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**Udog** · 01-28-2018, 11:35 AM

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

More Super Bowl props:

— Will there be at least one scoreless quarter? No: -$400, Yes, +$320

— What will happen first? Touchdown, -$150, Sack +$130

— Eagles over/under points in first half: 10.5

— Patriots over/under points in first half: 13.5

— Eagles over/under points in game: 21.5

— Patriots over/under total points in game: 27

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

13) NC State 95, North Carolina 91 OT— Wolfpack was 15-30 on the arc; Tar Heels were 4-19, and 11-20 on line. Kevin Keatts is 2-0 vs Duke/UNC in his first year with the Wolfpack.

12) Virginia 65, Duke 63— Blue Devils scored 22 points in first half, 41 in second, but it wasn’t enough. Cavaliers are the best team in the ACC.

Today was the first time since 1973 Duke/North Carolina both lost at home on the same day.

11) Kentucky 83, West Virginia 76— Wildcats were down 17 points, rallied for road win. West Virginia has now lost four of its last five games.

10) Ball State 111, Akron 106, 2OT— Akron’s Jimond Ivey scored 48 points, made 9-12 on the arc, including a 35-footer that forced a second OT, but his teammates were 6-32 on the arc for the game. Ball State was 33-42 on the line, 10-18 on the arc, and still needed two OT’s to win.

9) Auburn 95, LSU 70— Auburn is 19-2 and two of their best players never became eligible this season- they were winning this game by 19 at the half- they made 14-32 on the arc.

8) UNLV 88, San Diego State 78— Rebels snap an 11-game losing streak to the Aztecs; only four of those 11 losses were in San Diego.

7) Upsets of the Day:
Citadel (+17) 76, Mercer 74
NC State (+13) 95, North Carolina 91 OT
Sacramento State (+12.5) 71, Portland State 61
Tex-San Antonio (+12.5) 82, UAB 70
Utah State (+9.5) 65, Fresno State 62
Elon (+9) 76, Towson State 67
VMI (+8.5) 70, Chattanooga 69
Kentucky (+8) 83, West Virginia 76
Niagara (+8) 105, Canisius 89

6) Mentioned earlier that 1973 was last time Duke/North Carolina both lost at home on same day; when was last time VMI/Citadel both won on the road on the same day?

5) Butler 70, St John’s 45— Johnnies are 0-10 in the Big East; I’m advising St John’s to hire Bruce Pearl as its coach, and ESPN to hire Chris Mullin— he was very good on TV.

4) Clippers’ Lou Williams had 40 points, 10 assists Friday; he is first NBA player with a game of 40+ points, 10+ assists since Brian Winters of the Bucks in January 1982.

3) Wyoming 90, San Jose State 86 OT— Cowboys upset Nevada in double OT Wednesday, then went on road here and avoided an upset in overtime. Justin James scored 64 points in those two games, playing 77:00.

2) Next November’s Maui Classic is loaded: Gonzaga, Arizona, Duke, Xavier, San Diego State, Iowa State, Illinois, Auburn. Chaminade will only be in every other Maui Classic from here on in.

1) Big X-SEC tally: SEC wins 6-4; home teams won seven of the ten games.

**Udog** · 01-28-2018, 11:54 AM

NHL All-Star Game: Tournament odds and hockey betting preview
Monty Andrews

Four teams of NHL superstars will show off their skills Sunday afternoon at the annual All-Star Game in St. Petersburg, Fla. Each of the league's four divisions will showcase its top players in a pair of semifinal matchups, with the winning teams advancing to the winner-take-all final. Each 20-minute game will be split into 10-minute halves, while the teams will play 3-on-3 - ensuring plenty of scoring chances, and headaches for the tournament's netminders.

The Metropolitan Division went into last year's event as the favorite, and came through for fans and bettors alike, outgunning the Atlantic Division 10-6 in the semifinal before edging the Pacific Division in an entertaining final. Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds took home MVP honors with three goals in the competition, including the tournament winner. The Pacific Division reached the championship game with a 10-3 rout of the Central Division in the first tournament semifinal.

TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, CBC, NBC

TOURNAMENT ODDS: Atlantic +225, Pacific +245, Central +245, Metropolitan +255

SEMIFINAL ODDS: The Atlantic Division is a -130 favorite versus the Metropolitan Division (+110) in the East semifinal and the Pacific and Central Divisions are set as -110 each in the West semifinal at SportsInteraction.com.

ABOUT THE METROPOLITAN DIVISION: Any team boasting the combination of Washington Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin and Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby is going to have a shot at winning. Throw Top-10 scorers John Tavares and Josh Bailey of the New York Islanders and Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers into the mix, and you have a team with serious firepower - even without Devils sniper Taylor Hall in the lineup (out with a hand injury). The defense is anchored by Kris Letang of the Penguins. New York Rangers star Henrik Lundqvist and Capitals starter Braden Holtby share the goaltending load.

ABOUT THE ATLANTIC DIVISION: The opposition will have a hard time containing the stars on this team, which will clearly be the fan favorite. Hometown hero Steven Stamkos captains one of the youngest units in the tournament, featuring teammate and NHL scoring leader Nikita Kucherov, Toronto Maple Leafs scoring star Auston Matthews, Buffalo Sabres sniper Jack Eichel and Boston Bruins spark plug Brad Marchand. Erik Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators leads a talented defensive unit, while Andrei Vasilevskiy of the hometown Lightning will share the goaltending duties with Montreal Canadiens veteran Carey Price.

ABOUT THE CENTRAL DIVISION: This team has plenty to prove after being humbled in last year's tournament and it certainly boasts enough top-end talent to atone this year. Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche, ranked second in the league in scoring, leads a versatile forward corps that includes Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars, Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Blake Wheeler of the Winnipeg Jets. Dallas's John Klingberg, the top point-getter among defensemen, anchors the back end, while puck-stopping duties will fall on Jets talent Connor Hellebuyck and Nashville Predators veteran Pekka Rinne.

ABOUT THE PACIFIC DIVISION: Connor McDavid is the leader of the Pacific roster, which features a pair of talented young scorers in Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau and Vancouver Canucks rookie Brock Boeser. There's also a strong veteran presence up front, with James Neal of the Vegas Golden Knights joined by Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings. Two of the league's top defensemen join forces, with San Jose Sharks bruiser Brent Burns pairing up with Kings star Drew Doughty. Golden Knights netminder Marc-Andre Fleury was set to be joined by Jonathan Quick, but the Kings goalie will miss the game due to injury. He's being replaced by Flames netminder Mike Smith.

TRENDS:

* Teams have combined to average 12.8 goals in the semifinals but just four goals in the final.
* Underdogs are 3-3 SU in the two-year history of the divisional format, going 2-1 SU in 2016 and 1-2 last year.
* Winning teams have averaged 6.3 goals in their victories.

**Udog** · 01-28-2018, 12:57 PM

ALL STAR MVP ODDS:

**Udog** · 01-28-2018, 01:00 PM

These teams are the best and worst bets from the first half of the NHL season
Ashton Grewal

Here’s a quick look from a betting perspective at the best and worst of the season’s first four months.

Best bet

Vegas Golden Knights (+19.59 units)

The Golden Knights are one of the biggest stories in all of sports right now and did the impossible by making headlines on ESPN during the NFL playoffs. A $100 wager on each Vegas game this season would have turned a profit of $1,959. Puckline players (those who bet with a 1.5-goal spreads) are enjoying Vegas’ success here too with the club sporting a 34-14 ATS record.

The Golden Knights are second in the league in points with 68 and their odds to win the Stanley Cup sit at 10/1 after opening as high as 500/1.

Worst bet

Arizona Coyotes (-21.71 units)

The squad with the fewest points in the NHL is also the league’s least profitable one. The Coyotes are second last in goals for per game (2.34) and third worst in goals allowed 3.36. Max Domi, who tallied 18 goals and 52 points in his rookie season three years ago, has found the back of the net just three times in 50 games for Arizona.

Best Over bet

New York Islanders

The average goals scored per game in an NHL game this season is 5.78 and the average total scored in an Islanders game is 6.96. Yowzers. New York is dead last in goals allowed, second in goals for and possess the second least effective penalty kill in the league.

The Over is 32-15-3 in the Islanders’ 50 games, but the Under is 2-0 in their last two entering the break. New York is catching more 6.5-goal totals so look for the club’s Over/Under record to balance out in the season’s second half.

Best Under bet

San Jose Sharks

The Under is 29-18-1 for a 61.7 percent win rate in San Jose games. The Sharks were the best under team on ice a year ago and the Over has cashed in just 37.7 percent of their games over the last season and a half.

Joe Thornton, the club’s second leader in points, is set to miss an extended period after undergoing surgery to repair an MCL.

Best Home bet

Vegas Golden Knights

The NHL’s newest team is taking advantage of its opponents’ interest in the nightlife on the Strip. The "Vegas flu" has helped the Golden Knights win 19 of their 24 home games with a 1.38 goal differential.

The Winnipeg Jets have been nearly as good with 17 victories in 21 home dates. Winnipeg leads the league in goals for on home ice at 3.95. A devoted Jets fan would be up $805 or 8.05 units if they bet $100 on Winnipeg in all of its home games.

Best Road bet

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Bolts have as many wins in their home rink as they do outside of Tampa Bay. The Lightning are 17-9 straight up in 26 away games and up 5.62 units on the road this season.
The Calgary Flames and Vegas Golden Knights have both turned a slightly higher profit on the road but have fewer victories.

Futures

The Lightning opened among the top favorites to hoist Lord Stanley’s Cup despite missing the playoffs a year ago. Turns out the prognosticators and oddsmakers were right about Tampa Bay. The Bolts have the shortest odds to win the Cup at 11/2.

The NHL teams, besides Vegas, that saw the biggest adjustment to their odds to win the Stanley Cup are the New Jersey Devils (100/1 to 20/1), the Winnipeg Jets (40/1 to 12/1) and the Edmonton Oilers (10/1 to 45/1).

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Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/28

Sunday's NHL Trends and Indexes - 1/28

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