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NHL Against the Spread Rankings
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TUESDAY, JANUARY 24
FLA at PIT 07:00 PM FLA +120
O 6.5+500 +500 BOS at MON 07:00 PM MON +290
O 6.0+500 +500 LA at PHI 07:00 PM LA -140
U 6.0+500 +500 MIN at TB 07:00 PM TB -160
O 6.0+500 +500 SJ at DET 07:00 PM SJ +130
O 6.5+500 +500 VEG at NJ 07:30 PM NJ -170
O 6.5+500 +500 BUF at STL 08:00 PM STL -135
O 6.5+500 +500 WIN at NAS 08:00 PM WIN -115
U 5.5+500 +500 ANA at ARI 09:00 PM ARI -135
O 6.5+500 +500 WAS at COL 09:00 PM WAS +140
O 6.0+500 +500 CHI at VAN 10:00 PM VAN -225
U 6.0+500 +500 Comment
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Completed Picks
Past Completed Picks01/24/2023 8-12-2 40.91% -2675 Detail 01/23/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +1250 Detail 01/22/2023 6-4-0 60.00% +1275 Detail 01/21/2023 11-16-1 41.07% -3500 Detail 01/20/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -50 Detail 01/19/2023 18-8-0 69.23% +4800 Detail 01/18/2023 6-3-1 65.00% +1700 Detail 01/17/2023 7-8-1 46.88% -600 Detail 01/16/2023 8-10-0 44.44% -1175 Detail 01/15/2023 3-3-0 50.00% -575 Detail 01/14/2023 18-10-0 64.29% +3425 Detail 01/13/2023 2-4-0 33.33% -875 Detail 01/12/2023 11-13-0 45.83% -250 Detail 01/11/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +675 Detail 01/10/2023 13-6-0 68.42% +3625 Detail 01/09/2023 4-4-0 50.00% -800 Detail 01/08/2023 6-10-0 37.50% -1850 Detail 01/07/2023 8-9-1 47.22% -350 Detail 01/06/2023 3-8-1 29.17% -2550 Detail 01/05/2023 11-8-1 57.50% +1975 Detail 01/04/2023 3-2-1 58.33% +850 Detail 01/03/2023 16-6-0 72.73% +5425 Detail 01/02/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -300 Detail 01/01/2023 7-3-0 70.00% +1975 Detail Comment
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Armadillo Sports
Wednesday’s 6-pack
College basketball teams getting highest % of their points on 3’s:
3) Chattanooga 45.2%
4) Penn State 43.5%
6) San Francisco 41.4%
7) Detroit Mercy 41.4%
8) Belmont 41.4%
9) VMI 41.1%
Quote of the Day
“If he’s a good hitter, why doesn’t he hit good?”
Billy Beane, in Moneyball
Wednesday’s quiz
The first time Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, who was their QB?
Tuesday’s quiz
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 12 years ago; he is 6-8 in playoff games since then.
Monday’s quiz
Steve McNair was the Tennessee Titans’ QB in their one Super Bowl appearance.
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Wednesday’s Den: Mid-week musings……..
— Here’s a question to start the day with:
If you were a Division I college basketball coach, would you try and recruit Bronny James to play for your team?
Plusses:
He is a 6-3 G who is a good shooter, an unselfish player.
He’s played at a high level in high school, against good competition.
He is Lebron James’ son; he’ll increase your visibility. Maybe by a lot.
Minuses:
He isn’t his father, who is one of the 2-3 best basketball players ever.
He’s only going to play one year in college, then go to the NBA to play on the same team as his father, before Lebron Sr retires.
Is it worth all the effort to recruit the kid? It is an interesting question.
— Illinois 69, Ohio State 60— Buckeyes lost six of their last seven games; they’re shooting 43.4% inside the arc in conference games, which isn’t good.
— North Carolina 72, Syracuse 68— Tar Heels were 14-23 on the foul line, Syracuse 2-3. North Carolina scored the last five points of the game, after blowing a 10-point lead.
— Iowa State 80, Kansas State 76— Cyclones shot 69.7% inside the arc in a high-level game between two teams who will be fashionable picks for the Final 4 in March.
— Kentucky 69, Vanderbilt 53— Wildcats won their last four games, have Kansas visiting Rupp Arena Saturday. They win that game, they’re off the proverbial bubble.
— Rutgers 65, Penn State 45— Scarlet Knights have won 8 of their last 10 games; they’re forcing turnovers 23.2% of the time, are tied for 2nd place in the Big 14.
— TCU 79, Oklahoma 52— Horned Frogs are 14-3 in their last 17 games; they’re #3 in the nation in continuity, and they pounded Oklahoma in this game, up 44-27 at halftime.
— Drake 70, Indiana State 68— Drake led 44-26 at halftime, blew the lead, then won the game on a 3-pointer with 0:02 left. Drake has won five of its last six games; the Sycamores have lost five in a row.
— Georgetown 81, DePaul 76— Hoyas ended their 29-game Big East losing streak. Since 2008, DePaul is now 52-227 in Big East Conference games.
— San Jose State 82, Air Force 52— Spartans improve to 13-8, 4-4 in Mountain West; as Tim Miles is doing a great rebuilding job. How great?
Since joining the Mountain West ten years ago, San Jose is 73-224, 25-143 in conference games. Their last winning season was 1993-94. Miles is doing a miraculous job in San Jose.
— Toledo 84, Eastern Michigan 79— Rockets were down 11 with 6:46 left; they survived a 43-point explosion from EMU star Emoni Bates, who had scored a total of 34 points in his previous three games. At one point, Bates scored 29 straight points for the Eagles.
— Northern Illinois 86, Kent State 76— Huskies were a 13-point home underdog; they handed Kent State their first MAC loss, dropping them into a first-place tie with Akron.
In non-basketball stuff……….
— Scott Rolen got 76.3% of the votes, joins Fred McGriff as 2023 inductees into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Todd Helton missed getting voted in by 11 votes, which is disappointing.
Here are Helton’s career home/away splits:
Home: .345 batting average, 1.048 OPS, with 227 home runs
Away: .287 batting average, .855 OPS, with 142 home runs
It all adds up; Helton hit .316 with 369 career home runs. Does it really matter where he hit them? He is getting penalized for playing for the Rockies.
— Arte Moreno took his Los Angeles Angels off the market; be bought the team 20 years ago for $180M, was asking $2.5B to sell them this year.
Angels haven’t had a winning record since 2015; they last made the playoffs in 2014, but not because they don’t try. It’ll be interesting to see if they can re-sign Shohei Ohtani next year.
— By the way, in 1980, the Mets were sold for $21.1M; wonder what they’re worth now?
Comment
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NY RANGERS are 7-1 Under (5.9 Units) in road games after scoring 5 goals or more in their previous game in the current season.
OTTAWA is 19-13 ATS (4.7 Units) after scoring 2 goals or less in 2 straight games in the last 3 seasons.
CAROLINA is 10-0 ATS (10 Units) off a win against a division rival in the current season.
EDMONTON is 15-2 ATS (12.8 Units) in home games after scoring 4 goals or more in 2 straight games over the last 2 seasons.
SEATTLE is 9-3 ATS (5.7 Units) in January games in the current season.
NHL
Dunkel
Wednesday, January 25
NHL
Wednesday, January 25
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Trend Report
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NY Islanders @ Ottawa
NY Islanders
NY Islanders is 10-1 SU in its last 11 games when playing Ottawa
NY Islanders is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Ottawa
Ottawa
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Ottawa's last 10 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Ottawa's last 6 games when playing at home against NY Islanders
NY Rangers @ Toronto
NY Rangers
NY Rangers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Toronto
NY Rangers is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Toronto
Toronto is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone OVER in 10 of Toronto's last 14 games when playing at home against NY Rangers
Carolina @ Dallas
Carolina
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Carolina's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 9 of Carolina's last 10 games
Dallas
Dallas is 7-1 ATS in its last 8 games when playing Carolina
The total has gone UNDER in 9 of Dallas's last 11 games
Columbus @ Edmonton
Columbus
Columbus is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 6 of Columbus's last 8 games
Edmonton
Edmonton is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Edmonton is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Vancouver @ Seattle
Vancouver
Vancouver is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Seattle
Vancouver is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Seattle
Seattle
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Seattle's last 5 games when playing Vancouver
Seattle is 9-3 ATS in its last 12 games
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Comment
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WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 25
NYR at TOR 07:00 PM TOR -155
U 6.0+500 +500 NYI at OTT 07:00 PM NYI +110
O 6.0+500 +500 CAR at DAL 08:30 PM CAR -115
U 6.0+500 +500 CLB at EDM 09:30 PM CLB +320
O 6.5+500 +500 VAN at SEA 10:00 PM SEA -180
U 6.5+500 +500 Comment
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Completed Picks
Past Completed Picks01/25/2023 6-4-0 60.00% +1950 Detail 01/24/2023 8-12-2 40.91% -2675 Detail 01/23/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +1250 Detail 01/22/2023 6-4-0 60.00% +1275 Detail 01/21/2023 11-16-1 41.07% -3500 Detail 01/20/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -50 Detail 01/19/2023 18-8-0 69.23% +4800 Detail 01/18/2023 6-3-1 65.00% +1700 Detail 01/17/2023 7-8-1 46.88% -600 Detail 01/16/2023 8-10-0 44.44% -1175 Detail 01/15/2023 3-3-0 50.00% -575 Detail 01/14/2023 18-10-0 64.29% +3425 Detail 01/13/2023 2-4-0 33.33% -875 Detail 01/12/2023 11-13-0 45.83% -250 Detail 01/11/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +675 Detail 01/10/2023 13-6-0 68.42% +3625 Detail 01/09/2023 4-4-0 50.00% -800 Detail 01/08/2023 6-10-0 37.50% -1850 Detail 01/07/2023 8-9-1 47.22% -350 Detail 01/06/2023 3-8-1 29.17% -2550 Detail 01/05/2023 11-8-1 57.50% +1975 Detail 01/04/2023 3-2-1 58.33% +850 Detail 01/03/2023 16-6-0 72.73% +5425 Detail 01/02/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -300 Detail 01/01/2023 7-3-0 70.00% +1975 Detail Comment
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Armadillo Sports
Thursday’s 6-pack
Pre-season top 6 in college baseball this season:
1) LSU
2) Tennessee
3) Florida
4) Stanford
5) Louisville
6) Vanderbilt
Quote of the Day
“……here’s the thing. If you can’t spot the sucker in your first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker.”
Mike McDermott, Rounders
Thursday’s quiz
Since 2000, UConn has won four national titles in basketball; Jim Calhoun was coach for three of those titles. Who was the coach of UConn’s 2014 championship team?
Wednesday’s quiz
First time Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, Brad Johnson was their QB.
Tuesday’s quiz
Mike McCarthy won a Super Bowl with Green Bay 12 years ago; he is 6-8 in playoff games since then.
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Thursday’s Den: Doing some thinking out loud…….
— Xavier 82, UConn 79
Xavier played seven guys; they led by 17 early in second half.
UConn was 1-13 on arc in first half, 9-15 in second half.
Huskies are 2-6 in last eight games, after a 14-0 start.
— Pitt 81, Wake Forest 79— Pitt was 18-37 on arc, 10-21 inside arc; their two leading scorers were 14-23 from the floor, with every shot a 3-pointer.
— Tulane 95, Wichita State 90 OT
Shockers led by 18 in first half, by 8 with 2:42 left in game.
Tulane has won six of its last eight games.
— Alabama 66, Mississippi State 63
Miss State led by 10 with 16:19 left in game.
Teams combined to shoot 8-43 on the arc.
Alabama has won nine in a row; Bulldogs have lost 8 of last 9.
— Texas A&M 79, Auburn 63
Aggies snapped Auburn’s 28-game home winning streak, which had been the longest in the country.
Texas A&M won eight of its last nine games.
— Furman 91, Samford 84 OT
Paladins were 27-34 on foul line, Samford 13-19
Samford led by 5 with 2:00 left in regulation.
Samford slips into a tie for first in SoCon with NC-Greensboro
— Rhode Island 75, Dayton 70
Scores like this are why the Atlantic 15 will be a one-bid league for first time since 2002.
URI coach Miller went 139-63 as Dayton’s coach from 2011-17.
— George Washington 92, St Joe’s 91 OT— Colonials have their first 3-game winning streak in five years.
— Odds to win the Super Bowl:
+260— Bengals, Eagles
+280— Chiefs
+320— 49ers
First time in 40 years that none of the final four teams is 4-1 or better to win the Super Bowl.
— Last time the spread for both conference championship games was less than 3 points was 1997, when Denver-Pittsburgh, Green Bay-San Francisco were the matchups.
— Last nine times the conference championship game was a #1-#2 seed game, like 49ers-Eagles this weekend, the #1-seed was 7-2 SU, 5-4 ATS.
Since 2003, when a #1-seed is playing a #3 or lower seed in the conference title game, the #1-seed is 6-4 ATS in those games.
— Conference championship games are the NFL’s Final Four; Dallas Cowboys haven’t made the Final Four since 1995. Dallas won Super Bowls in 1992, 1993, 1995, but nothing close since.
— New England Patriots did a smart thing and hired former Texans’ coach Bill O’Brien as their offensive coordinator; O’Brien worked for New England from 2007-11- he was most recently an assistant coach at Alabama.
— Tennessee signed football coach Josh Heupel to a contract extension worth $9M a year thru 2028. Heupel is 18-8 in his first two years coaching the Vols.
— There are ten teams in the Ohio Valley Conference; six of them are tied for first place, with 5-3 conference records. No one in the OVC is in the top 200; could be that the winner of the OVC tourney will make an appearance in Dayton, at the play-in games.
— It bothers me a little when people don’t say “thank you”. You do something nice, doesn’t take much to say “thank you”
— Tampa Bay Rays signed P Jeffrey Springs to a 4-year, $31M contract extension; Springs was 9-5, 2.46 in 33 games (25 starts) last year.
— Oakland A’s signed 1B Jesus Aguilar to a one-year, $3M deal; Aguilar had good seasons in 2018 and 2021— he hit .235 for the Marlins/Orioles last year.
— RA Dickey and Mike Napoli each got a vote for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Go figure.
— Don Mattingly played 14 years in the major leagues; he hit six grand slams, all of them in 1987, which was the most grand slams ever hit in one season. But he never hit a grand slam in any other season.
— Most career touchdown passes by a QB with 0 or 1 career playoff wins:
291- Carson Palmer (1-3 playoff record)
255- Sonny Jurgensen (0-0)
252- Kirk Cousins (1-3)
244— John Hadl (0-2), Andy Dalton (0-4)
227— Jay Cutler (1-1)
— I’m sick of the Manning family; Peyton, Eli, Archie, all of them. They do more commercials than Jennifer Garner and Kevin Hart. Eli Manning never said boo when he was playing; now he is everywhere on TV. Just go away.
— For some misguided reason, West Virginia is in the Big X Conference. Here is how far they are from their nine conference rivals:
Iowa State— 867 miles
Kansas— 903 miles
Kansas State— 984 miles
Oklahoma State— 1,089 miles
Oklahoma— 1,141 miles
TCU— 1,236 miles
Texas— 1,400 miles
Texas Tech— 1,470 miles
What genius thought this was a good idea?
Comment
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TAMPA BAY is 6-0 Over (6 Units) after 3 consecutive non-conference games in the current season.
MONTREAL is 7-2 ATS (4.8 Units) off a home loss against a division rival over the last 2 seasons.
PITTSBURGH is 9-19 ATS (-11.9 Units) in road games after playing a game where 8 or more total goals were scored in the last 3 seas...
WINNIPEG is 11-2 ATS (8.8 Units) in home games after covering 2 of their last 3 against the spread in the current season.
NEW JERSEY is 7-0 ATS (7 Units) in road games revenging a loss vs opponent as a home favorite in the current season.
PHILADELPHIA is 26-68 ATS (-48.8 Units) when playing their 4th game in 7 days in the last 3 seasons.
CALGARY is 9-0 ATS (9 Units) revenging a loss vs opponent as a road favorite in the current season.
ARIZONA is 26-29 ATS (-5.9 Units) after playing 2 consecutive home games in the last 3 seasons.
ANAHEIM is 7-31 ATS (-27.1 Units) after covering 2 of their last 3 against the spread in the last 3 seasons.
Comment
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NHL
Thursday, January 26
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Trend Report
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Detroit @ Montreal
Detroit
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Detroit's last 5 games when playing Montreal
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Detroit's last 7 games on the road
Montreal
Montreal is 12-3 SU in its last 15 games when playing at home against Detroit
Montreal is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Detroit
Boston @ Tampa Bay
Boston
Boston is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games
Boston is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Tampa Bay
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
Tampa Bay is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games at home
Pittsburgh @ Washington
Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Pittsburgh's last 5 games when playing Washington
Washington
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 5 games when playing Pittsburgh
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Washington's last 6 games when playing at home against Pittsburgh
New Jersey @ Nashville
New Jersey
The total has gone OVER in 5 of New Jersey's last 5 games on the road
New Jersey is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games
Nashville
Nashville is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing New Jersey
Nashville is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games at home
Buffalo @ Winnipeg
Buffalo
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Buffalo's last 7 games when playing Winnipeg
Buffalo is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 games when playing on the road against Winnipeg
Winnipeg
Winnipeg is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Winnipeg's last 7 games when playing Buffalo
Philadelphia @ Minnesota
Philadelphia
Philadelphia is 12-1 ATS in its last 13 games on the road
Philadelphia is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games on the road
Minnesota
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Minnesota's last 8 games at home
Minnesota is 9-2 SU in its last 11 games at home
St. Louis @ Arizona
St. Louis
The total has gone OVER in 14 of St. Louis's last 16 games on the road
St. Louis is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games on the road
Arizona
Arizona is 13-3 ATS in its last 16 games when playing St. Louis
Arizona is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games when playing at home against St. Louis
Chicago @ Calgary
Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing on the road against Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Chicago's last 5 games when playing Calgary
Calgary
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing at home against Chicago
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Calgary's last 5 games when playing Chicago
Anaheim @ Colorado
Anaheim
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Anaheim's last 5 games on the road
The total has gone OVER in 5 of Anaheim's last 5 games
Colorado
Colorado is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games
Colorado is 5-0 ATS in its last 5 games when playing Anaheim
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Comment
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NHL
Dunkel
Thursday, January 26
Comment
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 26
PIT at WAS 07:00 PM PIT +105
O 6.5+500 +500 BOS at TB 07:00 PM BOS -120
U 6.0+500 +500 DET at MON 07:00 PM MON +145
O 6.0+500 +500 PHI at MIN 08:00 PM MIN -230
U 6.0+500 +500 NJ at NAS 08:00 PM NJ -130
U 6.0+500 +500 BUF at WIN 08:00 PM BUF +155
O 6.5+500 +500 ANA at COL 09:00 PM ANA +320
O 6.5+500 +500 CHI at CAL 09:00 PM CHI +320
O 6.0+500 +500 STL at ARI 09:00 PM STL -150
U 6.5+500 +500 Comment
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Completed Picks
Past Completed Picks01/26/2023 9-8-1 52.78% +2325 Detail 01/25/2023 6-4-0 60.00% +1950 Detail 01/24/2023 8-12-2 40.91% -2675 Detail 01/23/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +1250 Detail 01/22/2023 6-4-0 60.00% +1275 Detail 01/21/2023 11-16-1 41.07% -3500 Detail 01/20/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -50 Detail 01/19/2023 18-8-0 69.23% +4800 Detail 01/18/2023 6-3-1 65.00% +1700 Detail 01/17/2023 7-8-1 46.88% -600 Detail 01/16/2023 8-10-0 44.44% -1175 Detail 01/15/2023 3-3-0 50.00% -575 Detail 01/14/2023 18-10-0 64.29% +3425 Detail 01/13/2023 2-4-0 33.33% -875 Detail 01/12/2023 11-13-0 45.83% -250 Detail 01/11/2023 5-3-0 62.50% +675 Detail 01/10/2023 13-6-0 68.42% +3625 Detail 01/09/2023 4-4-0 50.00% -800 Detail 01/08/2023 6-10-0 37.50% -1850 Detail 01/07/2023 8-9-1 47.22% -350 Detail 01/06/2023 3-8-1 29.17% -2550 Detail 01/05/2023 11-8-1 57.50% +1975 Detail 01/04/2023 3-2-1 58.33% +850 Detail 01/03/2023 16-6-0 72.73% +5425 Detail 01/02/2023 2-2-0 50.00% -300 Detail 01/01/2023 7-3-0 70.00% +1975 Detail Comment
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Armadillo Sports
Friday’s 6-pack
College basketball teams with best 2-point FG% defense:
41.3%— USC
42.1%— Houston
42.4%— Alabama
42.4%— Northwestern
42.8%— Tennessee
42.9%— Oklahoma
Quote of the Day
“As far as my relationship with Jerry (Jones), just using his words, we’re in an excellent spot. The partnership that we have, he’s excited about. He told me a number of times this week that he wants me to coach here as long as Coach Landry did. And I said, ‘OK, that’s a long time.’ I feel really good about our relationship. I think our ability to discuss and disagree, we do a good job of that, and I think that’s important.”
Cowboys’ coach Mike McCarthy
Friday’s quiz
In what city where the baseball scenes in The Natural filmed?
Thursday’s quiz
Since 2000, UConn has won four national titles in basketball; Jim Calhoun was coach for three of those titles. Kevin Ollie was the coach of UConn’s 2014 championship team.
Wednesday’s quiz
First time Tampa Bay Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, Brad Johnson was their QB.
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Friday’s Den: Random stuff with the weekend here……..
— Happy 89th birthday to the great Bob Uecker, a baseball legend who became a way bigger star after he stopped playing and became a TV personality. He used to be on The Tonight Show just because Johnny Carson thought he was funny, which he is.
Uecker was also in a TV series (Mr Belvedere) and in the classic baseball movie Major League, as well as countless beer commercials. He made himself a fortune by not taking himself too seriously.
Uecker still broadcasts some Milwaukee Brewer games; there is a statue of him in the upper reaches of Miller Park. Happy birthday sir!!!
— Five actors who appeared in both M*A*S*H and The Sopranos:
Bruce Kirby
Burt Young— Best known as Rocky Balboa’s brother-in-law
Peter Riegert— One of the guys from Animal House
Val Bisoglio
Joe Pantoliano— Guido the Pimp from Risky Business
— Carolina Panthers hired Frank Reich as their new coach, which raised some eyebrows around the NFL. Reich went 40-33-1 coaching the Colts, despite having a different starting QB every year.
Carolina is 29-53 the last five years; their owner David Tepper is NFL’s wealthiest owner, and rich people tend to be impatient.
Tepper fired Matt Rhule when the Panthers started this season 1-4; interim coach Steve Wilks led Carolina to a 6-6 record— there was some thought that he would get the job, but he didn’t, which is what raised the eyebrows.
— New Jersey Jets hired Nathaniel Hackett as their new offensive coordinator; Hackett had a lot of success as a coordinator in Green Bay, raising speculation that QB Aaron Rodgers could be headed to the Jets, but they said that when he got hired in Denver too, and that didn’t work out very well.
— Oakland A’s traded P Cole Irvin and a prospect to the Orioles, for minor league IF prospect Darell Hernaiz, who hit .305 in the Class A South Atlantic League, but then went 6-53 in a cameo appearance in the AA Eastern League.
A’s have added a lot of pitching prospects because they’ve traded all their good players, so now they’re trying to find new position players so they don’t go 60-102 again.
I’m not optimistic, in case you haven’t noticed.
— Houston Astros won the World Series last year, then they fired their general manager, which was genuinely odd. Astros hired a new GM this week; Dana Brown, who was a longtime scouting executive with the Braves.
No pressure here; your predecessor just won the World Series and got fired, because the Astros’ owner listens more to former players than the GM.
— When USC/UCLA leave the Pac-12 in couple years, what will the Pac-12 do? Will they go back to being the Pac-10 or will they add San Diego State and either UNLV/Boise State and stay with a 12-team format?
— Auburn Tigers had their 28-game home winning streak snapped this week, leaving UCLA (19) and Kent State (16) with the longest home winning streaks in the country.
Speaking of UCLA……..
— USC 77, UCLA 64— Bruins have won 19 in a row at home, but they got outscored 52-27 in the second half of this game against their crosstown rivals. USC is a bubble team; this is a very big win for them.
— Arizona 73, Washington State 68— Arizona never trailed, but they only played seven guys and they won by 5 points against the 9-13 Coogs. Wazzu outscored Arizona 16-3 on the foul line; I’m unsure if this is a red flag for Arizona, but it sure could be.
— Purdue 75, Michigan 70— Wolverines are 11-9, 5-4 in conference; they’re heading straight towards the NIT. Michigan is 4-8 in games decided by 7 or less points, or in OT.
— Cal-Fullerton 62, Cal-Irvine 61— Titans outscored Irvine 8-2 over the final 2:02, draining a 3-pointer with 0:03 left for the win. Fullerton won despite shooting 35.4% from the floor. Big West tournament is going to have a lot of close games.
ESPN+ is a lot of fun; can watch all these games and learn about the teams to get ready for March. One of the small down sides of ESPN+ is that some of these leagues have announcers who aren’t………how can I say this? ……..who aren’t good.
This game had at least one student announcing; he seemed to know a lot about baseball and the NFL and well, gambling— he quoted the line on this game before the last possession.
— Cal-Santa Barbara 65, Hawaii 64— Gauchos were down by a point on last possession; they gave the ball to Ajay Mitchell and didn’t really run a play, he just went 1-on-1 and banked in a leaner with 0:01.5 left to give UCSB a dramatic win, which kept them in first place.
— Washington 69, Arizona State 66 OT— Sun Devils led 12-0 early, then trailed 32-20 at the half; Arizona State shot 30.7% from the floor in their third straight loss, which is bad for a bubble team.
— Louisiana-Monroe 86, Marshall 82, 2OT— Warhawks were a 16-point underdog; their bench played a total of 18:00 in a double overtime game. Two of their guys played all 50:00.
Sun Belt is a wide-open league; every team has lost 2+ games.
— RIP to basketball icon Billy Packer, who passed away at age 82; Packer was the lead college basketball TV analyst for 34 straight Final Fours. He was blunt and smart- he played ball at Wake Forest, helping the Deacons make the 1962 Final Four.
When Packer was in a 3-man TV booth with Dick Enberg/Al McGuire, it was great TV; you could learn so much about basketball listening to them.
Billy Packer taught me a lot about basketball; I appreciate that. RIP, sir.
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NY ISLANDERS are 1-9 ATS (-8.9 Units) after scoring 2 goals or less in 4 straight games in the last 3 seasons.
OTTAWA is 6-0 Over (6 Units) in road games after playing 2 consecutive home games in the current season.
LOS ANGELES are 108-67 Under (34.3 Units) in road games after playing 3 consecutive road games since 1996.
SAN JOSE is 146-125 ATS (8.5 Units) in road games after failing to cover 4 or 5 of their last 6 against the spread since 1996.
NY RANGERS are 142-162 ATS (-36.2 Units) at home when the total is >=6 since 1996.
NEW JERSEY is 7-1 Over (5.9 Units) in road games in non-conference games in the current season.
VANCOUVER is 9-2 Over (6.8 Units) after allowing 6 goals or more over the last 2 seasons.
CALGARY is 7-14 ATS (-8.4 Units) after playing 4 consecutive home games in the last 3 seasons.
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