Newsletter Picks (pro and college)

[bubbas1]

POINTWISE CELLEGE & PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PROPHECY

81% RUN LAST TWO WEEKS

NCAA KEY SELECTIONS:
1* MISSOURI over Texas A&M
1* OKLAHOMA STATE over Kansas
2* TEXAS over Texas Tech
3* UCLA over Oregon
4* NEW MEXICO over Air Force
4* LSU over Alabama
5* MIAMI-FLORIDA over Syracuse
5* GEORGIA over Auburn

NFL KEY SELECTIONS:
2* TENNESSEE over Jacksonville
3* CINCINNATI over Kansas City
4* CHICAGO over St Louis
4* OAKLAND over Minnesota
5* SAN FRANCISCO over Pittsburgh

DETAILED ANALYSIS OF TOP RATED KEY SELECTIONS

MISSOURI 52 - Texas A&M 14 - (2:00) -- Tigers were killed by the TO at Colo, losing despite 27-19 FD & 447-276 yd edges. Look for Smith & Co to shake losing monkey here. Tigs covered last HG by 35, & Ags have allowed 58, 48, & 77 pts in last 3 RGs. Chalk on an 8-0 spread run in A&M games, by 32 ppg! 14 FDs. The host is king in Duck games, covering their last 2 HGs by 15.5 ppg, but losing last 2 RGs by 46? & 30? ATS. Uclans recall LY's heartbreak.

OKLAHOMA STATE 54 - Kansas 14 - (2:00) -- Similar setup to above game, in which offensive machine is in off pair of Embarrassments. 'Pokes have been outscored 107-25 last 2 wks, after a 7-game winning streak. Jays are without Whittemore, & have ceded 50, 42, & 45 pts in their last 3 RGs. It all adds up. Devils. Beavs have Oregon & USC up next, so can't afford any slippage here. Led Arizona, 52-7, prior to bye, & should be able to continue overhead assault.

TENNESSEE 33 - Jacksonville 13 - (1:00) -- Jags provided us with one of our few bright spots last Sunday, beating Indy in the final 1:08, with Taylor's 152 RYs leading the way. As we said a week ago, J'Ville's record hardly reflects its statistical showings. This is the 2nd straight revenger for the Jags, but calling for a repeat of their showing vs the Colts is simply asking too much. The Titans keep on winning. Now on 19-4 SU run & 17-6 ATS skein. They led Miami 31-0, & have allowed only 2 squads to reach 100 RYs. McNair ranks #1 in the NFL, & SU winner is 17-0 ATS in this series.
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[bubbas1]

THE SPORTS REPORTER

SUMMARY OF NFL SELECTIONS:

SUPER BEST BET
*INDIANAPOLIS over N.Y. JETS by 21

RECOMMENDED SELECTIONS
*BUFFALO over HOUSTON by 14
*CINCINNATI over KANSAS CITY by 2
*NEW ORLEANS over ATLANTA by 16
MINNESOTA over *OAKLAND by 14

SUMMARY OF NCAA SELECTIONS:

BEST BETS
*IOWA over MINNESOTA by 18
LSU over *ALABAMA by 19

RECOMMENDED SELECTIONS
BOSTON COLLEGE over *RUTGERS by 14
*PENN STATE over INDIANA by 10
*AKRON over OHIO by 17
HOUSTON over *ARMY by 2
*MISSOURI over TEXAS A&M by 23
COLORADO over *IOWA STATE by 17
KANSAS STATE over *NEBRASKA by 8

SUMMARY OF BEST BET SELECTIONS

SUPER BEST BET
*INDIANAPOLIS over N.Y. JETS by 21

New York is in a letdown spot after playing the Giants and the hated Raiders into overtime the last two weeks, and getting a multi-revenge win at Oakland last Sunday. The Colts got snapped back to reality off a loss, and have been waiting for this rematch game for 10 months since the Jets blasted them out of last season?s playoffs in a 41-0 rout at the Meadowlands. When these teams last met, the Colts were a banged-up team playing without running back Edgerrin James among others, and their defense had not yet matured in its first year under Tony Dungy. New York was on a roll with Chad Pennington operating a faster, better Jets offense with speedy Laveranues Coles opening up both thepassing game and the running game thanks to his deep threat. Now, however, Pennington has no go-to guy with Wayne Crebet injured and Coles replaced by the mother of all stiffs, Curtis Conway. Expect a very different result this time around with Indy possessing the superior talent, as well as the all-important home-dome advantage. The Jets will be playing their fourth road game in five weeks, and will be playing a better team motivated by
playoff revenge. INDIANAPOLIS, 34-13.

BEST BET
*IOWA over MINNESOTA by 18

The Golden Gophers have picked themselves up after consecutive dispiriting losses at home to the Michigans, but let?s not forget that two of those ?Ws? were against Illinois and Indiana, who were a combined 2-17 SU and 2-15 ATS before playing each other last weekend. The Gophers? defense imploded (82 points) in those two losses as it did a year ago vs. the Hawkeyes when it allowed 365 yards on the ground (6.5 yards per carry) in a 45-21 loss in the Metrodome that featured six Minnesota turnovers. In Iowa?s three losses, to Ohio State and Michigan State and Purdue, the problem was the inability of the offense to penetrate three solid defenses. That won?t be the case here as the Gophers? defense is not in that league. Iowa?s is (11th in total yards allowed) and is playing home,where the Hawkeyes are yielding just 8.3 PPG and are 6-0 ATS (16-3 the last three years), Iowa pounds the ball inside with Fred Russell and takes cares of business one week after Minnesota won its ninth game on the last play of the game, paraded around the Metrodome with an axe and who knows what else afterwards. If their injured QB with the hyphenated name is still hurting, then the Gophers become easier to defend. Iowa, 35-17.

 

[bubbas1]

BEST BET
LSU over *ALABAMA by 19

Attention spread-trend mavens: The road team has covered each of the last seven games in this SEC rivalry tilt and we?re going on record to say it?s going to eight in a row before this day?s done. Hey, it doesn?t hurt that the visiting LSU Tigers have a reallive shot to play for the national championship this year should a few things break their way in the next couple of weeks and the major reason why Nick Saban?s club now is getting mentioned as an elite college team is a defense that?s allowed a grand total of 76 points in an 8-1 SU start. In fact, LSU?s veteran stop unit has held its last three foes to single- digit scoring (including one shutout) and the offense is starting to perk up with QB Matt Mauck healthy and with a couple of classy freshmen really giving a major hand to the ground game. In this tilt in Tuscaloosa, expect LSU?s defense to hound ?Bama QB Brodie Croyle from the get-go while slamming shut the running lanes of Shaud Williams who enters this game as the conference?s leading rusher. On the flip side, LSU?s attack has been known to bang out some long, time-consuming drives this year (see that 21-play touchdown march against South Carolina a few weeks ago) and the once- proud Crimson Tide defense has been battered up the gut by a fair share of teams in recent weeks. LSU, 38-19.
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WINNINGPOINTS NEWSLETTER

SUMMARY OF NFL SELECTIONS:

BEST BETS
**** Cincinnati over Kansas City by 10
*** New York Giants over *Philadelphia by 12

RECOMMENDATIONS
Baltimore over *Miami by 8
*Oakland over Minnesota by 6

SUMMARY OF NFL TOTALS

**UNDER: Baltimore at Miami ? The Dolphins reached the halfway mark ranked second in stopping the run, while the Ravens should be able to contain Ricky Williams (barely averaging more than three yards per carry).

OVER: Houston at Buffalo ? The Texans are surrendering an average of 30.6 points on the road, while their offense has become balanced with rookie running back Domanick Davis emerging as a star.

UNDER: San Diego at Denver ? Doug Flutie could have trouble passing in Denver?s unpredictable weather, and Jake Plummer could be rusty if given the start.

SUMMARY OF NCAA SELECTIONS:

BEST BETS
**** TULSA* over LOUISIANA TECH by 20
*** NEW MEXICO* over AIR FORCE by 20

RECOMMENDATIONS
Iowa* over Minnesota by 18
Clemson* over Duke by 3
Memphis over Louisville* by 4
L.S.U. over Alabama* by 19

ANALYSIS

****BEST BET
*Cincinnati over Kansas City by 10

The words playoff contender and Bengals aren?t usually muttered in the same breath let alone the same sentence. Marvin Lewis has helped changed that. Not only are the Bengals much improved, they?re different. Thanks to Lewis, the Bengals finally have a direction and sense of purpose that had been missing since the ?80s. The Bengals are a dangerous home ?dog here. They?ve lost four of their five games by a combined 19 points. Meanwhile the Chiefs have won only two road games the past four years by more than seven points. The Chiefs don?t have a lot of incentive up by four games in the AFC West, and with a home division game against Oakland on tap. The Chiefs are certainly good. No debate there. But do they deserve to be called great at this stage? Their defense makes plays, but doesn?t scare anyone. The Chiefs are an astounding plus 18 in turnover ratio thanks to a league-high 29takeaways. Their scoring average has been inflated by seven touchdowns scored by either special teams or the defense. Dante Hall has already returned four kicks for touchdowns, and set up other scores with long returns. The Bengals have built a 6-3 ATS mark despite minimal contributions from RB Corey Dillon, who has been slowed by a lingering groin injury. Rudi Johnson, though, has filled in well for Dillon, rushing for more than 100 yards two of the last three games. The Bengals should also get good crowd support, not always a given with this team, as the game is expected to be a sellout. The Chiefs feature one of the best running backs, Priest Holmes, and maybe the top tight end, Tony Gonzalez. But their wide receivers are mediocre. We look for Lewis, a defensive guru, to come up with a solid game plan to slow down the Chiefs. CINCINNATI 27-17.

***BEST BET
New York Giants over *Philadelphia by 12

It?s amazing the Eagles are above .500. They have numerous star players injured, including Pro Bowl safety Brian Dawkins, CB Bobby Taylor, defensive lineman Hollis Thomas and Pro Bowl guard Jermane Mayberry. QB Donovan McNabb is battling thumb, ankle and back injuries, and has been ineffective most of the season. Going into Monday night, the Eagles had not only been outscored by their foes, but were being out-gained by an average of 40 yards per game. When these same two teams met four weeks ago, the Giants did everything but win the game. They had 25 first downs to Philadelphia?s nine. They led in yardage, 339-134, and controlled the clock 35:42-24:18. But thanks to a late 76-yard punt returntouchdown by Brian Westbrook, the Eagles pulled it out, 14-10. The Eagles? wide receivers are woeful, having caught just 59 passes for 687 yards and one TD through eight games, compared to the 87 receptions, 1,124 yards and nine TD?s they put up at this stage last year. Philly?s running game isn?t anything special either, and McNabb went into the Green Bay matchup with just one big game. And that was against Atlanta. The Giants have only allowed one 100-yard rusher their last 15 games. They have huge edges at running back and wide receiver. Because of the many injuries in the secondary, the normally blitzing Eagles have had to play more conservative on defense. So Giants QB Kerry Collins should have ample time to pick up Amani Toomer and Ike Hilliard, along with dangerous Tiki Barber out of the backfield. The Eagles are 1-5 ATS when favored against the Giants. They also are off a short week of practice after playing on Monday. The Giants? history under Jim Fassel is to play well whenever things look the bleakest for them. Things are plenty bleak now for them. NY GIANTS 26-14.

THE END