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**Udog** · 01-12-2015, 09:57 AM

Armadillo: Monday's six-pack

-- NC State 87, Duke 75-- Wolfpack was 10-16 behind the arc.

-- Rutgers 67, Wisconsin 62-- Badgers led by 12 at half in game Kaminsky sat out and Jackson got hurt in. Very big win for Eddie Jordan's program.

-- Michigan State 84, Northwestern 77 OT-- Izzo's team is shaky right now.

-- Hawks 120, Wizards 89-- Atlanta is now 29-8, an obscure 29-8.

-- Tony Romo apparently tore ligaments in the ring finger on his passing hand in the Cowboys' loss in Green Bay.

-- Opening lines for next week's football:
Seattle -7.5 (46.5) over the Packers.....New England -7 (54) over the Colts.

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Armadillo: Monday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports weekend........

13) So who was it that pushed 77-year old defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau out the door? Coach Tomlin? Owner Art Rooney? When a guy in his position says "I am not retiring" that means he got fired. Tough thing, firing a legend.

12) Kentucky 70, Texas A&M 64, 2OT-- Aggies were only 16-30 in foul line as Wildcats dodged another bullet in SEC play. They're very good, but don't tell me this Kentucky team is an all-time great team just yet.

11) Miami OH 82, Eastern Michigan 81 OT-- Ben Roethlisberger's alma mater was down 25 in first half, rallied to win.

10) North Carolina 72, Louisville 71-- UNC gets 8th-least % of points of anyone in country from beyond arc, where they shoot 31%; this was second Tar Heel game in row that was decided by exactly one point.

9) Seton Hall 68, Creighton 67 OT-- Sterling Gibbs hit a hard 3-pointer with 0:02.1 left to keep Bluejays (0-4) winless in Big East.

8) If you care about such things, home underdogs are now 1-9-1 vs spread in WCC conference games this season.

7) Super Bowl is in Phoenix this year, same week as Phoenix Open golf tournament, where Eldrick Woods will play for only the fourth time. Coincidence?.Nah, some of his sponsors probably want to watch him play, so he plays.

6) Roger Goodell and his wife sat outside in the cold in Foxboro last night; he runs the damn league but he doesn't sit in a luxury box? Mrs Goodell couldn't have been happy with this-- who wants to get sick when you don't have to?

5) At this point, Knicks might lose to the Washington Generals; they lost by 28 at home to Charlotte and they won the fourth quarter by 17-- you do the math.

4) New Orleans traded Austin Rivers to the Celtics in Jeff Green trade; rumor has it that Boston is going to ship him to the Clippers soon, where he will play for his dad.

3) ESPN's Jay Bilas/Dan Dakich are Robert M Knight henchmen, so they spend way too much airtime bitching about officials. Analyze the game, you're not paid to be the supervisor of officials. ESPN's college hoop analysts are a surprisingly weak lot. .

2) If they reduced the amount of timeouts each team got in TV games from five to three, it would be fine with me. In a college hoop game, there are eight scripted TV timeouts that have to happen; teams don't need five other timeouts, its too much. Let the kids play, the game would have better flow, better action. .

1) A's traded for Ben Zobrist/Yunel Escobar Saturday; counting DH, they've changed seven of nine position players from LY's team. One evaluator summed up the new A's in this way: "Younger, cheaper and deeper" Sounds like the A's.

**Udog** · 01-12-2015, 10:06 AM

NHL
Long Sheet

Monday, January 12

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TAMPA BAY (27-12-0-4, 58 pts.) at PHILADELPHIA (16-19-0-7, 39 pts.) - 1/12/2015, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TAMPA BAY is 296-368 ATS (-116.6 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
PHILADELPHIA is 89-97 ATS (-42.4 Units) in home games revenging a loss versus opponent since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
TAMPA BAY is 7-1 (+6.1 Units) against the spread versus PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
TAMPA BAY is 7-1-0 straight up against PHILADELPHIA over the last 3 seasons
4 of 6 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+1.8 Units)

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COLORADO (18-16-0-8, 44 pts.) at WASHINGTON (22-11-0-8, 52 pts.) - 1/12/2015, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
COLORADO is 73-58 ATS (+8.0 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 6-1 ATS (+7.3 Units) in road games in January games over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 35-20 ATS (+11.9 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
COLORADO is 100-71 ATS (+28.6 Units) in road games in non-conference games since 1996.
COLORADO is 8-1 ATS (+9.2 Units) in road games after a 3 game unbeaten streak over the last 2 seasons.
WASHINGTON is 135-182 ATS (-78.8 Units) in non-conference games since 1996.

Head-to-Head Series History
COLORADO is 2-1 (+0.9 Units) against the spread versus WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
COLORADO is 2-1-0 straight up against WASHINGTON over the last 3 seasons
2 of 3 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.9 Units)

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TORONTO (22-17-0-3, 47 pts.) at LOS ANGELES (19-13-0-10, 48 pts.) - 1/12/2015, 10:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
TORONTO is 25-34 ATS (-17.8 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.
TORONTO is 1-11 ATS (+13.1 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 19-23 ATS (+19.0 Units) in all games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 127-143 ATS (-20.6 Units) in a home game where where the total is 5.5 since 1996.
LOS ANGELES is 6-13 ATS (-15.9 Units) in January games over the last 2 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 6-10 ATS (-8.8 Units) in non-conference games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 4-9 ATS (-9.0 Units) after scoring 4 goals or more in their previous game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
TORONTO is 2-1 (+2.1 Units) against the spread versus LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
TORONTO is 2-1-0 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-0.3 Units, Under=-0.0 Units)

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NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Monday, January 12

Hot teams
-- Lightning won seven of their last eight games.
-- Avalanche won five of their last six games. Washington won four of last five.

Cold teams
-- Flyers lost six of their last eight games.
-- Maple Leafs lost eight of last eleven games. Kings lost five of last six.

Series records
-- Flyers lost their last six games with Tampa Bay.
-- Avalanche won four of last five games with Washington.
-- Road team won five of last six Toronto-LA games.

Totals
-- Tampa Bay's last four road games went over total.
-- Four of last five Colorado road games stayed under.
-- Six of last seven Los Angeles home games went over.

Back-to-back
-- None

NHL

Monday, January 12

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Trend Report
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7:00 PM
COLORADO vs. WASHINGTON
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Colorado's last 6 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Colorado's last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
Washington is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
Washington is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games when playing Colorado

7:00 PM
TAMPA BAY vs. PHILADELPHIA
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Tampa Bay's last 5 games when playing Philadelphia
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Philadelphia's last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Philadelphia's last 5 games when playing Tampa Bay

10:30 PM
TORONTO vs. LOS ANGELES
Toronto4-1-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
Toronto is 3-8 SU in its last 11 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 6 games when playing at home against Toronto
Los Angeles is 1-4-1 SU in its last 6 games ,when playing at home against Toronto

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NHL

Monday, January 12

NHL game roundup: Blackhawks contribute to Wild tailspin

CHICAGO -- Marian Hossa, Brad Richards and Bryan Bickell each had one goal and one assist apiece to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Sunday at the United Center.

Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya also scored, while team captain and center Jonathan Toews and right winger Patrick Kane each added a pair of assists.

Minnesota lost its fifth straight game and fell for the 11th time in 13 games.

Chicago goalie Corey Crawford made 36 saves. Wild counterpart Niklas Backstrom stopped 31 shots.

Panthers 4, Oilers 2

EDMONTON, Alberta -- Florida continued its most successful road trip of the season with a win over Edmonton.

The Panthers, who have won four of five games so far on their western road swing, never trailed as they continued their pursuit of the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Jimmy Hayes, Brian Campbell, Tomas Kopecky and Sean Bergenheim scored for Florida.

The Oilers, after a modest streak of 3-1-2 in six games, lost at home for the 16th time in 24 home games. Jordan Eberle and Benoit Pouliot scored for Edmonton.

Ducks 5, Jets 4 (SO)

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Sami Vatanen decided a six-round shootout, and Anaheim came from two goals down in the third period to beat Winnipeg.

Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec made 39 saves in regulation and overtime. Anaheim goalie Frederik Andersen made 28 saves.

Ducks center Rickard Rakell got his second goal and fourth point of the night at 17:57 of the third period to tie the score at 4. Rakell's third goal of the season gave him his first NHL multi-point night. Earlier in the period, Kyle Palmeiri cut Anaheim's deficit to 4-3.

**Udog** · 01-12-2015, 11:27 AM

NHL
Dunkel

Toronto at Los Angeles
The Maple Leafs head to Los Angeles tonight to face a Kings team that is coming off a 5-4 loss to Winnipeg and is 1-8 in its last 9 games after allowing 5 or more goals in the previous game. Toronto is the pick (+165) according to Dunkel, which has the Maple Leafs favored by 1. Dunkel Pick: Toronto (+165). Here are all of today's NHL picks.

MONDAY, JANUARY 12

Game 51-52: Tampa Bay at Philadelphia (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Tampa Bay 12.332; Philadelphia 10.784
Dunkel Line & Total: Tampa Bay by 1 1/2; 6 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Tampa Bay (-145); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Tampa Bay (-145); Over

Game 53-54: Colorado at Washington (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Colorado 10.332; Washington 12.414
Dunkel Line & Total: Washington by 2; 6
Vegas Line & Total: Washington (-175); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Washington (-175); Over

Game 55-56: Toronto at Los Angeles (10:30 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Toronto 11.778; Los Angeles 10.621
Dunkel Line & Total: Toronto by 1;4 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Los Angeles (-185); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Toronto (+165); Under

**Udog** · 01-12-2015, 02:18 PM

NHL
Short Sheet

Monday, January 12

Tampa Bay at Philadelphia, 7:05 ET
Tampa Bay: 15-3 SU off a close home win by 1 goal
Philadelphia: 42-53 SU in home games revenging a loss vs opponent of 2 goals or more

Colorado at Washington, 7:05 ET
Colorado: 8-1 SU in road games after a 3 game unbeaten streak
Washington: 3-10 SU in home games after 2 or more consecutive unders

Toronto at Los Angeles, 10:35 ET
Toronto: 10-3 SU after 2 or more consecutive overs
Los Angeles: 6-13 SU in January games

**Udog** · 01-12-2015, 02:22 PM

NFL Opening Line Report: Seahawks open -7 for showdown with Packers

The defending Super Bowl champion is alive and well. The defending AFC champion has been ousted. And so the NFL season surges onward to the conference championship weekend, with four teams battling for the two spots in the Super Bowl.

The Seattle Seahawks certainly look the role of clubhouse leader. In Saturday’s NFC divisional playoff game, top-seeded Seattle and its super-stingy defense and opportunistic offense pulled away for a 31-17 victory over visiting Carolina, narrowly cashing as a hefty 13.5-point favorite.

Seattle has won seven in a row SU and has been almost equally as stout at the betting window, going 6-0-1 ATS in that stretch while not allowing any team to score more than the 17 Carolina mustered.

Now the Seahawks get to host the NFC Championship Game against second-seeded Green Bay. The Packers had Aaron Rodgers gut out a gimpy leg to lead a 26-21 victory laying 5.5 points at home Sunday to the Dallas Cowboys. Green Bay was equally if not more fortunate to have a late replay reversal take away a Cowboys first-and-goal at the 1-yard line – perhaps questionably so on what appeared to be a spectacular Dez Bryant catch.

The Pack has won eight of its last nine SU but has been a much more middling 5-4 ATS in that span. And we’ve seen this movie before, and in the same theater: Seattle walloped visiting Green Bay 36-16 laying 4.5 points in the NFL’s regular-season opener.

John Lester, senior lines manager for bookmaker.eu, had no problem installing Seattle as 7-point chalk for Sunday's game, with a total of 46.5 points.

“We weren’t worried about hanging a touchdown for this one,” Lester said. “Everyone saw how limited Rodgers was against Dallas, and while a week to heal will help, he still won’t be anywhere close to 100 percent. Without him at full strength, I just don’t envision Green Bay leaving the Northwest with a win.”

Lester trekked familiar territory for the total, setting it at 46.5 points.

“We opened the total at exactly the same number we did when these teams met in Week 1,” he said. “I expect we'll see some over push from bettors.”

AFC Championship Game: Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots (-7)

New England is in familiar territory, in yet another conference title game as it seeks its sixth Super Bowl bid and fourth title of the Tom Brady era. But the top-seeded Patriots took a hard road against the sixth-seeded Baltimore Ravens on Saturday, twice overcoming 14-point deficits, then hanging on for a 35-31 victory as a 7-point home fave.

Not including their loss in a meaningless regular-season finale to Buffalo, the Pats have won 11 of 12 games SU (8-4 ATS).

Indianapolis as a franchise is also in familiar territory, but with a very different look. Andrew Luck is at the controls, and he helped the Colts dispatch his predecessor in Indy – Peyton Manning – in a 24-13 road victory over defending AFC champ Denver. The Colts were a healthy 9.5-point underdog in the contest, yet cashed for the third straight week and are 7-1 SU in their last eight (5-2-1 ATS).

Lester said people shouldn’t sleep on the Colts this Sunday, even though the Patriots hammered Indy 42-20 as 3-point road favorites in mid-November and rolled the visiting Colts 43-22 giving 7.5 points in last year’s AFC divisional round.

“There are going to be a lot of people looking for a letdown from Indy. And it may be a genuine concern, because that was the team’s biggest win in the last handful of years,” Lester said. “But I’ll tell you what, the Patriots cannot afford to mosey through the first half of this game like they have in a few this year.

“The Colts’ defense is playing well, and you aren’t going to keep that offense from scoring,” added Lester, who set the total at 53. “This matchup was one-sided during the regular season and last year’s playoffs, but I think the Colts will be competitive.”

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Monday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/12

Monday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/12

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