12-26-09

[GoBlue]

Guaranteed Pick: Larry Ness

Game: North Carolina at Pittsburgh Panthers Dec 26 2009 4:30PM
Prediction: North Carolina
Reason: My LEGEND play is on North Carolina at 4:30 ET. The Panthers come in with the better record (9-3) and have the higher (#17) ranking. The Panthers also have the stronger offense. The Tar Heels (8-3) have several important advantages of their own though. They've got the better defense. In fact, they rank sixth in the entire country in total defense (267.8 yards per game), including ninth against the run and 15th through the air. The Tar Heels will also have the support of the home crowd, as Charlotte is just a two-hour drive from Chapel Hill. Perhaps most importantly, the Tar Heels are the team which wants to be here more. Don't get me wrong. UNC would love to be in a bigger bowl. However, the Tar Heels disappointment about being here pales in comparison to Pittsburgh's disappointment. The Panthers had much bigger plans and their dreams were shattered much later in the season. In fact, you may recall that the Panthers were up 31-10 against Cincinnati in their final game of the regular season. A victory there would have given them a share of the Big East title. It wasn't meant to be though. The Bearcats completed a furious second half rally, scoring the game-winning touchdown with 33 seconds left. That still would have only tied the game if the Panthers hadn't botched the convert on their previous touchdown. That's a tough pill to swallow and it will be difficult for Wannestedt's crew to recover when still thinking about what could have been. The Tar Heels have more to play for. Not only are they playing close to home but they lost here last season. That should make Butch Davis' job of motivating his players much easier. The Tar Heels had some trouble putting away weak teams this season. They were at their best against good teams though. They upset the likes of Virginia Tech and Miami, both ranked teams, and were 4-1 ATS against teams with a winning record - all four of them outright wins. They are now 13-4 ATS against winning teams the last three years. With the Panthers are 1-6 SU and ATS their last seven against teams from the ACC, expect the Tar Heels to step up and score the upset. *10 North Carolina
Good Luck...Larry

[GoBlue]

Re: 12-26-09

Dr Bob

Marshall 25 Ohio (-3.0) 24 (at Little Caesars Bowl)
10:00 AM Pacific, 26-Dec-09

I'll lean with Marshall plus the points and I have no opinion on the total.

Pittsburgh (-2.5) 23 North Carolina 18 (at Meineke Car Bowl)
01:30 PM Pacific, 26-Dec-09

I'll lean with Pitt at -3 points or less and I'll lean Under (44 1/2) at 43 points or higher.

Boston College 19 USC (-7.5) 24 (at Emerald Bowl)
05:00 PM Pacific, 26-Dec-09

I'll lean with Boston College plus the points and I have no opinion on the total (I'd lean under at 45 points or higher)

[GoBlue]

Re: 12-26-09

Brandon Lang
Saturday's Selection ... NOTE:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Glad I was able to make it a bit better with the Chargers last night.

Bottom line is this; delivering blowout winners.

Giants Monday 45-12. Utah Wednesday 37-27 in a game that wasn't even that close. SMU Thursday 45-10. San Diego last night.

Trust me, not the least bit happy about getting fooled by Oregon State thinking they would be mentally ready to play after the heartbreaking loss to Oregon that cost them the Rose bowl for the 2nd straight year. Shame on you Mike Riley. If you can't get your team to show up then turn the bowl game down, and sent them home for the holidays and give up the slot to a team that would play hard.

That game is the only blemish on an otherwise perfect bowl run here in 2009.

I started with the 10 dime winner on Wyoming outright over Fresno State, delivered Rutgers as a free pick, Utah over Cal and the 25 dime trifecta sweep with SMU, the Under and a teaser winning on SMU and the Under.

Don't look now but it's a 2-day run for over +100 dimes but I want more. A lot more and I've got a 75 dime play on Ohio to show you I want more. When you are delivering 30 point destructions on a consistent basis, I would say that shows people you are dialed in at a place other handicappers only dream about. Now just like the Giants Monday night, Utah Tuesday, SMU Thursday and the Chargers last night, watch Ohio win this game by double digits as well.

75 DIME - OHIO UNIVERSITY BOBCATS - -(If 3 1/2 you buy the 1/2 and lay -3. Never get beat by the hook.) - I just don't understand why this line isn't Ohio -7? First of all, the linemakers are making mistake after mistake with bowl games so far, as they do every year. Making Nevada a 12 point favorite over June Jones and SMU, and the favorite loses by 35 points. Come on now. This is a mismatch every where you look. Let's start off with coaching. Marshall University pressured the resignation of head coach Mark Snyder so the team is being coached by former Cincinnati head coach Rick Minter, who just happens to be the defensive coordinator. He wanted the head coaching job but was passed over for West Virginia assistant John Holiday. Now with all this going on how does a 6-6 team that doesn't deserve to be here in the first place focus on playing a football game. The Thundering Herd not only lost at Virginia Tech 52-10 earlier in the year, but come off a flat out embarrassing 52-21 loss at UTEP to close out the year which essentially cost Snyder his job, creating the current bowl coaching mess.

I'm sorry but you don't lose 2 games in the regular season by 42 and 31 points and go on to win a bowl game. Not in my book. You look at Frank Solich and this Ohio team and you will see they were competitive in every single game they played this year. EVERY SINGLE ONE. At 9-4 SU and 8-4 ATS, their 4 losses were by 7 at home to UConn, by 11 at Tennessee in a game a lot closer than the final score would lead you to believe, by 9 at home to Kent State, and by 10 to Central Michigan in the MAC Championship game.

The game that does it for me is on the road at Tennessee. You start going into an SEC enviorment and in front of 101,000 people and play the Vols to a single digit game into the 4th quarter and throw for 319 yards against the 10 best pass defense in the country, I pretty confident you can handle anything Marshall throws at you. This Ohio team has all the edges in this game. The better offense, the better defense, the better QB and they are ranked 6th in the country in turnover margin while Marshall is 88th. The Bobcats force turnovers on defense and they don't turn it over on offense and that is a credit to their last big advantage in this game, coaching and Solich will have his team focused to play some football in a venue they are very familiar with.

I was very impressed with Ohio's defensive effort holding Central Michigan to 20 points in the MAC Championship game and with this much time to prepare, believe me folks this team will be ready to play. Down the stretch this Ohio team played with passion and pride and over their last 5 games only Central Michigan took them down.

In a bowl season where the team that wants to be there is winning comfortably, I truly believe the team that wants to be there today is Ohio University and they will deliver the pointspread cover.

FREE SELECTION - BOSTON COLLEGE-USC UNDER

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

Wayne's Root Bowls & Playoffs

Saturday, December 26, 2009
7*Marshall (+3) over Ohio U
1:00 PM -- Little Caesars Pizza Bowl - Ford Field, Detroit, M


Game is being played in a dome.


6*North Carolina (+1½) over Pittsburgh
4:30 PM -- Meineke Car Care Bowl - Bank of America Stadium, C


Partly cloudy. Winds blowing from the West at 5-10 m.p.h. Game-time temperature: Around 45.


4*Boston College (+7) over USC
8:00 PM -- Emerald Bowl - AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA


Cloudy with a 50-percent chance of rain. Winds blowing from the Southeast at 5-10 m.p.h. Game-time temperature: Around 50.


* All times Eastern
* Home team in Bold

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

LARRY NESS

REASON FOR PICK: My TV Dominator is on Chicago at 8:00 ET. Given the Bulls history (they'd previously fired two coaches over Xmas) and due to a couple of trying recent losses, including having blown a 35 point lead vs. Sacramento, Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro had reason to be worried about his job over Christmas. Del Negro's job still isn't exactly secure but the fact that he lasted through Christmas is a minor vote of confidence. Either way, this is a good spot for his team to bounce back with a badly needed victory. Even after Monday's meltdown, the Bulls are still 8-6 at home. Now they'll face a Hornets team which can't win outside of New Orleans - the Hornets have the worst road record (2-11) in the entire Western Conference. The Bulls had their way with the Hornets last season. They won 107-93 at New Orleans last February. That was followed by a 97-79 romp at Chicago on 3/14. Listed as 2 point dogs, the Bulls led by 14 at halftime and cruised to the easy win. More of the same here with the Hornets road woes continuing for another day. *9 Chicago

REASON FOR PICK: The Suns enter tonight's game in Oakland on a six-game road losing streak while the Warriors will take an overall seven-game losing streak into the contest. The Suns ended a two-game home losing streak with a dominating 124-93 Christmas night win over the Clippers, as seven players scored in double digits and the Suns made 12-of-24 three-pointers. However, the Suns are 0-6 away from home since a 113-94 win at Toronto on November 29. After losing the first three games of their current road slide by an average of 21.3 PPG, the Suns have lost the most recent three games by a total of just 10 points. The injury-riddled Warriors are 1-5-1 ATS in their seven-game slide and used just seven players in their most recent game, a 108-102 loss at New Orleans on Wednesday. Center Biedrins (11.9-11.2 last year) is expected back for this game and that's great news for the Warriors. Azubuike and Bell may not play at all the rest of the season plus Moore, Turiaf and Wright all remain sidelined. However, the Warriors are getting excellent play from their backcourt, featuring Ellis (25.0-4.3-5.0), Morrow (12.1), rookie Curry (12.1-4.8 APG) and Watson (8.9). The frontcourt is 'thin' but Maggette (17.0-5.6) has been healthy, Randolph (11.4-6.5) has been consistent and Radmanovic (7.0-4.9) has been serviceable. The Suns welcomed sixth-man Barbosa (12 points) back last night and with good reason. Phoenix was 4-8 in the 12 games he missed, while with last night's win, moved them to 14-3 with him available. All five Phoenix starters average in double figures, led by Stoudemire (20.5-8.7) and Nash (18.1-11.3 APG). The Suns are the league's highest scoring team (109.0 PPG) and its best shooting one (49.5% FGs / 42.24% on threes) while the Warriors are allowing a league-high 111.8 PPG and 49.1% on FG attempts. Does that spell doom for Golden St in this game? Maybe, but I'm taking a shot with the Warriors who are well-rested while the Suns are traveling off last night's win and let's NOT forget the team's six-game road losing streak. If Biedrins plays, I really like the Warriors. Take the points.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

Scott Spreitzer's NBA ROAD WARRIOR **GAME OF THE YEAR!** [/b] [/i] (3-0) - Sat.
I'm laying the points with the Spurs on Saurday night. I had the Spurs in their most recent game, an outright home loss to the banged-up and schedule-challenged Trailblazers. At no point in the game did San Antone look like they were going to win the contest, let alone cover a decent-sized spread. I didn't think anyone could be as "steamed" as I was following that game until I saw Gregg Popovich blow his stack. He was especially upset at the fact that his team couldn't secure a defensive rebound late in the game while trailing by two points. The Spurs had won six of seven games before losing to the injury-riddled Blazers. But as Manu Ginobili said, it's now time to beat a good team. Milwaukee is an "okay" team, but I don't quite agree with Manu's review of the Bucks. However, his statement means this team is preparing for this one in the right manner. Milwaukee enters the game 12-15 overall. That's a good sign for Spurs-backers. San Antone is 2-10 against winning teams, but have won 13 straight against sub-.500 squads. The Spurs crushed the Bucks, 112-98 in their November 23 meeting. They handled Milwaukee without any trouble, despite a mediocre game from Richard Jefferson, and Ginobili didn't even play. I had San Antone in that contest and stated that the Bucks were not as good as their 8-3 start indicated. They have since won just four of 16 games. The Spurs still don't have Matt Bonner, but it won't matter in this one. Keeping the Spurs focused will be their recent loss to Portland and the fact that Milwaukee has had success against San Antone over the last decade. The Spurs are also on an 80% winning spread run against teams with a losing record. It's "step-up" time for the Spurs, and I believe this team is ready to rock someone. The Bucks just happen to be the opposition. I'm laying the points with San Antonio, my Road Warrior Game of the Year. Thanks! GL! Scott.

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

PPP/Gavazzi

5% nc & usc

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

PPP
3% Ohio U
3% Boston College
2% Pitt

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

BEN BURNS

10* PF - USC
9* BB - WARRIORS
8* Over NETS

[Mr. IWS]

Re: 12-26-09

Burns 10* Personal Favorite

USC


BIG AL's DOUBLE-GUARANTEED EMERALD BOWL WINNER
Al McMordie SMASHED the books again on Thursday when he released SMU +11. Big Al is now 4-1 (80%) in the Bowls this season and the WINNING CONTINUES on Saturday in the Emerald Bowl between BC & USC. And it's DOUBLE-GUARANTEED. YOU WIN, or it's FREE, & Sunday's Bowl Winner is also FREE. Get on it.


Boston College