Announcement

**Udog** · 01-01-2015, 10:07 AM

Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack

-- Georgia Tech 49, Mississippi State 34- Tech ran ball for 452 yards. Yikes.

-- Boise State 38, Arizona 30-- Broncos have been underdog in three Fiesta Bowls, won all three SU, with a pick-6 in all three.

-- TCU 42, Ole Miss 3-- Rough day in the Magnolia State.

-- Temple 57, UConn 53 OT-- Defending national champs are off to 6-5 start.

-- Indiana 70, Nebraska 65-- Two head coaches had words in this game.

-- Purdue 72, Minnesota 68-- Boilermakers were down 11 at the half.

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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Happy New Year, everyone.......

13) At one point this season, Ole Miss/Mississippi State were both in the top four in the country; Wednesday, they both lost bowl games by combined score of 91-36-- SEC teams are 4-3 in bowl games. Dogs are 7-1 vs spread in ACC bowl games.

12) 7-8-1 Carolina is a 6-point favorite over 11-5 Arizona in the NFC playoffs Saturday; I know Cardinals are down to their #3 QB, but the Panthers went 1-8-1 in one ten-game stretch this season. Interesting pointspread.

11) New Orleans Pelicans are 9-0 vs spread if they played the night before.

10) Why does St John's wear blue basketball uniforms? They're the Red Storm.

9) Addition by subtraction? Detroit cut Josh Smith despite owing him $26M; now they've won last three games, by 10-23-23 points, after being 5-23. Coincidence?

8) Reds got Marlon Byrd from the Phils,. as he moves from one hitters' park to another. Good news for Byrd's fantasy owners.

7) Jamal Crawford has played 15 years in the NBA; during that time, he's played for 17 different head coaches.

6) Bills had their first winning season in ten years but wthin four days, their QB and head coach both quit. Not the best way to head into the offseason.

5) Not only did Doug Marrone quit the Bills, they still have to pay him $4M next season; hope Marrone buys his agent a Cadillac or a Humvee; the guy earned it.

4) Jim Burr reffed the St John's-Seton Hall game Wednesday; the guy is ageless. I once did the scorebook for a high school sectional game that Burr worked- that would not be a big deal, except it was in 1978, when I was a freshman in college, thats how long Mr Burr has been a bigtime basketball official.

3) Temple basketball coach Fran Dunphy teaches an actual college course in the honors' program in Temple's business school; not a lot of D-I coaches do that.

2) Washington Redskins parted ways with defensive coordinator Jim Haslett, who becomes the scapegoat for the mess the Redskins have become. They traded a ton of picks for RGIII and he's been a flop, so fire the defensive coach!!!

1) Happy New Year, everyone. Hope 2015 is a great year for all of us.

**Udog** · 01-01-2015, 10:08 AM

See spot. See spot bet: This week's best spot bet opportunities

Letdown spot

The Washington Wizards put their strong start to the season to the test with a Western Conference road trip this week. The Wizards opened with a huge win in Houston Monday, but followed that with a letdown in Dallas the next night. Washington was rolled 114-87 by the Mavericks, shooting a dismal 4 for 12 from 3-point range and turning the ball over 23 times.

The Wiz find themselves in a similar situation in the New Year, visiting the Oklahoma City Thunder Friday night before making the overnight trek to San Antonio to play the world champion Spurs Saturday. Washington has a tough time keeping its offensive pace when it hits the highway, averaging 96.8 points per road game – compared to 102.6 points at home.

Lookahead spot

The UCLA Bruins are happy to see 2014 come to a close, finishing the year with a disappointing three-game losing skid against stiff competition. The Bruins were dealt defeats against Gonzaga, Kentucky and Alabama – failing to cover the spread in each of those outings. UCLA has another high-profile opponent ahead on the schedule, with a road trip to No. 12 Utah this Sunday.

But before the Bruins try to establish their place in the Pac-12 versus the Utes, they have a conference opener in Colorado Friday night. The Buffaloes have been a solid play at home – 4-2-1 ATS as hosts – and catch a road weary UCLA program playing the third of four straight games away from Pauley Pavilion. Colorado can catch the Bruins looking past them and ahead to a ranked rival later that weekend.

Schedule spot

The St. Louis Blue are longing for the friendly confines of the Scottrade Center after their recent road woes. The Blues are currently on a four-game road swing that spans the New Year, opening with a 3-2 loss in Nashville Tuesday. It was St. Louis’ fourth straight defeat away from home and this road trip could add to that slide.

The NHL schedule makers send the Blues westward with matchups in Anaheim and San Jose on back-to-back nights – Friday and Saturday – before wrapping up against Arizona Tuesday. St. Louis, which is in the middle of a goaltending controversy with No. 1 Brian Elliot back from injury, allows 3.5 goals per road game this season – a goal higher than when at home.

**Udog** · 01-01-2015, 10:14 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Chicago at Washington
The Blackhawks head to Washington for today's Winter Classic and come into the contest with a 7-2 record in their last 9 road games. Chicago is the pick (-125) according to Dunkel, which has the Blackhawks favored by 1 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Chicago (-125). Here are all of today's NHL picks.

THURSDAY, JANUARY 1

Game 1-2: Chicago at Washington (1:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Chicago 12.450; Washington 11.013
Dunkel Line & Total: Chicago by 1 1/2; 6
Vegas Line & Total: Chicago (-125); 5
Dunkel Pick: Chicago (-125); Over

Game 3-4: Los Angeles at Vancouver (10:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Los Angeles 10.309; Vancouver 11.775
Dunkel Line & Total: Vancouver by 1 1/2; 4
Vegas Line & Total: Vancouver (-125); 5
Dunkel Pick: Vancouver (-125); Under

NHL
Long Sheet

Thursday, January 1

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CHICAGO (25-10-0-2, 52 pts.) vs. WASHINGTON (18-11-0-7, 43 pts.) - 1/1/2015, 1:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
CHICAGO is 5-9 ATS (-10.9 Units) in January games over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 10-21 ATS (-16.4 Units) in road games second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 12-16 ATS (-16.5 Units) when playing with 2 days rest over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 10-15 ATS (-11.0 Units) in road games in non-conference games over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 38-15 ATS (+13.1 Units) after a division game over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 134-182 ATS (+134.0 Units) in non-conference games since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
WASHINGTON is 2-1 (+1.8 Units) against the spread versus CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
WASHINGTON is 2-1-0 straight up against CHICAGO over the last 3 seasons
2 of 3 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.7 Units)

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LOS ANGELES (18-12-0-8, 44 pts.) at VANCOUVER (21-11-0-3, 45 pts.) - 1/1/2015, 10:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 18-20 ATS (-12.4 Units) in all games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 4-13 ATS (-11.3 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less this season.
LOS ANGELES is 9-21 ATS (-12.6 Units) in road games after a division game over the last 3 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 1-8 ATS (+9.7 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
LOS ANGELES is 1-8 ATS (+9.7 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record in the first half of the season this season.
VANCOUVER is 26-10 ATS (+11.6 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the first half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
VANCOUVER is 13-28 ATS (-19.5 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 6-3 (+2.2 Units) against the spread versus VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
LOS ANGELES is 6-3-0 straight up against VANCOUVER over the last 3 seasons
4 of 7 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.5 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Thursday, January 1

Hot teams
-- Chicago won five of its last seven games. Washington is 8-4 in its last twelve games.
-- Canucks won three of their last four games.

Cold teams
-- Los Angeles lost eight of its last twelve games.

Series records
-- Blackhawks lost five of last seven games with Washington.
-- Kings won five of their last six games with Vancouver.

Totals
-- Under is 7-1-2 in last ten Chicago road games.
-- Four of last five Vancouver games stayed under.

Back-to-back
-- Keep in mind the Chicago-Washington game is outdoors at Nationals' Park.

NHL

Thursday, January 1

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Trend Report
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1:00 PM
CHICAGO vs. WASHINGTON
Chicago is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing Washington
Chicago is 13-3 SU in its last 16 games
Washington is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games
Washington is 5-2 SU in its last 7 games when playing Chicago

10:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. VANCOUVER
Los Angeles is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Vancouver
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 6 games on the road
Vancouver is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Vancouver's last 5 games

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Announcement

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/1

Thursday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/1

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