Villanova won last nine games; they've been off since Monday's big win vs UConn. Underdogs are 5-1 vs spread in Wildcats' Big East home games. Georgetown lost its last two games, vs West Virginia, Marquette. Teams split pair of games last year, with visitor winning both times.
North Carolina won four of last five games, rallying from deficit to beat Ga Tech at home Wednesday; Heels are 4-1 on road in ACC, with dogs covering last four of those. Wake Forest is 1-10 in ACC, losing seven of last eight overall; they lost last three at home by 7,6 and 6 points.
Texas ripped Oklahoma State 80-46 in Austin Jan 23; now they find Cowboys reeling with new coach, having lost three in row, seven of last eight games. Cowboys are 0-5 vs spread at home in Big 12; they scored 46.5 ppg in two games since Sutton left. Texas has road wins by 20,19,13 and 21 pts- they lost at Norman
St Bonaventure is 1-11 in A-14, 1-5 vs spread at home, 4-6 as an A-14 dog, 1-3 at home, with home losses by 17,5,4,16,11 points. UMass lost five of last six games; they lost last five road games, so not lot to choose from here. Last year, UMass beat Bonnies 74-58 (-17.5) in Amherst.
Indiana beat Illinois 62-60 at home Jan 17, but now Hoosiers are in disarray, with Davis gone and some players right behind him on way out of town. Illini lost two of last three games, are 1-3-1 vs spread in last five; they're 2-3-1 as home favorite, winning by 10,5,24,18,16 pts in six Big 11 home games.
Stanford covered its last nine games, winning six of last seven SU; they lost 90-81 in OT at Tucson Jan 19, Cardinal shot 51% in game, but had 21 turnovers. Stanford is 5-0 at home in Pac-10 (4-1 as home fave). Arizona plays poor defense (foes shoot 45% against Cats); they've lost their last six road games.
Duke is 12-0 in ACC, 6-0 at home, 3-2-1 as home fave, with wins by 2,24,13,19,1,23 pts. Last year, Duke beat Miami twice, by 9,24 points. Hurricanes lost three games in row; they got swamped in second half at BC Wednesday, after leading at half. Miami won three of last five on road; they're 3-2-1 as a road underdog.
UCLA pounded USC 65-44 at Pauley Jan 18; Bruins won five of last six games, are 5-1 on Pac-10 road, losing only at Seattle by 3 against Huskies. Trojans lost last three games by 3,14,13 points they're 3-3 at home in Pac-10; Floyd has gotten a lot out of this group, they might be getting little bit tired.
Sunday's List of 13: Wrapping up the Bracket Busters
13) The female student inside Stanford's Tree mascot at the Cal game Feb 9 was relieved of her duties after she was found to be drunk on the job. I couldn't make this stuff up.......
12) NIT, now owned by NCAA, will invite all regular season champs that don't make the NCAAs to Field of 40 in March. Excellent move; teams are going to be rewarded for their regular season, even if they are obscure, and I like that.
11) Next time you go to a grocery store, take notice of which sport's stars have the most endorsements. Even here in the frigid northeast, NASCAR dominates. They do an excellent job of marketing their sport and their drivers.
10) Orel Hershiser signed with ESPN for this year, but after he had interviewed for the A's managerial position. Wonder why he left Texas; Rangers seemed to improve while he was there
9) Jets asked Chad Pennington to take pay cut from $8 million to $1 million; they also asked Kevin Mawae to take a pay cut. Will be interesting to see if the coldhearted Belichick way will work when Belichick isn't calling the shots.
8) Check out the curious case of UAlbany hoop coach Will Brown, whose contract is up after this season; he has Albany at 16-9 this year, their best season in Division I play (as D-III team, they once had 40 winning years out of 41) and he also has a 30-2 record at a junior college on his resume, so he has a pretty good resume for himself.
7) Brown's dilemma is this: does he re-sign with Albany, or try and move up in coaching world? Albany's administration isn't exactly sports-crazy; the AD sure left him out to dry, as he gave the women's coach a two-year extension, when she hasn't won a thing, but he basically made Brown win this year in order to get his extension.
6) So now, Albany is pretty much guaranteed at least an NIT bid, and Albany is negotiating with him. Does he just sign on the dotted line, or does he look for greener pastures? Albany is going to look muy estupido if he gets better offer and runs with it. One thing for sure: with the Great Danes winning, it is now Brown who holds the cards. It remains to be seen how he is going to play them.
5) Northern Iowa AD Rick Hartzell came to Cedar Rapids from Bucknell, so when Bison visited the Panthers Saturday, had to be weird for Hartzell to watch two coaches, when he hired both of them to their current positions.
4) Former Duke guard Jason Williams might be worst color commentator ESPN has ever employed, no small feat; he is an enthusiastic guy, but he screams when guys dunk, and he is like a little kid with a live mike in front of him. Simply awful.
3) Speaking of awful, here is typical Dick Vitale commentary these days: "I don't care what the numbers say, McNamara is a great shooter." Oh really? The kid hasn't hit 40% from floor since he was playing high school ball in Scranton. Numbers dictate whether a player can shoot, like it or not, and numbers scream that McNamara is overrated.
2) Rumor of the Week: Steve Alford goes to Indiana, and he is replaced at Iowa by Lon Kruger, who is replaced at UNLV by Bob Huggins. What would make more sense than this?
1) It started at noon at Northern Iowa; it ended 14 hours later in Omaha, where 15,700 fans braved subzero temps and 11pm start time to see Creighton-Fresno State, the largest crowd to see a hoop game in Nebraska. Whomever it is that invented Bracket Buster Saturday, give him/her a hefty raise.
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 19
All-Star Game at Houston, Texas
NBA ALL-STAR GAME: THE GOLD SHEET hasn’t made serious
predictions on All-Star games of any type since 1976, when the NFL champions
stopped playing a collection of the top college seniors in Chicago each season.
The NBA All-Star Game is a prime example of why that policy evolved. NBA
players and league front office officials have converted this event into a
weekend party and public relations vehicle. Gimmick attractions such as the
dunk & “skills” contests, sophomore-freshman game, three-point shootout, and
celebrity-media games (among others) have been added. None of the games
is taken very seriously.
There are dozens of main line college basketball games on Saturday and
Sunday, any of which might well present a better handicapping opportunity than
the NBA All-Star contest. That being said, we realize this is a showcase for the
professional basketball fan that is difficult to pass up. The history of the game
has shown it to be generally a no-defense game that’s gone “over” the total in 5 of
the last 7 contests. The favorite in the game has covered 8 of the last 12 chances.
The wise bettor should take a seat on the sideline for this game, or put extra
attention toward the ample college slate. This game is just for show, and, to
quote David Letterman, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is an exhibition, not a
competition...please, no wagering.”
Below we have listed the lines, scores and totals of the All-Star game since
the NBA and ABA merged. Bon chance...
NBA ALL-STAR SCORES, STATS AND POINTSPREADS
RECENT NBA ALL-STAR GAME RESULTS
YEAR WINNER LINE SCORE TOTAL
2004 EAST +5½ 125-115 263
2003 WEST -7 136-132 255
2002 WEST -5 155-145 2OT 255
2001 WEST -2 135-120 253
2000 EAST +4 111-110 257
1999 WEST -4½ 137-126 255
1998 No game played
1997 EAST -7 132-120 250
1996 EAST -3½ 129-118 257
1995 WEST -4½ 139-112 261
1994 EAST +3½ 127-118 260
1993 WEST -2 135-132 OT 268
1992 WEST -2½ 153-113 270
1991 EAST +3½ 116-114 277
1990 EAST +2 130-113 273
1989 WEST Pick 143-134 268
1988 EAST -4 138-133 270
1987 WEST +2½ 154-149 OT 265
1986 EAST -2½ 139-132 260
1985 WEST +4½ 140-129 265
1984 EAST -1 154-145 OT 259
1983 EAST -1 132-123 257
1982 EAST +1½ 120-118 254
YEAR WINNER LINE SCORE TOTAL
1981 EAST +2½ 123-120 256
1980 EAST Pick 144-135 OT 249
1979 WEST -3 134-129 243
1978 EAST +3½ 133-125 *
1977 WEST -3½ 125-124 *
*—Betting total points was not popular until the middle and late 1970s, and
no uniform over-under line was being dealt prior to 1979.
Georgetown at Villanova, 12:00 EST
Georgetown: 0-8 ATS after scoring 60 points or less BB games
Villanova: 6-0 ATS at home after allowing 65 points or less BB games
Texas at Oklahoma State, 1:30 EST ABC
Texas: 6-0 ATS away off a home win scoring 85 or more points
Oklahoma State: 1-8 ATS off an Under
North Carolina at Wake Forest, 1:30 EST ABC
North Carolina: 11-3 ATS off a home game
Wake Forest: 1-11 ATS at home this season
Massachusetts at St Bonaventure, 2:00 EST
Massachusetts: 15-5 Over in the 2nd of BB road games
St Bonaventure: 7-21 ATS off a conference loss by 10 points or more
Indiana at Illinois, 3:30 EST CBS
Indiana: 1-10 ATS vs. conference opponents
Illinois: 27-8 ATS at home off a home win
Arizona at Stanford, 3:30 EST CBS
Arizona: 0-6 ATS off a road loss
Stanford: 9-0 ATS after having won 4 or 5 of their last 6 games
Miami Florida at Duke, 5:30 EST FSN
Miami Florida: 16-4 ATS as a double-digit underdog
Duke: 10-0 Over last 10 games
UCLA at USC, 8:00 EST FSN
UCLA: 16-2 ATS in road games
USC: 3-12 ATS at home off a road loss by 10 points or more
GEORGETOWN (17 - 6) at VILLANOVA (20 - 2) - 2/19/2006, 12:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
GEORGETOWN is 17-29 ATS (-14.9 Units) against conference opponents over the last 3 seasons.
VILLANOVA is 46-31 ATS (+11.9 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons.
VILLANOVA is 46-31 ATS (+11.9 Units) in all lined games over the last 3 seasons.
VILLANOVA is 20-10 ATS (+9.0 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=64 points/game over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
VILLANOVA is 2-1 against the spread versus GEORGETOWN over the last 3 seasons
VILLANOVA is 2-1 straight up against GEORGETOWN over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
TEXAS (22 - 3) at OKLAHOMA ST (13 - 12) - 2/19/2006, 1:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
OKLAHOMA ST is 22-10 ATS (+11.0 Units) after scoring 60 points or less since 1997.
TEXAS is 13-5 ATS (+7.5 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
TEXAS is 13-5 ATS (+7.5 Units) in road lined games over the last 2 seasons.
Head-to-Head Series History
OKLAHOMA ST is 3-3 against the spread versus TEXAS over the last 3 seasons
OKLAHOMA ST is 3-3 straight up against TEXAS over the last 3 seasons
5 of 6 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
N CAROLINA (16 - 6) at WAKE FOREST (13 - 12) - 2/19/2006, 1:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
N CAROLINA is 34-22 ATS (+9.8 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
N CAROLINA is 34-22 ATS (+9.8 Units) in all lined games over the last 2 seasons.
N CAROLINA is 24-14 ATS (+8.6 Units) after scoring 80 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
WAKE FOREST is 7-15 ATS (-9.5 Units) in all games this season.
WAKE FOREST is 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) in all home games this season.
WAKE FOREST is 1-11 ATS (-11.1 Units) in home lined games this season.
WAKE FOREST is 15-27 ATS (-14.7 Units) after a conference game over the last 3 seasons.
WAKE FOREST is 6-13 ATS (-8.3 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
WAKE FOREST is 6-19 ATS (-14.9 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games over the last 2 seasons.
WAKE FOREST is 7-15 ATS (-9.5 Units) in all lined games this season.
WAKE FOREST is 31-49 ATS (-22.9 Units) as an underdog since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
WAKE FOREST is 2-1 against the spread versus N CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
WAKE FOREST is 2-1 straight up against N CAROLINA over the last 3 seasons
2 of 3 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
MASSACHUSETTS (10 - 12) at ST BONAVENTURE (7 - 16) - 2/19/2006, 2:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ST BONAVENTURE is 17-29 ATS (-14.9 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 10-21 ATS (-13.1 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record over the last 3 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 3-11 ATS (-9.1 Units) when playing against a team with a losing record after 15 or more games over the last 3 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 17-29 ATS (-14.9 Units) in all lined games over the last 2 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 20-38 ATS (-21.8 Units) as an underdog over the last 3 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 5-15 ATS (-11.5 Units) in all home games over the last 2 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 5-15 ATS (-11.5 Units) in home lined games over the last 2 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 15-30 ATS (-18.0 Units) against conference opponents over the last 3 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 8-25 ATS (-19.5 Units) in home games in February games since 1997.
ST BONAVENTURE is 9-18 ATS (-10.8 Units) after a conference game over the last 2 seasons.
ST BONAVENTURE is 2-8 ATS (-6.8 Units) off a loss against a conference rival this season.
Head-to-Head Series History
ST BONAVENTURE is 3-1 against the spread versus MASSACHUSETTS over the last 3 seasons
MASSACHUSETTS is 3-1 straight up against ST BONAVENTURE over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
INDIANA (13 - 9) at ILLINOIS (21 - 4) - 2/19/2006, 3:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
INDIANA is 5-14 ATS (-10.4 Units) in all games this season.
INDIANA is 0-6 ATS (-6.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games this season.
INDIANA is 5-14 ATS (-10.4 Units) in all lined games this season.
INDIANA is 1-10 ATS (-10.0 Units) against conference opponents this season.
INDIANA is 1-9 ATS (-8.9 Units) after a conference game this season.
ILLINOIS is 111-83 ATS (+19.7 Units) as a favorite since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 61-40 ATS (+17.0 Units) in all home games since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 61-40 ATS (+17.0 Units) in home lined games since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 43-25 ATS (+15.5 Units) in home games against conference opponents since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 37-20 ATS (+15.0 Units) in February games since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 51-29 ATS (+19.1 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record since 1997.
ILLINOIS is 27-12 ATS (+13.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
INDIANA is 3-1 against the spread versus ILLINOIS over the last 3 seasons
ILLINOIS is 3-1 straight up against INDIANA over the last 3 seasons
3 of 4 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
ARIZONA (15 - 10) at STANFORD (13 - 9) - 2/19/2006, 3:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
ARIZONA is 8-17 ATS (-10.7 Units) in all games this season.
ARIZONA is 8-17 ATS (-10.7 Units) in all lined games this season.
ARIZONA is 1-8 ATS (-7.8 Units) when the total is 140 to 149.5 this season.
ARIZONA is 3-10 ATS (-8.0 Units) after a conference game this season.
ARIZONA is 5-12 ATS (-8.2 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record this season.
STANFORD is 50-31 ATS (+15.9 Units) in all games over the last 3 seasons.
STANFORD is 50-31 ATS (+15.9 Units) in all lined games over the last 3 seasons.
STANFORD is 7-1 ATS (+5.9 Units) off a win against a conference rival this season.
STANFORD is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in home games when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
STANFORD is 10-3 ATS (+6.7 Units) against conference opponents this season.
STANFORD is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) in February games over the last 2 seasons.
STANFORD is 10-2 ATS (+7.8 Units) after a conference game this season.
ARIZONA is 26-12 ATS (+12.8 Units) as an underdog since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
STANFORD is 3-2 against the spread versus ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
STANFORD is 3-2 straight up against ARIZONA over the last 3 seasons
4 of 5 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
MIAMI (14 - 11) at DUKE (24 - 1) - 2/19/2006, 5:30 PM
Top Trends for this game.
DUKE is 19-10 ATS (+8.0 Units) after scoring 80 points or more over the last 2 seasons.
DUKE is 16-7 ATS (+8.3 Units) when the total is 140 to 149.5 over the last 2 seasons.
DUKE is 19-10 ATS (+8.0 Units) against conference opponents over the last 2 seasons.
MIAMI is 63-38 ATS (+21.2 Units) as an underdog since 1997.
MIAMI is 57-32 ATS (+21.8 Units) in road games since 1997.
MIAMI is 57-32 ATS (+21.8 Units) in road lined games since 1997.
MIAMI is 52-29 ATS (+20.1 Units) in road games against conference opponents since 1997.
MIAMI is 21-9 ATS (+11.1 Units) in road games in February games since 1997.
MIAMI is 52-28 ATS (+21.2 Units) in road games after a conference game since 1997.
MIAMI is 15-3 ATS (+11.7 Units) in road games after scoring 60 points or less since 1997.
MIAMI is 35-20 ATS (+13.0 Units) in road games when playing against a team with a winning record after 15 or more games since 1997.
MIAMI is 23-9 ATS (+13.1 Units) in road games versus good offensive teams - scoring 77+ points/game since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
DUKE is 2-0 against the spread versus MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
DUKE is 2-0 straight up against MIAMI over the last 3 seasons
1 of 2 games in this series have gone OVER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
UCLA (20 - 5) at USC (15 - 9) - 2/19/2006, 8:00 PM
Top Trends for this game.
UCLA is 30-18 ATS (+10.2 Units) in all games over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 30-18 ATS (+10.2 Units) in all lined games over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 16-2 ATS (+13.8 Units) in road games over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 16-2 ATS (+13.8 Units) in road lined games over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 21-11 ATS (+8.9 Units) against conference opponents over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 12-4 ATS (+7.6 Units) in road games after a conference game over the last 2 seasons.
UCLA is 24-14 ATS (+8.6 Units) when playing against a team with a winning record over the last 2 seasons.
USC is 17-32 ATS (-18.2 Units) versus good defensive teams - allowing <=64 points/game since 1997.
Head-to-Head Series History
UCLA is 4-1 against the spread versus USC over the last 3 seasons
UCLA is 3-2 straight up against USC over the last 3 seasons
3 of 5 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL over the last 3 seasons
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