Tuesday's Trends and Indexes - 12/18 (NBA, NCAAB, Misc.)

[Udog]

NCAAB
Top 25 Short Sheet

Tuesday, December 18

Michigan State at Bowling Green, 7:00 ET ESPNU
Michigan State: 19-7 ATS as a road favorite of 6.5 to 12 points
Bowling Green: 5-15 ATS at home off 3+ games scoring 65 points or less

Richmond at Kansas, 7:00 ET ESPN2
Richmond: 0-7 ATS away off a home win by 10+ points
Kansas: 10-1 ATS at home after playing as a home favorite

Stanford at NC State, 9:00 ET ESPN2
Stanford: 8-1 ATS away vs. non-conference opponents
NC State: 22-39 ATS at home after playing as a home favorite

Winthrop at Ohio State, 7:00 ET BTN
Winthrop: 20-6 Under off a SU win
Ohio State: 13-3 ATS at home off BB games scoring 80+ points

[Udog]

NBA
Short Sheet

Tuesday, December 18

Atlanta at Washington, 7:05 ET
Atlanta: 12-3 ATS as a road favorite
Washington: 8-19 ATS off ATS wins in 2 of their last 3 games

Toronto at Cleveland, 7:05 ET
Toronto: 9-1 ATS away vs. Central Division opponents
Cleveland: 7-19 ATS in December

Utah at Brooklyn, 7:35 ET
Utah: 17-6 Over away after playing BB games as a favorite
Brooklyn: 2-15 ATS at home off an ATS win

Minnesota at Miami, 7:35 ET NBATV
Minnesota: 11-2 ATS as a road underdog of 6.5 to 9 points
Miami: 20-40 ATS at home off a home division win

Boston at Chicago, 8:05 ET
Boston: 18-8 ATS after losing 2 of their last 3 games
Chicago: 1-9 ATS as a home favorite

Indiana at Milwaukee, 8:05 ET
Indiana: 11-27 ATS off BB ATS wins
Milwaukee: 13-4 Over after winning 3 of their last 4 games

Philadelphia at Dallas, 8:35 ET
Philadelphia: 9-2 Over off a SU loss
Dallas: 23-8 ATS off 3+ games trailing by 5+ points at halftime

San Antonio at Denver, 9:05 ET
San Antonio: 23-9 Over away off a road game
Denver: 11-3 ATS off an ATS win

New Orleans at Golden State, 10:35 ET
New Orleans: 23-7 ATS away after playing as a road underdog
Golden State: 9-4 Over after playing as an underdog

Charlotte at LA Lakers, 10:35 ET
Charlotte: 12-3 ATS vs. LA Lakers
LA Lakers: 8-18 ATS vs. non-conference opponents

[10DimeBry]

I wouldn't bet on Jr if he was 20-1.

Dude won 1 race in 5 years

[Udog]

NCAAB
Armadillo's Write-Up

Tuesday, December 18

-- Michigan State beat Bowling Green last two years by 35-14 points; Spartans lost 67-59 at Miami, in its only true road game this year- they are 6-0 vs teams not in top 100, with five of six wins by 12+ points. Falcons are 4-1 at home, beating #103 Detroit by 5, best team they've played this year. MAC home underdogs are 4-6 vs spread.
-- Southern Mississippi lost its last three road games, by 8-8-10 points; they're 3-0 vs teams not in top 200, winning by 18-12-48. USM turns ball over 26% of time, not good. Georgia State is 0-2 vs top 100 teams, losing to Duke/BYU by 19-18 points. C-USA road favorites are 6-8 vs spread; CAA home underdogs are 1-3 against the spread.
-- Richmond is 9-2, 2-2 on road, losing only two games outside Virginia at Minnesota by 15, Ohio by 25, also only two games Spiders played vs teams ranked in top 180. Kansas hammered Colorado/Belmont by 29-36 points in its last two games; Jayhawks are blocking 24% of opponents' shots. Atlantic 16 double digit road underdogs are 7-4 vs spread.
-- 6-1 Miami split its two road games, losing at Florida Gulf Coast by 12, winning by 13 at UMass; Hurricanes are 2-0 vs top 100 teams, with home wins over Michigan State/Charlotte. Central Florida beat Miami 84-78 two years ago, in last series meeting; Knights lost by 14-13 points in its games vs top 50 teams. Miami better not look ahead to its Hawai'i trip - they play Warriors Saturday.

-- First true road game for 7-3 Stanford team that is 0-3 vs top 50 teams, losing by 8-8-3 points; Cardinal won its last three games, allowing 55.7 ppg, but they were all at home. NC State is 1-2 vs top 100 teams, losing to Oklahoma State/Michigan, beating UConn by 4. Pac-12 road dogs are 10-11 against the spread. ACC single digit home favorites are 8-6.
-- Utah (+7) lost 62-55 at SMU Nov 28, outscored 18-2 on the foul line. SMU got hammered by 22 at Rhode Island Saturday, in its first game in two weeks; Mustangs won their other road game at Hofstra. SMU is #5 in country, making 41.2% behind arc. Utah hasn't played in 10 days since losing to rival BYU by 3- they beat Boise by 21 for its best win.
-- Denver lost last four visits to Wyoming by 8-13-32-6 points; they're 0-3 on road, losing by 7-11-13. Pioneers are 0-4 vs top 100 teams so far this year, scoring just 55.5 ppg. First game in 10 days for Cowboys, not a good thing usually but in this case, gives them time to prepare for the Princeton offense. Wyoming is 2-0 vs top 100 teams winning by 7-14.
-- 6-1 LSU lost by 19 at Boise State last game, in its first away game of season; Tigers turn ball over 24.6% of time. Cal-Irvine lost five of its last six games, beat Nevada by 14 in its only home game vs D-I team; they lost 66-59 at LSU LY. Big West teams are 11-10 vs spread in games that have spread of 5 or less. SEC teams are 10-18 in such games.
-- Long Beach State overscheduled, as usual; they're already playing 5th game vs top 25 team, losing first four by 15-22-31-34 points. 49ers are young this year, losing six of last eight D-I games. UCLA is 6-1 vs teams not in top 100, with four of six wins by 26+ points. Big West double digit road dogs are 12-8 vs spread. Pac-12 home favorites are 23-17.

-- UCSB lost by 20 at California LY; Gauchos are 1-4 on road, winning in OT at Santa Clara, but losing by 14-28-14-16 points- they're 0-4 vs top 100 teams, with all four losses by 14+. UCSB turns ball over 24.6% of time. Cal Bears lost last three games, allowing 77 ppg- two of the Ls were at home. Pac-12 double digit home favorites are 15-11.
-- 9-1 Ill-Chicago won last eight games, including win at Northwesterm; they beat Western Illinois by point at home LY. Flames get 37% of its scoring from outside arc (36.1%)- they allowed 47.6 ppg in last five tilts vs D-I teams. Leathernecks are 7-3, with only one win vs team ranked higher than #262- they lost by 5 at #120 Evansville, best foe to date.
-- Tennessee Tech is 6-4 against #269 schedule; they're 2-3 on road, with losses by 3-16-20 points- they turn ball over 22.6% of time. Auburn is 4-5 vs #324 schedule, another dismal start; they're 3-0 vs teams not in top 200, winning by 11-50-14 points- they're 3-2 at home, losing to URI and DePaul. OVC single digit road underdogs are 8-8 against spread.
-- Jacksonville State is 8-2 vs #331 schedule in country; they lost by 19 at UNLV, 22 at Oregon in only two games vs teams ranked above #269. Nebraska is 3-0 vs teams not in top 200, winning by 16-13-11; they lost last two games by 22 points each (Creighton/Oregon). OVC road dogs are 19-18 vs spread. Big Dozen home favorites are 24-18 vs spread.

[Udog]

NBA
Armadillo's Write-Up

Tuesday, December 18

Hot Teams
-- Hawks won 11 of their last 14 games (3-0 as AF).
-- Heat won three of last four games (3-4 as single digit HF). Minnesota won six of last eight games (4-0 as AU of 6+ points).
-- Bulls won five of their last seven games (1-9 as HF).
-- Milwaukee won four of last five games (3-3-1 as HF). Pacers won three in row, nine of last 13 games (3-6 as AU).
-- Nuggets won four of last six games (5-2 as HF).
-- Warriors won nine of last 11 games (4-2 as HF).
-- Lakers won last two games, by 6-13 points (6-5 as HF).

Cold Teams
-- Wizards lost five of their last six games (3-3-2 as HU).
-- Cleveland lost eight of last nine games (1-1 as HF). Raptors lost six of last seven games (3-8-1 as AU of 5+ points).
-- Brooklyn lost six of its last eight games (3-4-2 as HF). Jazz lost its last two games, scoring 84-86 points (0-7-1 as AU).
-- Celtics are 4-5 in last nine games, covered one of their last five (1-3-2 as AU).
-- 76ers lost last three games, by 7-10-13 points (3-3 as AU). Dallas lost its last three games, with two of three in OT (4-4 as HF).
-- Spurs lost three of their last four games (1-1 as AU).
-- New Orleans lost its last seven games (7-3 as AU).
-- Bobcats lost their last 11 games, covered one of last six (1-4 as AU of 7+ points).

Totals
-- Seven of nine Atlanta road games stayed under the total.
-- Last four Toronto games stayed under the total.
-- 13 of last 17 Brooklyn games stayed under the total.
-- Six of last seven Minnesota games went over the total.
-- 10 of last 12 Chicago games stayed under the total.
-- Nine of last 12 Milwaukee games stayed under the total.
-- Four of last five Dallas games went over the total.
-- Spurs' last four games stayed under the total.
-- Seven of last ten New Orleans games stayed under total.
-- Over is 6-2-1 in last nine Charlotte games.

Back-to-backs
-- Minnesota is 1-3 vs spread playing second night in row on road.
-- Bulls are 2-3 vs spread if they played night before.
-- Spurs are 4-1-1 vs spread if they played the night before.

[Udog]

Armadillo: Tuesday's six-pack

Lostlettermen.com listed the six most overpaid college basketball coaches in America, in his opinion......

6) Trent Johnson, TCU $1.5M-- Had success at Nevada/Stanford, but got out of LSU before they could fire him.

5) Ben Howland, UCLA $2M-- His good players go to the NBA early; he just seems ill-suited for LA, but he did make three Final Fours in a row.

4) Tony Barbee, Auburn $1.5M-- They've sunk lot of money into facilities, haven't seen any returns. This year would be a good time.

3) Mark Fox, Georgia $1.7M-- 17-24 in their last 41 games; there was very small crowd for the Iona game Saturday. Apathy might be only thing that lets him stay for another year- they care about football.

2) Rick Barnes, Texas $2.4M-- Hasn't been to Sweet 16 since 2008. When you make more $$$ than Roy Williams or Boeheim, you need to do that.

1) Oliver Purnell, DePaul $1.8M-- I personally think he's going to have a big year, but he is 4-28 in league play the last two years. He's won at all his previous stops, but didn't do well in NCAAs. I'm sure DePaul would be thrilled just to get to the NCAAs.


*****

Armadillo: Tuesday's List of 13: Greetings from America's favorite city.....

13) Long day today, flying out here to Las Vegas; nothing makes a flight more fun than having a screaming baby 10 feet from you for 5.5 hours. Yup.

12) Crying babies are still a step above having to listen to Gus Johnson announce the game where your favorite NFL team's season ends; lot of people like his screaming, self-promoting, look-at-me act. Not me.

11) Cleveland Browns fans are unhappy that they lost to Washington and the Redskins' rookie backup QB played better than Browns' #1 draft pick, seeing as Brandon Weeden is a 28 year old rookie. Its tough when your team loses year after year, frustration builds, but the Browns have played better the last few weeks. Curious to see if the new owner changes coaches.

10) Arizona Cardinals' turnover ratios the last five games: +5 -3 +3 -7 +3. It is unfathomable that they went +5/+3 in games two weeks apart and didn't win either game.

9) Packers won eight of their last nine games, but trailed four of last five at the half; they make good adjustments and play with confidence, but what was that throwback play on the punt with 8:00 left in Chicago?

8) Eagles led at halftime in their last four games, but fade in second half; in their last six games, they've been outscored 131-55 in second half-- thats an average of 21.8 ppg they've given up, just in the second half!!!!

7) AFC teams went 4-0 vs NFC teams in Week 13, but in last two weeks, they were 1-9 against the NFC.

6) Pete Carroll gave a half-hearted apology for the fake punt when Seattle led 47-17 against the Bills Sunday; something tells me he doesn't mind being the villain, plus it gives the 49ers one more thing to prepare for this week.

5) Mike Napoli took his Red Sox physical over a week ago, but still hasn't officially signed with Boston; if that deal were to fall through, would the Red Sox look at signing Nick Swisher to play first base?

4) All you need to know about conference realignment in college sports is that the Notre Dame AD doesn't know which league the Irish will play in next season. ACC or Big East? Its less than a year away, and he has no idea. At some point, all this has to settle down, right?

3) Pretty cool video of Gonzaga players making trick shots in their empty gym; check it out on Youtube. One kid throws a ball over the backboard from the bleachers behind the basket, hits a trampoline in the 3-second lane, and has the ball go in. Good stuff.

2) Toronto Blue Jays figure to be a fashionable choice to win the AL East next summer; their rotation: Romero-Dickey-Johnson-Morrow-Buehrle. If they stay healthy, Toronto should be pretty good.

1) No pro sports team is run worse than the Jets; their 2012 has been a complete debacle; they need a new front office. I think Rex Ryan is still good enough a coach to win, but the offense is dysfunctional. Mark Sanchez needs a change of scenery, but his contract is untradeable-- Tebow needs to go. Not a good situation-- the game last night was just an abysmal performance.