lost eight of their last nine games; tensions are running high.
February 4— Oklahoma @ West Virginia
February 5— Penn State @ Nebraska
February 7— Nevada @ New Mexico
February 8— San Diego State @ Utah State
February 9— USC at Oregon
He’s worked 14 games in 17 days, 69 games since November 7, which is 69 games in 96 days. He is 54-years old.
Friday’s 6-pack
College hoop teams with the best 2-point FG% on offense:
60.2%— Marquette
59.5%— Indiana State
59.4%— Furman
58.8%— Cornell
58.8%— Eastern Washington
58.0%— Southern Illinois
Quote of the Day
“If I had a choice of having my scoring record remain intact for another hundred years or spend one afternoon with my grandchildren, I’d be on the floor in seconds stacking Legos and eating Uncrustables.”
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Friday’s quiz
Which college’s basketball team is known as the Gauchos?
Thursday’s quiz
Ken Stabler played QB for the Raiders the first time they won a Super Bowl.
Wednesday’s quiz
Dick Vermeil coached the Eagles the first time they played in a Super Bowl.
******************************
Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
— Armadillo World HQ had a small crisis Thursday; my modem crashed, which meant no Internet, no TV (I have YouTube TV now). After over an hour on the phone with Spectrum customer service, I dashed off to the Spectrum store in the mall near my house, and after 3.5 hours of chaos, I had a new modem, Internet service and things were good again.
Kudos to the Spectrum people for good customer service, and for restoring my sanity.
— NFL named this year’s Hall of Famers:
Ronde Barber
Don Coryell
Chuck Howley
Joe Klecko
Darrelle Revis
Ken Riley
Joe Thomas
Zach Thomas
Demarcus Ware
Happy for Don Coryell, whose offenses changed the game; very disappointed that Torry Holt didn’t get in, but no receivers got in this year. Holt will get into the HOF, hopefully soon.
With Klecko/Revis getting in, have to think Jets are playing in the Hall of Fame Game.
— Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are making a movie dealing Nike’s pursuit of Michael Jordan; Affleck is playing Phil Knight, which is fine. Damon is playing Sonny Vaccaro, which is going to be hard to process.
Vaccaro kind of looks like Jerry Tarkanian did, a balding older guy who looked nothing like any movie star, except Joe Pesci.
— San Diego Padres signed P Yu Darvish to a 6-year, $108M contract extension. Ownership in San Diego is serious about winning.
— Only 82 college football players declared to leave school early for the NFL Draft, down 40% from only three years ago; are NIL payments keeping players in college longer?
— They played the semi-finals of the Caribbean Baseball Series Thursday:
Dominican Republic 8, Mexico 3
Venezuela 7, Colombia 5
Robinson Cano bats second for the DR squad; they play the host team Venezuela for the title Friday night at 6:30 on ESPN+.
— NBA trade deadline passed Thursday afternoon; it is smart that they have their All-Star break the week after the trade deadline, giving teams and coaches time to regroup after re-shuffling their rosters.
An anonymous league executive called Russell Westbrook “a locker room vampire” which is a pretty big indictment of him. Having talented players is important, but cohesiveness is also a big deal. I’ve never associated vampires with good chemistry.
San Antonio Spurs are having their 4th straight losing season; they’re 14-41 this year. At what point is it time to move on from Gregg Popovich? He is 74 years old, his team shows very little chance for improvement in the near future.
Golden State traded C James Wiseman to Detroit; they got Kevin Knox and five 2nd round draft picks in return. Warriors also acquired Gary Payton in exchange for five 2nd round picks.
2nd round draft picks got shuffled around like beaded necklaces during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. Popped into my head that Manu Ginobili was a 2nd round pick— he turned out OK.
— Oklahoma/Texas are going to play one more season in the Big X, before they bolt for the bigger bucks of the SEC.
There are rumors that the Pac-12 is looking to add SMU, because SMU is in Dallas, which has a big TV market. You figure San Diego State would also join the Pac-12; would they poach Boise State and UNLV too?
— Way back when ESPN first started, one of the first conferences to let ESPN air their games was the Sun Belt. Was watching Louisiana-Southern Miss Thursday night; pretty good league, good guards. ESPN should give the league one game a week on ESPNU or ESPN2.
— Oral Roberts 95, St Thomas 88— Tommies were up 10 in first half; they made 16-39 on arc, but fall to 16-11, 7-7 in Summit League, while Oral Roberts is 13-0 in conference play. ORU is starting four seniors and a junior; they’re probably going to win a game in the NCAA tourney.
— Purdue 87, Iowa 73— 7-foot-4 Zach Edey only took 7 shots for Purdue; they’re going to have a game in NCAA’s where they’re struggling and they’re going to need someone to point out that Edey needs to assert himself, because he is 7-4 and can be unstoppable, when he puts his mind to it. He’s a good kid; would he speak up when the time comes?
It wouldn’t make Edey selfish; it would be Edey doing his job, being a dominant freakin’ player when that is what his team is going to need to get through a difficult game.
— North Texas 82, UAB 79, 2OT— Fierce struggle between evenly-matched league rivals; UNT was 23-25 on foul line, UAB 5-10, Referees let the kids play in this game, which understates how much they swallowed their whistles. As the season goes on and on, players will need to play through contact more and more.
— LMU 78, Saint Mary’s 74 OT— Gaels jumped out to a 16-0 lead; they led by 5 with 0:45 left in regulation, but lost this road game, right after they had beaten Gonzaga and opened a 2-game lead in WCC. LMU made 10-19 on the arc; they’ve won five of their last seven games.
— UCSB 75, Long Beach State 72— UCSB starts four seniors; Long Beach doesn’t play any seniors. Santa Barbara shot 59.5% inside arc; they trailed by 5 early in second half- they lead Cal-Irvine by a game atop the Big West standings.
— Our update on college basketball referee John Higgins:
January 24— Penn State @ Rutgers
January 25— Utah State @ San Diego State— Long plane ride for a back/back
January 26— Utah @ Oregon State
January 28— California @ Stanford
January 29— Michigan State @ Purdue— Day game after long plane ride.
January 30— Baylor @ Texas
January 31— Kansas State @ Kansas
February 1— Northern Iowa @ Drake- A double overtime game!!! Eight games in nine nights, and a double overtime game on the 9th night.
February 2— Wisconsin @ Ohio State— Ohio State coach Holtmann was ejected with 0:27 left in first half, after a charging call. Buckeyes have lost eight of their last nine games; tensions are running high.
February 4— Oklahoma @ West Virginia
February 5— Penn State @ Nebraska
February 7— Nevada @ New Mexico
February 8— San Diego State @ Utah State
February 9— USC at Oregon
He’s worked 14 games in 17 days, 69 games since November 7, which is 69 games in 96 days. He is 54-years old.
NY RANGERS are 14-1 ATS (12.9 Units) in home games after 2 or more consecutive overs over the last 2 seasons.
COLUMBUS are 6-2 ATS (3.8 Units) after losing their previous game in overtime over the last 2 seasons.
ARIZONA is 2-17 ATS (-16.7 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders in the last 3 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 6-27 ATS (-23.7 Units) after a close win by 1 goal in their previous game in the last 3 seasons.
NHL
Thursday, February 9
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Trend Report
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Toronto @ Columbus
Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Toronto's last 8 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto's last 6 games when playing Columbus
Columbus
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Columbus's last 7 games at home
Seattle @ NY Rangers
Seattle
Seattle is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
Seattle is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
NY Rangers is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Arizona @ Chicago
Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Arizona's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Arizona's last 7 games
Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games when playing at home against Arizona
Chicago is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh @ Anaheim
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Anaheim
Anaheim
Anaheim is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
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COLUMBUS are 6-2 ATS (3.8 Units) after losing their previous game in overtime over the last 2 seasons.
ARIZONA is 2-17 ATS (-16.7 Units) after 3 or more consecutive unders in the last 3 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 6-27 ATS (-23.7 Units) after a close win by 1 goal in their previous game in the last 3 seasons.
NHL
Thursday, February 9
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
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Toronto @ Columbus
Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Toronto's last 8 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Toronto's last 6 games when playing Columbus
Columbus
Columbus is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Toronto
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Columbus's last 7 games at home
Seattle @ NY Rangers
Seattle
Seattle is 7-3 ATS in its last 10 games on the road
Seattle is 7-3 SU in its last 10 games on the road
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games at home
NY Rangers is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Arizona @ Chicago
Arizona
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Arizona's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Arizona's last 7 games
Chicago
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Chicago's last 7 games when playing at home against Arizona
Chicago is 5-2 ATS in its last 7 games at home
Pittsburgh @ Anaheim
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Anaheim
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Anaheim
Anaheim
Anaheim is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Anaheim is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
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