Utah Jazz (37-21) @ New Orleans (38-18)
8:00PM EST
A lot of experts expected the Utah Jazz to be good this season, but a real surprise in the NBA this year has been the New Orleans Hornets.  The Hornets already have 38 wins this season, just one win away from their win total all of last season.  Unfortunately for the Hornets, I don’t see them picking up that 39th win tonight against a very talented Utah team.  The problem New Orleans has is previous history against the Jazz.  Over the past 3 seasons, the Jazz have dominated the Hornets, winning 8 of 10 games, and, most importantly to us, they’ve covered in 7 of 10 games against New Orleans including an impressive 110-88 win in Utah earlier this month.  The Jazz average about 5 points more per game than New Orleans, and that seems like a much more likely outcome than the 3.5 points the Hornets are giving tonight. 

NBA Tip:  Utah Jazz +3.5

Popularity: 9% [?]

Thursday night’s College Basketball card has some very intriguing match-ups.  There’s a huge showdown in the Big 10 tonight between #9 Wisconsin and #15 Michigan State.  Notre Dame is still flying under a lot of people’s radar at #17 and they have a very important game against a #18 Louisville team tonight.  Another contest that has caught my attention is #14 Butler playing the number two team in their Horizon League, Wright State.  Butler was cruising along and looking like the Mid-Major team to beat until Drake came to their home court and knocked them off.  It will be interesting to see how they react in their first big game since that loss playing a very talented 20-7 Wright State squad.  Here’s a quick rundown of the odds and our picks for Top 25 college basketball teams that are playing tonight:

Odds By SportsBook.com

#17 Notre Dame @ #18 Louisville -8
Pick:  Notre Dame +8

#15 Michigan State @ #9 Wisconsin -5.5
Pick:  Wisconsin -5.5

#4 UCLA @ Arizona State +7
Pick:  UCLA -7

Wright State @ #13 Butler -13
Pick:  Wright State +13

Washington @ #8 Stanford -11
Pick:  Washington +11

#22 Washington State @ Cal +3
Pick:  Washington State -3

That will do it for today.  Good luck and we’ll see you soon with more tips, odds, and sports betting articles.

Popularity: 11% [?]

#1 Tennessee (25-2) @ #14 Vanderbilt (23-4)
9:00 PM EST

The Tennessee Vols knocked off #1 Memphis over the weekend and have been rightfully given that #1 ranking from the Tigers.  Tonight they have their first big test against the 23-4 Vanderbilt Commodores.  Vandy and Tennessee have already met once this year.  Back on January 17th, the Vols rolled the Commodores 80-60 at Tennessee.  For this go-round Vandy gets the home court, which is a huge advantage for them considering they’ve earned a 17-0 record on their own turf.  The problem I have with Vanderbilt in tonight’s game is that they simply don’t play good enough defense.  Tennessee is one of the most well-rounded squads in the nation.  Unless Vanderbilt plays far and away their best game of the year, they are going to be looking at their first home loss of this season.  Tennessee has been on a major role ever since they dropped a game at Kentucky in January.  I don’t think tonight’s game is going to be any walk in the park, but I do feel that they can cover the two point spread without much of a problem

NCAA Basketball Pick:  Tennessee Vols -2

Popularity: 8% [?]

Boston Celtics (41-11) at Phoenix Suns (37-17)
10:30PM EST - 2/22/2008

Two of the NBA’s most dominant teams meet tonight in a game that will end up telling us a lot about both squads.  Boston owns the NBA’s best record and, at this point in the season, seem to be everyone’s favorite to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals.  The Suns have earned one of the best records in the West, plus added Shaq to their roster, though it’s still too early to tell whether gaining Shaq and losing Shawn Marion will improve this team or not.  What we do know is that this is a playoff-quality match-up and that the winner of this game will be making a strong statement for how good they really are.  I know the Suns are coming off a 4-point loss to the Lakers on Wednesday, and that game was certainly a statement-type game as well, but you do have to consider that it was their first game after the All-Star break, as well as their first game with the big guy.  That’s no excuse, rather, it’s all the more reason Phoenix should be ultra-motivate for tonight’s clash against Boston.  The Celtics are seen as the pinnacle of the NBA, so if Phoenix can find a way to win tonight, it should give them a huge boost in confidence.  Boston, as they have been so many times this season, are in a position where they are expected to win.  This will be no easy feat, however, if they are able to pull it off, they can further the perception that they are an invincible-type team.  Having that label is two-fold.  Of course they’ll get the “bulls-eye on their back”, but being seen as the Goliath in the league also gives your team the kind of swagger it takes to win a championship.  The bottom line here is that whoever comes out on top tonight is going to get a major boost to their confidence.  In the NBA a little confidence on a good team goes a long, long way.

Celtics @ Suns Pick:  Boston Celtics +1.5

I’m just not ready to go against Boston yet.  Their record on the road is just as good as the Suns’ record at home, and nobody has been better than the Celtics at covering the spread on the road as they’ve earned an unmatched 36-15 record against the spread in their last 51 road contests.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Why Memphis is NOT the best Team in College Hoops
Memphis continues to hold the #1 spot in the national rankings, but are they the best team in nation right now?  The short answer to that questions may be yes right now, but can this team really go the distance?  To begin, does Memphis have a strong strength-of-schedule?  That answer is a resounding “No”.  Their schedule strength is ranked somewhere the low 100s, something none of the other teams in the top 10 can say.  In the Top 10 ranked teams in the nation to date, Kansas comes in with the next worst schedule strength at 66, nearly 40 points better than the Tigers.

How does their conference stack up?  As it turns out, and as you probably already knew, not very well at all.  Conference USA may have the #1 team in the country, but there is a huge drop-off in performance beyond the mighty Memphis Tigers.  The conference holds no other teams in the Top 25 rankings.  The Big 10, Big 12, Big East, and ACC all have multiple teams ranked on the national scale.  While you can’t really compare Conference USA to any of those other conferences (nobody expected them to have any major players in the NCAA hunt other than Memphis), this is still significant because they are housing the #1 team in the nation.  The Tigers’ best conference competition comes from Houston at 19-6 and then UAB at 18-8.  If you go any further down the list you will mostly find mid-level teams fighting amongst themselves to be the least mediocre of the mediocre teams in Conference USA.

Why Memphis IS the Best Team In College Hoops
Their record.  It doesn’t matter what conference you play in, 26-0 is impressive on any level, particularly Division I basketball where, with a hot-shooting 3-point team, every team is vulnerable to pick up a loss here and there.  I’m not sure how the Tigers have managed to escape this phenomenon, but at this point in the season I’m certain that it’s not just a lucky break. 

Their record when it matters.  Against other Top 25-ranked opponents, Memphis is a perfect 4-0.  There are only two teams with 5 wins against Top 25 opponents, UCLA and UConn, and the list of teams with 4 wins against the top 25 is a pretty exclusive bunch: Duke, Texas, Purdue, and Arizona State.  The big difference being, of course, that the Tigers have yet to take a loss from their Top 25 opponents.

So, Are They The Best Or Not?
Obviously they are the best team record-wise and rankings-wise, but they have a lot left to prove.  They still have some tough games coming up, but let’s say, just for the sake of argument, that they do end up finishing the regular season undefeated.  I still do not think that, at the end of the season, they will come out of the NCAA Tournament as Champions.  The regular season and conference play is one thing, but making a run all the way through the bracket is on a different level completely.  Now, do I really think they will even make it as far as remaining undefeated for the entire regular season.  Absolutely not.  In fact, next week we could very well have a new #1.

#1 Memphis hosts #2 Tennessee this Saturday, February 23rd - You can check the latest lines and bet on the game at SportsBook.com

Popularity: 8% [?]

Boston Celtics (41-10) at Golden State Warriors (32-21)
10:30 PM EST
East meets West in a showdown of two of the best teams from their respective conference.  On paper Golden State actually scores more points, grabs more rebounds, has less turnovers, and gets more points from their bench than the Celtics.  What you need to remember about those stats is that they are primarily against Western Conference teams, which, despite having a few top-tier teams, simply isn’t as good as a conference as the East.  Look, Boston is sporting a 41-10 record, but why we’ve been riding them all season long is that they continue to cover the spread every night.  Their 31-18 record against the spread is one of the best records in recent memory.  Will the books wise up?  I don’t know, you’d think they would have caught on by now.  All I know is that I’ll continue to ride the Celtics until they buck me. 

NBA Pick:  Boston Celtics -1

Popularity: 7% [?]

#15 Purdue (21-5) @ #14 Indiana (21-4)
7:00PM EST
The real question in tonight’s Big 10 showdown is whether or not the Indiana Hoosiers can once again overcome the circus surrounding their coach and alleged recruiting improprieties.  On Saturday they did manage to overcome, destroying Michigan State to the tune of 80-61.  Indiana will certainly get a boost in this game by playing on their home-court, but the emotional roller-coaster the team is going through makes them especially volatile in big games like this one.  It’s clear that since the news broke that the team can be terribly inconsistent.  Purdue has put together a very impressive run that includes 11 wins in a row, winning 10 of those 11 games against the spread as well as gaining a victory.  In my opinion the Hoosiers aren’t stable enough to hang in this game against a Purdue team that has been consistent on offense and defense for a long stretch.  I can honestly see the Boilermakers picking up the win tonight and I like the 5 points we are getting even more.

NCAA Hoops Pick:  Purdue Boilermakers +5 

Popularity: 7% [?]

#16 Texas A&M (20-5) @ #11 Texas (21-4)
9:00 PM ET
The premiere match up in College Basketball Monday night comes between two of the toughest teams in the Big 12.  Texas is the obvious favorite as they have the home hardwood, but statistically Texas A&M is actually the better team.  In fact, the Aggies destroyed the Longhorns earlier this year at A&M 80-63.  There’s a very consistent trend in the series between these two teams and that is that the home team always seems to win and, in most cases, win big.  The last time a road team won in this rivalry was in 2004 and these teams have played 9 games since with all 9 going to the home squad.  Who are we to defy history and fate?  You have to like the Longhorns in this situation.  They are still one of my favorites for at least the Sweet 16 in the tournament and a win here only helps to solidify a great seed in the tourny and as one of the dominant teams in the Big 12.

NCAA Hoops Pick:  Texas Longhorns -4

Popularity: 8% [?]

We’re going to pass on the NBA All-Star game today, but there are three top 25 games going in College Hoops that I you don’t want to miss.  Here are the odds and our picks for Sunday’s NCAA Hoops action:

Odds by SportsBook.com

12:00 PM EST
#18 Notre Dame @ Rutgers +10
Pick:  Rutgers +10

10:00 PM EST
#6 UCLA @ USC +5.5
Pick:  UCLA -5.5

7:30 PM EST
#2 Duke @ Wake Forest +9.5
Pick:  Duke -9.5

Popularity: 9% [?]

#7 Stanford (20-3) @ Arizona State (15-7)
10:30 PM EST
It has been three years and five match ups since Arizona State last beat Stanford.  Taking it a step further, Stanford has covered the spread against the Sun Devils in all five of those wins.  Arizona State has an outside chance if they can somehow get to the free throw line in bunches tonight.  There only other chance is if they are firing off three-pointers and are hitting 40% from beyond the arc all night.  Those situations could happen.  Are they likely to happen?  No way.  Stanford has ripped through the PAC 10 this year, only being outdone by UCLA.  The Cardinal have showed a little vulnerability on the road, but 7-2 away from home in a conference with three top 25 teams is nothing to overlook. 

 Pick:  Stanford Cardinal -3.5

Popularity: 8% [?]