Saturday, January 19, 2008

Money's plays for saturday

I like these games a lot:

VANDERBILT -12.5 vs. Lsu
What a great time to get a struggling lsu team at home.

OHIO STATE +11 @ Tennessee
There is no way the Volunteers can come up with the same intense output on back to back games on the heels of their victory on Thursday.

KANSAS -7 @ Missouri
Rivalry game? Yes, but Missouri does not have a chance in this game.

Other thoughts:
ANTI BAY AREA GAMES

ARIZONA +2 @ Cal
Cal can't defend

ARIZONA STATE +8.5 @ Stanford
The sundevils will be tired from a double OT game but Mitch Johnson will turn the ball over enough to keep this game close.

ANTI DRAKE
ILLINOIS STATE +5 @ Drake
Tough to go against The DRAKE, but they will be hurt in this game playing without their leading scorer Young.

Betting against DUKE
CLEMSON +8.5 @ Duke
I can never resist a good bet against Duke. Clemson can play with them and always gets up to play them.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Crazy Eights

There are a few sites that I checked religiously, and are located on the side navigation bar of The Truth. I frequently check Ken Pomeroy statistics, Sagarin ratings and SI.com. Sports Illustrated has some great college basketball writers, starting with my favorite, Seth Davis. Luke Winn has a good blog and Grant Wahl will occasionally contribute some good articles, one of his best being the annual Magic 8. He picks eight teams in January, of which one will be the National Champion. He has done this for the past 9 years and picked the eventual winner every year, except for 2003 when Syracuse won it all.

Frankly, I don’t think it seems that tough to do. I mean you are picking one team of 8 to win it all. I think at this point, we have a good idea of who can play and who can’t. Anyway, he did it, so Money will do it as well.

We definitely had a few overlapping teams, but it is hard not to, when some of these teams are so obviously primed to win it all. I can say that my original final four is still in tact and that I still truly do believe in them. I also will continue to keep Georgetown, Washington state and Texas out of the final four. The one exception I would make would be to include Indiana as a team that may be able to make some noise in the tournament with DJ White and Eric Gordon.

Without further adieu, I give you my Crazy Eights (in alphabetical order). One of these teams will be cutting down the nets in April.

ARIZONA:
This is a team that I am buying now. They play better defense with Lute gone now and Bayless is back and dominant now after a short 4 game injury stint. They have some good victories thus far, and I expect them to get better with a healthy Bayless now.

KANSAS:
Wouldn’t you know it, the moment that Money drops these guys, they become dominant again. Money is always one year too early when making his predictions. There is still time for these guys to break our hearts, but they have everything a coach would want. Anything less than a national championship for this team would be an utter failure.

LOUISVILLE:
As B. Anthony predicted, Padgett would get hurt and Caracter would get kicked off the team. The good thing about this sport is that it is not football. You can still win it all if you pull yourself together, which they seem to be doing now. They have the talent and the coach to get them there. Watch out for these guys, provided everyone stays healthy and does not get kicked off the team!

MICHIGAN STATE:
Never discount a Tom Izzo team, especially one being led by Drew Neitzel. This is the type of player that is capable of accomplishing greatness in the tournament.

MEMPHIS:
If you read The Truth then you know about Memphis. They could have trouble with a team like Washington State, Georgetown or USC, but I am splitting hairs. These guys are really good and fun to watch.

NORTH CAROLINA:
This is an incredibly talented unit, they could be exposed on the defensive end and the injury to Bobby Frasor will make Ty Lawson’s season longer, but they have the players and the coach to overcome this.

UCLA:
Kevin Love is the perfect compliment to this team. Aside from Kansas, this is the team with the fewest flaws.

TENNESSEE:
This team is doing great this year and they have not received the All-American play from Chris Lofton yet. This is great because it is allowing Tennessee to play together as a team and focus more on their defense.

Just missing the cut:

TEXAS A&M:
Where have you gone Acie Law? This was my team last year. I loved them, but I abandoned them. Law went pro. The coach bolted for Kentucky. All is lost. Not so fast. They still stress and play great defense. The improvement now is in their offense.

INDIANA:
The combo of DJ White and Eric Gordon could be prove to be quite special come March.

Tonite’s plays

LOUISVILLE -3 vs. Marquette
This game may blow up in my face, as it should be close and the past couple of meetings have been won by the visiting team, but I think this Louisville team is about to catch fire.

MINNESOTA +1.5 vs. Indiana
Under the radar Gopher team will trip up Indiana who does not play well in Minnesota.

ARIZONA STATE +5.5 @ Cal
This bet has more to do with my lack of confidence in Cal then my respect of ASU.

ARIZONA +5 @ Stanford
I like this Arizona team a lot more with Bayless back.

WASHINGTON STATE -19.5 vs. Oregon State
The cougars will look to get back on track against the lowly beavers who really suck. Quitters!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

News Flash, B. Anthony changes his colors.....Not

I know all of you thought I would always play Memphis, no matter what, well, you were ........Right!!!!!!!!!!!!

Memphis -27 vs Rice. Tigers are due for a let down, ( but it won't happen) Rice has a youngty point guard, Bryan Beasley, who will keep this game under 20 down the stretch.(No he won't, he will turn the ball over a ton... Are you kidding?!!!! Memphis wins this game big early and embarasses this Rice team. They will be up 25 at half and keep pouring it on. Lay the points in first half and for the game!!!!!!!

Iowa +2 vs Purdue. Home game for Hawkeyes against a young and talented Purdue team. Take the home dog!

Illinois -11 vs Michigan. Rivalry Game, but the Illini are ready to pound an over matched Michigan team.

Dayton -6 vs UMass. Flyers are playing well and need to make a home statement!! ( Sorry, Money and I disagree on this one.

The Drake -3. I will keep playing them until they hurt me!

Good Gaming

B. Anthony
75-65-2 ytd

Money's Wednesday Plays

B. Anthony makes it look so easy. He throws out a bunch of games, and he was been right more often than not. At one point last night, it appeared that he was going to go 6 for 6, but New Mexico completely tanked and blew a double digit lead, to not only lose out on the cover, but the game too. Miss state should have covered as well, but made a few mental mistakes to keep the game in tact but screw the line.

With that, I give you my 8 picks for the evening. Based on my wife, Penny, and her success I have become a fan of the 8 team parlay.

I still love a good halftime bet and there were many to be had last night. Notre Dame down 7 at half playing at home was a lay-up. The savvy gambler noticed the 10-2 run that Ohio state put together at the end of the half to turn a blowout into a 13 point halftime deficit, which they quickly got down to 2 points. The second half OSU line was never in doubt. Pay close attention at 5pm and 7pm and get ready to jump on the good halftime bets, and by that I mean big favorites playing at home that are down at halftime by more 4-5 points. Vegas is rarely off by a lot when pickng lines for the game. Consider that MSU was up 21 points at one point and could do no wrong, but failed to cover the game spread of -8.5 eventually winning by just 6 points.

FLORIDA STATE +5.5 vs. Duke
B. Anthony is not a fan of this pick, but I like it. They both have athletes, but I think the home court will make the 3 point shot easier to hit for FSU.

MASSACUSETTS +6.5 @ Dayton
I will take the team that has 3 great players (UMass) versus the team with 1 (Dayton)

THE DRAKE -3 @ Bradley
Yes, THE DRAKE’s leading scorer is sidelined with a bad ankle, but that did not stop them in their last game. Keep riding this team to the sweet 16.

MISSOURI -5.5 @ Iowa state
The Tigers are playing with a lot of confidence and are the far superior team in this game.

FLORIDA +6 @ Mississippi
The gators getting points? This is unheard of. They still have talent, albeit young. This will be a backdoor cover as Ole’ Miss can’t close games out.

SOUTH ALABAMA -16 vs. Fla International
A surprisingly very good team playing against one of the worst.

DEPAUL +10.5 @ Villanova
There is no way Nova should be favored by double digits over anyone in the Big East. DePaul beat them once before and they may do it again.

TEXAS A&M -5 @ Bobby Knight
Knight will be going for win 900. It won't happen tonite. The aggies are one of the best kept secrets in the nation.


Money

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Another Opportunity

How far has Oklahoma State fallen? A once proud program is getting 7 points at Baylor, and they won't cover! Here are the 5 best plays for tonight.

Baylor -7 vs OSU. Home team on a roll, lay the points!

BC -2 vs Miami. Great game, but the magic of Doug Flutie will prevail! Tyreece Rice will hit some big shots and free throws down the stretch.

Missouri St. -9 vs Indiana St. This is both anti Sycamores and pro Missouri State. Double digit lead early and often.

New Mexico -3 vs TCU. Talented team, hungry coach ready for a break out year. They need to prove they can win on the Road. It starts tonight. Watch for JR Giddens Below!


Wake Forest +7.5 vs Maryland. Two teams that are down this year will battle to the end, take the points!

Added TV Game: Take Mississippi State -9 vs Kentucky. This will be a double digit win, the Wildcats last win was a fluke not a sign of things to come!

Good Gaming,

71-63-2 ytd
B. Anthony

Monday, January 14, 2008

Oklahoma, Oklahoma, Oklahoma!

I have seen enough games now to know who the contenders are;
Kansas, UCLA, Memphis, and North Carolina.

I also have good idea who the frauds are as well;
Texas, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Oregon.

This does not mean that the contenders will make the final four, nor does it mean that the pretenders won't. It does mean that given a chance to bet against the frauds, I will. Why are they frauds? Because my good friend Ken Pomeroy and his defensive efficiency ratings tell me so. The frauds are good teams, ranked in the top 25 that don't play defense. This will come back and bite them and limit their chances of severely making a deep run in the tournament.

I do have a group of teams that are sleepers now, but won't be for much longer. Oklahoma is one of them. They play the Jayhawks tonite who are terrific. But the sooners have some big boys who can bang down low and the perimeter players to keep this game competitive. I will take the points in this game tonite.

OKLAHOMA +15 @ Kansas