The Bum's 2017 WNBA Picks-Trends-News !

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wnba playoff record:

09/17/2017 2-0-0 100.00% +10.00
09/14/2017 1-2-1 33.33% -6.00
09/12/2017 3-1-0 75.00% +950
09/10/2017 0-4-0 0.00% -2200
09/06/2017 3-1-0 75.00% +950

totals...........9 - 8 - 1.........52.94%.....+1.00

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Cheat Sheet - WNBA Finals

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Los Angeles

Best-of-Five (2-2-1 Format)

Game 1 – Sunday, Sept. 24
Game 2 – Tuesday, Sept. 26
Game 3 – Friday, Sept. 29
Game 4 – Sunday, Oct. 1
Game 5 – Wednesday, Oct. 4

Series Price – per BookMaker.eu

Minnesota -160
Los Angeles +140

Betting Notes - Minnesota

-- Minnesota swept Washington 3-0 in the semifinals, winning all three games by double digits. The Lynx went 2-1 against the spread in the series.

-- Including the playoffs, the Lynx have won six straight games by 10-plus points and they’ve covered the number in four of those games.

-- The ‘over’ went 2-1 in the semifinals.

-- Minnesota has gone 17-2 SU and 9-10 ATS at the Xcel Energy Center this season while the ‘under’ produced a 10-9 record.

-- The Lynx were 13-5 SU and 11-7 ATS on the road this season.

-- The ‘under’ has gone 6-1 in the last seven away games for Minnesota.

Betting Notes – Los Angeles

-- Los Angeles advanced to the WNBA Finals with a three-game sweep over Phoenix in the semifinals.

-- The Sparks went 2-1 versus the number and only failed to cover Game 3 as they nipped the Mercury 89-87 as 4 ½-point road favorites.

-- Los Angeles will bring a 10-game winning streak into the finals and the club has gone 9-1 ATS during this run while the ‘under’ is 7-3 over this span.

-- The Sparks went 18-1 SU and 14-5 ATS at home this season.

-- Los Angeles went 11-9 SU and 10-8 ATS away from home this season.

-- Similar to Minnesota, the ‘under’ has been a solid wager for L.A. on the road lately with a 5-2 mark in its last seven.

2017 Regular Season Encounters

July 6 – Minnesota 88 (-6.5) vs. Los Angeles 77 (Under 166.5)

August 11 - Los Angeles 70 (+5.5) at Minnesota 64 (Under 161.5)

August 27 – Los Angeles 78 (-2.5) vs. Minnesota 67 (Under 155.5)

2016 WNBA Finals

Game 1 – Los Angeles 78 (+6.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 161)

Game 2 – Minnesota 79 (-7) vs. Los Angeles 60 (Under 159)

Game 3 – Los Angeles 92 (+1) vs. Minnesota 75 (Over 159.5)

Game 4 – Minnesota 85 (+1) at Los Angeles 79 (Over 160)

Game 5 – Los Angeles 77 (+5.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 156.5)

WNBA Finals History – 1997-2016

-- The league went to a best-of-five format during the 2005 season. In the 12 series, we’ve seen five sweeps (3-0), four matchups go to a decisive Game 7 and three series end in four games (3-1).

-- The Sparks have won the WNBA Championship three times, including last year’s victory over Minnesota.

-- The previous title for the Sparks came in 20012 when the franchise pulled off the rare repeat.

-- Los Angeles failed to three-peat in 2003 as it was defeated by the now defunct Detroit Shock.

-- Since the 2011 season, Minnesota has won three championships and finished runner-up twice. The victories included two sweeps.

-- The Lynx have alternated titles the last six years and if that trend continues, they’ll be champions this seasons.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LA at MIN 03:30 PM

LA +4.5

U 158.0

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Gray lifts Sparks to win in WNBA Finals
September 24, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) Chelsea Gray got a sliver of daylight and let a 14-foot jumper fly - Game 1 of the WNBA Finals and what would have been a dubious piece of history for the Los Angeles Sparks hanging in the balance.

When it splashed through there may have been a few sighs of relief sprinkled in among those celebratory high fives.

Gray's pull-up jumper with 2 seconds delivered an 85-84 victory on Sunday over the Minnesota Lynx in the kind of edge-of-your-seat finish that no one saw coming when the Sparks led 28-2 in the first quarter.

''I think all athletes dream of that moment,'' Gray said. ''I think you dream of hitting that shot. ... I'm glad it went in.''

Gray scored a career-high 27 points and Candace Parker added 15 points and 12 rebounds for the Sparks, who joined their NFL brethren by sitting out the national anthem. The Sparks led 28-2 in the first quarter and 78-66 with five minutes to play, but gave it all back after a charge from the Lynx.

Maya Moore scored 27 points and Sylvia Fowles had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Lynx, who roared back from that 26-point hole to take an 84-83 lead with 6.5 seconds to play. A victory would have been the largest playoff comeback in WNBA history, but Minnesota could not get one last stop.

''I know everyone is going to talk about what a great comeback it was, but that's not the world we live in,'' Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. ''That means absolutely nothing to us.''

The Sparks beat the Lynx in a five-game thriller last season, and Game 1 had plenty of fireworks even before the opening tip.

With the Lynx locking arms in solidarity, the Sparks quickly left the Williams Arena court just before ''The Star Spangled Banner'' began to play, joining hundreds of NFL players in opposition to President Donald Trump's call for NFL owners to fire players who do not stand for the national anthem. As soon as the song was over, they returned to a chorus of boos and then made another emphatic statement once the game started.

They led 12-0 when Gray knocked down a 3-pointer and pushed the lead to 28-2 later in the first quarter, a staggering level of dominance against a star-studded Lynx team playing in the finals for the sixth time in seven seasons. The Lynx did not grab a rebound in the entire first quarter and it took them more than eight minutes to get Fowles, the league MVP, her first shot.

The Lynx started chipping away, trimming the deficit to 10 points at halftime and getting Parker, Nneka Ogwumike and Alana Beard into foul trouble. Moore's defense in the fourth jumpstarted a 12-0 burst that she capped with a steal and layup to tie the game at 78 and Seimone Augustus hit a 3 for an 82-81 lead with 50 seconds to go.

''This is the finals. This is the Minnesota Lynx,'' Ogwumike said. ''They are going to punch back and we have to be able to respond to that better.''

Moore's dash to the bucket put the Lynx in front with 6.5 seconds to play, but that was plenty of time for Gray. She used an escape dribble to create a little daylight, and her high-arching jumper splashed through.

Odyssey Sims scored 16 points and Ogwumike had 11 points and six rebounds for Los Angeles.

Augustus finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Minnesota.

''We gave ourselves a chance to win the game, but there's no question that the championship isn't going to be won with that kind of stretch that we allowed in that first quarter,'' Moore said.

SPARKS' STATEMENT

Ogwumike said the Sparks were inspired to sit out the anthem by the Pittsburgh Steelers and coach Mike Tomlin, who did the same in Chicago on Sunday. The Sparks said they were not disrespecting the country or the flag, but standing in solidarity with their NFL counterparts.

''Some people may want to kneel, some people may not want to,'' she said. ''We want to show everyone that a team does as a team does. We wanted to stand in solidarity together and stand by our mission and that's unity and togetherness. We felt that we wanted to also show our respect for other people who understand how important it is for us to be together at this time.''

UP NEXT

Game 2 is on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

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2017 WNBA FINALS Record:

DATE W-L-T % UNITS RECORD

09/24/2017 1-1-0 50.00% -0.50


SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
8:00 PM Los Angeles Sparks Minnesota Lynx Williams Arena

SCHEDULE FOR FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 2017
Time (ET) Away Home Site
9:00 PM Minnesota Lynx Los Angeles Sparks Staples Center

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Lynx look for better start in Game 2 vs. Sparks

Williams Arena, the 89-year-old on-campus home of University of Minnesota basketball, is affectionately known by locals as "The Barn" for its resemblance, from the outside, to a place you store hay and livestock.

With Target Center in Minneapolis being massively renovated, and Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul occupied with pro hockey, the Barn is the temporary home of the WNBA Finals.

Game 2 of the series pitting the Los Angeles Sparks and host Minnesota Lynx will be played on Tuesday night.

On Sunday, the Lynx rallied from a large deficit before falling to the Sparks 85-84 in Game 1 of the best-of-five series.

On Monday, The Barn may have felt like a kind of woodshed for Lynx players, as Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was still steaming mad about her team's first -quarter no-show in the opener.

"People say you battled, but that's what the hell you're supposed to do," Reeve said, recalling the Sparks' 12-0 run to start the game, and the 26-point lead opened up by the visitors before Minnesota rallied.

"You're competing for a championship. You're supposed to battle. So what is the good of that? We did what we were supposed to do in the 32 minutes. You guys can focus on that if you want to. That's Loserville, that's what that is."

That the Lynx held a lead with five seconds to play is a testament to their resolve, after an opening 10 minutes where they hit one of their first 11 shots and had zero rebounds.

But the end result was a loss, at home, and Los Angeles has an opportunity to clinch the WNBA crown on its home court, with the series headed west for Games 3 and 4.

The Sparks are certainly not resting on their Game 1 win, and practiced on Monday with new-found resolve.

"We played pretty good basketball, but we played five minutes of great basketball," Los Angeles forward Candace Parker said. "We won two quarters and we lost two quarters. I feel like we can build off of that, but we have to learn to adjust throughout the game, not going back after Game 1 and going back to the film and adjusting, but as individuals on the court."

The opening game's frantic finish, in which the lead changed hands four times in the final minute before Chelsea Gray's game-winning shot with two seconds left, was apparently great for the TV audience.

On Monday, WNBA officials noted that the ABC broadcast drew an overnight rating of 0.6, which is the best mark ever for a series opener. It is a 20 percent increase from last year's ratings when the same two teams met in the finals.

"It was a very emotional game," Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said. "I would say anything that could have happened in the game happened. I thought it was great for viewership, of course, and the fans and for the competition. This is the Finals championship round and you're going to see games like that."

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Reeve blasts her Lynx after Game 1 loss
September 25, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The last thing Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve wanted to talk about was a moral victory.

She had no time for pats on the back after her team came back from 26 points down in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals. In the end, the Lynx are down 1-0 to the defending champion Los Angeles Sparks in the best-of-five series because they fell behind 28-2 in the first quarter on their home floor.

The fiery coach blasted her team on Monday, wondering aloud if they are taking for granted a sixth trip to the finals in the last seven years and saying anyone who suggested the Lynx should derive encouragement from their comeback resides in ''Loserville.''

''It's mind-boggling for a team that's been here however many times,'' Reeve said. ''Maybe it's old hat for them. Maybe this is something they're just softened to.''

It was likely a calculated move on Reeve's part, a salvo that will turn up the heat on a veteran-laden team that did not grab a single rebound in the first quarter of the opener. A wake-up call for a team nobody expected to need one.

''It just suggests to me that either being in the finals is something they've taken for granted,'' Reeve said. ''It suggests to me that maybe we're playing against a team that wants to win maybe more than us. Those are answers that I'm looking for to those questions that I will get today when we meet with our team.''

After sitting out the national anthem, the Sparks roared out of the gates in the first eight minutes, leading 12-0 and 28-2 before Minnesota even knew the game had started.

The Lynx turned things around when Maya Moore moved from small forward to power forward and guard Jia Perkins took the place of mainstay Rebekkah Brunson. The small lineup created havoc on defense and helped Minnesota wipe out a 12-point deficit with five minutes to play it the game. Moore's layup with 6.5 seconds to go put the Lynx in front, 84-83, but Chelsea Gray hit a 14-foot jumper in the closing seconds to win the game.

''We just have to look at the game as we outplayed them in the first five minutes, and they outplayed us in the last 35,'' Sparks coach Brian Agler said. ''There are a lot of areas we can get better at, we have to get better at and hopefully we will.''

Reeve let loose to the media without her players' knowledge, but there was little disagreement about the embarrassment surrounding the first quarter.

''There's no question that both teams want this series, but we have to show it for 40 minutes-plus,'' Moore said. ''Definitely happy that it's not a one-game series.''

The highly anticipated rematch between the two best teams in the league delivered the best overnight rating (0.6) for a WNBA Finals Game 1 on the ESPN networks, up 20 percent from last year's Game 1. What appeared to be a laugher in the early going turned into a tense, back-and-forth finish.

The Sparks are trying to become the first repeat champions in the league since 2002, and they are not expecting a similar start for Game 2 on Tuesday night.

''We played pretty good basketball, but we played five minutes of great basketball,'' Sparks star Candace Parker said. ''We won two quarters and we lost two quarters. I feel like we can build off of that, but we have to learn to adjust throughout the game, not going back after Game 1 and going back to the film and adjusting, but as individuals on the court.''

Seimone Augustus has felt Reeve's wrath before and did not want to give too much weight to the emotional remarks.

''That's just coach Reeve,'' Augustus said. ''She'll do anything to push our buttons.''

With the prospects of an 0-2 hole staring them right in the face, Reeve clearly felt those buttons needed to be pushed.

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Cheat Sheet - WNBA Finals

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Los Angeles

Best-of-Five (2-2-1 Format)

Game 1 – Sunday, Sept. 24
Game 2 – Tuesday, Sept. 26
Game 3 – Friday, Sept. 29
Game 4 – Sunday, Oct. 1
Game 5 – Wednesday, Oct. 4

Series Price – per BookMaker.eu

Minnesota -160
Los Angeles +140

Betting Notes - Minnesota

-- Minnesota swept Washington 3-0 in the semifinals, winning all three games by double digits. The Lynx went 2-1 against the spread in the series.

-- Including the playoffs, the Lynx have won six straight games by 10-plus points and they’ve covered the number in four of those games.

-- The ‘over’ went 2-1 in the semifinals.

-- Minnesota has gone 17-2 SU and 9-10 ATS at the Xcel Energy Center this season while the ‘under’ produced a 10-9 record.

-- The Lynx were 13-5 SU and 11-7 ATS on the road this season.

-- The ‘under’ has gone 6-1 in the last seven away games for Minnesota.

Betting Notes – Los Angeles

-- Los Angeles advanced to the WNBA Finals with a three-game sweep over Phoenix in the semifinals.

-- The Sparks went 2-1 versus the number and only failed to cover Game 3 as they nipped the Mercury 89-87 as 4 ½-point road favorites.

-- Los Angeles will bring a 10-game winning streak into the finals and the club has gone 9-1 ATS during this run while the ‘under’ is 7-3 over this span.

-- The Sparks went 18-1 SU and 14-5 ATS at home this season.

-- Los Angeles went 11-9 SU and 10-8 ATS away from home this season.

-- Similar to Minnesota, the ‘under’ has been a solid wager for L.A. on the road lately with a 5-2 mark in its last seven.

2017 Regular Season Encounters

July 6 – Minnesota 88 (-6.5) vs. Los Angeles 77 (Under 166.5)

August 11 - Los Angeles 70 (+5.5) at Minnesota 64 (Under 161.5)

August 27 – Los Angeles 78 (-2.5) vs. Minnesota 67 (Under 155.5)

2016 WNBA Finals

Game 1 – Los Angeles 78 (+6.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 161)

Game 2 – Minnesota 79 (-7) vs. Los Angeles 60 (Under 159)

Game 3 – Los Angeles 92 (+1) vs. Minnesota 75 (Over 159.5)

Game 4 – Minnesota 85 (+1) at Los Angeles 79 (Over 160)

Game 5 – Los Angeles 77 (+5.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 156.5)

WNBA Finals History – 1997-2016

-- The league went to a best-of-five format during the 2005 season. In the 12 series, we’ve seen five sweeps (3-0), four matchups go to a decisive Game 7 and three series end in four games (3-1).

-- The Sparks have won the WNBA Championship three times, including last year’s victory over Minnesota.

-- The previous title for the Sparks came in 20012 when the franchise pulled off the rare repeat.

-- Los Angeles failed to three-peat in 2003 as it was defeated by the now defunct Detroit Shock.

-- Since the 2011 season, Minnesota has won three championships and finished runner-up twice. The victories included two sweeps.

-- The Lynx have alternated titles the last six years and if that trend continues, they’ll be champions this seasons.

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Tuesday, September 26

Los Angeles @ Minnesota

Game 665-666
September 26, 2017 @ 8:00 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Los Angeles
115.159
Minnesota
128.751
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 13 1/2
155
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Minnesota
by 5 1/2
158 1/2
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(-5 1/2); Under




WNBA
Long Sheet

Tuesday, September 26

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LOS ANGELES (30 - 8) at MINNESOTA (30 - 8) - 9/26/2017, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
LOS ANGELES is 26-50 ATS (-29.0 Units) after 3 or more consecutive overs since 1997.
MINNESOTA is 27-15 ATS (+10.5 Units) after allowing 75 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
LOS ANGELES is 25-13 ATS (+10.7 Units) in all games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 12-3 ATS (+8.7 Units) in August or September games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 14-5 ATS (+8.5 Units) after a division game this season.
LOS ANGELES is 20-12 ATS (+6.8 Units) after scoring 75 points or more this season.
LOS ANGELES is 13-3 ATS (+9.7 Units) after 3 or more consecutive wins this season.
LOS ANGELES is 13-4 ATS (+8.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
LOS ANGELES is 9-2 ATS (+6.8 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15+ games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 15-6 ATS (+8.4 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game after 15+ games this season.
LOS ANGELES is 19-9 ATS (+9.1 Units) versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game this season.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 11-8 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 10-9 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
12 of 19 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons

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WNBA

Tuesday, September 26

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Trend Report
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8:00 PM
LOS ANGELES vs. MINNESOTA
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Los Angeles's last 6 games when playing on the road against Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Los Angeles's last 5 games when playing Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota's last 6 games when playing at home against Los Angeles
Minnesota is 2-5 SU in its last 7 games when playing at home against Los Angeles


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[StarDust Bum]

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

LA at MIN 08:00 PM

MIN -6.0

O 159.5

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Fowles grabs 17 boards, Lynx beat Sparks 70-68
September 26, 2017

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) The Minnesota Lynx were still stinging two days after they failed to grab a single rebound in the first quarter of their WNBA Finals-opening loss to the Los Angeles Sparks.

So Sylvia Fowles decided to grab them all in Game 2.

Fowles grabbed a Finals-record 17 rebounds and scored 13 points to lead the Lynx to a 70-68 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday night, evening the series at one game apiece.

''When we really put our minds to rebounding nobody can stop us. I think that was fresh in my head,'' Fowles said, referring to the zero rebounds. ''My mindset was just crash the boards. Every opportunity I got, crash the boards.''

Fowles broke Taj McWilliams-Franklin's record of 16 for Connecticut in 2005. Lindsay Whalen scored 14 points, Rebekkah Brunson had 12 and the Lynx held the defending champions to 38.7 percent shooting while bouncing back from a last-second loss in Game 1.

Candace Parker had 17 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Sparks, who had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead with 13.1 seconds to play. But Chelsea Gray lost the handle on her dribble for a turnover, one of two big ones by Los Angeles in the final 14 seconds.

''We didn't have the fight and grit in the first half that could match Minnesota,'' Sparks coach Brian Agler said. ''They set the tone early in the game and we have to respond better.''

Gray scored 15 points for Los Angeles, and Nneka Ogwumike had 11 points on 3-for-13 shooting and 13 rebounds.

Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve torched her proud, veteran team on Monday after getting behind 28-2 in the first eight minutes on Sunday. She took little solace in watching them rally to a late lead, saying any pats on the back were from ''Loserville.''

The Lynx responded in a major way in Game 2, grabbing a 15-point lead in the first eight minutes. They held Ogwumike and Parker to a combined 0 for 11 in the first half and Los Angeles shot just 28 percent in the first two quarters.

But just like the Lynx didn't give up in Game 1, the Sparks wouldn't go away this time. Parker capped an 11-3 run that cut Minnesota's lead to three with 1:21 to play and Brunson was whistled for a questionable foul on Parker on the next possession. She converted both free throws to make it 70-68 and Maya Moore missed a jumper on the other end.

With Seimone Augustus hounding her, Alana Beard was whistled for a five-second call on the inbounds pass.

''I didn't see anyone open,'' Beard said. ''That said, my responsibility is to get the ball inbounds. That's something I can't allow to happen.''

The Sparks had one more shot, but Gray, who beat the Lynx with a jumper in the final seconds of Game 1, couldn't come up with the heroics for a second straight game. After she lost the handle, Brunson poked the ball away and Moore scooped it up and tossed it ahead to Whalen to seal the win.

''Our defense saved us,'' Whalen said. ''We were one play better.''

The Sparks are trying to become the first repeat champions since 2002, and they head home having earned a split at raucous Williams Arena.

ANTHEM STATEMENT

For the second straight game, the Sparks left the court just before ''The Star Spangled Banner'' started, a show of support for their NFL brethren who have come under withering criticism from President Donald Trump for using the national anthem as a vehicle to protest social injustice.

The Sparks were booed heavily as they exited the court and again as they reappeared after the song was over. Ogwumike and Parker have said that the display is not meant to be derogatory toward the flag or American soldiers.

The Lynx locked arms in a show of unity before Game 1, but stood in line in normal fashion before Game 2.

UP NEXT

Game 3 is on Friday in Los Angeles.

[StarDust Bum]

Armadillo: Sunday's six-pack

Six most popular picks for Week 4 in the Westgate Super Contest:

6) Kansas City +6.5, 575

5) Cincinnati, -3, 595

4) New Orleans, -3, 705

3) NJ Giants, +3, 726

2) LA Chargers, -1.5, 774

1) Denver, -2.5, 963

Season record of top 6 picks: 6-12


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

13) Oklahoma State 41, Texas Tech 34— OSU’s kicker clanked two really short FG’s off the right upright, but the Cowboys overcame all that and scored a TD with 1:12 left to send the fans home unhappy in Lubbock. Good ballgame, except for Gus Johnson’s occasional screaming on FOX.

12) Florida State 26, Wake Forest 19— Seminoles ran opening kickoff back for a TD, it was called back by a penalty. From that point on, Wake outgained them 367-270 but FSU hit a long pass in the last minute to win game. If you knew nothing about reputations/teams and just watched this game, you could have easily thought that Wake Forest is the better team.

11) Troy 24, LSU 21— Troy State is in Alabama; they play in the Sun Belt; they got a check for $985,000 to come and be a patsy to help LSU get ready for SEC play. Problem is, they won.

Last year, LSU fired Les Miles, who was 62-28 in SEC games while coaching the Tigers. LSU then hired Ed Orgeron, who is 7-24 in SEC games in 4+ years as coach at Ole Miss/LSU. This was administrative malpractice, replacing a really good head coach with a career assistant.

Don’t believe me? Go find the book Meat Market, written by Bruce Feldman; it details one of the recruiting periods during Orgeron’s tenure at Ole Miss. If you read that book and think Orgeron should be an SEC head coach, then we’ll agree to disagree.

10) Upsets of the Day— wasn’t a big day for surprises:
Troy +20.5 won 24-21 at LSU
Maryland +13 won 31-24 at Minnesota
North Texas +8.5 won 43-28 at Southern Mississippi

9) Washington State 30, USC 27— One of season’s best games ended way after midnight Friday night. Three of USC’s five starting offensive linemen are hurt and they don’t have a week off until November, which will make Sam Darnold’s season a lot more difficult.

8) Maryland 31, Minnesota 24— Terrapins win here as a 13-point underdog with their #3 QB playing- their top two QB’s are out for the year.

7) Florida 38, Vanderbilt 24— Two starting QB’s here are both sons of NFL coaches; Florida’s Luke Del Rio is the son of the Raiders’ coach, Vandy’s Kyle Shurmur is the son of the Vikings’ offensive coordinator. Del Rio broke his collarbone here, is out for the year.

6) Georgia 41, Tennessee 0— If you’re an aspiring college football coach and you’d like to coach in the SEC, send your resume to:

Athletic Director
University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Knoxville, Tennessee 37996

Believe me, you couldn’t do any worse than the guy who has that job now.

5) Stanford 34, Arizona State 24— Bryce Love ran for 301 yards and three TD’s.

4) Utah State 40, BYU 24— This is the worst BYU team I can remember; they need to get into a league, makes your schedule more balanced. Cougars turned ball over seven times in this game; that makes it difficult to win.

Maybe when the Raiders’ dome gets built in Las Vegas and UNLV moves into it, they and BYU can join the Big X or the Pac-12 as a western tandem.

3) Clemson 31, Virginia Tech 17— It is October 1st; Tigers have already won at Louisville and Virginia Tech; they beat Auburn at home. How do you win as much as Clemson has the last few years and remain somewhat under the radar?

2) NFL Network has a pregame show that starts at 7am Sunday; I get that some people are awake on Sunday morning, whether it be for work or church, but do people really get up on Sunday morning and watch TV? At 7am? College games don’t get over until 2am or so on Saturday night— got to sleep sometime.

1) No drama for the last day of baseball season; Colorado-Arizona and Minnesota-New York are the two Wild Card games. There are probably executives at ESPN that don’t even know that there are major league teams in Denver/Phoenix, Lord knows they never show ‘em on TV.

[StarDust Bum]

Cheat Sheet - WNBA Finals

(1) Minnesota vs. (2) Los Angeles

Best-of-Five (2-2-1 Format)

Game 1 – Sunday, Sept. 24
Game 2 – Tuesday, Sept. 26
Game 3 – Friday, Sept. 29
Game 4 – Sunday, Oct. 1
Game 5 – Wednesday, Oct. 4

Series Price – per BookMaker.eu

Minnesota -160
Los Angeles +140

Betting Notes - Minnesota

-- Minnesota swept Washington 3-0 in the semifinals, winning all three games by double digits. The Lynx went 2-1 against the spread in the series.

-- Including the playoffs, the Lynx have won six straight games by 10-plus points and they’ve covered the number in four of those games.

-- The ‘over’ went 2-1 in the semifinals.

-- Minnesota has gone 17-2 SU and 9-10 ATS at the Xcel Energy Center this season while the ‘under’ produced a 10-9 record.

-- The Lynx were 13-5 SU and 11-7 ATS on the road this season.

-- The ‘under’ has gone 6-1 in the last seven away games for Minnesota.

Betting Notes – Los Angeles

-- Los Angeles advanced to the WNBA Finals with a three-game sweep over Phoenix in the semifinals.

-- The Sparks went 2-1 versus the number and only failed to cover Game 3 as they nipped the Mercury 89-87 as 4 ½-point road favorites.

-- Los Angeles will bring a 10-game winning streak into the finals and the club has gone 9-1 ATS during this run while the ‘under’ is 7-3 over this span.

-- The Sparks went 18-1 SU and 14-5 ATS at home this season.

-- Los Angeles went 11-9 SU and 10-8 ATS away from home this season.

-- Similar to Minnesota, the ‘under’ has been a solid wager for L.A. on the road lately with a 5-2 mark in its last seven.

2017 Regular Season Encounters

July 6 – Minnesota 88 (-6.5) vs. Los Angeles 77 (Under 166.5)

August 11 - Los Angeles 70 (+5.5) at Minnesota 64 (Under 161.5)

August 27 – Los Angeles 78 (-2.5) vs. Minnesota 67 (Under 155.5)

2016 WNBA Finals

Game 1 – Los Angeles 78 (+6.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 161)

Game 2 – Minnesota 79 (-7) vs. Los Angeles 60 (Under 159)

Game 3 – Los Angeles 92 (+1) vs. Minnesota 75 (Over 159.5)

Game 4 – Minnesota 85 (+1) at Los Angeles 79 (Over 160)

Game 5 – Los Angeles 77 (+5.5) at Minnesota 76 (Under 156.5)

WNBA Finals History – 1997-2016

-- The league went to a best-of-five format during the 2005 season. In the 12 series, we’ve seen five sweeps (3-0), four matchups go to a decisive Game 7 and three series end in four games (3-1).

-- The Sparks have won the WNBA Championship three times, including last year’s victory over Minnesota.

-- The previous title for the Sparks came in 20012 when the franchise pulled off the rare repeat.

-- Los Angeles failed to three-peat in 2003 as it was defeated by the now defunct Detroit Shock.

-- Since the 2011 season, Minnesota has won three championships and finished runner-up twice. The victories included two sweeps.

-- The Lynx have alternated titles the last six years and if that trend continues, they’ll be champions this seasons.

[StarDust Bum]

WNBA
Dunkel

Sunday, October 1

Minnesota @ Los Angeles

Game 669-670
October 1, 2017 @ 8:30 pm

Dunkel Rating:
Minnesota
123.574
Los Angeles
120.336
Dunkel Team:
Dunkel Line:
Dunkel Total:
Minnesota
by 3
151
Vegas Team:
Vegas Line:
Vegas Total:
Los Angeles
by 3
152
Dunkel Pick:
Minnesota
(+3); Under




WNBA
Long Sheet

Sunday, October 1

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MINNESOTA (31 - 9) at LOS ANGELES (31 - 9) - 10/1/2017, 8:30 PM
There are no Top Trends with records of significance that apply to this game.

Head-to-Head Series History
LOS ANGELES is 13-8 against the spread versus MINNESOTA over the last 3 seasons
MINNESOTA is 11-10 straight up against LOS ANGELES over the last 3 seasons
14 of 21 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons


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WNBA

Sunday, October 1

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Trend Report
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8:30 PM
MINNESOTA vs. LOS ANGELES
Minnesota is 8-16 SU in its last 24 games when playing on the road against Los Angeles
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Minnesota's last 7 games when playing Los Angeles
Los Angeles is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing Minnesota
Los Angeles is 16-8 SU in its last 24 games when playing at home against Minnesota

[StarDust Bum]

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1

GAME TIME(ET) PICK UNITS

MIN at LA 08:30 PM

LA -2.5

U 152.0