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**Udog** · 01-18-2015, 09:09 AM

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

College basketball conferences #7-12, according to kenpom.com

12) Mountain West-- Down year; this could easily be a one-bid league.

11) MAC-- Bobby Hurley's Buffalo Bulls are highest rated team at #77.

10) MVC-- Looks like Wichita State and Northern Iowa to NCAAs.

9) American-- Tulsa is in first place; SMU is heading towards probation.

8) WCC-- Gonzaga will be better in NCAAs because league is tougher now.

7) Atlantic 14-- VCU will be in NCAAs; will anyone else be joining them?

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Armadillo: Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up a sports Saturday.......

13) Duke 63, Louisville 52-- Blue Devils played zone, which almost never happens, but it might be going to happen lot more the rest of this season. Louisville was 4-25 on the arc, 14-36 inside it; they could use a shooter or two.

12) Kansas State 63, Baylor 61-- Bears have weird team- their best scorer, Taurean Price, doesn't start. K-State is temporarily atop the Big X at 4-1.

11) VCU 70, Duquesne 64-- Rams have won ten in row, are by far best team in A-14.

10) Notre Dame 75, Miami 70-- Nasty scheduling spot for Hurricanes, tough road game after they blasted Duke in Cameron- they're better than the Irish.

9) Having 14 of 15 teams in a basketball conference makes no sense; too many teams. The best leagues have home/home series, where rivalries can form. You play a team once a year in basketball, hard for that to grow into a serious rivalry.

8) Wyoming 70, Fresno State 65 3OT-- Game of the Day. Cowboys are 16-3 and might be best team in a down Mountain West.

7) I can't tolerate Dick Vitale's announcing anymore; he works from the same script most every game. He got wealthy and turned into an elitist, though the work he does for the V Foundation is outstanding. ESPN has done a poor job of cultivating its younger announcers- having Jay Bilas as its new #1 analyst is a bad idea.

6) St Mary's 82, BYU 77-- Randy Bennett has the Gaels challenging Gonzaga atop the WCC standings again. He's bringing in three more Australians next year, will have a total of six on next year's squad.

5) Golfer Martin Kaymer is jogging to an easy win in Abu Dhabi as I type this, but Charl Schwartzel has the prettiest caddy- his wife, who was forced into duty when Schwartzel's regular caddy couldn't get a visa in time for this week's tournament.

4) There is a basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA and there is a college Hall of Fame in Kansas City, which somehow hasn't inducted Jerry Tarkanian. Norm Stewart and Gene Keady are in it, but no Tark-- not a lot of credibility there. Tarkanian is in the Springfioeld Hall of Fame, as he should be.

3) ESPN amalyst Jay Williams referred to Duke as "we" on the air Saturday night; of the Dukies on TV and there are many, Williams is by far the worst of the lot. How they decided to put him on their Saturday morning show is beyond me.

2) Clemson 66, Syracuse 53-- Orangemen used two subs a total of seven minutes. If I ever do a list of the most overrated people in America, Jim Boeheim is sure to be on the list. Before Carmelo Anthony spent his seven months in Syracuse and won a national title, Boeheim was best known for his underwhelming NCAA appearances.

Now supposedly he is responsible for teaching Mike Krzyzewski the 2-3 zone, as if the Duke coach didn't know how it worked before he met Boeheim. Its the simplest thing in the damn world; the tricky part is recruiting the great athletes to play in it.

This game was 39-18 at halftime; how does an ACC team have this thin a bench? He lost two kids for the year to injuries, but still.....

1) Arizona 69, Utah 51-- Utes are supposed to give Arizona a run for their money in the Pac-12 this season; this game was the opposite of that.

**Udog** · 01-18-2015, 09:17 AM

NHL
Armadillo's Write-Up

Sunday, January 18

Hot teams
-- Rangers won 14 of their last 17 games. Penguins won three of last four at home.
-- Winnipeg won four of its last five games.
-- Red Wings won five of their last six games.

Cold teams
-- Dallas Stars lost their last three road games. Chicago is 3-4 in its last seven games.
-- Coyotes lost their last four games, scoring five goals.
-- Buffalo lost its last ten games, scoring total of 13 goals.

Series records
-- Rangers won five of last six games with Pittsburgh.
-- Chicago won five in row, 11 of last 12 games with Dallas Stars.
-- Jets won four of last five games with Arizona.
-- Red Wings won 13 of last 15 games with Buffalo.

Totals
-- Last four Ranger games stayed under the total.
-- Eight of last ten Dallas road games went over.
-- Six of last seven Arizona road games went over.
-- Six of last eight Buffalo road games went over.

Back-to-back
-- Dallas Stars are 0-5 if they played the night before.
-- Arizona is 3-2 on road if it played the night before.
-- Sabres are 3-6 if they played night before; Detroit is 3-2.

NHL

Sunday, January 18

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Trend Report
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12:30 PM
NY RANGERS vs. PITTSBURGH
NY Rangers are 4-2 SU in their last 6 games when playing on the road against Pittsburgh
NY Rangers are 5-1 SU in their last 6 games on the road
Pittsburgh is 1-5 SU in their last 6 games when playing NY Rangers
Pittsburgh is 2-4 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against NY Rangers

6:00 PM
DALLAS vs. CHICAGO
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Dallas's last 6 games when playing Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 7 of Dallas's last 9 games
Chicago is 16-7 SU in its last 23 games
Chicago is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Dallas

7:00 PM
ARIZONA vs. WINNIPEG
Arizona is 1-5 SU in its last 6 games
Arizona14-6-1 SU in its last 21 games when playing Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 6-14-1 SU in its last 21 games ,when playing Arizona
Winnipeg is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Arizona

8:00 PM
BUFFALO vs. DETROIT
Buffalo is 1-10 SU in its last 11 games when playing Detroit
Buffalo is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 6 games at home
Detroit is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games when playing Buffalo

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NHL

Sunday, January 18

NHL game roundup: Canadiens outscore Islanders

MONTREAL -- Center Tomas Plekanec scored two goals and added two assists to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 6-4 win over the New York Islanders on Saturday night at Bell Centre.

Goaltender Dustin Tokarski made 27 saves for Montreal (28-13-3).

Counterpart Jaroslav Halak stopped 27 shots in his first career loss against the Canadiens, and Chad Johnson stopped the two shots he faced in relief.

Defenseman P.K. Subban, right winger Dale Weise, left winger Alex Galchenyuk and center David Desharnais also scored for the Canadiens.

Right winger Kyle Okposo, left winger Nikolay Kulemin and centers Anders Lee and John Tavares provided the offense for the Islanders (30-14-1), who saw a four-game winning streak snapped by Montreal for the second time this season.

Flyers 4, Sabres 3

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Center Chris VandeVelde scored on a breakaway in the third period to lead Philadelphia.

Center R.J. Umberger, defenseman Mark Streit and left winger Michael Raffl also scored for the Flyers (18-21-7). Goalie Rob Zepp made 24 saves.

Centers Zemgus Girgensons and Tyler Ennis scored for the Sabres (14-29-3), who extended their franchise record with 10 consecutive losses in regulation. Buffalo also tied a franchise record with 10 consecutive losses of any kind.

Blues 3, Maple Leafs 0

ST. LOUIS -- Goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 27 shots and left winger Alexander Steen scored one goal and assisted on another as St. Louis handed Toronto its fourth loss in a row.

The Maple Leafs were shut out for the third time on a four-game trip in which they have been outscored 12-1.

The Blues improved to 6-0-1 in their last seven games.

Elliott posted his third shutout of the season and 19th as a member of the Blues, moving him within one of tying Jaroslav Halak's franchise record.

Hurricanes 3, Senators 2

OTTAWA -- Forward Nathan Gerbe scored the winner with 5:41 left in the third period for Carolina.

Center Brad Malone and defenseman Justin Faulk also scored for the Hurricanes (15-25-5).

The Senators (18-18-8) got goals from defenseman Cody Ceci and winger Mark Stone.

Hurricanes goalie Anton Khudobin stopped 30 shots to improve his career record against Ottawa to 5-0. Craig Anderson made 25 saves in the Senators' net.

Blue Jackets 3, Bruins 1

BOSTON -- The Blue Jackets, getting a winning goal from left winger Matt Calvert with 3:03 left, ended their four-game losing streak and Boston's five-game winning run.

The Bruins suffered their first regulation loss in 10 games -- since losing to the Blue Jackets on Dec. 27 in Columbus.

Backup goaltender Curtis McElhinney made 34 saves and was outstanding in the third period in earning his fourth win of the season, his second over the Bruins.

Red Wings 5, Predators 2

DETROIT -- Left winger Tomas Tatar had two goals and an assist as Detroit snapped Nashville's five-game winning streak.

Right winger Gustav Nyquist had a goal and an assist and defenseman Kyle Quincey and forward Henrik Zetterberg scored for Detroit. Center Pavel Datsyuk, defenseman Niklas Kronwall and center Riley Sheahan each had two assists and goaltender Petr Mrazek made 34 saves.

Defenseman Mattias Ekholm and center Mike Fisher scored for Nashville.

Lightning 3, Avalanche 2 (SO)

TAMPA, Fla. -- The Lightning lost the lead in the final seven seconds of regulation, but goalie Ben Bishop got two stops in the shootout.

Tampa Bay (29-14-4) led for most of the third period but gave up the tying goal with 6.8 seconds left, having pulled the goalie and scored on the six-on-five as center Nathan McKinnon flicked a rebound past goalie Ben Bishop.

Right winger Nikita Kucherov gave the Lightning the early lead in the shootout, with Bishop stopping McKinnon. Colorado (19-17-10) tied the shootout when left winger Ondrej Palat was stopped and Avalanche center Matt Duchene scored.

Tampa Bay's final shooter, right winger Ryan Callahan, scored and Bishop made the final stop on Colorado left winger Alex Tanguay.

Oilers 3, Panthers 2 (SO)

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Edmonton snapped a franchise-record 14-game road losing streak.

Right winger Nail Yakupov scored in the shootout to lead the Oilers. Edmonton goalie Viktor Fasth stopped all three Florida shooters to earn the win. Prior to that, he made 35 saves through regulation and overtime.

Edmonton (11-26-9) hadn't won a road game since Nov. 9 against the New York Rangers.

Florida (20-13-10) has lost 10 of its past 12 meetings against Edmonton and has lost three straight games overall.

Stars 5, Capitals 4

DALLAS -- Center Tyler Seguin scored his NHL-leading 27th goal for Dallas.

Left wingers Antoine Roussel, Jamie Benn and Erik Cole and center Jason Spezza also scored as Dallas (20-17-7) finished its three-game homestand at 2-1-0.

Center Nicklas Backstrom and right winger Alex Ovechkin each had a goal and an assist for Washington, and right winger Eric Fehr and left winger Andre Burakovsky also scored.

Goalie Kari Lehtonen stopped 28 of 32 shots for Dallas, who also got two assists from rookie defenseman Jyrki Jokipakka.

Wild 3, Coyotes 1

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Goals by Charlie Coyle and Jason Zucker gave the Minnesota Wild a two-goal lead midway through the second period, and newly acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk held Arizona mostly at bay.

The Wild (20-19-5) have now won two games in a row for the first time since Dec. 20.

Arizona (16-24-4) fell for the fourth straight time, and it does not get any easier for the struggling Coyotes. The game Saturday marked the first of an eight-game trip, the longest in franchise history.

Dubnyk, who was acquired from Arizona for a 2015 third-round pick on Wednesday, shut out Buffalo in his Minnesota debut on Thursday and stopped 25 shots Saturday.

Ducks 3, Kings 2

LOS ANGELES -- Right winger Jakob Silfverberg scored the lone goal in a shootout, lifting Anaheim to a victory over Los Angeles before a sellout crowd of 18,422 at the Staples Center.

Ducks goalie Frederik Anderson stopped 16 of 18 shots and three in the shootout, allowing the Ducks (30-10-6) to win their fourth straight and sixth in their last seven games. Kings netminder Jonathan Quick turned back 26 of 28 attempts.

The Kings (20-14-11) have dropped two consecutive games and five of their past six.

All three of the meetings between the two clubs have ended in overtime or shootout, with Anaheim winning two of three. The Ducks, who were coming off a 5-1 rout of the New Jersey Devils on Friday night, never led during regulation.

**Udog** · 01-18-2015, 10:16 AM

NHL
Dunkel

NY Rangers at Pittsburgh
The Rangers head to Pittsburgh today to face a Penguins team that is coming off a 6-3 loss to the Islanders on Friday and is 8-3 in its last 11 games after allowing 5 or more goals in the previous game. Pittsburgh is the pick (-135) according to Dunkel, which has the Penguins favored by 1 1/2. Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (-135). Here are all of today's NHL picks.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 18

Game 51-52: NY Rangers at Pittsburgh (12:30 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: NY Rangers 10.672; Pittsburgh 12.179
Dunkel Line & Total: Pittsburgh by 1 1/2; 4 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Pittsburgh (-135); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Pittsburgh (-135); Under

Game 53-54: Dallas at Chicago (6:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Dallas 10.322; Chicago 12.675
Dunkel Line & Total: Chicago by 2 1/2; 5
Vegas Line & Total: Chicago (-250); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Chicago (-250); Under

Game 55-56: Arizona at Winnipeg (7:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Arizona 11.112; Winnipeg 10.332
Dunkel Line & Total: Arizona by 1; 6 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Winnipeg (-240); 5 1/2
Dunkel Pick: Arizona (+200); Over

Game 57-58: Buffalo at Detroit (8:00 p.m. EST)
Dunkel Ratings: Buffalo 11.775; Detroit 10.633
Dunkel Line & Total: Buffalo by 1; 5 1/2
Vegas Line & Total: Detroit (-340); 5
Dunkel Pick: Buffalo (+270); Over

NHL
Long Sheet

Sunday, January 18

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NY RANGERS (25-13-0-4, 54 pts.) at PITTSBURGH (26-11-0-6, 58 pts.) - 1/18/2015, 12:35 PM
Top Trends for this game.
NY RANGERS are 9-2 ATS (+11.1 Units) in road games in January games over the last 2 seasons.
NY RANGERS are 23-15 ATS (+38.0 Units) in road games second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 6-10 ATS (+6.0 Units) vs. division opponents this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
NY RANGERS is 9-10 (+0.3 Units) against the spread versus PITTSBURGH over the last 3 seasons
PITTSBURGH is 10-9-0 straight up against NY RANGERS over the last 3 seasons
9 of 18 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=-1.3 Units, Under=-0.9 Units)

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DALLAS (20-17-0-7, 47 pts.) at CHICAGO (28-14-0-2, 58 pts.) - 1/18/2015, 6:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DALLAS is 7-16 ATS (-11.6 Units) in January games over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 6-20 ATS (+30.8 Units) in road games second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 2-13 ATS (+20.3 Units) in road games when playing on back-to-back days over the last 2 seasons.
DALLAS is 2-14 ATS (+16.8 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
CHICAGO is 9-0 ATS (+9.0 Units) in home games after a loss by 2 goals or more in their previous game over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 8-13 ATS (-17.2 Units) in January games over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 32-34 ATS (-32.3 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
CHICAGO is 276-301 ATS (+600.7 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record since 1996.
CHICAGO is 5-10 ATS (-14.6 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record in the second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
CHICAGO is 9-1 (+6.8 Units) against the spread versus DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
CHICAGO is 9-1-0 straight up against DALLAS over the last 3 seasons
7 of 10 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+3.9 Units)

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ARIZONA (16-24-0-4, 36 pts.) at WINNIPEG (24-14-0-8, 56 pts.) - 1/18/2015, 7:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ARIZONA is 4-15 ATS (+24.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
WINNIPEG is 31-27 ATS (+59.4 Units) revenging a loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
WINNIPEG is 3-10 ATS (-8.2 Units) in home games after a win by 2 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
WINNIPEG is 4-1 (+4.0 Units) against the spread versus ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
WINNIPEG is 4-1-0 straight up against ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
2 of 4 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Over=+0.0 Units)

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BUFFALO (14-29-0-3, 31 pts.) at DETROIT (25-11-0-9, 59 pts.) - 1/18/2015, 8:05 PM
Top Trends for this game.
BUFFALO is 35-93 ATS (+198.4 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 6-34 ATS (+77.8 Units) in a road game where where the total is 5 or less over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 10-40 ATS (+79.7 Units) second half of the season over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 3-23 ATS (+52.7 Units) in road games revenging a home loss versus opponent over the last 2 seasons.
BUFFALO is 250-205 ATS (+28.8 Units) vs. division opponents since 1996.
BUFFALO is 43-31 ATS (+79.8 Units) in road games after playing 3 consecutive home games since 1996.
BUFFALO is 195-185 ATS (+394.0 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record in the second half of the season since 1996.
DETROIT is 7-12 ATS (-6.2 Units) vs. division opponents this season.
DETROIT is 16-18 ATS (-17.6 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 2 seasons.

Head-to-Head Series History
DETROIT is 6-1 (+3.5 Units) against the spread versus BUFFALO over the last 3 seasons
DETROIT is 6-1-0 straight up against BUFFALO over the last 3 seasons
3 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons . (Under=+0.0 Units)

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**Udog** · 01-18-2015, 11:38 AM

NHL
Short Sheet

Sunday, January 18

NY Rangers at Pittsburgh, 12:35 ET
NY Rangers: 8-1 SU in road games when playing their 3rd game in 4 days
Pittsburgh: 31-35 SU after one or more consecutive overs

Dallas at Chicago, 6:05 ET
Dallas: 2-14 SU vs. division opponents
Chicago: 9-0 SU in home games after a loss by 2 goals or more

Arizona at Winnipeg, 7:05 ET
Arizona: 8-22 SU as an underdog
Winnipeg: 22-16 SU revenging a same season loss vs opponent

Buffalo at Detroit, 8:05 ET
Buffalo: 41-30 SU in road games after playing 3 consecutive home games
Detroit: 7-12 SU vs. division opponents

Announcement

Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/18

Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/18

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